PICS - Can you help identify the deficiency?

Tuckatan

Tuckatan

Well-Known Member
Hi guys, I seem to have a deficiency, growing barneys farm red cherry berry in coco/perlite, 5gallon fabric pots.


Day 29 since flip.


GH trio nutes With rain water & calmag. Water/feed temp usually between 17.5c - 18.5c. Usually around 600-650 ppm. PH to 5.8 with regularly Calibrated PH meter.


Night temp 19c 50-55% RH

Day temp 26c 35-45% RH


It looks to me like maybe potassium with a bit of Ca & Mg?




I checked my notes and for some reason a few feeds ago I fed only 2ml cal mag per 5l instead of the usual 4ml. Could this have caused it? It hasn’t appeared to worsen the last couple days, just want to make sure I’m on top of it.


Feed is currently per 5l

Calmag - 4ml

Micro - 4ml

Gro - 2ml

Bloom - 4ml

Bloombastic (PK 15-16) - 2ml (last 2 feeds only)


It’s worth noting, and Im pretty sure it’s common in flower but my runoff PH is down to around 5.1. I consistently feed at 5.8 but have gone up to 5.9 last couple feeds too. Ph of runoff increases by about the same amount I up the PH in.


Any input as to what I’m seeing here?
 

Attachments

Purpsmagurps

Purpsmagurps

Well-Known Member
yeah you need to be about 5.8 in veg and i let my res rise up to 6.2 before lowering it back down through flower. potassium lockout for sure.
 
NeWcS

NeWcS

Well-Known Member
The easy answer would to add more N at the beginning of bloom. Looks like she didn't have enough to get her all the way through...
 
Tuckatan

Tuckatan

Well-Known Member
NeWcS said:
The easy answer would to add more N at the beginning of bloom. Looks like she didn't have enough to get her all the way through...
Click to expand...
In all honesty mate it’s lights on and that’s with flash, they look significantly greener under normal lighting, and have consistently given plenty of N, and it is still getting N, though the dose has been halved only in the last week, I was referring more to the burned edges of leaves etc!
 
Purpsmagurps

Purpsmagurps

Well-Known Member
but the real thing is what is your runoff ppms? you could have too many salts built up as well. potassium excess looks like this too lol.
 
Purpsmagurps

Purpsmagurps

Well-Known Member
oh, well... id have to say your ph is it then get your coco to a runoff of 6 for the rest of the grow and you will be good
 
Tuckatan

Tuckatan

Well-Known Member
Purpsmagurps said:
oh, well... id have to say your ph is it then get your coco to a runoff of 6 for the rest of the grow and you will be good
Click to expand...
I mean, This chart shows potassium absorption not an issue at low ph, and was always kinda with the attitude of as long as the ph going in is ok it should be fine! But I’ll see if I can get that rootzone PH up a bit! Thanks for your help bro!
 

Attachments

Purpsmagurps

Purpsmagurps

Well-Known Member
oh, right. I'm thinking there is too much K in your coco. coco retains it well and usually coco formulas have a little less than normal. i totally forgot lol
 
Tuckatan

Tuckatan

Well-Known Member
Purpsmagurps said:
oh, right. I'm thinking there is too much K in your coco. coco retains it well and usually coco formulas have a little less than normal. i totally forgot lol
Click to expand...
Yea you may be on to someing! I always think of it holding Ca and Mg but didn’t really think of it holding the k. I’m going to take your advice and give it a good flush and see how she does!

Appreciate your insight my friend!
 
C

CannaCountry

Well-Known Member
Coco lets potassium go...it's one of the elements, along with sodium, that coco imparts to the plant. Coco holds onto Ca and Mg.

Can you take full plant pictures under natural light without your flash?

What is your logic behind the flush? You mentioned your ppm's are less in your waste, which would indicate there is no real salt issue. Considering you think you're short on something, don't you think the flush is only going to take you further from it? Just curious.

I think pics under natural light, will shed some light (pun intended) on your situation.
 
Tuckatan

Tuckatan

Well-Known Member
CannaCountry said:
Coco lets potassium go...it's one of the elements, along with sodium, that coco imparts to the plant. Coco holds onto Ca and Mg.


Can you take full plant pictures under natural light without your flash?


What is your logic behind the flush? You mentioned your ppm's are less in your waste, which would indicate there is no real salt issue. Considering you think you're short on something, don't you think the flush is only going to take you further from it? Just curious.


I think pics under natural light, will shed some light (pun intended) on your situation.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply!


Yes I’ve always known that coco holds the Ca and Mg but hadn’t heard of it holding k, though I felt I was supplying adequate K, so I didn’t think it would hurt to flush to rule out any lock up, and also as my root zone ph seems to have dropped siggnificantly, I thought it would be a good opportunity to slightly raise the PH of the rootzone.


