Northern Lights pH or Zinc Problems

Hey everyone, just trying to figure out what is up with my plants here. I have grown other strains in the past with my exact same setup, and never had problems, but this time around, the NL are growing, but aren't doing so hot.

The plants are in about their second to third week of flowering. Temperatures maintain between 68F at night and about 78F during the day. The plants are fed about every third watering with Alaskan Big Bloom. pH levels were about 7.5 a few weeks ago and I tried to even it out by putting some lime juice in with my water. It leveled the pH out, but it hopped back up to 7.5 again. The leaves are exhibiting symptoms of a zinc deficiency (curling up like a ram horn on the tip and having shunken leaves). I tried foliar feeding with chelated zinc and also feeding it through the soil, but to no avail.

How can I get my girls back on track so they can get me some great bud? I'll try to post pictures tomorrow, thanks everyone!

Here are some pictures to help assist...

The plants themselves are growing pretty well. I actually have a Chocolate Chunk plant in there, and those have always grown great for me. But, this one particular Northern Light plan has terribly curled leaves. The other two plants have some nasty spotting on them from pH fluctuations, but really all are growing well. Just would like to keep my yields high and my plants healthy. Thanks in advance for any help.

Image #1: Plant with zinc/pH problems, looks the worst
Image #2: Other NL plant, looks pretty good, buds look good, just some spotting from pH fluctuation
Image #3: Another NL plant, looks about as good as the second plant, same issues

Does anyone have any input?

om3gawave said:

Does anyone have any input?

Click to expand...

Are you using Soil ? Ph must be at 6.5 not 7.5 !!! i think ph .. set your water at 6.5 and flush out the soil with 6,5 ph and then feed it give it a week it will heal back up ... dude 7.5 is way too high brotha .. sorry my english but im from germany..

after you flush them with water after that next watering give them veg and bloom nute ... it look like ph is way off and need grow big or veg nute with bloom it will heal back up .. also are you sure you dont have any bugs ? on the leave yellow spot look like you got bugs ...

Like said,...your PH is to high,....6.3 to 6.8 for soil.....and you mite be over watering.

7.5 is really bad.....hope this helps.

Flushed out a couple of the pots last night and the water that came out was a nasty yellow...whoops...probably lots of nutrient and salt buildup.

Yikes, hope my girls can bounce back. The water wasn't adjust, just plain old filtered water.

I will start to balance out the pH tonight with another flush of adjusted water.

Have you figured out where that high PH is coming from? That would be a good idea, especially if you are planning on another grow in the future.

One more flush then add veg and bloom nutes .. because they both have what plant need
feed every other water .. good luckk also check PH after add nutes

No idea what the high pH is from. I am using Fox Farm Happy Frog soil, so I can't imagine it would be the soil...I was guessing it was probably my nutrients. I am using Alaskan Fish Fertilizer and Bloom nutrients. I might be putting too much in?

Next flush is going to be with pH adjusted water...probably here in a couple of days after they have dried out a bit.

I would handle the flushing diff---otherwise you will get overwatered. you want to start in the morn because it is real important to get it right before lights out---cause that is when she hits that soil.
By flushing that yellow (prob nutes and salt) not salt as much as used nutes. Before each cycle in a potted plant you must flush 3 times the amount of the container. usually after 5 weeks. Epsom salt is used or Mag sulfate.
Care to wonder why your Ph is climbing? Read on:
Ph is climbing as the N is removed from the soil (she eats it) to ammend that try a few tbsp of Ammonium Sulfate mixed into the soil at watering (usally in two waters you Ph will decline. Also the water out of the tap is most likely in the upper 7's so between the N being burned up the H2o going in High and F.F soil is I think at 6.2 I think I read but that is the N bringing that down I assume.
Preventive measures to get a grip on PH in soil?
Spagnum Pete Moss mixed in some new soil at T-planting (pete moss Ph is about 3.8-5 max by ammending your soil prior you will not have to chase it so much.

Now that the Ph has been off (evident I am sure you have Purple stems) because it is not the strain that does that it is the Ph----what do you think is going to happen the first night the Ph is inline? You got it---- mainline nutes with all available to her----Now if you feed the soil (that does not need food) she will get OD....
This is why at water time around the 4 or 5 week you Epsom flush replacing lost metals such as Zn and Mg etc.... Then you balance the soil again with a bit of A.S or N as described above and when you water her again for the close to flowering week give a big hit of Bloom with Chelated ingrediants. You're only problem will be space. Hope this helped

Thanks for the advice CC...a little hard to understand what exactly you're saying, but I think I got the main beef of it. Regarding flushing...you're saying I should be doing that all in one pass instead of flushing over the course of a few days, right? That makes sense, and I did think about that.

