1st time grower - fan yellowing - help!

Hi all,

First off, this site is amazing and all of you are incredible - my partner and I have been checking it out to find answers on a few things over the last few months and you all SO know your stuff! So I'm hoping you can help me out.

I've attached a few pics of our plants. We're growing Chocolope and Super Silver Haze outdoors in our terrace in Barcelona. They've been doing really well - transplanted twice from tiny pot to the pot they're in now. Regular soil with cocoa-soil-something-or-other. We've been using "BioCanabium Abono Organico Crecimiento" (photo 1 - spanish) while growing. All going well and growing beautifully (more than we'd expected!).

Started flowering last week and we began to add a bit of "Canabium Inductor de la Floracion Cogollador" (photo 2 - english). But the last few days we've had a LOT more yellowing and discoloration. Curling leaves and some stains. Plus bugs have appeared and are eating leaves. Grrrr... Might have a root-bound issue if the pot's too small? Is it too late now to transplant into bigger pots?

Watering schedule was 1/3 of a 2-litre every night while growing, now flowering we've up-ed it to 1 litre every night.

Sorry in advance for our ignorance. Any help you can give would be SO appreciated. Thank you thank you thank you.

Keep the nutes with the nitrogen going for another couple weeks or longer, you want to get the the rate of yellowing to slow down. Yellow leaves won't go green again. A bigger pot is always better for outdoors and if you are skilled at transplanting it can be done without stress but most folks won't do it once in flower.

Not sure what to tell you about your bugs other than to identify them and figure out your options, which get trickier in flower. Good luck!

Thanks so much Bugeye. Will definitely continue with nitrogen nutes. Could any of this also have to do with ph balance of the water? We got one of those pool tests and it was 7.2, and I've read you can bring it down with some lemon juice - is that recommended if we don't have anything fancy to hand?

And for the bugs, as we have about 3 weeks to go to harvest, would you recommend spraying with an insecticide at this stage? I have a feeling it's caterpillars chewing holes and something else causing spotting.

Looks pretty simple to me from the pictures.... yellowing is natural during flower and in fact you want the plant to completely yellow out or die back except the buds in the end. That's a sign of a proper flush. Your plants are yellowing at a much more rapid pace because they are in to small of pots.Transplanting at this point is "possible" but I don't reccomend with your flowers that far along. You'll just stunt them and you'll have a bad finish. Help your plant out by removing those yellow fan leaves and start flushin....NO more nitrogen at this point... straight water, trust me. It will actually slow that plant down to a more natural flowering cycle.

Thanks! But aren't we way too early in our flowering cycle for so many leaves to be going yellow? Shouldn't we try to keep them green a while longer?

(And I had it wrong in my original post - we are now into week 4 of flowering!)

You've been feeding it zero nitrogen. That's not good. At all.

During the flower stage you don't need AS MUCH nitrogen, but that doesn't mean you give it NONE. And by you saying you're only one week into flowering and they look like that, you've probably been giving them zero nitrogen all along. That's why they're all yellowed out like that.

TacoMac said:

You've been feeding it zero nitrogen. That's not good. At all.

During the flower stage you don't need AS MUCH nitrogen, but that doesn't mean you give it NONE. And by you saying you're only one week into flowering and they look like that, you've probably been giving them zero nitrogen all along. That's why they're all yellowed out like that.

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He doesn't have a nitrogen problem, that much is very clear from the picture. He has a nice yellowing that is gradual and the fan leaves look great being all yellow uniformly and not burnt tips or middles. This yellowing is simply from the plants flowering cycle. You're plants have great color. Honestly looks like you just need to start flushing. Container plants will always fade sooner than earth planted plants, always. Especially when you're container is to small. Start letting your plant dry out more and more between these last waterings..

Nick Leo said:

He doesn't have a nitrogen problem, that much is very clear from the picture. He has a nice yellowing that is gradual and the fan leaves look great being all yellow uniformly and not burnt tips or middles. This yellowing is simply from the plants flowering cycle. You're plants have great color. Honestly looks like you just need to start flushing. Container plants will always fade sooner than earth planted plants, always. Especially when you're container is to small. Start letting your plant dry out more and more between these last waterings..