I gave a really small flush, around 4 gal while plant is in a 5gal pot, with ph at 6.2, and a 300ppm nutrient solution.


I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t considering afterwards that if it is a deficiency, I just withheld even more K that it’s asking for!


I will attempt to get a better pic, though currently lights out and I don’t ever even open it at lights out, and it’s Scrogged in though I can turn the light off once it comes on in 4 hours and try to get a better pic!


The 2 tallest colas are showing the same leaf edge issues with some discolouration, and maybe 2 other tops. Some leaves show some small spotted rust dots which looks a lot like early Ca deficiency.


I’m wondering if it would be too much to feed today a full strength nute solution, considering it had a feed Sunday, then a flush Monday, and now Tuesday another feed, is that a bit much?


Overall the plant doesn’t look bad, and on further inspection post flush, looking at some pics etc I’ve taken in the past week, it appears the deficiency symptoms did not change/worsen in over a week, so perhaps I should have left it alone! Lol.
 
C

CannaCountry

Well-Known Member
I feed my coco girls twice a day, every day...I don't see why you couldn't do as you're proposing and feed again, although I don't know your drainage situation so if doing so is just going to bog down your girls with water they don't need, perhaps holding off is better; you'll know this answer better than anyone.

You mentioned some rust spots, which you feel is a Ca issue and you're probably right.
It appears to me you're also a smidge short on Mg, based on your pics.
It also appears your plant is a little short on K.

At this point, I would not try to force feed any of those elements in an attempt to make everything better...because you probably won't. I would however go back to feeding full strength (whatever that is for your situation), and be sure what you're feeding has Ca, Mg and adequate K in it...and make sure you're running the correct pH so these elements can be had by the plant. Again, don't add more to make up for what may have been shorted before...just get back to a regular feed program and be sure you have in it what your plant is asking for.

I know this is voodoo for many here, but I wouldn't waste your time chasing your waste water pH and ppm or worrying about your medium pH. If you're putting in right...you'll be right. This is the beauty of coco. There's no need to check the waste; it's called 'waste' for a reason. I would maintain a 5.8 pH and if it swings up a couple tenths, even better. Go back to a full feeding schedule (whatever that is for you), that includes the elements your plant obviously wants, watch your plants reactions and finish your run out. When you're done you can go back and check your notes and most likely you'll have a much better plan for the next run. You're not that far off in my opinion so don't go bananas. Good luck.
 
Tuckatan

Tuckatan

Well-Known Member
CannaCountry said:
I feed my coco girls twice a day, every day...I don't see why you couldn't do as you're proposing and feed again, although I don't know your drainage situation so if doing so is just going to bog down your girls with water they don't need, perhaps holding off is better; you'll know this answer better than anyone.


You mentioned some rust spots, which you feel is a Ca issue and you're probably right.

It appears to me you're also a smidge short on Mg, based on your pics.

It also appears your plant is a little short on K.


At this point, I would not try to force feed any of those elements in an attempt to make everything better...because you probably won't. I would however go back to feeding full strength (whatever that is for your situation), and be sure what you're feeding has Ca, Mg and adequate K in it...and make sure you're running the correct pH so these elements can be had by the plant. Again, don't add more to make up for what may have been shorted before...just get back to a regular feed program and be sure you have in it what your plant is asking for.


I know this is voodoo for many here, but I wouldn't waste your time chasing your waste water pH and ppm or worrying about your medium pH. If you're putting in right...you'll be right. This is the beauty of coco. There's no need to check the waste; it's called 'waste' for a reason. I would maintain a 5.8 pH and if it swings up a couple tenths, even better. Go back to a full feeding schedule (whatever that is for you), that includes the elements your plant obviously wants, watch your plants reactions and finish your run out. When you're done you can go back and check your notes and most likely you'll have a much better plan for the next run. You're not that far off in my opinion so don't go bananas. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply!


I agree, It looked short of Ca and Mg, so have been sure not to miss any cal mag, and provide adequate nutes. I fed back up at full strength - although full strength to me is around 600-650ppm, I don’t go crazy with it like some do at 1100ppm, but I have been adding some bloom booster which is PK 15-16 so it should adequately subsidise the shortfall of any potassium.


I did feed again the next day and there were no detrimental effects of note. My medium is coco perlite 70/30 and drainage is pretty good, so I didn’t get any signed of overwatering.


Yea to be honest, I check run off ppm to check for overfeed, and PH just to keep a note, though I always did have the attitude that you should worry about what goes in not what comes out, it was just that I noticed a slight issue; I wanted to give that info in case it was tied to what I was seeing and could be useful.


Really appreciate the time you took to reply, and I take it all on board.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top