Need help identifying this problem

[ultraduster]

I am flowering week 2 in FFOF using GH Flora series. I have been phing to 7, but the runoff always reads at a 5, even if the water ph is 6.5. When I water in between feedings, I add 5ml of cal-mag per gallon at 7ph.

The damaged leaves are all on the lower part of the stems. So far the bud site leaves are healthy.

What do I do to fix this problem?

 

[fanleaf]

Let me just copy and paste my response to someone else s post. My leaves started looking EXACTLY like that....Heres my response to the other post..Hope it helps! KEEP IN MIND, I TYPED THIS FOR ANOTHER MEMBER BUT YOU MAY FIND SOME INFO IN IT USEFUL
Trust me. Just because your fairly confident on what ph is going in that has nothing to do with whats coming out. Get yourself a ppm and digital ph meter and test the runoff water. They arent too expensive and well well worth getting. I'm going through my first grow right now using FFOF with a fem AK47.
For the first week and a half I just ph'ed my water going in to 6.5 on the money using a calibrated meter. After my girl started canoeing and twisting and spotting really quickly I had to figure something out. Well after 3 or 4 different guesses I tested the runoff. Yep, 5.2-5.3! Everything was for the most part locked out. I've saved her, shes fine and dandy as of now. After scratching my head because FFOF should be fine I found out that I need to do several things to prepare that soil better in the future. 1st of all I'm cutting the FFOF with 25-30% perlite from now on for compaction and runoff. The reason why is because you will need to flush just as I did. After an 11 gallon of ph'ed distilled at 7.1 I finally got my runoff to 5.8-5.9. That's not good but better. The problem with it is the soil compacted so much I had to add more to the top. ADD 25% PERLITE FROM NOW ON! So, I believe the reason for the low ph is the Peat in the FFOF. Number 2 from now on is mixing at least 2 tablespoons of Domolite (lime) to the soil for every gallon of soil. Domolite will help buffer and keep the ph up. I also added a little pelletized lime for longer term. Mine went to 5.2ph and I didnt use any nutes and I always ph'ed my water! For my seedlings from now on I'm also cutting the FFOF with some LITE soil. FFOF may have too many nutes for these little guys I think.

Like I said, whats going in won't be what's coming out I bet. I bet it's way low. I would flush it with 3X the capacity of your pot and recheck runoff's ph and ppm.
As of 1 hour ago I just watered mine and FINALLY my runoff ph was 6.1 at the end of the runoff and 615ppm disolved solids. That 6.1 I can live with for now because I can see it coming up slowly and the plant took off! Some of that ppm was the CALMAG I had to add last watering. I had to give it some since I use distilled.
Here is a pic of my 23 day old AK47. Shes been topped twice and recovered well after the torture I put her through. It's my first grow and shes making me learn quickly!
23 days old since day she broke soil. Shes 11 inches tall and 18 inches wide. I had to take off a few fans after the whole lockout ordeal. They were sick, dying and crispy.

HERES A PIC THAT YOU CAN SEE WHEN I HAD A LEAF OR 2 LEFT THAT LOOKED LIKE YOURS I GOT LOCKOUT FROM LOW PH.

 

[ultraduster]

Thanks for the reply fanleaf. So I went out and bought some dolomite lime to raise the ph, now how would I go about administering it to the plant? Spread it out on top and then water?

 

[zBRiCKz]

Thanks for the reply fanleaf. So I went out and bought some dolomite lime to raise the ph, now how would I go about administering it to the plant? Spread it out on top and then water?

Dolomite needs to be mixed into the soil before planting I'm afraid...

 

[LEDBud]

You will have to adjust your waters ph to achieve a balance.

Make sure your giving the plant a cal mag supplement.

 

[ultraduster]

Dolomite needs to be mixed into the soil before planting I'm afraid...

Well that sucks. Now what can I do to raise the soil ph? Flush gallons of 7.1ph until it goes up?

Make sure your giving the plant a cal mag supplement.

I do ph all water to 7 and I use calmag.

 

[LEDBud]

I am wondering if its a Iron deficiency ?

Also I think you should flush with gallons and gallons of ph adjusted water like you were thinking only with the PH adjusted to 6.8

If you do a big flush be sure that the last of the water you flush threw is highly oxygenated to help with the water logging.

 

[ultraduster]

How do I get the water to be highly oxygenated? Air Stone?

 

[LEDBud]

Technically yes but you could use a gallon garden sprayer (or bigger) to spray the water to instantaneously fill the water with oxygen. It would be good to add nutrients to the last oxygenated flush.

I use a airstone in my small water / nutrients bucket but when I need to water fast I use my 2 gallon garden hand/pump sprayer.

They work great for feeding seedlings as well..

 

[fanleaf]

Actually I would top dress the soil with the Dolomite and it will/should very slowly work it's way in. I've been told after a few weeks it will start to help. Could be wrong but I'm starting to see the ph difference in mine. I top dressed and ph'ed distilled to 7.1-7.3 for a while and it seems now that dolomite and pelletized lime I scratched into the first few inches of soil is working in I don't have to ph quite so high now. Maybe it's just me but doing it I've got it back under control now.

 

[JuanCarlos]

Flush it. Flush it and see what your runoff is at the end. Then go from there.

 

[fanleaf]

Flush it. Flush it and see what your runoff is at the end. Then go from there.

Agreed! Flush flush flush. Dress with dolomite and let her dry.

 

[BrownStone]

Hey Ultra, I would flush with straight 6.0 and test the run off to establish the actual PH of your growing medium and if your PH is too low I would use a fast acting lime such as Encap....this is specifically designed for quick PH adjustment and too stabilize PH to avoid further issues..... also contains iron, gypsum and sulfur to help rescue sick plants fast. Lol...saved my butt twice.

 

[ultraduster]

So I flushed at 7-7.1ph and got it up to 5.50ph and dressed it with lime. We'll see how the runoff ph is next watering. She does seem to be looking better after, but still too early to tell. Thanks for the help guys. Will post an update later.

 

[Tizyite]

try to keep your ph at 6.5- 6.8. I have had this problem with some plants and it was a phosphorous deficiency. My plants turned out ok but didnt thrive. All to often these problems are noticed very close to harvest and not much we can do. Keep that ph in check!

 

[4Rare420RX]

sounds ridiculous, but you can up the PH by a small mixture of baking soda in water and run a flush with it to alkalyze up.

 

[LEDBud]

The run off is a concentration of the bottom , middle and top of the pots minerals/fertilizer and acids.

Hopeful the ph settles down on its own now.

So I flushed at 7-7.1ph and got it up to 5.50ph and dressed it with lime. We'll see how the runoff ph is next watering. She does seem to be looking better after, but still too early to tell. Thanks for the help guys. Will post an update later.