Nute issues -- thinking may be Mg, please advice/help!!

[rochester88]

Details:

I can post pictures here shortly, but I just want some opinions of what seems more likely of my problem...
its gradually gotten from bad to worse over past 2 weeks or so. I flushed em good, problem continued. Recently, I toned down nutrients to about 3/4 strength or so of what they recommend, but to be honest they looked good on full nutes, perfect, until symptoms occured.

I started using spring water instead of normal tap water to avoid possible ph issues.

Soil with liquid technaflora "starter kit" nutrients, i follow to a T what their batch recipe consists of (other than my recent reduction) -- 2 x 400 HPS, grow tent.
Temperature, humidity are not problems -- keep em reasonable levels, and the buds look good for the most part, not enormous by any means but only a month or so into flower so...

--- symptoms ---

leaves start by going from a lighter green to a yellow, and then sorta pale. originally just hte older/bottom middle leaves... but its started going onto the newer leaves. they yellow, almost turning pale ish -- then a redISH burn look STARTS from the tips... some of the leaves recently have been curling oddly upwards, i really dont know what to do or whatsup.

So whats up?? I assumed N deficiency like it wasnt gonna be an issue but it seems as that may not be the case... PLEASE HELP OUT! Thanks!

 

[Saldaw]

i think i have the same problem and it wont go away week 2 into flower

 

[rochester88]

If you do have the same problem as me, then youre in for a shitty road ahead...

It is probably giong to be a plant killer if i dont get this resolved soon... my research tends to suggest a Mg deficiency -- I origianlly thought N deficiency as many people suggested (and that may be the case for you, considering your 2 weeks into flowering), but I dont know, and the problem continued. If Im wrong it will be bad news bears tho so I want someone who can tell the difference between a N deficiency and an Mg deficiency to chime in --

 

[luciferateme]

the first place i would look is what ph of water are you using, for the problem to keep getting worse it suggests the plants are not getting the nutes they need cos the soil ph is whack. you can give all the nutes in the world but theyll just stay in the soil if the plant cant absorb them.
1st thing check the ph of your water, after you add nutes, not before. most nutes are gonna drop the ph. also if you are using the cheap soil ph testers then bin them cos theyre shite, they always read 7 ph and you think your safe but your not.

 

[ismokealotofpot]

I agree with cheep soil ph tester being shit. get a general hydroponics ph test kit. it has a dropper bottle with ph up and down. soil should be 6.8 hydro 5.8 to 6.3 any higher or lower you will have issues soil-less mixes should be kept around 6. add nutrients to a gallon of water then a little calmag plus and then test it. I never worry about the soil ph. cal mag plus will help also but not if the ph is out of whack. magnesium cannot be absorbed without calcium thats why cal mag works so good.

 

[scroglodyte]

spring water is glorified tap water usually

 

[Coho]

Spring water can have all kinds of shit in it. Iron, salts,etc Whats the ph of the spring water?

 

[rochester88]

I was thinking it might have been ph, im using technaflora, its recipe says its ph is 6.02 at 1 gallon flower solution
but i am suprised that just comes on so quickly after looking fine for the grow...
i am using some 'quality' soil i got at a local hydroponics store, from the advice of a friend, supposedly good stuff. -- i flushed the hell out of it first thing i noticed any color change like a week ago. i have been using spring water for the past week or so now, last i fed nutes a few days ago, nute strength of only like almost 2/3.

Zephyrhills spring water = ph of 7.2 for spring water (im not sure im actually using zephyrhills but, nonetheless)

so if im using ph 7.2 spring water and my nutes kit says solution ph of 6.02 -- ...that ph could be too high?

*********I got some pics to show as well: (ALL these from 1 plant, ive got 6 with all relatively similar symptoms)
Shows a general progression of symptoms -- note 1-5 showing the gradual onset, and the rest just showing leaves that are falling off -- always seems to go -- l. green-->yellow-->pale + tips red/browning and curling back...

(Full details above but, soil 4 weeks into flowering 2x400 hps, temp avg high 70s, humidity avg 50-60% range, homemade grow box/tent)

 

[rochester88]

ya i have gotten those cheap ph testers and there awful -- totally useless.

and ya i am thinking of getting a ph kit and this 'cal mag+' you were speaking of...

 

[GTRlover]

It looks like shes sucking the nitrogen out of the leaf tips, i would think N def?

