Rust all over leaf/plant

StarDawg Autos'
Growing in BM7 (Bark mulch/compost/verm/perl).
Ph'd water since seed at 6.4-6.5
Fed Botaicare every other watering at 1/2 strength/ FF Big Bloom at 1/2 every other watering.
Affecting whole plant from top to bottom.
Starting week 8


The leaf material feels very dry and rough. Rusty spots will not rub off. Plant material is very brittle and easy to tear. Not over or under watering. Under 1000w HLG 550 V2's at 22 inches above canopy (700ish upol). This is one of 9 of the same strain, it is the worst one, but some of the others are showing early signs of this, and the rest look fine.

Do you have a soil pH meter? I assume other strains are getting the same treatment but look healthy?

I can't get the pictures to load right now, I'll check again later when I get back from the store.

You are on well water with high PPM right? Perhaps a lockout going on?

One thing I do know is my stardawg strain is an addball, not auto.

Renfro said:

Do you have a soil pH meter? I assume other strains are getting the same treatment but look healthy?

I can't get the pictures to load right now, I'll check again later when I get back from the store.

You are on well water with high PPM right? Perhaps a lockout going on?

One thing I do know is my stardawg strain is an addball, not auto.

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I do have a soil ph meter.. I can't say that it is accurate, but reading 6.8ish. We feed at 6.3-6.4 to bring it down a bit. The others are getting the same feeding/light/water and look heathy. We are on well water at 335ish ppm from the tap. We add up to have 750-800 ppm final mix to water these autos at 6.3-6.4ph.

I am suspecting there is too much calcium causing lockouts. I would consider grabbing some RO water from walmart and trying that on those plants to see if that fixes it.

Renfro said:

I am suspecting there is too much calcium causing lockouts. I would consider grabbing some RO water from walmart and trying that on those plants to see if that fixes it.

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That thought did cross my mind. We do have a high ppm naturally. The ground water is full of calcium, and other minerals, that's why we try to keep the nutes at 1/2, and just top up.

DoubleAtotheRON said:

That thought did cross my mind. We do have a high ppm naturally. The ground water is full of calcium, and other minerals, that's why we try to keep the nutes at 1/2, and just top up.

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Dilute your well water with RO or distilled to 180 or close. Then add your nutes to the PPM you want.

hotrodharley said:

Dilute your well water with RO or distilled to 180 or close. Then add your nutes to the PPM you want.

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Well,.. that would be a next step, as we water in 55 gallon tanks. An RO system is possible. Im not sure that investing in an RO system would outweigh loosing 1-3 plants out of 100, but we are looking into it, and education from you fine fellows is always good info. Thanks HRH and Renfro.

If your well water has such high amounts of Ca in it, that the uptake of nutrients is stalled (lock out) to these particular plants, causing the rust and leaf issues, don't you think, being you're feeding out of the same reservoir, that you'd be having this problem across your entire grow? I would.

If the problem plants are all of one strain, then perhaps what you're seeing is their need for more of something (Ca), than their counterparts in the same grow.

Just a couple points to consider before you go too far...Good luck.

DoubleAtotheRON said:

Well,.. that would be a next step, as we water in 55 gallon tanks. An RO system is possible. Im not sure that investing in an RO system would outweigh loosing 1-3 plants out of 100, but we are looking into it, and education from you fine fellows is always good info. Thanks HRH and Renfro.

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Good luck!