Guide to Nutrient Deficiency or Toxicity

Druid23 said:

hi, im new to this site and a first time grower. i looked everywhere and cant figure out what deficiency im looking at. im growing 3 jock horror plants in a scrog. 3 gal pots in roots organic 707 soil, botanicare pure blend veg and flowering nute. lights are 2 pro grow 260 led. im in the 5th week of flowering and did not notice a stretch which i think is weird since sativas are suppose to be stretchy. i was doing half veg half flower nutes for the transition stage till i went with a full dose of flowering is when the deficiency really kicked in. maybe sulfur deficiency? any help would be greatly appreciated.View attachment 2017829View attachment 2017828View attachment 2017827View attachment 2017856

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hey man, welcome to RIU first of all.

Your leaves show necrosis that appear to begin at the central vein. the only thing (i know) that does that is phosphorus deficiency. your plants also in flower, a time when it needs a lot of phosphorus. calcium/mag deficiencies are usually spots all over the leaves, other deficiencies show around the tips/edges.

id add a bit of phosphorus. if thats what it is, your really really low on it. for flowering, i also up the micro nutes a bit, kind of a preventative type care.

from experience, sativas grow up, and indicas grow sideways. but stretch is a matter of light. both will stretch with inadequate light. i wouldnt worry about it not growing if everything else is ok.

whats the NPK ratios on those 2 nutrients your using?

m4s73r said:

I just wanted to stop by and Say THANK YOU. Hands down one of the best threads Ive seen on this subject. As a new grower doing research, this cleared up most of questions on what to look for in deficiency situations, Thanks again!!

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thanks, i appreciate it.

The veg is 3-2-4 and flowering 2-3-5 its all organic. Won't a phosphorus def. show on the tips/edges of the leaf? And even though this happens after I gave 1 tbsp per gal of the flowering nutes it can still not have enough phosphorus? Do you think i might do more harm if i add alittle epson salt with the added phosphorus? Thank you for replying and thank you for the welcome.

usually it shows it on the middles first, and yea it could be P deficiency. 2-3-5 and 3-2-4 both seem a little low.



try searching around different stores for their fertilizers/nutrients. the NPK ratios and trace elements vary a lot. i use a mix of 4 different bottles to get the right blend that i want. but i end up with around 7-3-3 for veg and 3-7-7 for flowering.

I'll take a look around thank you for the advice very much Appreciated

Druid23 said:

hi, im new to this site and a first time grower. i looked everywhere and cant figure out what deficiency im looking at. im growing 3 jock horror plants in a scrog. 3 gal pots in roots organic 707 soil, botanicare pure blend veg and flowering nute. lights are 2 pro grow 260 led. im in the 5th week of flowering and did not notice a stretch which i think is weird since sativas are suppose to be stretchy. i was doing half veg half flower nutes for the transition stage till i went with a full dose of flowering is when the deficiency really kicked in. maybe sulfur deficiency? any help would be greatly appreciated.View attachment 2017829View attachment 2017828View attachment 2017827View attachment 2017856

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You can also get a phosphorus deficiency when the plant is root bound or over watered. I always try to transplant right before flipping the light to 12/12. Don't always assume that your deficiency is related to the amount of ferts you are giving. Usually a fert deficiency is going to show up slowly. If your plant is root bound that will present it self more rapidly.

BlueB said:

You can also get a phosphorus deficiency when the plant is root bound or over watered. I always try to transplant right before flipping the light to 12/12. Don't always assume that your deficiency is related to the amount of ferts you are giving. Usually a fert deficiency is going to show up slowly. If your plant is root bound that will present it self more rapidly.

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true. deficiencies are slow movers. another possible cuase for quick decay could be a screwy pH, salt build up, etc... check the roots, if they arent root bound something else is going on. how quickly did the splotches appear on the leaves?

It seemed right away. How do I check if it's root bound? If I take one finger and move just alittle dirt there are nice big white roots. But the plants are only about 2' tall in 3 gallon pots. update i fed with full flowering nutes at 6.5 ph and i can tell they are loving it. crystals doubled buds got bigger. its funny nubs tend to over do things but i was so cautious that i under fed them

well the best way to check if rootbound, take them out of the pot carefully and see if it looks like dirt, or a cobweb of roots.

I think I have a Ca deficiency. I have reddish-orange spots on my leaves. They are getting worse. I thought this was an mg deficiency so I started to treat it as such and now it is worse. I am growing in a hydro setup. PH of 5.8 I use fox farm grow big and big bloom for nutrients. I use tap water that I let sit to evaporate the chlorine. Temps are 81 F highest lights on. 70 F lowest lights off. Humidity 65% highest lights on and 70% highest lights off. My NPK for the grow big is 6-4-4 and the big bloom is 0.01-0.3-0.7 I want to say I have been adding too much N, but I can't say for sure. I need help a.s.a.p. and badly. This is my first grow and this problem has been going on for a couple weeks. I feel like I might lose my plant if I can't get this treated correctly. Oh and I am a week and 6 days into flowering.

Thanks bro! These charts will help me with my garden. Your other post with all the info is great too! It's growers like you that help the most. As a 100% Disabled Vet who has to grow his own medicine (legally), it helps taking out the guess work. Again thank you.

extremely informative and useful, thank you!

nubbis1020 said:

I think I have a Ca deficiency. I have reddish-orange spots on my leaves. They are getting worse. I thought this was an mg deficiency so I started to treat it as such and now it is worse. I am growing in a hydro setup. PH of 5.8 I use fox farm grow big and big bloom for nutrients. I use tap water that I let sit to evaporate the chlorine. Temps are 81 F highest lights on. 70 F lowest lights off. Humidity 65% highest lights on and 70% highest lights off. My NPK for the grow big is 6-4-4 and the big bloom is 0.01-0.3-0.7 I want to say I have been adding too much N, but I can't say for sure. I need help a.s.a.p. and badly. This is my first grow and this problem has been going on for a couple weeks. I feel like I might lose my plant if I can't get this treated correctly. Oh and I am a week and 6 days into flowering.

