Sudden Decline Mid Flower. Help Appreciated.

I apologize for the low quality photos HPS is on and all I have is a phone camera.

First off: 400w HPS air cooled
temps in tent dont pass 80
running moonshineman's organic soil mix (essentially FFOF, FF Light Warrior, FF Planting Mix and FF fruit flower dry nutes. Supposed to be fine with PH'd water through entire grow.)
1x Pineapple express, 1x white widow, 1x blue dream

These plants were looking solid throughout veg with deep green coloring and vigorous growth. When I flipped them to flower that continued for about 3 weeks. I am new to this so possibly I had a (N?) Deficiency that just got out of control they were yellowing slowly. I have given these up as a loss, but want to learn what I did wrong for next time around.

Firstly the middle plant (Pineapple Express) was yellowing and suddenly began to drop leaves, shrivel, claw and otherwise go to shit practically overnight. The white widow did about the same however it's overall growth has been less vigorous and the onset of whatever this is seems to be slower too. The blue dream is completely happy.

Leaves hook down (some up). Lower leaves on PE are solid yellow. On PE and WW upper leaves (starting from bottom of plant up) are mottled green with necrotic spots mainly centered on the veins of the leaves or at the tips. Leaves feel dry to touch and once yellowed are brittle enough to break off. PE has been shedding all its leaves and WW has not.

Any help guys?

What's your PH? Plants absorb different nutes at diff. PH levels. Your ph may have been fine for them to absorb what they needed for veg., but may be causing a lock-out issue of P..K..calcium etc.

Thanks for the response. I have been PH'ing with a dropper kit. Shooting for 6.5.

It seems weird to me that the left side of the WW and the BD on the right are both okay. But the PE in the middle and the right side of WW are totally fubar.

What direction is your fan blowing from? What's light placement?

nick88 said:

What direction is your fan blowing from? What's light placement?

Click to expand...

Fan blows from the left, WW to PE to BDH. Light is 18ish inches above the scrog screen in center of tent.

But the PE in the middle and the right side of WW are totally fubar

Click to expand...

Light burn /bleaching ,could be too close make sure the light is 12" away from the plants even in cooltubes. Get some better pics up ,those are useless.

light comes on in about an hour, I'll kill it asap and get some better pictures for you guys. I keep the light 18" above the scrog screen. Should it be 12 from the tops of the colas? Last grow I didnt have any trouble with light burn etc.

Taking your 400 Watt HPS down closer might create heat issues. I run 2-150's in my closet, and the nice thing is I can get closer to the girls without getting too hot. Be careful PH-ing your water AFTER adding nutes. Nutes are acidic and they will naturally take your PH down. I don't have to add drops when I'm nuting my plants. I also watch the PH towards the last phase of flowering as the soil is becoming acidic from adding nutes the past 4 weeks.

I thought the light was at a good distance too. When I was in there trying to take pictures I got to thinking. I used a new fan to circulate air in side the tent this grow. I had it positioned slightly above the canopy on the left side of the tent. nick88's question got me thinking that I am burning the hell out of my girls with the fan.

I swapped it out with a 6 inch clip fan from my desk. Canopy is moving but its much more mellow on them. The dead spots line up perfectly with where the wind would have been strongest. Seems obvious now, but eh, I'm new. Anyone else seen mass yellowing on older foliage and eventual necrotic spots from wind? Keeping in mind the fan has been on since they hit the flowering tent and did Not oscillate.

I've blown dried dead a plant in my time.
Same thing...fan directly on plant , non oscillating...just browned up and died.

Low humidity, high heat, and a blasting fan = one very dead plant ... Yup...I was a newb. lol


Nowadays I just keep the air moving so the plant just slightly rustles. There are no direct fans on the plants but diffused at angles across the room.

I also use several small fans instead of one or two big ones....

Those wall mounted oscillators are a god send.

When 2 or more fans output meet they create an eddy that rustles the plants even though nether fan is aimed at the plant.

Also putting small oscillating fans on the floor ( below canopy ) amplifies this and helps to push / pull air through the lower branches. Also helps with any potential PM problems

ogreb said:

I've blown dried dead a plant in my time.
Same thing...fan directly on plant , non oscillating...just browned up and died.

Low humidity, high heat, and a blasting fan = one very dead plant ... Yup...I was a newb. lol


Nowadays I just keep the air moving so the plant just slightly rustles. There are no direct fans on the plants but diffused at angles across the room.

I also use several small fans instead of one or two big ones....

Those wall mounted oscillators are a god send.

When 2 or more fans output meet they create an eddy that rustles the plants even though nether fan is aimed at the plant.

Also putting small oscillating fans on the floor ( below canopy ) amplifies this and helps to push / pull air through the lower branches. Also helps with any potential PM problems

Click to expand...

Excellent advice here! I use 3 tiny fans in my 2x4 closet space, and I move them to places where they collide the air, creating somewhat of a whirling affect. The spinning air moves up and around my girls, and they seem to LOVE this! I also have an exhaust fan going out my roof, so air flow is always fresh and moving.