As far as pH balancing my water, how do I know what to set my water to before running it through the pots again? I would do the ammonium sulfate, but I can't really transplant because I have no space. I could try to mix it in with the soil, but, I'm not sure how well that would work. I am probably going to keep using the lime juice and adding it to the water to balance out the water. And, if that isn't a good way to do, please let me know. I'll just go get some pH down if need be.

Thanks everyone for your help. They are already showing a little progress since I flushed, but now just need to balance the soil out.

my pleasure and thanks for rep as I do not type a 100 words a minute---- lime or lemon juice is acidic as vinegar is too. Vinegar is cheaper
Yes to heavy water or flush at once. I have mine in 5 gal nursery pots and when I flush I use 13-15 gallon flush per plant! with the first 5 gal of h2o just ph balanced the second 5 gal with 5 tbsp of Epsom and then anywhere from 3-5 gallon of h2o with food like Bloom food. Flushed-re-supplied with heavy metals and fed for the next cycle. wait a couple of days for her to off some of that moisture and nutes. Black out 36 hours and then 12/12 and watch your plant give you big gorgeous flowers.

om3gawave said:

Here are some pictures to help assist...

The plants themselves are growing pretty well. I actually have a Chocolate Chunk plant in there, and those have always grown great for me. But, this one particular Northern Light plan has terribly curled leaves. The other two plants have some nasty spotting on them from pH fluctuations, but really all are growing well. Just would like to keep my yields high and my plants healthy. Thanks in advance for any help.

Image #1: Plant with zinc/pH problems, looks the worst
Image #2: Other NL plant, looks pretty good, buds look good, just some spotting from pH fluctuation
Image #3: Another NL plant, looks about as good as the second plant, same issues

Click to expand...

Looks rootbound and overwatered..

One other thing your ? about H20 balance. Most meters take 10-20 minutes if they are cheap and are a probe to acclimate and give a true reading. I water with 5.5 - 6.2 H20 pending on the last read at watering time of the wet soil=W.S.PH if higher I go lower with the H2o and Visa-versa Should put some notes down as it will get easioer and easier. Like my H20 here city water comes out at 7.4 avg I drop 1 oz of vinegar to 2 gallons of H20 and get about a 5.5 water read. so now instead of the 20 minute wait because of measuring and notes in the befinning . I can now fill a bucket the night before know the chlorine will blow off (per-say) and add 1 oz of vineagar and know I am inline to water with the right ph swing. test the wsph (different readings at day and night I just read yesterday..... I do all mystuff in the daytime---it is easier for me to see and work.

Your first pic. looks like straight toxic salt buildup,your plant(s) will yellow,wilt,and stunt the rest of it's days until flushed, and refertalized,the PH is a problem if it's out of whack too. They make a solution that takes care of toxic salt buildup called,"clearex", i'd use that at half of what the directions say,then flush 3 times the amount of your medium(s) in gallons. After you've done a complete flush and are sure your toxic salts are gone from the mediums, fertalize with a complete N-P-K forumula at half or even a quarter strength the first time to avoid burns and overnute. Also get your PH between 5.5-6.5 No higher,No lower. Follow these directions and your plants will be fine. Stay up Oregon,The Chronic State.

ADD fox farm grow big and foxfarm bloom .. then check ph for 2 week then add fox farm bloom and tiger ..

get root onganics soil grow medium .. i think froggy soil too hard ...

Cali chronic said:

my pleasure and thanks for rep as I do not type a 100 words a minute---- lime or lemon juice is acidic as vinegar is too. Vinegar is cheaper
Yes to heavy water or flush at once. I have mine in 5 gal nursery pots and when I flush I use 13-15 gallon flush per plant! with the first 5 gal of h2o just ph balanced the second 5 gal with 5 tbsp of Epsom and then anywhere from 3-5 gallon of h2o with food like Bloom food. Flushed-re-supplied with heavy metals and fed for the next cycle. wait a couple of days for her to off some of that moisture and nutes. Black out 36 hours and then 12/12 and watch your plant give you big gorgeous flowers.

Click to expand...

Black out for 36 hours? very interesting concept...something i might try...I am on the pretty much the same boat as this guy, having a pH issue, but around 7 in the soil. Was just wondering if I was to just add sulfate to the top 1 inch or so of my soil would i seen any difference lower in my pot?

I have never expirimented with vinegar, but i can tell you that from my experience citrus will not keep the pH down. It goes down for a while but can shoot straight back up in a matter of hours.

There are a number of pH down products but i can personally vouch for a phosphoric acid based.

Expiriment by filling 2 containers with pH adjusted water using both kinds of pH down. Leave it for a day or 2 and recheck. I found that citrus based pH, frankly, is useless. Phosphoric acid based (and probably others) are good at keeping it stable. I learned this the hard way. Expirement.