 

[painkillerman]

check ph looks lik late iron or/and late sulfur deffs double check ph before adding any bootersur iron u can just put few galvanized nails in ur mix water n see dif few days sulfur ur gonna have get advice where find that ican tell u mirco base but u need good 2-3 part nute system fornthat simplistly

 

[rochester88]

I originally suspected N as my culprit, but the continued progression into the new leaves (at 4+ weeks into flower) suggests otherwise, thus i thought possibly Mg?? ... not to mention the increasing severerity of the symptoms made me worry (i wasnt concerned if it was just a N deficiency in mid-late flowering)

******PLEASE... i could really use some help here guys/girls -- What do you think is affecting them??????*******
...(Pics above - symptom progression goes from light greening, to yellowing to pale with the curling starts AT the tips, and moves up the leaf until they fall off)...

and as i mentioned -- Ph was a concern so i switched to using spring water (7.2 ph), with a nute solution of 6.02 ph to cure this-- (technaflora 'recipe for success' liquid nutes used on soil)

I dont knwo what Cal-mag is though, but it was recommended above, clarification?

 

[rochester88]

check ph looks lik late iron or/and late sulfur deffs double check ph before adding any bootersur iron u can just put few galvanized nails in ur mix water n see dif few days sulfur ur gonna have get advice where find that ican tell u mirco base but u need good 2-3 part nute system fornthat simplistly

@ pain killer --

I figured getting this technaflora 'recipe for success kit' i would have my macro/micro nutes covered pretty well --
I fear placing galvanized nails in my water -- seems like that may make things worse, this is a known solution for iron or sulfur deficiency??
I want to check ph, but I dont have a tester... i will attempt to get one soon, but i figured I had covered my bases well using spring water and a 'kit' of nutrients that is supposed to be everything i need..?

 

[painkillerman]

ph is ur problem its way out wack for ur medium which was never given get an accuate ph test kit or a friend with a digital pen n help u fix this even mix ur nutes n hit fish store thell give u accurate reading as the have pens give em story changing fish tanks bla bl a bla

 

[rochester88]

ph is ur problem its way out wack for ur medium which was never given get an accuate ph test kit or a friend with a digital pen n help u fix this even mix ur nutes n hit fish store thell give u accurate reading as the have pens give em story changing fish tanks bla bl a bla

Thanks for the quick response painkiller --

can i ask a dumb question though? how do i accurately take a ph measure of soil? just like take some in a small container with a little bit of like distilled water in there and stick a digital pen in there? or just right into the soil? sorry...

 

[painkillerman]

involes alittle math no biggy if water with nutes is 7 n coming out6 then ur ph is right round 5 get it 8 in 6 out ph 4 6 in 7 out right round 8 see the pattern this is how the water in my area reacts anyways so keep bottle input in ur pocket n bottle from da run off n do some math after u both tested

 

[ismokealotofpot]

I tried technaflora pura vida it had both bloom and vedge solutions. I had to mix both together to get decent results. otherwise I had a lot of yellowing like you. plus it dropped my ph of my water way down around 4 I had to add a table spoon of base seemed like a lot to me. If I were you I wouldn't worry too much about the ph of your soil. just ph the water after you add nutrient solution. I know on that technaflora bottle it says not to adjust the ph because the solution fluctuates from 5.8 to 6.8 or something but thats a load of bs.they hype up nutrients and jack the price up but they are for the most part all junk. I switched back to synthetics and cheap stuff and never have problems like that.

 

[Bleezyboy1990]

Can't you just use dol. Lime aka garden lime in the soil to act as a ph buffer? I'm on my first grow and using soil with lime and have never needed to pH my water(tap water) till I tried a bubbleponics cloner.

 

[rochester88]

I tried technaflora pura vida it had both bloom and vedge solutions. I had to mix both together to get decent results. otherwise I had a lot of yellowing like you. plus it dropped my ph of my water way down around 4 I had to add a table spoon of base seemed like a lot to me. If I were you I wouldn't worry too much about the ph of your soil. just ph the water after you add nutrient solution. I know on that technaflora bottle it says not to adjust the ph because the solution fluctuates from 5.8 to 6.8 or something but thats a load of bs.they hype up nutrients and jack the price up but they are for the most part all junk. I switched back to synthetics and cheap stuff and never have problems like that.

Lesson learned. Thanks guys. So just to be clear, if I take a Ph reading of my nute solution and water mixed together -- its ph should be between... like 6.5 - 7.5?