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pics help first of all.

spots on your leaves? where? all over? tips? centralized on the vein?

heat seems fine, pH seems fine, humidity is a little high for my taste, but its still ok.

ow that your in flowering, you should be cutting back on the grow big (still use it just diluted more). what micro nutrients are in the big bloom? other than NPK, it should have some other stuff in it (mag/cal/mg/mn/fe/.....)

What do the roots look like? are they bright white? or offwhite? brown? is the root length close to the height of the plant? have you cleaned your reservoir? (is there shit caked up on the inside walls like a salt chip of toxic death? have you checked the water pump for good flow and air pump/stones for a good consistency of tiny bubbles?
lots of questions, but 3 pics would answer them all (one of a leaf close up, another of the plant, another of the roots)

nick17gar said:

pics help first of all.

spots on your leaves? where? all over? tips? centralized on the vein?

heat seems fine, pH seems fine, humidity is a little high for my taste, but its still ok.

ow that your in flowering, you should be cutting back on the grow big (still use it just diluted more). what micro nutrients are in the big bloom? other than NPK, it should have some other stuff in it (mag/cal/mg/mn/fe/.....)

What do the roots look like? are they bright white? or offwhite? brown? is the root length close to the height of the plant? have you cleaned your reservoir? (is there shit caked up on the inside walls like a salt chip of toxic death? have you checked the water pump for good flow and air pump/stones for a good consistency of tiny bubbles?
lots of questions, but 3 pics would answer them all (one of a leaf close up, another of the plant, another of the roots)

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The spots are more centralized. Some are near the tips. I just cut out the grow big from my nutrient solution today. For the big bloom, other than small traces of nitrogen, there is small amounts of Phosphate, and soluble potash. My roots are white with a little tint of brown. Nothing dark at all. The root length is pretty good. I'd say close to the plant. I clean my reservoir everytime I add more water and nutrients. There is nothing caked in the reservoir. The water pump is fine, so is the air pump and stones. I will try to get fresh new pics up on here tomorrow as my plant is sleeping and I do not want to disturb her.

Very helpful indeed!! thanks very much dude!

can someone elite please take a look at my forum post, its my first auto flower grow and i posted it a day ago and no ones replied....did i do something wrong? any help would be awesome!
my post is under
DIY bubblicious autoflowers

nick17gar: I answered your questions above on the page and here are a few pictures.

nubbis1020 said:

The spots are more centralized. Some are near the tips. I just cut out the grow big from my nutrient solution today. For the big bloom, other than small traces of nitrogen, there is small amounts of Phosphate, and soluble potash. My roots are white with a little tint of brown. Nothing dark at all. The root length is pretty good. I'd say close to the plant. I clean my reservoir everytime I add more water and nutrients. There is nothing caked in the reservoir. The water pump is fine, so is the air pump and stones. I will try to get fresh new pics up on here tomorrow as my plant is sleeping and I do not want to disturb her.

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phosphate: a salt of phosphoric acid. PO4. basically, its phosphorus and oxygen. Potash is a water soluble potassium. basically, you got some PK i there, and your plants need micro nutes. overall the plant looks healthy, but investing
a few bucks in a good bottle of micro nutes would go a long way. perhaps something else with a high phosphorus percentage (not just for flowering, but early seedlings/clones), i wouldnt worry and freak out. just go get some other bottles of goodies. im a big fan of getting 3-5 bottles, each from various vendors, and mixing them. it takes a little more diluting til ya get the mix right, but it ensures that micro nute deficiencies are rare.

ive written it a bunch too, theres stuff at petstores for fish tank plants. in about 2 minutes i found this stuff, 15 bucks a bottle and contains: Total Nitrogen 0.07%, Available Phosphate ( P2O5) 0.01%, Soluble Potash 0.37%, Calcium (Ca) 0.14%, Magnesium (Mg) 0.11%, Sulfur (S) 0.2773%, Boron (B) 0.009%, Chlorine (Cl) 1.15%, Cobalt (Co) 0.0004%, Copper (Cu) 0.0001%, Iron (Fe) 0.32%, Manganese (Mn) 0.0118%, Molybdenum (Mo) 0.0009%, Sodium (Na) 0.13%, Zinc (Zn) 0.0007%. <- thats low on NPK but has 12 micro nutes for 15 bucks! ( http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4368194 ) theres tons of these bottles on the petsmart site, and most of them will work fine (make sure they are for tropical plants, and dilute them a bit more then recommended at the start). ive done this for years and rarely get deficiencies. im usually in a battle between just right and a lil overfed on nitrogen =).

edit: my bottle of this stuff says 1 capful (5ML) for 40 liters. so thats about 1ML for 8 liters. i go kinda heavy (ok apparently really heavy) i do 1ML for 2liters... lol. but it works great! 1ML per 2liter bottle of solution for the plants... the bottle i have, i bought a few months ago and its still over 1/2 full. trust me, its worth every penny of the 10-15 bucks. and its safe for fish to swim around in, so i figure its safe for plants i smoke. ( i do stop using it 2 weeks before harvest, but i havent noticed any odd taste, or tail growing, or wierd side effect)

Thanks for the response. Great advice.

my plant totally did that too.. freaked me out...