Concerned, rather worried about this plant

[Aweedtec]

I said nothing. This was a mistake..... Below is the real question.

Nitrogen and especially the Potassium are so necessary even in flowering that

How do you increase these beyond the nutrients normal feeding schedule?

 

[SmokingWings]

So is it important to up those without the rest of the nutrients? Fert?

Part of the answer is that many of us are making suggestions based on what we understand about the individual nutrient and its effect on the plant. If it was my plant then yes I would be adding a dose of mild source of Nitrogen and a dose of a mild source of Potassium but that started long ago. I have also started adding the flowering fertilizers about 2 weeks before I put the plants into flowering. So far I have been able to keep them the same shade of healthy green up to approx 6 weeks after the stigma/pistils start showing.

Keep in mind that once it starts it is hard to stop a plant from taking the nutrients it needs from existing leaves. Often trying to reverse this will not work or stop it. The best to hope for is to slow the process down.

As @bluter and several others have mentioned it is better to finish out this grow on the schedule you have been using. This will give an idea of how the plant grows and what signals it gives that everything is going great or that something is off.

 

[Aweedtec]

Part of the answer is that many of us are making suggestions based on what we understand about the individual nutrient and its effect on the plant. If it was my plant then yes I would be adding a dose of mild source of Nitrogen and a dose of a mild source of Potassium but that started long ago. I have also started adding the flowering fertilizers about 2 weeks before I put the plants into flowering. So far I have been able to keep them the same shade of healthy green up to approx 6 weeks after the stigma/pistils start showing.

Keep in mind that once it starts it is hard to stop a plant from taking the nutrients it needs from existing leaves. Often at best trying to reverse this will not stop it. The best to hope for is to slow the process down.

As @bluter and several others have mentioned it is better to finish out this grow on the schedule you have been using. This will give an idea of how the plant grows and what signals it gives that everything is going great or that something is off.

So what ive noticed is the VEG Dr Earth has 4% Nitrogen in it. The Bloom Booster has 3%.

Edit : It also has pretty much the same nutrients in the micro and macro. They are close. Just small changes.
When I look up deficiencies NITROGEN does seem like that is what the leaves are showing : End Edit

So I considered just giving it one tablespoon of the veg and 4 of the Bloom Booster at next feeding. Which is only two days away I believe.

Its just happening really fast. Like daily leaves go straight to yellow. If I pull the yellows the next day there are more yellows.

This has been another episode of... guess that deficiency! lol


The last photo is a close up of some of the flowering under a top cola randomly on the plant towards the outer edge.

 

[SmokingWings]

Nitrogen and especially the Potassium are so necessary even in flowering that

How do you increase these beyond the nutrients normal feeding schedule?

There are man-made sources and natural or organic sources of either of them. The thing is that unless you understand what each does for the plant are you are just taking stabs in the dark.

Already, over the past week or so, you have tried several things and if one of them was to work it will not be easy to figure out which one it was.

Its just happening really fast. Like daily leaves go straight to yellow. If I pull the yellows the next day there are more yellows.

And that is accomplishing very little. If anything it is contributing to what you are seeing. Basically, the plant is taking what it needs from the largest source which are the largest leaves. Then when it has pulled everything it can from a leaf it goes to the next largest leaf and starts doing the same thing.

If the plant is not done draining a leaf and you cut it off then the plant will just go to the next one anyway. Cutting them off before they are drained is speeding up the process.

So what ive noticed is the VEG Dr Earth has 4% Nitrogen in it. The Bloom Booster has 3%.

So I considered just giving it one tablespoon of the veg and 4 of the Bloom Booster at next feeding. Which is only two days away I believe.

Keep in mind that if you keep throwing fertilizers at what appears to be a common problem you risk what some call a lockout. That is when too much of one nutrient reduces the plants ability to absorb one or more of the other nutrients it needs. Too much Nitrogen can reduce the plants ability to take in Potassium. And, too much Potassium can cause the plant to have problems taking in Nitrogen.

Letting the plant finish without going overboard on the fertilizers could keep the problem from getting worse or the number of problems from increasing.

Based on what I can see you will get a decent harvest as it is.

 

[Aweedtec]

Already, over the past week or so, you have tried several things and if one of them was to work it will not be easy to figure out which one it was.

Only thing ive done is flushed it once and fertilized it on schedule except the time in veg when it was missed for two weeks. That is the only thing I have done. But I dont know what the hell someone else did.

