Leaves Yellowing/spotting, curling 3 wks

Bobplant

Bobplant

New Member
Germinated bag seeds, planted in Fox Farms Happy Frog, 12 plants under 175 watt Metal Halide about 2' - 2.5' above plants. Have been putting out in sun (on sunny days) then under MH when no more direct sun. No grow box. Water approx. every 3 days when top 1 1/2" of soil feels dry. Using rain water for watering. Fan on and off. . .seemed to not be helping. . .No nutes yet. Plants are going on 3 weeks old. It's my 2nd grow. . 1st grow was in Miracle Grow, CFL's, did everything wrong and plants rocked! The upper leaves are curling. .most downward but one is curling inward around the edges. Lower leaves are getting spots, yellowing and drying out and dying. Top of plants look okay but not great. I don't have any testing equipment (ordered a Milwaukee PH57 yesterday) but after reading posts I'm suspecting Ph is high and might have a Nitrogen deficiency. Using the same water as I used on my last grow. . .kinda bummed cause I figured Fox Farms would ROCK. . ready to go back to the Miracle Grow if this doesn't change soon. . .

I know it's hard to guess without testing ~ What can I try in the mean time? Also, when testing Ph, the meter will test the water but not the soil, right? So how do you test the soil? The tests I've seen show that you add water to the soil. . doesn't the Ph of the water affect the result?

Thanks for any blind insight and I'll post details of Ph in a few days!

PS Gotta add at the beginning they really seemed to be stretching like not enough light. . .had 175 MH AND a 150 HPS on em. . .close enough that I was worried it was gonna burn em. . continued to stretch. . .
 

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harris hawk

Well-Known Member
First of all :you can use Fox Farms and just water; no nutrients (it all ready has nutrients in it) and end up with good yields , being that it is on lower leaves maybe "nutrient" splash when feeding. Your lighting covers a 3-4 feet area size (use back of hand method to determine how close to light) (start at 12 inches from plant and go from their) no "n" toxicity( leaves would look like a claw) Hope this helps,,REMEMBER "Keep it Simple !!!""
 
Bobplant

Bobplant

New Member
Hey Harris ~ thanks for your quick reply and insights. I'm definitely trying to "keep it simple". . ."just add water" is all I've been doing hoping this would fix itself. . .I also use the "back of hand" method for lighting. . . I water very carefully so "nutrient splash" isn't likely. . .it's plain rain water (used my pool test kit in the mean time and the water looks like it might be 7.2? Again, never checked it in the past. . .) Just stabbing in the dark I was guessing Ph is too high causing non-absorption of Nitrogen or other important nutes? Should I just continue to do nothing until my Ph meter arrives?

As long as it doesn't get worse I guess I'm okay for now. . .but if the top leaves start curling more and spotting it's not gonna be good. . .

Just so I understand. . .I don't need any additional nutrients during the entire grow if using Fox Farms Happy Frog?

So my problem is either lighting, "nutrient splash), or Ph?

Do nothing different for now?

Thanks again!
 
weedenhanced

weedenhanced

Well-Known Member
Bobplant said:
Germinated bag seeds, planted in Fox Farms Happy Frog, 12 plants under 175 watt Metal Halide about 2' - 2.5' above plants. Have been putting out in sun (on sunny days) then under MH when no more direct sun. No grow box. Water approx. every 3 days when top 1 1/2" of soil feels dry. Using rain water for watering. Fan on and off. . .seemed to not be helping. . .No nutes yet. Plants are going on 3 weeks old. It's my 2nd grow. . 1st grow was in Miracle Grow, CFL's, did everything wrong and plants rocked! The upper leaves are curling. .most downward but one is curling inward around the edges. Lower leaves are getting spots, yellowing and drying out and dying. Top of plants look okay but not great. I don't have any testing equipment (ordered a Milwaukee PH57 yesterday) but after reading posts I'm suspecting Ph is high and might have a Nitrogen deficiency. Using the same water as I used on my last grow. . .kinda bummed cause I figured Fox Farms would ROCK. . ready to go back to the Miracle Grow if this doesn't change soon. . .

I know it's hard to guess without testing ~ What can I try in the mean time? Also, when testing Ph, the meter will test the water but not the soil, right? So how do you test the soil? The tests I've seen show that you add water to the soil. . doesn't the Ph of the water affect the result?

Thanks for any blind insight and I'll post details of Ph in a few days!

PS Gotta add at the beginning they really seemed to be stretching like not enough light. . .had 175 MH AND a 150 HPS on em. . .close enough that I was worried it was gonna burn em. . continued to stretch. . .
Click to expand...
Its the pots there way 2 small u need bigger pots
 
Bobplant

Bobplant

New Member
Good eye Weedenhnced. . .thanks. . .although they've been doing this since about sprouting and the pots didn't USED to be too small, but I agree. . didn't really think about that. . .took a look and the roots are just beginning to peek out the bottom. . SO. .bigger pots today, hopefully Ph meter arrives soon and update. . .thanks! PS My new profile picture is from my last harvest . . .hope this one goes as well. . .
 
