Cal/Mag issue?

[Dorian2]

Hey folks. This is my first indoor grow using organic soil and I'm having an issue with one plant in particular. The one thing that I neglected to do was adding the Liquid Karma. When I noticed the plant start to go downhill I did add some epsom and Dolomite lime as a top dressing. About 1 Tbsp to 3G pots. I also raised the lights to 18" from 13" just in case.

Auto flowers are Kings Bread (Sativa dominant) and Super Silver Haze (x2). Kings Bread is having a tough time of it. 2 are starting week 4 of flower.

Organic Soil and Nutrients for Cannabis

Recipe

LC's Soiless Mix #2:

6 parts Pro Mix BX or HP / Sunshine Mix (any flavor from #1 up) / Fox Farm Ocean Forest or Light Warrior
2 parts perlite
2 parts earthworm castings
Powdered (NOT PELLETED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
If you use a 3 qt. saucepan as “parts” in the amounts given above, it equals about 1 cu. ft. of soilless mix and you can just dump in a cup of powdered dolomite lime. The dolomite lime is for Ca. and Mg. not just to adjust the PH of the soil. I also raised the lights to 18"

But, a "part" can be anything from a tablespoon to a five gallon bucket. Just use the same item for all of the "parts".

Now for the plants organic food source

Choose one of these organic plant food recipes to add to LC's Soiless Mix.

RECIPE #1

If you want to use organic nutrients like Blood meal, Bone meal and Kelp meal...

1 tablespoon Blood meal per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of soil mix
2 tablespoons Bone meal per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of soil mix
1-tablespoon kelp meal per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of soil mix
or Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract as directed
(OPTIONAL) 1 tablespoon per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of Jersey Greensand to supplement the K (potasium) in the Kelp Meal and seaweed extract.

Mix all the dry nutrients into the soiless mix well and wet it, but don't soak it. Use Liquid Karma and water @ 1 tbs./gal. Stir and mix it a few times a week for a week or two so the bacteria can get oxygen and break down the nutrients and make it available. And don't let the mix dry out, keep it moist and add water as needed. It'll also have time to get the humic acids in the Liquid Karma going and the dolomite lime will be better able to adjust the pH of a peat based mixture too.

With this recipe, all you need to do is add plain water until harvest.

When I'm working with seeds, I punch a hole in the bottom of 16 ounce cups and fill them with plain LC's Mix. Lightly wet the mix in the cups and germinate one seed in each cup. At the same time I mix enough LC's mix along with the blood/bone/kelp to fill all the 3 gallon flower pots I'm going to use for the grow. After about two weeks, the seedlings and the blood/bone/kelp mix are ready. I transplant the seedlings into the 3 gallon pots and just add water until harvest.
When you go to flower and pull up the males, save the mix in the pots. It is ready to be used again

I'd appreciate it if someone could help me straighten this out. Let me know if any more details are needed.

 

[mudballs]

I deal with minor bruises and cuts...that thing needs an ER surgeon

 

[waterproof808]

Epsom salt is not to be used as a top dressing

 

[Nixs]

Might be K def.

 

[hotrodharley]

Might be K def.

At least. Phosphorus as well.

 

[waterproof808]

Might be K def.

Thats what I was thinking too, that recipe doesnt have any real source of K.

Honestly, it looks like a pretty bad soil recipe...you are going to have a lot different results if you made it with promix/sunshine which have no nutrients vs Fox Farm Ocean Forest which has a bunch. Better just copying one of the recipes off buildasoil for a more balanced soil.

 

[hotrodharley]

Give it on the organic soil this time and start addressing the deficiencies. As stated earlier top dressing with lime doesn't work.

 

[waterproof808]

I would give a dose of some balanced liquid nutrients to see if it improves.

 

[Dorian2]

I made the mistake of not exactly fully researching the soil mix, so I'll just have to deal with the problem now. I have some Mega Crop that worked well for my first grow. Do you think that's a good starting point...in low amounts? The other 2 plants are also slightly affected but not as much as the KB.

@waterproof808 , I used HP Promix

edit: I also have some 3 part PH Perfect that I used last grow. Which do you think? If there are suggestions for something different, it shouldn't be an issue. We have lots of Hydro shops in town that keep good supply.

 

[Dorian2]

Thanks for the input guys. I'll post an update at some point. Decided to use the PH Perfect.

