Unable to identify problem, pics and full details.

Marthacrookshanks

Active Member
Long time lurker first time poster.
New to growing and enjoying the experience. I have tried to identify the problem but have drawn a complete blank. I have checked the great resource on the forums and read through a lot of threads but cant seem to find an exact match, especially with the same conditions and parameters as my grow.

As i said I am new to growing, and after obtaining some rotted cuttings about 2 and a half months ago, i have made all the classic newb mistakes from keeping the temperature too high, to over feeding and not keeping an eye on my PH levels.

However now, i have my grow room at a constant 24°c, i check and maintain my ph levels with sillicone etc. The plants have managed to come through and have been looking healthy despite their bad start.

The problem is now i have brown spots appearing on some of the leaves, at all levels of the plant, it seems to be spreading and getting worse, and i need to contain it and identify what the problem is before i lose them.

Plants are in 45L tubs, fed once every 3 days at this point, 12/12 lights, in days 13 of flowering, PH is 6.4. Planted in MG soil approx 3 ft tall, under 2x 600W HPS light, phillips growlux bulbs.

I've attached pictures showing extreme damage on the worst of the leaves and also other parts where the leaves seem fine. There didnt seem to be any pattern to which leaves were being affected, it was the larger leaves at the top, right through to smaller leaves at middle and lower sections.

if you have any ideas on where i'm going wrong, please let me know, i know the plants didnt have the best start, but after recovering and doing well, they now seem to be getting bad at a fairly steep pace. all help appreciated.
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Hobbes

Well-Known Member
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"As i said I am new to growing, and after obtaining some rotted cuttings about 2 and a half months ago, i have made all the classic newb mistakes from keeping the temperature too high, to over feeding and not keeping an eye on my PH levels. . . . However now, i have my grow room at a constant 24°c, i check and maintain my ph levels with sillicone etc."

Martha I'd say that even though your PH, temperature and nutrients are now correct the root ball is still out of balance because of the cumulative effect of the growing mistakes made because of the learning curve. It doesn't look like over fertilizing, there's not a lot of burn on the leaf tips. What ever the cause of the problem there are basically two options:

1. Do nothing and eventually the nutrient and PH balance will correct itself.

2. Flush with PH balanced clear water - 1 to 3 times the volume of your pot - to flush all nutrients out and to bring the ph balance of the root ball to 6.5.

You are going to loose some of those fan leaves with either option, which will result in slightly less yield, potency and prolonged flower. It happens to all of us every now and again, part of growing. Flushing will lessen future damage but will not save all of the fan leaves.

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I suggest putting in an air floor to get air circulation through your canopy. You could have humidity problems, or stagnant air in the lower part of your tent. Page 1, post #7 of the Grow Lab thread linked at the bottom of this post. If those dark patches are mould it's because of poor air flow.

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Hobbes

Well-Known Member
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"Plants are in 45L tubs"

11 gallon buckets?

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"fed once every 3 days at this point,"

11 gallon buckets should be fed once a week at the most, probably every 10 days for plants your size.

You should be soaking your buckets until water runs out the bottom, then letting them dry out and soaking them again.

When you water a little at a time and the bucket's weight feels relatively moist the roots can die in dry areas that form at the bottom of the root ball, lessening the effectiveness of your buckets.

Soak and starve causes the plant to grow new roots, thicker roots, better nute uptake.

Check out the Air Pruning buckets on page 1 of the Grow Lab thread.

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"Planted in MG soil"

Very bad soil for marijuana, if it has time release nutrients this could be a big part of your problem. Pro Mix is inexpensive and available everywhere, Scotts, or pretty much anything sold at a hydro store. not Miracle-Gro.

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"approx 3 ft tall,"

Do you know the strain?

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"under 2x 600W HPS light, phillips growlux bulbs."

How many plants?
What is the grow area size?

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moash

New Member
could be anything man....from root rot,calcium def,mg def,nute lockout
what kind of miracle grow r u using?
 

