Yellow Leaves Tried Everything

So. This is my first grow, please no judgment (thought I can take advice). I just need some help.

I have been having some major pH issues (too high) and had to transplant from soil to mostly coco (the root ball is still soil) about halfway through flower because the original soil was amended with something that would never let my pH drop. It was some organic compost soil that I got at Lowe's not expecting these clones to actually root outside.

Fast forward 2-3 months, and here we are. I bought a 400W HPS for the 2 plants I had at the time and got it set-up for flower. I also got a MH bulb for veg when I decide to grab some more clones if I can figure this thing out.

I have 1 Purple Dream and 1 Cornbread, both Indicas, whose fan leaves have been getting more and more yellow, some dying, some falling off, not sure if due to nutrient lockout or due to just being about 4-5 weeks into flowering on 8-10 week strains.

Anyways I was hoping to post a couple pics of the leaves and buds and get some advice.

I am using DynaGro (1/4 Tsp Grow, 1/4 Tsp Bloom per Gallon until now, I just switched to KoolBloom ripening for the next week or so, and then I plan to go with 1/2 tbsp of DynaGro Bloom per Gallon) pH'd to about 6.0, every other feeding. My pH has corrected itself to about 7.0 since i did a heavy flush last week, mid flower, after transplanting this girl and her sister from 1.5 gallon clay pots, to 3 gallon smart pots. About 2 weeks ago I also started to use1tbsp Mother Earth Molasses mix, 1tsp Hygrozyme, & 1tsp Pro-Tekt per gallon for every watering and feeding.

I do not have a way to measure my ppm and my pH Meter is a crappy soil reader, though I have ordered a decent pH pen that should come soon.

Can I get some advice to get these nice fan leaves to stop yellowing and dying? Or is it normal? I may be overwatering... the coco dries out very quickly and stays at pH 6.8 or so, but the soil root ball seems compacted, never seems to stay "wet" for long, and generally stays at a higher pH once it dries out, from 7.0 to 8.0. I have also seen some black insects with wings in the soil. I added diatomaceous earth around my room and put it in the soil. I also have been spraying neem oil with pro-tekt on the top of the soil to try to kill them on all of the pots. I have fruit fly traps and they haven't been catching anything in my grow room really.

This is Purple Dream in pic 1, about 40 days and Cornbread in the back in pic 2 (with some light/heat burn on one cola that sat too close to the light once) about 34 days. There is also another pot of Blackberry Kush I added in there (Pic 3) about 3 weeks ago that I never expected to make it. Pic 4 is the Purple Dream up close with flash.

You don't need to worry about ph in soil.

Checking runoff ph is useless and have you chasing your tail.

The proper way to check soil ph is to take equal parts soil and deionized water, mix and then check ph.

I say all the trying everything is the problem.

It looks like it needs N and it is over watered.

whitebb2727 said:

You don't need to worry about ph in soil.

Checking runoff ph is useless and have you chasing your tail.

The proper way to check soil ph is to take equal parts soil and deionized water, mix and then check ph.

I say all the trying everything is the problem.

It looks like it needs N and it is over watered.

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Thank you so much for your time! Much appreciated! I think I have seen you on here before espousing creating a "slurry" of sorts with your soil to test the pH. Would I leave it out for 30 mins or so or can I test it immediately?

So this advice implies that I should...

a) Stop messing with it so much.
b) Not worry about my pH since it is soil.
c) Let them dry out more before watering.
d) Change my fertilizer mix. Does this mean I should go full Grow with DynaGro? (7-9-5) Or should I up my mix to like 2:1 Grow/Bloom? DynaGro is salt-based and very concentrated so it builds up pretty quickly in my soil, I am hesitant to over-fertilize with it.

Thanks again!

I prefer a balanced feed all the way through.

Dynagro made a formula for cannabis. It is called foliage pro. It is actually higher in N at 9-6-3 or 9-3-6. I know the N is the highest one.

Thanks to nutrient companies people think you need a lot of P and K in flower and other additives. They switch and then the plant yellows from lack of N.

Yes let it dry out more. The pot should be light when it needs water. Get a cheap analog moisture meter if needed.

Mix the soil and water and let it sit for a few minutes and then check.

As long as the water ph is good going in then ph shouldn't be a problem.

Another reason the soil needs to dry some is as it dries the ph swings to allow proper nutrient uptake. Not all nutrients are taken up at the same ph. It needs that swing.

When things are going south it is not good to start adding more stuff.

I would just water with the grow only at a maintenance dose. And not more often than needed.

And be patient for at least a week to see any changes. Then evaluate how things are going.

And it is not a bad idea to back the lights away a little to let the plants have a break from the intensity until they can use it.

MichiganMedGrower said:

When things are going south it is not good to start adding more stuff.

I would just water with the grow only at a maintenance dose. And not more often than needed.

And be patient for at least a week to see any changes. Then evaluate how things are going.

And it is not a bad idea to back the lights away a little to let the plants have a break from the intensity until they can use it.

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I agree. Throwing everthing at it and seeing what sticks is a bad way to grow.

I agree with making small adjustments and giving a few days to watch how the plant responds.

Backing the light up is a good idea to.

@Overmonitor What kind of water ae you using?

whitebb2727 said:

I agree. Throwing everthing at it and seeing what sticks is a bad way to grow.

