Phosphorus deficency?

[Santurro99]

Just wanted to know what is the easiest way to add phosphorus to soil and how it should be done. Plants are 2 1/2 weeks old and some are a lot smaller than others. Also, I have noticed some purple showing up on one plants stems. Everything that i have read leads me to believe it could be a phos. deficency. Thanks,

 

[Ms.Fox]

Re: Phosphorus deficency???

More info would be great, like what kind of soil, nutes, and water are you using? Do you have a ph meter?

 

[Santurro99]

Yes, more info would be good, sorry...

2 1/2 weeks old
Soil-Foxfarm ocean forrest
Just started with foxfarm nutes with distilled water.

I have the soil trio pack of nutes from foxfarm, big bloom, grow big and tiger bloom. I mixed big bloom at 1/4 strength to start off, one half teaspoon per gallon of water. I would like to follow the foxfarm feeding schedule by eventually mixing big bloom and grow big together. Only been using just big bloom for 3 days now.

I have a milwaukee ph pen for solution and rapitist soil ph and moisture meter. I calibrated the ph pen but am a little skeptical as to how accurate it is. It seems to take a reading but when i take the pen out of the solution and reinsert the pen back into the solution the reading will general go down a tenth of a point. I do this about 10 times and the reading seems to stay the same. I also have ph up and down which i used in my solution. After i added nutes the ph went up, around 7.4-7.6 and used ph down to get it around 6.3-6.5. Using the rapitist ph meter it appears that my soil is around 7.0-7.2

In the past day or so i have noticed that one plant has developed what looks like a purplish hue on the stem from the base of the first set of 3 leaves to about half way down the stem. Another one seems to be starting to also develop the same thing. All the leaves seem to look healthy as of now. I wonder if i have been watering too much before i started with the nutes? Containers also only have one hole on the bottom and 4 on the sides. Im wondering if i need more holes on the bottom to help water drain. Im not really sure...total noob. Any thoughts?

 

[Dr FrankenKush]

Know that some of these girls normally have purple stems in parts of the plant. Watch the leeves for signs of deficency and the way she holds herself. Listen to Ms. Fox she knows stuff!!

 

[Ms.Fox]

Here's the thing, after you add nutes to distilled water, the ph should go way down and not up... That seems a little odd.

 

[Santurro99]

I really question my Milwaukee 600 ph meter. Every time I test a solution it always seems to give me a different reading. I have a ph test kit that came with the ph up and down but it is not really accurate, just gives me a guesstimate. My question is now, do i have to calibrate my ph meter everytime I use it? And if i add ph up, then ph down, then ph up again to get it right, will all the ph stuff effect the quality of the solution? Please help.....

 

[Ms.Fox]

I don't usually recommend using ph up and down in the same gallon or whatever of water. I guess if it's necessary. Are you turning your ph tester on before you put it into the solution? I read in the directions never to turn in on when it's dry.

 

[Santurro99]

No i have kept my meter wet. I just recalibrated it and after i add big bloom to a gallon of distilled water, about a tbl spoon, my ph meter was reading 7.4-7.5. So i added some ph down to get around 6.3. Im wondering if my meter is just crap, $20 on ebay what can you expect. Im gonna stick with the ph test kit and see what happens. Its not pin point but at least I can get an idea. Thanks for the advise! Cheers

 

[BWC BayArea]

purple stems at the top of the plant can be an indication of P deficiency, but some strains are naturally this color. Other indicators include reddened veins, reddened/purple petioles (fan leaf "stems").Look at my grow (click the link in my signature Follow My Grow). Got a few deficient ladies, take a look and tell me if urs look similar (pg 2 post # 17.

 

[hashhead]

I don't usually recommend using ph up and down in the same gallon or whatever of water. I guess if it's necessary. Are you turning your ph tester on before you put it into the solution? I read in the directions never to turn in on when it's dry.

sorry guys dont mean to thread jack but i got a related question.

what would happen if the ph meter was turned on before dipping it in the water??
will it screw up the tester or just give incorrect readings?

btw bwc i cant pm untill 25 post.

 

[Santurro99]

I couldn't really tell from the pics you posted. Im starting to get some deformed leaves on 2 plants. Where one side has 5 leaves the leaves opposite only have 4. One leaf looks like 2 are stuck together. Ive read that deformed leaves are caused by a shift in ph??? Or some sort of other deficiency. My soild seems to be a little over 7. I am also gonna start with grow big in a day or two. Maybe that will help.

How can I lower the ph of my soil? Thanks for the help.

 

[BWC BayArea]

I couldn't really tell from the pics you posted. Im starting to get some deformed leaves on 2 plants. Where one side has 5 leaves the leaves opposite only have 4. One leaf looks like 2 are stuck together. Ive read that deformed leaves are caused by a shift in ph??? Or some sort of other deficiency. My soild seems to be a little over 7. I am also gonna start with grow big in a day or two. Maybe that will help.

How can I lower the ph of my soil? Thanks for the help.

Lower the PH of ur water/nutes to lower soil PH.Don't know if flushing would be more effective than just adjusting and watering as u've been doin. I really think a flush would help u tremendously. Foliar feeding may be another option if ur not too far into flower. To deal with deficiencies.

 

[Ms.Fox]

what would happen if the ph meter was turned on before dipping it in the water??
will it screw up the tester or just give incorrect readings?

Honestly I'm not sure what will happen. I'm assuming it may mess up the calibration or maybe something else. I'm sure they tell you not to turn it on dry for a reason, but of course they didn't give the reason why. ;-)

 

[flyfishinrock]

The meter should be ok if it's damp, but if it is actually dry, the probe is probably toast weather you turned it on or not. Big bloom dosent change my ph at all as its ph is about the same as my water (7.1 ish), Tiger Bloom and Gro Big on the other hand are very acidic, and lower my ph alot.