Leaf curl on Vanilla Kush & yellow tips on Jock Horror

Hi all,

I’ve decided to grow for my personal use, primarily because of the ridiculous prices now being charged for greenery in the UK. £20 for 1.6 grams is ridiculous IMO.

So this is my first grow and I’ve started with 3 plants. They are:

Vanilla Kush by Barneys Farm - Feminised
Jock Horror by Nirvana Seeds - Feminised and auto
Double Diesel Ryder – Feminised and auto

I’m growing indoors in soil under lights from two aquarium canopies which I have strapped together. I am running 4 bulbs in total which are 36W (16 inch) T5 Power Compacts. They are all on 18/6.

http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/catalogue/interpet-t5-power-compact-lighting.asp

Everything started promisingly enough and all 3 plants appear to be growing fairly well. All 3 plants have about 6 sets of leaves so far and are 18 days old.

I’m pleased to say the Diesel Ryder looks good with no problems, however, I have run into a couple of different problems with two of the plants that I’d like some help with if I may.

So firstly, the Jock Horror.

The fan leaves and the 2nd set turned yellow at their tips about a week ago. I’ve done a lot of reading and it would appear this is can be caused by a couple of different deficiencies. As a result I gave them their first feed of Biobizz Bio-Grow yesterday so hopefully that will sort it. I am surprised though because I thought all nutrients would be supplied by the soil for the first few weeks. I’m not overly concerned with this problem but if anyone can give any guidance, that would be great.

What I am more concerned about is the Vanilla Kush as this is my bigger yielder.

About a week ago I noticed rust like spots on the edges of some of the leaves similar to some of the pictures I’ve seen showing magnesium deficiency. This hasn’t spread beyond the first two sets of leaves and I’m not sure if my diagnosis is correct. Also, some of the leaves have curled up under themselves. Could this be caused by too much light? Any help would be really appreciated.

Both of these issues started before I added any nute’s so they’re not burnt.

I have been doing a lot of reading over the various forums and have found troubleshooting request sheet which I’ve filled out below, if that helps at all.

Pictures to follow.

Many thanks in advance.

Michael


How long has this problem been going on?

1 week for both problems

What STRAIN are you growing?

Vanilla Kush by Barneys Farm - Feminised
Jock Horror by Nirvana Seeds - Feminised and auto
Double Diesel Ryder – Feminised and auto

What was the establishing technique?

Seed

What is the age of your plants?

18 days

How long have they been in the soil mixture they are in now?

16 days

Were they in the same mixture when they were seedlings/smaller plant? If not, what mixture were they in before?

Yes

How Tall are the plants?
5 inches

What PHASE (seedling, vegetative or flower) are the plants in?
Veg

What Technique are you using? (SOG, SCROG etc)

None yet but considering SCROG

What size pots are you using? (Include how many subjects to pot)

8 Inch. 1 plant per pot.

What substrate/medium are you using? What brand of soil mixture are you using?
Westland Multi purpose compost with added John Innes. Nothing else added.

What brand Nutrient's are you using?
Biobizz Bio-Grow and intend on using Bio-Bloom for flower.

How much of each nutrient are you using with how much water?

10 drops per litre so far.

How often are you feeding?
Gave first feed yesterday and am planning to do the same tomorrow, so every 2 days. 300ml per plant.

What is the pH of the "RUN-OFF"?
I’m not watering enough for any run off.

How often are you testing pH/ppm/EC/TDS?
Once - Tap water (left to sit for 24hrs before use) = 8.0 pH
As this is high I added a little lemon juice to the water to bring it down.
Soil =7.2 pH

What method of pH test was administered? Using Strips? pH pen?
Drops from an aquarium test kit.

How often are you watering?
300 ml approx, every 2 – 3 days, and also misting as and when seems appropriate.

What size bulb are you using?
Not exactly sure. I’m using 4 x T5 Power compacts. I’ve simply strapped two aquarium canopies together. They are the 36W 16”.
http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/catalogue/interpet-t5-power-compact-lighting.asp
How old is your bulbs?
All new.

What is the distance to the canopy?
1 – 2 inches

What is your RH Factor? (Relative Humidity)
Unknown

What is the canopy temperature?
82 degrees

What is the Day/Night Temp? (Include fluctuation range)
Day = 80 degrees Night = Unknown (usual inside house temperature)
What is the current Air Flow?
Again, unknown but I have a cylinder fan oscillating gently for air movement.

Tell us about your ventilation, intake exhaust and when its running and not running ?

No ventilation yet. just the door open to the storage room they're in

Is the fan blowing directly at plants?

Cylinder fan does oscillate gentle on them, yes.

Is the grow substrate constantly wet or moist?

No

Is your water HARD or SOFT?

Hard

What water are you using? Reverse Osmosis (RO)? Tap? Bottled? Well water? Distilled? Mineral Water?
Tap – left to sit for 24 hours before use, and possibly with a little lemon juice added to bring down the pH.

If using tap water, what is the ppm/EC/TDS of the water right out of the tap?(Only if you have a tds pen)
Unknown.

Are you using water from a water softener?
No

Has plant been recently pruned, cloned or pinched?

No

Have any pest chemicals been used? If so what and when?

None

Are plant's infected with pest's?
No

First of all, congratulations and welcome to a truly addictive hobby. I feel your pain and share the ideal that £20 for 1.6 true grams is ridiculous. The cost of weed has gone up for shifters so why they have not increased the price for a genuine 1/8th is beyond me. Even tokers have heard of inflation!!!

Pics would be great, we can go from there....

Thanks NWI. It's great to be here and yes I can see this turning into a longterm hobby. Before it does though I need to find an odour control solution (I know the smell is coming) and also create a new profile with a different name .

Okay they look pretty good for what it's worth. I would seriously get a PH and EC pen and please stop using the lemon juice, I suspect that is most of the problem, who knows what the PH is when it goes into the soil. Other than that they seem fine. Perhaps raise the lights if you dont have a lot of air moving over the canopy, if you wind direction is from one side over all of them in line the end ones are not getting as much as the first few. I'd trim the dead stuff off leaving as much green as you can on the fan leaves and get a proper truncheon pronto, it's ultra necessary frankly!!

I dont do soil but I think 6.5 in PH is decent and feeding when it gets to it should be around 450ppm to start I guess, i'm sure other soil growers can chime in.

You may need to consider upgrading the lights at some point but thats a whole other ballgame, enjoy!

Thanks for the advice NWI. There is a lot of equipment I would ultimately like to have and once I get a few succesful grows under my belt I will certainly upgrade things. I'm on a shoe-string budget for this first grow and any available funds first need to go on a carbon filter of some sort. If the odour gets too much of a problem I'll just have to move them outside. The jock and the diesel are both autos so they shouldn't be a problem,

I'd really like to find the cause of the leaf curl though. I appreciate what you are saying about the lemon juice but theses problems started before I used it, so it can't be that.
The air movement is also good.

Could it simply be that I am underwatering?

They all look decent enough, some healthier then others.

I'd say if your soil has good aeration and your pots of good drainage, give them some more water if you feel they could use a little more.

Also a ph meter for your soil would help. The vanilla kush pics look like the ph is high.


View attachment 1509622

That pic is excellent. Thanks dwarfman. From looking at that I think I may have a few things going on, all of which are related to the water.

Possible high pH and high calcium (we have very bad limescale in the water).
I'll find some cheap bottled water and use that from now on.

I even have a cat litterbox next to the grow room which needs cleaning. Amonia in the air can't be good.

I'll let you know how I get on.