2 years in, wtf is wrong still?!?!

Wetdog said:

IDK about yours, but with my dolomite I've noticed that the mag is slower to release than the Ca and I needed to give a shot of epsom salt.

BTW, this was also using Jack's and I've used Jack's for well over 30 years.

With your *blend*, you should be fine for the N-P-K and I wouldn't really change anything.



A shot of epsom till the lime you top dressed with kicks in and that should do ya.

How much lime did you use? *I* use 2tbl/gallon of mix, or 1cup/cf of mix. It's the second ingredient in my mix when I make it. Jack's is designed to work with a well limed mix and adding it really makes a difference.

Wet

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i didn't measure how much lime i used, i had to put it in 20 pots in the dark, i eye balled it. pretty sure like 3-4 tbs per 3 gallon pot. should i foliar spray with epsom? i just watered them with ph 4=6.5 water to soak in the top dress... lemme know, thanks wet

ps i add 2 tblspoons of lime per gallon of soil when i mix my soil up, veg for 5 weeks, so around week 9 or 10 of life they start to do this. is it because it uses up all the lime?

Here's my 2 cents...

Did you check your soil pH?? seems that is the first place I would start is finding out where my growing medium is sitting. You may also want to consider doing a good flush with some distilled water to leech any salt buildups in your soil out. This is where I would start. Until you know if your plants are locking out any nutrients due to ph issues, I wouldn't even play the guessing game. Water with some distilled water...ph usually is around 7....find out what your run off measures at....and go from there...

streets said:

i didn't measure how much lime i used, i had to put it in 20 pots in the dark, i eye balled it. pretty sure like 3-4 tbs per 3 gallon pot. should i foliar spray with epsom? i just watered them with ph 4=6.5 water to soak in the top dress... lemme know, thanks wet

ps i add 2 tblspoons of lime per gallon of soil when i mix my soil up, veg for 5 weeks, so around week 9 or 10 of life they start to do this. is it because it uses up all the lime?

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The lime does get depleted, so yes a top dress might be needed. I've had to on long term stuff like tomatoes after a couple of months and on mother plants. Longer on the mother plants, but then again they really don't start sucking down the cal/mag till they go into flower.

The results from the top dress will tell you a lot.

Yeah, if you just watered, a foliar of the epsom will be fine, and perhaps add 1tsp/gallon in the next watering, depending on the results from the foliar.

Wet

Icemud said:

Here's my 2 cents...

Did you check your soil pH?? seems that is the first place I would start is finding out where my growing medium is sitting. You may also want to consider doing a good flush with some distilled water to leech any salt buildups in your soil out. This is where I would start. Until you know if your plants are locking out any nutrients due to ph issues, I wouldn't even play the guessing game. Water with some distilled water...ph usually is around 7....find out what your run off measures at....and go from there...

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I'm working with soil and it seems that if this were a lock out it would be happening much quicker than it is. i would say it has affected 3-5 leafs per plant within a weeks time. i also use hygrozyme to rid of excess salt build up so i highly doubt its that.. and flushing probably wouldn't b something i would be looking to do only because i ALWAYS check my ppms. previously i would flush my plants when this would happen, than the yellowing would begin! this time I'm going to try something different because experience tells me that flushing my plant would only take a lot of time and cause me problems in the long run, affecting yield and potency. I'm working with 17 different strains, trying to pick out the least fussiest 6 strains. currently i have selected (based on 4 weeks flowering) pure power plant, afghani kush x yumbolt, chrystal, floja, pineapple express, critical plus, and bubblilicious, which i grew 3 of each strain and selected the best phenos, but i won't know which strains for sure that I'm choosing till harvest time.

Just thought of it, but you can try adding some Humic acid and Fulvic acid which will help Chelate the nutrients, expanding the "window" of acceptable PH and will help with available nutrient uptake....

Wow, sounds like you got a lot on your hands.... 17 strains at once...holy crap!!

Hygrowzyme I do not believe will prevent or stop nutrient lockup/salt buildup. I believe it will aid in nutrient uptake because of the enzymes and protein's that are in it, however, I do not believe it will correct a salt issue.... I may be wrong but from what I read it is for preventing root rot but breaking down organic/old root material to available nutrients... but if there is an abundance of salts/nutrient ions already prevelant, I don't know if it will help to rid the salts from the soil... The only way I know to do this is by salt leeching/flush...

It's great that you always check your ppm's on feedings, but this tells you nothing about the PH of the soil... only how many disolved aluminim and h+ ions are in your feedings...its good to know but tells you nothing about the condition of your soil.... I highly would recommend flushing with distilled water...check the ph before, and then check the run off and you will see where your soil is sitting....

From some of the reading I've done, there is a relationship between N intake and P and K intake and I can't remember the details but if there is an abundance of one of these nutrients, it will slow the uptake of the others.... I'm sure some chem/bio pro's can help with explaining this....

Hope these suggestions are helping...but from my experience...even checking ppm's doesnt mean you wont have a lockout.... it only means you know the "strength" of your feedings of dissolved solids... I used to PH adjust/monitor ppms and all that before I got into organics.... and I had lockout issues.... flushing was the only thing that helped "reset" the soil PH levels efficiently.... Now with organics I dont PH adjust or even check my PPMs and haven't had a issue once.... and my soil sits at 6.5-6.7ph...

I'm thinking of switching to hydro, this soil stuff is crazy... lol

well I'm going to see how this goes, soil if very forgiving in terms of ph, and i have checked my ph run off in the past, it read 5.8. so i flushed till it came out 6.4. this didn't help my plants at all, they seemed to react negatively to the flush. with the amount of plants i have, flushing would take me over 24 hours of work, which i will do to save my plants AND will do if they continue to react to the soil/conditions the way the currently are.

streets said:

I'm thinking of switching to hydro, this soil stuff is crazy... lol

well I'm going to see how this goes, soil if very forgiving in terms of ph, and i have checked my ph run off in the past, it read 5.8. so i flushed till it came out 6.4. this didn't help my plants at all, they seemed to react negatively to the flush. with the amount of plants i have, flushing would take me over 24 hours of work, which i will do to save my plants AND will do if they continue to react to the soil/conditions the way the currently are.

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Your problem is, this guy is correct and you should listen. You have a K deficiency, bump it up a bit, and they will be fine within 24 hours...

cannatricks said:

yellowing leaves is nitrogen, yellowing leaves with necrosis is potassium. If your leaves are getting wilty and going straight yellow that's one thing; If the edges are becoming necrotic (dead spots), yellow brown leaf tips pointing down as the leaves are yellowing upward, Then it's K def. All of the photos point towards this... Why is it that anytime someone posts some problem here it's always "Nitrogen Deficiency Bandwagon". His foliage is a nice deep green except for the bottom leaves, this doesn't look like N def. to me.

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Or, keep screwing with your pH. What is the definition of insanity? You might Google it...

boxorain said:

Your problem is, this guy is correct and you should listen. You have a K deficiency, bump it up a bit, and they will be fine within 24 hours...



Or, keep screwing with your pH. What is the definition of insanity? You might Google it...

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im confused on what my problem is, that he is right and i should flush, or i should just get something to bump up the k?!

Both. I think thats what I said on page 1.

I would not advise hydro...I have just given up on hydro and am going to give soil a shot...Everyone made hydro sound so awesome and simple...lol. Its not...AT ALL!!! You think everything has to be just right with soil?! Just wait til there is no buffer and the plants are just in the water...Just a little off with the ph and it is a hellish nightmare with seemingly no end...so I ended it...lol. Unplugged the whole works and went and got some soil and pots...