Any Point Feeding Them?

[Kilbarrack]

Hi
I thought the yellowing, dying leaves in flowering was PK def in my last grow. So I got a PK booster, but they still turned brown & they are nearly all dead. Because I live in a very hard water area, I presumed I had enough cal/mag in my water. Now too late I realized this is the deficiency they have.
Now my girls have stopped drinking water. I fed them 4 days ago & they feel almost as heavy as when I watered them.
They're on week 10 today from seed. Is there any point in feeding them for the last few weeks or should I just start to flush them?
Thanks for any & all help

 

[bluter]

check you're trichs. you are real close to done. if not done now
there's some late swell. could run a touch more depending but it looks done.

i feed to the end. if they stop feeding at this stage, i do one water only to keep them hydrated before chop and that's it.

otherwise i just call it and lop them.

 

[Kilbarrack]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. The lower buds are a little airy & I'm guessing they could do with another 2 weeks to really swell, as was the plan.
Thanks again

 

[Listersmeghead]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. The lower buds are a little airy & I'm guessing they could do with another 2 weeks to really swell, as was the plan.
Thanks again

If you're going to carry on using tap water it may be worth looking at your local water report.
I live in a hard water area also and suffered similar problems..
Most hard water areas here in the UK have loads of calcium but almost zero magnesium in some cases....this throws everything off..
The ideal ratio for cal/mag is 3:1, as it stands mine I believe is 10:1...
The high calcium levels react badly with pk levels.
I started using nutrients specifically designed for hard water that helped a little, but I also stay away from pk boosters now unless the plant asks for it.

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi
I thought the yellowing, dying leaves in flowering was PK def in my last grow. So I got a PK booster, but they still turned brown & they are nearly all dead. Because I live in a very hard water area, I presumed I had enough cal/mag in my water. Now too late I realized this is the deficiency they have.
Now my girls have stopped drinking water. I fed them 4 days ago & they feel almost as heavy as when I watered them.
They're on week 10 today from seed. Is there any point in feeding them for the last few weeks or should I just start to flush them?
Thanks for any & all help

Hi... sorry to see the problems you are having here at the end, but I have some good news for you. I think I know what caused this.

First, giving your plants only water for a week or longer at the end is the same as torturing them. This misuse of the word flushing (you can only flush soil, not a plant) is forced starvation at the point in the grow when they need the most nutrition ever. Feed them right up to the end so that the plant can follow its genetic time schedule to put its all into the buds at the very end.

But here is what is wrong. You have a severe salt lockout. Especially potassium is not making it to your plants in the amount needed, so it is being grabbed from the leaves... apparently most of them. Your plant is doing what it can to complete those buds, despite its difficulty in getting the required nutrients. Calcium is also being strangled here from the looks of your leaves.

So what is a salt lockout? Over time, as you use synthetic nutes, they leave their chelation package, EDTA salt, behind and it gets captured by the soil. These salt ions take the place of the Ca and K ion that could be stored between feedings in the soil. The excess salt also constricts the roots and limits their ability to uptake water and nutes. Salt is bad for our grows, and in a closed container of soil, a buildup can be the big problem you are having now.

So a flush was needed, probably a couple of times during this grow, but especially about 2 weeks ago when all this yellowing started getting bad. A flush is defined as a 3x the container size in fresh water, run through the soil in one sitting. This much water flowing through will dissolve and "flush" the salt right out of there, clearing the pipes for the good stuff to be able to get into the plant. You still have about a week. I would properly flush 1 of your plants for comparison purposes, and see what happens.

 

[Kilbarrack]

Hi... sorry to see the problems you are having here at the end, but I have some good news for you. I think I know what caused this.

First, giving your plants only water for a week or longer at the end is the same as torturing them. This misuse of the word flushing (you can only flush soil, not a plant) is forced starvation at the point in the grow when they need the most nutrition ever. Feed them right up to the end so that the plant can follow its genetic time schedule to put its all into the buds at the very end.

But here is what is wrong. You have a severe salt lockout. Especially potassium is not making it to your plants in the amount needed, so it is being grabbed from the leaves... apparently most of them. Your plant is doing what it can to complete those buds, despite its difficulty in getting the required nutrients. Calcium is also being strangled here from the looks of your leaves.

So what is a salt lockout? Over time, as you use synthetic nutes, they leave their chelation package, EDTA salt, behind and it gets captured by the soil. These salt ions take the place of the Ca and K ion that could be stored between feedings in the soil. The excess salt also constricts the roots and limits their ability to uptake water and nutes. Salt is bad for our grows, and in a closed container of soil, a buildup can be the big problem you are having now.

So a flush was needed, probably a couple of times during this grow, but especially about 2 weeks ago when all this yellowing started getting bad. A flush is defined as a 3x the container size in fresh water, run through the soil in one sitting. This much water flowing through will dissolve and "flush" the salt right out of there, clearing the pipes for the good stuff to be able to get into the plant. You still have about a week. I would properly flush 1 of your plants for comparison purposes, and see what happens.

Great answer! I appreciate you taking so much time. So if I switched to all organic nutrients, I wouldn't have this problem?

 

[Emilya Green]

Great answer! I appreciate you taking so much time. So if I switched to all organic nutrients, I wouldn't have this problem?

True... a plant grown organically will never need to be flushed. You also don't have to make a decision as to whether to starve the plant at the end... the plant will always have its nutrition available to it in the soil.

 

[Kilbarrack]

True... a plant grown organically will never need to be flushed. You also don't have to make a decision as to whether to starve the plant at the end... the plant will always have its nutrition available to it in the soil.

I've been looking everywhere for an answer. Again, I cant thank you enough.
Thank You!

 

[SmokingWings]

So if I switched to all organic nutrients, I wouldn't have this problem?

As we have been finding out, 'yes'. But switching over now will not help the current plant out much. Still have to flush this one. I have the feeling that the best to expect would be for the problem to slow down and stop but it will not return to what it once was.

 

[cbdhemp808]

Hey @Kilbarrack ! As usual, when I see that much dead material, I get really worried about mold. Anyway, I hope you have a good harvest and no mold!