Organic grow unknown deficiency

Hi all,

I'm currently growing using a super soil with a small amount of potting mix on top in 25 gallon fabric pots. All plants are growing fairly quick, but then I noticed these orange/ brown spots about a week ago which makes me think it could be a magnesium or sulfur deficiency (or maybe calcium?). I treated each plant with a gallon or so of epsom salt water (1 tsp per gallon) today so we'll see how that works. Can anyone confirm or deny that this was the right first step? Everywhere I read it tells me to not worry about pH issues in super soil, but I'm starting to. This is the primary reason why I spent so much on soil this year, pHing last year in 5 gallon buckets was a pain in the ass. I also was wondering if someone could tell me what is going on with my leaves that appear to bending in half? Any help would be MUCH appreciated as this is only my second grow and I still obviously have a lot to learn about organics.

I'd start checking that pH....

whats the normal ph of the water you use?

Last I checked it was right around 7. I just remember seeing quite a few posts claiming that you didn't need to worry about pHing water because the soil would take care of it if it was properly amended. I'm going out to buy a soil pH meter tomorrow and check to see if the soil is too basic.

Same thing happened to me. I was using peat and realized I didn't add any lime. Top dressed lime into the soil and watered it in problem went away.

Look at a chart showing pH in relation to specific nutrient uptake. Reconsider pH checks and adjustments.

Jshorts said:

claiming that you didn't need to worry about pHing water because the soil would take care of it if it was properly amended

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This IS technically true, but....
This effect only lasts so long in small pots-- the more soil, the longer the buffer lasts.

Top dress with dolomitic lime, crushed oyster shell, and alfalfa meal. The lime and alfalfa will help buffer ph, the oyster shell will provide cal-mag to address your small deficiency. Just water for a week. This should straighten things out. Blessings

dr greenthumbs said:

Top dress with dolomitic lime, crushed oyster shell, and alfalfa meal. The lime and alfalfa will help buffer ph, the oyster shell will provide cal-mag to address your small deficiency. Just water for a week. This should straighten things out. Blessings

Click to expand...

Oyster shell is just calcium carbonate, it does not contain any magnesium.

You're correct, my bad, just typed cal-mag as a force of habit.

Hey all,
Sorry for the late response. So I was able to check the pH of my soil and it was sitting right around 6.9. Definitely looking to lower it now with a goal of around 6.5. I am going to start applying compost teas regularly (1-2 times a week) starting next week. The stuff I'll be mixing in to my tea is called BioFish and has all sorts of things in it that I'm hoping will help out with this situation (alfalfa meal, kelp meal, humates, fish bone meal, fish meal, feather meal, and sulfate of potash). As for lime in the soil, it already came with plenty mixed in, but maybe I should add more? Thank you everyone for all the suggestions, you guys rock!

Jshorts said:

already came with plenty mixed in

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I find that most soils run out of their Cal quite quickly...