Cola's drying out on plant

Hey guys,

I have a purple kush plant current on day 54 of flower growing in soil with 2x300w LED lights.
Last fed 3 days ago 1/2 strength nutes since i am about to start flushing.
water is ph'd between 5.8 and 6.2.
Humidity has on average been around 45-50% and temp of 21-25C.


Over the past week i have noticed two of the top colas leaves are drying out and curling. Today while watering i felt those two colas, and they are dry as a bone.

I am wondering, what may be the cause of this? should i cut those colas down now? should i be concerned about the rest of the plant suffering the same faith?

First two pics are of the affected colas, the third is how the other one look.

Thanks for your time.

On the suspect flowers, check if they have any signs of insects or bud rot. If there aren't any signs of damage then the plant is telling you it's done.

How high are the lights?

hotrodharley said:

How high are the lights?

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At this point the lights are around 9 inches from tallest cola. Pretty much out of room to go any higher with lights in tent.
The suspect ones are around 12 inches away.

freezerjam902 said:

At this point the lights are around 9 inches from tallest cola. Pretty much out of room to go any higher with lights in tent.
The suspect ones are around 12 inches away.

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Thats way to close man. You need at least 18 inches from the top bud to the lights in flower. Use a infrared thermometer (the ones that look like a gun) and check the leaf temps. If the leaf temp is higher than your ambient temp then those lights need to go higher. If you cant then youre going to have to bend the tops down somehow. Either way your plants are stressing right now, doing either or will still result in diminished yields. Good luck!

freezerjam902 said:

At this point the lights are around 9 inches from tallest cola. Pretty much out of room to go any higher with lights in tent.
The suspect ones are around 12 inches away.

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Raise it to at least 22". There's your bud cooker.

Thegermling said:

Thats way to close man. You need at least 18 inches from the top bud to the lights in flower. Use a infrared thermometer (the ones that look like a gun) and check the leaf temps. If the leaf temp is higher than your ambient temp then those lights need to go higher. If you cant then youre going to have to bend the tops down somehow. Either way your plants are stressing right now, doing either or will still result in diminished yields. Good luck!

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It's not just temps. It's light intensity.

GBAUTO said:

On the suspect flowers, check if they have any signs of insects or bud rot. If there aren't any signs of damage then the plant is telling you it's done.

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No sign of insects or rot that i was able to spot.

hotrodharley said:

Raise it to at least 22". There's your bud cooker.

Click to expand...

Thegermling said:

Thats way to close man. You need at least 18 inches from the top bud to the lights in flower. Use a infrared thermometer (the ones that look like a gun) and check the leaf temps. If the leaf temp is higher than your ambient temp then those lights need to go higher. If you cant then youre going to have to bend the tops down somehow. Either way your plants are stressing right now, doing either or will still result in diminished yields. Good luck!

Click to expand...

Even under led lights? What puzzles me is that there are colas that have been closer to the light than the 2 suspect ones, and they are not showing any signs of drying, etc (knocks on wood lol)

i have a thermometer/hydrometer which hangs in the tent at cola level under the lights, and temp has been in low 20's fairly constantly over the past month. Gonna try to locate my infrared thermometer. haven't seen it in a year or so, but i know its around here.

i was able to bring the lights up a bit more last night.

What would you suggest i do with the two suspect cola's? should i remove just the dried portion, or remove the whole shoot?

Thanks guys.

freezerjam902 said:

Even under led lights? What puzzles me is that there are colas that have been closer to the light than the 2 suspect ones, and they are not showing any signs of drying, etc (knocks on wood lol)

i have a thermometer/hydrometer which hangs in the tent at cola level under the lights, and temp has been in low 20's fairly constantly over the past month. Gonna try to locate my infrared thermometer. haven't seen it in a year or so, but i know its around here.

i was able to bring the lights up a bit more last night.

What would you suggest i do with the two suspect cola's? should i remove just the dried portion, or remove the whole shoot?

Thanks guys.

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LED's are known for "hot spots" I would harvest and find a way to get more vertical clearance

freezerjam902 said:

Even under led lights? What puzzles me is that there are colas that have been closer to the light than the 2 suspect ones, and they are not showing any signs of drying, etc (knocks on wood lol)

i have a thermometer/hydrometer which hangs in the tent at cola level under the lights, and temp has been in low 20's fairly constantly over the past month. Gonna try to locate my infrared thermometer. haven't seen it in a year or so, but i know its around here.

i was able to bring the lights up a bit more last night.

What would you suggest i do with the two suspect cola's? should i remove just the dried portion, or remove the whole shoot?

Thanks guys.

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Raise your lights. Trim the damaged sections or entire colas off. Carry on.

hotrodharley said:

Raise your lights. Trim the damaged sections or entire colas off. Carry on.

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Lights raised to within two inches of top of tent last night, just enough room for air movement from the fans. Top most colas are 10 inches from light, the majority are approx 15 inches.

Am i ok snipping just below the colas leaving the rest of that shoot?

Herb & Suds said:

LED's are known for "hot spots" I would harvest and find a way to get more vertical clearance

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This plant was in veg far too long, which is whats causing my height issues now. This whole grow has been a huge learning experience.

I would really like to let it flower for another 4-7 days as many of the trichs are still clear. But if it means losing more of the crop, i may have to look at harvesting early.

Thanks

freezerjam902 said:

Lights raised to within two inches of top of tent, just enough room for air movement from the fans.
Am i ok snipping just below the colas leaving the rest of that shoot?

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I would. The worst that could happen is damage spreading and then go ahead and chop it all. In fact I'd take the top of the plant off for clearance if necessary.

hotrodharley said:

I would. The worst that could happen is damage spreading and then go ahead and chop it all. In fact I'd take the top of the plant off for clearance if necessary.

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Ok will try just removing the suspect portions, and will monitor the rest of the shoot.

Thank you for your help sir.

freezerjam902 said:

Ok will try just removing the suspect portions, and will monitor the rest of the shoot.

Thank you for your help sir.

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Let us know the end results . Good luck.

GBAUTO said:

On the suspect flowers, check if they have any signs of insects or bud rot. If there aren't any signs of damage then the plant is telling you it's done.

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i ended up cutting off the two effected cola's. both dry portions had white fuzzy mold inside once bud was opened up. Nothing else seems effected right now, but will be keeping a very close eye until harvest.