I agree with making small adjustments and giving a few days to watch how the plant responds.

Backing the light up is a good idea to.

@Overmonitor What kind of water ae you using?

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I will def back the light up, it got too close because I moved my plant around to tie down some branches and the light dropped at one side without me noticing for maybe 15 minutes. I usually keep them around 12-16 inches away with a fan blowing on the hood, no exhaust.

I will check into Foliage Pro and try it out, especially if it will work better for them in the future. Is that a foliar feed or is it for top feed or both? If it isn't too much $$$ I may pick some up. For now I will plan on just using the DG Grow formula.

I am using tap water left out for 24 hours and then pH'ed (using pH down or pH up) to around 6.0. Would you recommend making the investment on distilled? I can get it for like 83 cents per gallon around here.

Tap is fine. I just wanted to know.

Go back to the gro for now. The foliage pro is a one part feed with macro and micro. Its a liquid feed. Mis in your water and water the plants. I think it can be foliar fed to. I'm not 100% I don't have the bottle with me.

Definately looks like you cut the veg nutes to soon ......I like to keep my veg nutes going a few weeks into flower then start adding flower nutes and at the same time backing the high N veg nutes down to eventually none where I'm running just my flower combo which has enough N to sustain the girls through flower.....but I personally like my plants to fade towards the very very end......to each there own .....but next time you know to keep your veg nutes going longer ...I like at least two weeks into flower before I start backing them off ....GL

Indacouch said:

Definately looks like you cut the veg nutes to soon ......I like to keep my veg nutes going a few weeks into flower then start adding flower nutes and at the same time backing the high N veg nutes down to eventually none where I'm running just my flower combo which has enough N to sustain the girls through flower.....but I personally like my plants to fade towards the very very end......to each there own .....but next time you know to keep your veg nutes going longer ...I like at least two weeks into flower before I start backing them off ....GL

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If you use multi part nutes this is excellent advice from my experience. I even go halfway into flower sometimes if they need it.

Don't know about Coco, but in soil that would be way too little Nitrogen for late veg, early and mid-bloom. Leaves turning yellow is usually an N deficiency IME because the plant used N to grow during the stretch period which is usually when people cut it off too soon; cutting N when the plant needs it the most to stretch and flower. I messed up my first two grows that way. My third grow I'm just using DG Foliage Pro the whole way through and it's much better.

It looks way worse today. Much droopier. I used a soil meter to check moistness and it is still pretty moist below the bottom inch or two, which feel dry. Soil pH is around 7 or 7.5 (using soil meter, which i hear is basically wrong).

I am worried that it isn't going to make it much longer. It doesnt have a ton of leaf left. Patience? What are my options? I could flush (leech) again but already did that like 1.5 weeks ago.

Flushing only made it worse for me too. Like I said, high N all the way until the last few weeks.

PCXV said:

Flushing only made it worse for me too. Like I said, high N all the way until the last few weeks.

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Heard on that, I will go ahead and be patient with her. She probably needs watered tomorrow, hopefully that will help out.

Are you saying I should A) Use high-N nutrients every time I give it water (no waterings, just feedings) or B) Just stick to my normal watering regimen, feeding nutrients every other time, using Grow formulas rather than bloom?

I'm no expert but I know it was low N that yellowed my leaves and nearly killed my plants. This time I'm staying with a 3-1-2/2-1-2 regimen and everything is better. So here is my non-professional advice for soil:

Get a blue labs 2-in-1 PH and EC tester.

If you soil has nutes don't Feed in veg for the first few weeks until leaves turn lighter in color. Feed ratio 3-1-2 gradually increasing each week from 1/4tsp per gallon to 1tsp per gallon. Feed every watering if you only water twice a week. With FP that's 0.8-1.0 EC which is minimal feeding.

I read that weeks 5-7 of bloom are bulk time, so I add a little bloom formula (1/4tsp) because wth i bought the crap so why not?

No need to flush ever.

Honestly I don't know how to translate that to Coco.

PCXV said:

I'm no expert but I know it was low N that yellowed my leaves and nearly killed my plants. This time I'm staying with a 3-1-2/2-1-2 regimen and everything is better. So here is my non-professional advice for soil:

Get a blue labs 2-in-1 PH and EC tester.

If you soil has nutes don't Feed in veg for the first few weeks until leaves turn lighter in color. Feed ratio 3-1-2 gradually increasing each week from 1/4tsp per gallon to 1tsp per gallon. Feed every watering if you only water twice a week. With FP that's 0.8-1.0 EC which is minimal feeding.

I read that weeks 5-7 of bloom are bulk time, so I add a little bloom formula (1/4tsp) because wth i bought the crap so why not?

No need to flush ever.

Honestly I don't know how to translate that to Coco.

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Followed your advice, she lived, just hardly any fan leaves now. I think my problem is my soil, part of it is soil (around the root ball) and part is coco (the outsides, bottom, and top of the pot). The soil seems to buffer pH and hold onto way more moisture than the coco does. It makes it hard to water correctly or feed correctly.

Anyways, would you guys harvest her yet? She is at about 60 days, don't see any amber trichs using a 30x loupe.

Yeah she looks done to me, and it looks good!