Diagnosis requested: weird discoloration of bud leaves at end of flowering

breese

Active Member
GENERAL INFORMATION
  • Indoor Grow, one plant, 200watts CFL's, kept at a distance of approx. 2-3 inches of the foliage
  • Watering was at 2.5liters every 4 days, with 7ml of BioBloom (per milliliter -> N= 2, P= 6, K=3.5, FE= 0.009, MN= 0.001, 2, ZN= 0.004, B= 0.011, CU=0.001) and an aditional 7ml of Topmax (per milliliter -> N=0.1, P= 0.01, K= 0.1)
  • EC value of water after adding nutrients is always between 0.6 and 0.8, which should be perfect for soil
  • PH of the water given is always decided on what the measured PH of the outflow of the water from the last watering was
  • Last watering was 5 days ago, tomorrow she'll get just water with a bit of molasses in there, and only 1.5liters, since she uses less water because of all the leaves she has already shed
  • Water is always given in two turns, with at least 45 minutes in between
  • We use tap-water, 24 hours before the watering we fill a big bottle and let an aquarium tank pump blow bubbles in there. This way the water has time to evaporate anything bad that might be in there and it adjusts to room temperature so our lady doesn't get shocked.
  • The water that runs out of the bottom, has an EC as well of 0.6 to 0.8
  • Growing medium: 80% standard soil, 20% perlite, bottom of 1cm perlite
  • there are holes in the sides of the pot so that we can measure the soil moisture and only water her when she needs it (plant is LST'd, so not much space at the top of the pot to poke in moisture meter, hence the holes)
  • We are at the final stages of flowering, day 60 in the grow, approximately 10 days or a bit longer from the end.
  • The plant looks healthy overall, a lot of the lower leaves have already become necrotic since we're at the very end of this grow.
  • In general humidity levels in our small cupboard are between 35% and 45%
  • Day-cycle temperatures are around 25°c to 27°c closest to the lights, and 20°c at the air intakes
  • Night-cycle temperatures plummet to 18°c (never below), and humidity is always a bit higher than during day-cycle

THE PROBLEM
Three days ago we had a sudden rise in moisture (60%). Yesterday we started seeing a discoloration on the leaves (see pictures below), always starting from the tips of the leaves. It got a bit worse today, so we decided to come and post here and get some expert opinions.

Since night temperatures are at 18°C and we had a high humidity phase (it's now lowered to 43% again), we are worried we might have a fungus on our buds and realllly don't want bud rot at this stage of the grow (or at àny stage of the grow for that matter *lol*). We did some research but we can't find anything that can provide us with a conclusive diagnosis. After reading up a lot, we only got more confused, since it might also be a mild case of nutrient burn. Or "too much light" as suggested in some other posts. A deficiency of one or another substance. So ... we're hoping that perhaps you guys can figure out what's going on and what we should/could do to help our pretty lady.

THE PICTURES

This picture was taken on the 11th of March, so just a few days ago, before she had any problems on the buds, just some regular necrosis of the leaves expected at the end of flowering. We had to downsize the pic quite a lot, so we hope it's still clear enough. All buds have a lot of pistils and are about 8cm's high and 4cm's wide, some are bigger, some a little smaller, we're proud of our pink girl. We thought you guys might enjoy a regular picture of how our lady looks besides her little rash. :lol:

Below are close-ups of three different buds with the same type of discoloration in the little bud leaves:




SOME PERSONAL INFO
We've been a member of rollitup for quite some time now, but so far we've only been avid readers. This is only our second grow of one plant and our first post ever on here. By visiting here and reading a lot, we have learned how to do a lot of things and of course also how NOT to do certain things. When we've had issues (and believe you me, we've had quite some, lol) we have always found our answers on here. This is actually the first time that we couldn't come to a conclusive answer on what to do, so that's why we're posting. Anyway, hope somebody can help, and to you all, happy growing !
 

BeefSupreme

Active Member
If you are going to fertilize every 4 days, you have to flush the plants before you add new nutrients or else you will add to the salts that weren't used yet. I feed once a week, but i still flush before i add new nutrients so that the pH is right. The plant will use certain nutrients faster then others, which will throw off your pH.
 

breese

Active Member
Thanks for the input BeefSupreme & Jonus!

So Ok ... We know the general practice is one feed, one flush. But we always feed close to the absolute minimum (according to the bottles: 2ml/liter is the minimum, 5ml/liter the max) and the water used never goes over 0.8EC, usually closer to 0.6. The flowout of the pot, has never been anything else than almost clear water, so no "brown discoloration" that people talk about when they flush... So far we haven't seen any stunted grow or anything as a counter indication of this kind of feeding regime... Except of course this leaf issue, if the salt is the cause ...

So as we mentioned yesterday, today she'll only get water with a little bit of molasses in there, no more nutrients whatsoever ... So if the "no-flush" and hence a "salt buildup" is the problem, then we guess she'll get better after this watering. But if on the other hand, it is a sign of her being hungry (or even if it's a fungus) ... then we'll just add to the problem... At least molasses should help the good bacteria in the soil recover if it IS salt...

If you guys have any more input, it is more than welcome. If anybody else concurs with the previously stated ideas of her being hungry or there being a salt buildup due to no flushing, or if you have any other ideas, those are welcome too. Hopefully we'll give her the right treatment before it's too late. We'll keep you posted on what happens.
 
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