Marthacrookshanks

Active Member
Thanks for your help Hobbes.
Yes they are in 11 gallon buckets that i picked up from a local DIY store.
Would it be worth while getting air pruning pots at this stage? I thought the most of the root growth was done during the vegging stage?
I know now that MG was probably the worst soil i could have potted in, It's all part of the learning process i guess!
The strain is NL5, I have 3 plants in a 2x2x2 grow tent.
The aircon unit I'm using has a pan function and circulates the air really well. As does the carbon filter.
Thanks again, i really appreciate your input
 

Marthacrookshanks

Active Member
UPDATE:
Today i checked after flushing on Sunday with 6.5 Ph water. I used about 140L of water the grow room was a mess, but it was fun!
The problem only seems to be getting worse at this point, but im keeping positive.
Does anyone thing its an Mg deficiency? And using epsom salts would help?
I'll go take a couple more photos.
 

skiweeds

Active Member
are you spraying your leave with anything like pesticides or foliar feeding? could be burnt marks from drops of nutrients getting on the leaves and the rays of light hitting it causing burns. i've had it happen to me before. if so, spray when the lights are out, or if your on full 24 remove them from the light until the spray dries. some ppl also tell me regular water drops can burn leaves but i always mist my young plants and my 400w mh dont fry them. neem oil does however.
 

moash

New Member
well.....thinkin about it
u just transplanted in the miracle grow,right?and that soil has time released ferts,right?
on top of that u say that u feed every 3days...
so im think u have nutrient lockout
and on top of that everytime u water/flush,u release more nutrients in the soil
so i dont really know what kind of advice to give other than to transplant into better soil
 

Marthacrookshanks

Active Member
so i dont really know what kind of advice to give other than to transplant into better soil
Any tips or techniques for doing this, my mom was telling me to be careful because the roots are really easy to damage. I heard of some solutions that you can use to flush the root ball to stop the lockout process and help uptake again.
When i was feeding i should have said that i only use nutes once a week, the rest of the times were just water. Sorry for not being clear on that in the original description.
Would this soil be best for re-potting into?
http://www.progrow.co.uk/acatalog/info_449.html
The store is only an hours drive from me and I can do the transplant tomorrow.
Thanks for the help again.
 

moash

New Member
Any tips or techniques for doing this, my mom was telling me to be careful because the roots are really easy to damage. I heard of some solutions that you can use to flush the root ball to stop the lockout process and help uptake again.
When i was feeding i should have said that i only use nutes once a week, the rest of the times were just water. Sorry for not being clear on that in the original description.
Would this soil be best for re-potting into?
http://www.progrow.co.uk/acatalog/info_449.html
The store is only an hours drive from me and I can do the transplant tomorrow.
Thanks for the help again.
that soil will be good
flushing to stop the lockout is a good solution but is not likely with time released ferts in the soil because everytime water in introduced,more nutrients r released
i would try getting as much miracle grow out of there as u can without hurting ur roots....u could take all the soil off by dunking the rootball in water but idk how that will transplant
OR u can just decide to ride it out,using only water and see if it pulls thru
 

gumball

Well-Known Member
pull them out gently by digging around them first, yours will be LARGE so you will have to dig in around and get a good grip so you dont damage any. lay them on a grill or a screen, something to support them but let dirt wash away. a sprayer works best, but it needs to be ph'ed water to wash them off. wash off as much the MG soil as you can, bad JuJu. i was told you could trim a little off the root tips and this will help them dig in faster, leave that up to you. then put dampened soil about midway into the pot, hold the plant bout where you want it in the pot, and fill in around it. dont over soak the plant now. the bottom is damp, and the top should be dry. this should be ok for a couple of days with your plants, but if you want to do some water, then just water around the edges of the pot, and just a little maybe a quart split between the 4 sides of the pots (like a squared circle).

hope this helps and good luck, i think a transplant will help you in this case with all the info you provided.
 

gumball

Well-Known Member
just looked at your plants again, if you have someone that can help you that may be good!! they are a little big
 

Marthacrookshanks

Active Member
I was down it the grow tent and noticed a minute black fly. I managed to squish it on the side of one of the grow tubs and when I checked my finger to inspect it i noticed tiny white bugs crawling over my finger!
Any ideas what this may be?
And could this be the cause of the plant damage?
 

gumball

Well-Known Member
yes, almost sounds like spider mites. i think they are little white things. look through your canopy for webs. i hope you do not have them as they are a tough critter.
 
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