Edit: to be precise.... I gave every plant exactly what it called for except this plant I gave it one more tablespoon a few days before the last feed cycle. But then gave it a bit less than the normal dose at its normal time 3 days later.. I did that because of the lime green leaves. Then I watched it darken up fast right under the flowers only. By the time I gave it its full feed(about three days later when it was time) it had gotten worse. not the darkening under the flowers... but the surrounding areas. Also not the bottom branches. Only that which was right under the leaves right under the flower to the bottom branches... which looked great. Like maybe I should have just given it the entire dose early. But I dont know. Other than that... ive done nothing to it but pull leaves off that were yellow once. But I never defoliated the plant so at least that has to be a good thing. I did defoliate the other plants. Just not to any extreme.

 

[Aweedtec]

Based on what I can see you will get a decent harvest as it is.

Yeah but the frustrating thing is what it could have been. Kills me

 

[Roy Growin]

Yeah but the frustrating thing is what it could have been. Kills me

Don't waste your time worrying about what might have been, put it down to experience and deal with what you have

 

[Azimuth]

Don't waste your time worrying about what might have been, put it down to experience and deal with what you have

Exactly right. Whatever this plant yields will give you a target to try to better next round. You'll probably never have a perfect grow. Just keep on learning and getting better but most importantly enjoy the journey.

 

[bluter]

might have been a pain but you learned piles, and your next grow will be even better when you use the full nute schedule.

edit : i wouldn't fret. i know loads of guys who got blanked their first time out.

 

[Aweedtec]

might have been a pain but you learned piles, and your next grow will be even better when you use the full nute schedule.

edit : i wouldn't fret. i know loads of guys who got blanked their first time out.

Wanted to show you guys a few photos of the plants in the basement.
Also, I am starting to believe the plant in my closet is an auto. Its just moving along way too fast. Every day its changes are way more than the basement and on the bad side... the side that was clearly stunted looking during the stretch? It is still growing length.


Last night I watered two felt pot plants because it was time and I gave it the worm castings tea but not the cal mag with iron. It appeared to me it was not every watering but once a week. So they now need water once every 4 days. So I left out the Cal Mag. I am filtering my water now with a very basic filter but was suggested I get Cal Mag because of it.

Anyway. The change from last night after watering them to what they look like now this morning is a big change in color.
The leaves are now clearly turning purple on the tall sativa dominant strain. THAT I DONT KNOW WHAT IT IS! lol
The other two in the basement are without question blueberry pancakes and may be the best smelling marijuana Ive ever smelled. In my opinion of course.


I should have started a journal but I just couldn't this go around. But, right after harvest I will be doing it again. So I will definitely start one the next grow I do.

 

[Aweedtec]

To keep everyone updated... the troubled plant is still having some yellowing issues( like who couldn't have guess that)
But I did notice something unusual.... one of the colas mid mess grew taller last night. Well, from yesterday when I took the photos. It clearly grew taller. These colas were all evenly down. Now its taller.

Im going to send you a photo oriented to the bad side. If you remember past photos... there looked like a chunk was taken out of the plant on one side only. Now, on that side its still color wise the same. But the colas grew. The one right in front was no where near that height yesterday.


SO, the moment I bitched my roomate out about orienting the plant the exact same way every single day just so he could see it.... I turned the fan off completely two days ago and left it off all day. Then I spun the plant so the bad side was facing away from the door and then turned the fan back on. Two days later..... Colas are larger on the bad side.

Which at least means its still growing. Strange that a fan would do such a thing. But I didnt do anything else to it.

I felt when i caught him in photos spinning the plant the same exact way every damn day for two or three weeks that it had to have something to do with it because the other side wasnt nearly as affected. It looked like someone drew a line right down the plant center and one side was slopped with smaller colas and the other side was bushy like the plant is supposed to be. Now from stopping that action... by way of hollering at my room mate to drill it in his head to stop spinning the plant... without water and without fertilizing... the colas are recovering.

I still dont get the browning pistils so early. But if the colas are moving upward then this would be odd or super coincidental because everyone said no way the fan would cause that. Again, I dont think it was the cause.... I think it exacerbated an issue and compounded the symptoms. It is clearly too close to the plant. To overcome that my plan was to make sure it never blew on one side for more than a day. But, when the room mate doesn't listen to the plan and just wants to see as many colas as possible... that can cause problems. It was weeks of a fan that is too close blowing all in one side of the plant while the other side didnt get hit at all.