 

[xtsho]

You're adding fast acting and slower acting stuff at the same time.

That mix you made up is the problem. Not much you can do now but ride it out.

 

[Dorian2]

You're adding fast acting and slower acting stuff at the same time.

That mix you made up is the problem. Not much you can do now but ride it out.

Ya. I'll deal with it the best I can at this point. I usually vet new methods out better than I have this time, so lesson learned.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Hey folks. This is my first indoor grow using organic soil and I'm having an issue with one plant in particular. The one thing that I neglected to do was adding the Liquid Karma. When I noticed the plant start to go downhill I did add some epsom and Dolomite lime as a top dressing. About 1 Tbsp to 3G pots. I also raised the lights to 18" from 13" just in case.

Auto flowers are Kings Bread (Sativa dominant) and Super Silver Haze (x2). Kings Bread is having a tough time of it. 2 are starting week 4 of flower.



I'd appreciate it if someone could help me straighten this out. Let me know if any more details are needed.

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Looks like lockout. My guess is too much Ca. How much lime did you add? And what's your water and pH that's going in.

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

Id say your PH locked out. Too low. Dying from top to bottom, your soil is crashing... assuming your environment is in check.

 

[Dorian2]

I added 1 Tbsp of dolomite to equalize the Epsom salt. 3 Gallon pots so it was a small amount. Environment is OK. This is 30 mins after lights on. I've been using straight tap water as it's organic soil so haven't adjusted. These issues started occurring before any extra additions. I added amounts to both older plants and left the younger one out of it. Everything else exactly the same for all 3.

 

[Southernontariogrower]

If using tapwater theres enough Ca in it. So adding a pinch of epsom to your water is calmag. Id guess ph is low by yellowing leaves and necro spots. But is probably anaerobic root system caused by the acidic environment. Dont grow how you do so no clue from info given. Low ph is my best l got!

 

[Dorian2]

If using tapwater theres enough Ca in it. So adding a pinch of epsom to your water is calmag. Id guess ph is low by yellowing leaves and necro spots. But is probably anaerobic root system caused by the acidic environment. Dont grow how you do so no clue from info given. Low ph is my best l got!

This is the first organic grow I've tried, so it's pretty new to me too. I added the Dolomite because of the PH concern after adding Epsom, but it's a long process so I I have find alternate methods to get the soil right. Going to be stepping gently though as there are too many variables at work right now.

 

[ComfortCreator]

If you add nutrients now, organic nutrients will be easier to administer per what xtsho said.

It's not a total loss or horrible. You are now a triage doctor who has to help the patient as much as possible.

Get those basics of ph and watering frequency perfect and you can slowly adjust the whole thing.

If things stay stable (no change and ph and watering practices are OK), I would consider adding a very mild dose of flower nutes (organic) to see if you can supplement what is lacking. They are at a stage where they pull a lot of NPK out and organic can always be challenging to keep up.

 

[Dorian2]

If you add nutrients now, organic nutrients will be easier to administer per what xtsho said.

It's not a total loss or horrible. You are now a triage doctor who has to help the patient as much as possible.

Get those basics of ph and watering frequency perfect and you can slowly adjust the whole thing.

If things stay stable (no change and ph and watering practices are OK), I would consider adding a very mild dose of flower nutes (organic) to see if you can supplement what is lacking. They are at a stage where they pull a lot of NPK out and organic can always be challenging to keep up.

Something that has crossed my mind is that I may have been allowing the soil to dry out a bit too much. As per my previous non organic type grows. Don't know if it's part of the cause but it might have contributed. I've adjusted the watering routine closer to what I'd typically do outside in the summer for my plants outdoors so it doesn't dry out too much. I am following xtsho's advice for sure. Thanks for the input.

 

[ComfortCreator]

Something that has crossed my mind is that I may have been allowing the soil to dry out a bit too much. As per my previous non organic type grows. Don't know if it's part of the cause but it might have contributed. I've adjusted the watering routine closer to what I'd typically do outside in the summer for my plants outdoors so it doesn't dry out too much. I am following xtsho's advice for sure. Thanks for the input.

Too dry can cause burn in organic. Keep a tight control on things and it will smooth out nicely imo. Once in flower you should move from a strict wet dry to a looser water to keep the biology alive....water when moist and depending upon pot size, possibly partial watering as needed.