Is this toxicity or deficiency?

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
So my kali mist is just a month old today and for the last couple of weeks she's been showing these signs of stress.

I pinned it down to manganese toxicity. But I'm really unsure.

I've not fed her any nutes yet and she was flushed a few days ago as she had nitrogen toxicity from too higher concentration of worm castings.

The same thing has just happened with my other Kali, small dark brown spots middle of plant.

She's grown in soil. Any help would be much appreciated :)
 

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MrGhettoGrower

Well-Known Member
How big of a pot is it in? My suggestion is if you can put it in a big pot with some plain old ffof or something you know is GOOD the more you mix into it the dirt the more chances something can go wrong :eyesmoke:
 

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the replies guys!!

Well she's in a 3l pot atm. Planning to a 5gal after that. Very true. I tried to keep on the under feeding side for these plants. They really need less than most people think.

Reason I think it's toxicity is that my water contains quite a bit of manganese. Also, i fed them some molasses which is high in manganese.

My water is super soft. 35ppm. So I think I'll need to supplement cal/mag.

After I flushed her, her tips became really white/yellow. Obviously not from nute burn. Could be a sign of cal deficiency?


For a weed these things can be pretty fussy!! Lol
 

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
So now she is looking pretty poorly. Those brown blotches just appeared everywhere.

Lower and top new growth.

I thought calcium deficiency only effects the bottom leaves?
 

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
No. Calcium deficiency usually starts as necrotic spots (dead Spots) on the fan leaves between 1/2 to 3/4 of the way up the plant..
See that's my thinking. This has appeared everywhere. I'll upload another pic.

It's severely worsened since I flushed her a few days ago.

I was thinking manganese toxicity? My water is high in aluminium and manganese.
 

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
If your using water from a water softener.. STOP.
No water softener as far as I'm aware.. just really soft water here, my parents house is the same.

As for overwatering that's definitely not the case. At least not frequency wise. If anything it could be slightly underwatered.

I think she's ready for a new pot also
 

yosim

Well-Known Member
She's due a watering today!!

Also after flushing I'm now confident about lack of nitrogen and cal/mag.

Those brown blotches high up have got me stumped..
have you fed post flush? i would just feed it now and see what happens, maybe a small amount of cal-mag also
 

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
have you fed post flush? i would just feed it now and see what happens, maybe a small amount of cal-mag also
Basically she was living off the nutes that were in the worm castings and soil.

The soil is lightly fertilised for the first week of growth then feed at your own insight.

Yeah I'm gonna feed her. TBH it can't get much worse so see what happens :)
 

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
Sorry forgot to say. I fed her 1/4 strength nutes after the flush.

But you're right. I'll feed today in new pot transplant :)
 

yosim

Well-Known Member
Basically she was living off the nutes that were in the worm castings and soil.

The soil is lightly fertilised for the first week of growth then feed at your own insight.

Yeah I'm gonna feed her. TBH it can't get much worse so see what happens :)
yeah make sure the pot is of adequate size

ime you are better off letting the plant tell you it needs to be fed rather than overdosing it with nutes/calmag as this can cause lockouts and is more difficult to troubleshoot, so you are right with 1/4 strength nutes then if the plant seems like it needs more you can up the dosage, gl
 

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
yeah make sure the pot is of adequate size

ime you are better off letting the plant tell you it needs to be fed rather than overdosing it with nutes/calmag as this can cause lockouts and is more difficult to troubleshoot, so you are right with 1/4 strength nutes then if the plant seems like it needs more you can up the dosage, gl
Indeed! You see my water is 35ppm and has no mg or cal whatsoever. I believe due to the high nitrogen content magnesium is more required.
 

cannetix Inc

Well-Known Member
Definitely looks like a Calcium deficiency, and/or an issue with ph. What is the Ph of your soil? A Ph that is too low and that cannot be explained otherwise can be a sign of calcium deficiency as Calcium is one of the main elements responsible for alkalizing soil. Don't adjust Ph with lime unless you are sure Calcium deficiency to be the cause. Raising Ph alone will have little effect on Calcium uptake, even if calcium is present. The cause of Ca deficiency is generally not ph related. Unless your showing signs of a Magnesium deficiency, I wouldn't worry about getting extra Mag, especially with Calcium problems. Magnesium can compete with Calcium for absorption by the plant's root system. Measure the Ph. of your soil - if its low I would add a bit of lime and if it seems right and you still notice these calcium problems persisting I would add a bit of neutral calcium supplement (Gypsum).

Here is an interesting and useful chart that shows the availability of different nutrients at different soil ph levels. Combined with information about your own soil Ph. and visible symptoms I find this chart very helpful for diagnosing possible nutrient deficiencies.

 

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
@cannetix Inc

Thanks bud! I haven't measured the soil ph. On the bag it says 6-7 and worm castings being 7.3

I'm pretty sure it is calcium. My water contains no calcium. And since I'm not feeding her that calcium is not getting replenished.

I had one poorly plant which the run off came out as ph 3.8... so I added some more feeding and high calcium. She's perked right back up and is doing fine now. Slight magnesium deficiency because of the high nitrogen levels!

This plants run off was 6.9 last time I checked.. but how reliable this is I don't know.

Could root space be an issue? She's been in this 1 gal pot for a while now. Problems started getting worse with time and really exaggerated when flushed.

She's doing better today after the feed and high does of cal/mag. Still not 100 yet.

Can lime be added after repotting?

Pictures of my soil.. mixed with 10% more perlite
 

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chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
small pots deplete water and nutrients faster than large pots. the choice is personal, and a small plant can support the life of a plant just as well as a large one, assuming all resources are delivered in a timely manner to both.

larger pots =easier user control, less watering frequency.
the flush was unnecessary and now troublesome. water is your friend, use it only when your container is dry to the bottom, before plant wilts.
I grew in pure home made worm castings with pro mix and had no deficiency issues.
a toxicity will result in a deficiency for the lock out. adding more of anything will not help if its toxicity.
 

Buba Blend

Well-Known Member
Definitely looks like a Calcium deficiency, and/or an issue with ph. What is the Ph of your soil? A Ph that is too low and that cannot be explained otherwise can be a sign of calcium deficiency as Calcium is one of the main elements responsible for alkalizing soil. Don't adjust Ph with lime unless you are sure Calcium deficiency to be the cause. Raising Ph alone will have little effect on Calcium uptake, even if calcium is present. The cause of Ca deficiency is generally not ph related. Unless your showing signs of a Magnesium deficiency, I wouldn't worry about getting extra Mag, especially with Calcium problems. Magnesium can compete with Calcium for absorption by the plant's root system. Measure the Ph. of your soil - if its low I would add a bit of lime and if it seems right and you still notice these calcium problems persisting I would add a bit of neutral calcium supplement (Gypsum).

Here is an interesting and useful chart that shows the availability of different nutrients at different soil ph levels. Combined with information about your own soil Ph. and visible symptoms I find this chart very helpful for diagnosing possible nutrient deficiencies.

Nice, but there are a variety of these charts, some are for soil, others for hydroponic are different.
Where did you get this one from? It is not the same as most charts created for soil.
 
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