 

[Aweedtec]

Figured i would give an update on how things look at the moment. I am ready to feed but i just watered it yesterday so I have to wait another day. I finally figured out how to get the color right.

 

[Roy Growin]

 

[Aweedtec]

Some photos from 10 hours after feeding the plant.
Appears to have gotten darker green on the leaves. And the flowers have grown a lot in 10 hours.

I believe this plant is an Auto. The reason? My three plants in my basement all had the lights flipped on the same day and not one of them is anywhere close to the production of flower as this one. Not to mention its a way shorter plant, its diameter is nearly 4 foot and its producing enormous flowers.

I have to agree with everyone who said it appears to be underfeeding.

But in my view there is no way this is the only plant to grow this fast when it was the one having issues for over a month and the others had none and this produced way larger flower way faster than the other plants. All the same feed schedule and same medium.

I think Humboldt messed up and sent an auto.

 

[Aweedtec]

Another update and a few questions.

This is the plant today. Lots of yellowing. Funny it turned greener for a day or two after feeding and then went yellower.
The flowers do look nice. But as far as when to harvest?

A few questions...

I see people saying that its when the trichomes turn back into the plant and when they are cloudy. Then I hear others saying its the Calyxs turn back toward the plant and turn from white to brown or red or other than white.
So its got me confused. Which is it?

The other question is... How do you know when you are a week or two from harvest potentially to stop feeding them for long enough to get nutrients out of the plant?

I did get liquid gold and it almost seems fruitless to give this plant the 1-1-1 Liquid gold because it was missed throughout the entire plants life at this point.

I will take some close ups of the flowers and edit in a few moments.

 

[bluter]

lotsa white and new pistils. it's got a few wks to go.

 

[Azimuth]

I don't even start checking trichomes until the pistils have all darkened and crinkled in. The pistils are what look to be absorbed by the bud not the trichomes.

 

[SmokingWings]

A few questions...

I see people saying that its when the trichomes turn back into the plant and when they are cloudy. Then I hear others saying its the Calyxs turn back toward the plant and turn from white to brown or red or other than white.
So its got me confused. Which is it?

The trichomes start off clear and then turn cloudy about the time they stop producing THC then over the next several weeks a percentage of them will turn amber as they degrade. Some like the effect/high when the trichomes are as close to 100% cloudy and some like to wait another 2 or more weeks till they see 10 to 20% amber.

Some growers wait until the stigma/pistils pretty much have all turned a brown or reddish-brown color and shrunken back enough that it looks like they were pulled back into the plant. Then they look at the trichome color.

The other question is... How do you know when you are a week or two from harvest...

With practice and after several grows the gardener starts to see patterns. As the end is approaching the leaves can change appearance and color. The rate of growth of the buds changes. Fewer and fewer new stigma/pistils are growing and eventually next to no new ones. There are more things happening.

You want at a minimum of 8 weeks of flowering. Some say to start counting the day that light schedule is changed and some say to start the count when the stigma/pistils start to show. My personal view is 1 week after the light change for transition with the next 8 weeks for minimum flower development. What happens after that is up to me based on overall plant health & appearance. I am not a big fan of the couch-lock effect so for the most part I harvest 9 to 10 weeks after the light change. Sativa or Indica dominant plants have their differences with the Sativa tending to take a bit longer than the Indica to reach any common stage of growth or maturity.

This coming Wednesday will be 5 weeks since you changed the light schedule so another 4 weeks minimum allowing for the one week transition and 8 weeks flowering time.

when you are a week or two from harvest potentially to stop feeding them for long enough to get nutrients out of the plant?

Figuring out when the week or two from harvest is going to be is part of the watching for patterns. But, what is the point of stopping the plants being able to take in nutrients? Makes no sense to start to kill the plant since the last two weeks are just as important as any other two weeks in the flowering stage.

Skip this worry about stopping the feeding. Next to look up is the harvesting itself including trimming, drying and curing. Lots of different methods and theories. Got 4 weeks and a couple of days.

 

[Aweedtec]

lotsa white and new pistils. it's got a few wks to go.

Thanks. I figured. I'm just paranoid. All this time and to mess it up at the end would be frustrating.

So I should feed it the 1-1-1 liquid gold when called for even though I've never given it to them.

 

[bluter]

So I should feed it the 1-1-1 liquid gold when called for even though I've never given it to them.

might as well try it. the plant's never been on proper nutes or feeding schedule. why start now ?
doing something is better than doing nothing and letting it starve.

again, that product is only part of a feeding program.