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You're out of your mind and CLEARLY have absolutely NO IDEA what you're talking about.

Their plant is in WEEK ONE of flower. No way your leaves go that yellow that early on. Now, going on week 10 or so when you come off the nutrients and start your flush, yes. Yellowing is normal. But you're out of your mind completely if you think that's normal for week one or any other week until the end for that matter.

Google Nitrogen Deficiency and you'll see tons of pictures that look EXACTLY like the OP's plant.

Attached is one of my White Widows week three flower. Note there is absolutely ZERO yellow...and there never will be until around week 11 or 12.

Stop posting completely bogus information in a vain attempt to make it sound like you know what you're doing.

TacoMac said:

You're out of your mind and CLEARLY have absolutely NO IDEA what you're talking about.

Their plant is in WEEK ONE of flower. No way your leaves go that yellow that early on. Now, going on week 10 or so when you come off the nutrients and start your flush, yes. Yellowing is normal. But you're out of your mind completely if you think that's normal for week one or any other week until the end for that matter.

Google Nitrogen Deficiency and you'll see tons of pictures that look EXACTLY like the OP's plant.

Attached is one of my White Widows week three flower. Note there is absolutely ZERO yellow...and there never will be until around week 11 or 12.

Stop posting completely bogus information in a vain attempt to make it sound like you know what you're doing.

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A lot of strains yellow off early and his strains are not 11-12week flowering sativas either but apparently we see two different pics because I don't see any nitrogen issues according to those pics.. Never the less, Cudos to you sir for being a stereotypical know it all. You sure told me. This is an open forum bud. People like you should smoke more of your own product. Bring it down about 10 notches. I'm here trying to help people grow quality medicine with as LITTLE investment as possible.

OP, put Nick Leo on ignore. He's completely and totally full of shit.

TacoMac said:

OP, put Nick Leo on ignore. He's completely and totally full of shit.

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I'm pretty sure anyone reading this thread can relate when I say.... Hugs brother! Sounds like you need one.

If these faded out, drooping, dying leaves on a plant just starting the flower stage is "healthy looking to you", then pal...you have issues.

Says the guy who thinks that plant is in week one of flower and who posts a pic of his indoor plant in a thread about an outdoor issue. Dude.....walk away. HUGS!

They are way too yellow for this stage. Go back to your veg feed for a couple more weeks. It has a more balanced ratio. The second bottle is to be used only briefly about 3 weeks before harvest. Read the instructions on the bottle

Also it looks like you are getting thrips. Try a spinosad spray. I'm not sure what you can get in your area. Over here (US) Monterrey garden spray is a good product.

Do not listen to Nick about that being natural for outside. I have worked in many gardens inside and out and if the plants are getting the correct amount of nutrients then they shouldnt be yellowing like that. Also it does look like you have a nitrogen deficiency, especially if what youre using has 0 nitrogen in it.

His first bottle is listed at 10% N, but they def look hungry...ellos necesitas más comida de nitrógeno...buena suerte amigo

Ahhhhh, I see that now. Good call Walter.

I am not familiar with whatever soil they are in but that is lack of N and a calcium and or magnesium deficiency is probably imminant. Your pots ( to me ) look like they are too small to support the plants nutritional needs. However if you stay on top of things you may be able to combat the nutritional issues withought repotting. Maybe.... Some yellowing can be totally normal in flower toward the bottom but.... Those big leaves are very pale and soft, if N continues to be witheld the leaves will start to curl and crisp up. Too little N can mimic too much N in its later stages. Good luck.

BarcaGrow2016 said:

Thanks so much Bugeye. Will definitely continue with nitrogen nutes. Could any of this also have to do with ph balance of the water? We got one of those pool tests and it was 7.2, and I've read you can bring it down with some lemon juice - is that recommended if we don't have anything fancy to hand?

And for the bugs, as we have about 3 weeks to go to harvest, would you recommend spraying with an insecticide at this stage? I have a feeling it's caterpillars chewing holes and something else causing spotting.

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BT products would be safe to spray and usually work on catepillars. I'd keep feeding a balanced diet for the next week or so, they won't take much the last two weeks. Keeping the nitrogen going in early flower will be for next time and should reduce the early yellowing.