Bobplant

Bobplant

New Member
Thanks donalejandrovega. . .next size up on the pots and definitely want to bring the plants down a few inches into the new pot/dirt. . .at least bury more of the stem at least up to the cotyledons, maybe higher. . Lots of stem showing. . .again, don't know why they stretched so much. . .could be the strain? It WAS just bag seed, so who knows. . I'd wouldn't guess it's because it didn't have enough light. . .MH AND HPS at the beginning (only added HPS cause I suspected, like most people would, that they were stretching for light. . .suckers never stretched like that under little CFL's. . .don't know why they would under Metal Halide and HPS. . .) but the light WAS about 2' to 2.5' away. . .and it is only a 175watt. . .just didn't want to risk burning them. . .onward and upward. . .transplant and see what happens until Ph meter arrives. . .then at least I'll know what the Ph situation is. . .thanks again for looking and giving me some things to do and think about.
 
weedenhanced

weedenhanced

Well-Known Member
Bobplant said:
Thanks donalejandrovega. . .next size up on the pots and definitely want to bring the plants down a few inches into the new pot/dirt. . .at least bury more of the stem at least up to the cotyledons, maybe higher. . Lots of stem showing. . .again, don't know why they stretched so much. . .could be the strain? It WAS just bag seed, so who knows. . I'd wouldn't guess it's because it didn't have enough light. . .MH AND HPS at the beginning (only added HPS cause I suspected, like most people would, that they were stretching for light. . .suckers never stretched like that under little CFL's. . .don't know why they would under Metal Halide and HPS. . .) but the light WAS about 2' to 2.5' away. . .and it is only a 175watt. . .just didn't want to risk burning them. . .onward and upward. . .transplant and see what happens until Ph meter arrives. . .then at least I'll know what the Ph situation is. . .thanks again for looking and giving me some things to do and think about.
Click to expand...
Prob the strain m8
 
Bobplant

Bobplant

New Member
UPDATE: Only had 5 bigger pots for transplanting so I got on the 5 that looked like they needed it most. . .might be my imagination but I think they look better already. . .gonna get some more pots today and xplant the others asap. . .Thanks again and will post updates. . .
 

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Bobplant

Bobplant

New Member
UPDATE: Got all plants in bigger pots, just a bit over 3 weeks old now. . .doing MUCH better! 2 things changed. . .BIGGER POTS and HAVE BEEN USING ONLY RAIN WATER. Nice and green, only old lower leaves still a bit yellow but looking good. My Milwaukee PH56 Ph Meter arrived and I checked the pH. My Tap water (we have a well) is right around 7.55 pH which I understand is way too high under ideal conditions. Then I checked the rain water that I've been using for the past week. . .pH 6.6!! THEN, I tested the runoff after watering, waiting a few hours, then watering just a bit to get a "sample". . .tested. . pH 6.4. Using FoxFarms Happy Frog soil. Lowered the MH a bit down to about 1 1/2' above the top of the tallest plant. . .might be a bit spread out too much at this point. Thinking of either wiring up another 175w MH and turing em both sideways or making a hood for my 400w warehouse light that I'll need to convert. . .fricken thing is HUGE. . .Also just started germinating some Nirvana seeds. . .Aurora Indica and Bubbleicious. . hopefully these don't stretch so much. Check the pix and thanks again. PS Do you think 3 gallon pots are good for the final transplant in a few weeks? Thanks!
 

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budfarmer420

budfarmer420

Active Member
Bobplant said:
UPDATE: Got all plants in bigger pots, just a bit over 3 weeks old now. . .doing MUCH better! 2 things changed. . .BIGGER POTS and HAVE BEEN USING ONLY RAIN WATER. Nice and green, only old lower leaves still a bit yellow but looking good. My Milwaukee PH56 Ph Meter arrived and I checked the pH. My Tap water (we have a well) is right around 7.55 pH which I understand is way too high under ideal conditions. Then I checked the rain water that I've been using for the past week. . .pH 6.6!! THEN, I tested the runoff after watering, waiting a few hours, then watering just a bit to get a "sample". . .tested. . pH 6.4. Using FoxFarms Happy Frog soil. Lowered the MH a bit down to about 1 1/2' above the top of the tallest plant. . .might be a bit spread out too much at this point. Thinking of either wiring up another 175w MH and turing em both sideways or making a hood for my 400w warehouse light that I'll need to convert. . .fricken thing is HUGE. . .Also just started germinating some Nirvana seeds. . .Aurora Indica and Bubbleicious. . hopefully these don't stretch so much. Check the pix and thanks again. PS Do you think 3 gallon pots are good for the final transplant in a few weeks? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Looks good so far. some things to think about, your definatly gonna need more light especally as they grow. need to pot up again soon unless you are trying to keep em small, and they are using alot of nitrogen in this stage, so to keep small feed only when you have to. I would use at least 5 gal buckets expecally where you are unsure of the strain, but they will stay smaller in 3 gal pots.
 
Bobplant

Bobplant

New Member
Hmmm. . okay. .thanks! I definitely know I'm gonna need more light. . .bigger pots = more surface area to cover. . .Also don't know if I've mentioned it but I haven't been using any Nutes besides what's in the soil (Fox Farms Happy Frog Soil). I was told that the FFHF soil had enough nutes in it for the first 3 or 4 weeks. . possibly the full grow. . .either way, I was going to start em on Botanicare CNS17 for the next month or so while still in veg. . .too late? Not necessary?

So you really don't thing 3 gallon pots are gonna be big enough? Just don't want to have to spread em out too much. . .less light/plant. . .I just got my hands on a few 400 watt MH high-bay lights. . .need to convert them for a more "user-friendly" experience. How much area should I be able to cover per 400 watt MH? Thanks again!
 
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