Yellow leaves

[SmokingWings]

I don't have the nutrients your chart calls for. FF didn't create this chart?

Write down or type in the exact name of each of the nutrients or fertilizers you are using. That way we can all be talking about the same thing.

Fox Farm has several lines of products and the Cultivation Nation line seems to be new, probably introduced in the past 6 months or so.

In the meantime I am going to go into the grow room, light one up, listen to what my plants want to tell me.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

On this chart, you don't need all the Xtra crap
But the base nutes chart is from their site and is what I've always used

 

[DrCannaCanadian]

Hey @Doctor Trevor ,

We see you following the feeding/flushing schedule, and that's a very good thing.

Overall your plants look healthy and on track.

The Dark Angel is a photoperiod strain which has, on average, an 8 week flowing time. This means that approximately 8 weeks after you see its first pistils, the plant will have about 90% cloudy trichomes.

If you are following the feeding schedule properly, then Week 5 would have been the "transition" week and during Week 6 you should have seen the first pistils.

Since you are on Week 11 of the feeding schedule, you are around Week 6 of the plant's flowering cycle. It is around this time that the Fox Farm feeding schedules have you only on the Bloom nutes which have less Nitrogen.

Since you are adding less Nitrogen, and the plant is starting to senesce, the plant is going to start to cannibalize its lower leaves. This is normal healthy plant behavior - so please do not cut the fan leaves off - the plant is using those fan leaves as a food source.

The fan leaves at the top of the plant look healthy - that's also a good sign.

Basically, you want to start checking the trichomes now. They should be pretty clear still, but over the next two weeks they are going to turn cloudy - and that's the THC you want!

The new Cultivation Nation feeding schedules are pretty close to the older versions when you compare.

But please do tell us exactly what product you are using.

I grew with Fox Farm and Advanced Nutrients before switching to the new Mega Crop. Before I would spend hundreds of dollars on nutes, and now I spend about fifty bucks - with the same great results.

Alright, get us that info we need and please keep in touch.

Again, great work so far!

 

[Virgin Ground]

Winemaker, cool.
Potassium bicarbonate should work well. I used it with the trio.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

I have the bicarbonate. I'll half to get a pH meter before I use it.

 

[Edzzed]

No.

I use spring water for watering and feeding so I would assume the pH is about 7.

On my first grow I used Nestle pure life water which is from a spring. It did list solids ppm but does not tell you the pH. I got a meter and while I don't recall the exact pH I think it was 7.3 and I pH my water at 6.3

 

[Doctor Trevor]

I tried picking up a pH meter from the local hardware/gardening store but they didn't have any in stock; it's a seasonal item. I was planning to order one online when I thought: the local pet shop! Fish tanks needs a certain pH. Could I use one of those? Or should I go with one for dirt?

A friend still suggests cutting the yellow leaves away so it doesn't spread. I know Dr C says the plant will consume itself so I'll hold off on trimming it.

Here are this morning's photos. The yellow leaves are still soft. I expected them to break off when I touched them.

 

[Edzzed]

I tried picking up a pH meter from the local hardware/gardening store but they didn't have any in stock; it's a seasonal item. I was planning to order one online when I thought: the local pet shop! Fish tanks needs a certain pH. Could I use one of those? Or should I go with one for dirt?

The one I use is similar if not identical to
LCD Digital Pen Type PH Meter Tester Hydroponics Aquarium Pool Water Test Tool: Amazon.ca: Industrial & Scientific They come in may colors but I think in the end only one company makes this model. To calibrate mine I check it in a bowl of vinegar. Can't recall the pH of it but seems to work ok. Just not too sure on why the fools would have a pic showing 17.4 with it. lmao.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

I ordered a Yoymax tester:

Someone said they use this and was happy. I also ordered some pH adjusting chemicals. Should have all this by the weekend.

 

[Edzzed]

@Emilya would probably tell you not to worry about soil pH. and to worry more about the pH water you are putting in. I never worry about soil pH and have no need for the item you listed. You might want to cancel that sale. Just sayin....

 

[SmokingWings]

@Emilya would probably tell you not to worry about soil pH. and to worry more about the pH water you are putting in. I never worry about soil pH and have no need for the item you listed. You might want to cancel that sale. Just sayin....

Yep. I just tested the pH of the water out the tap over the years (6.3 pH most of the time). Since it has fluctuated between 6.2 and 6.3 I left well enough alone and stopped.

The pH of the water that drains out of the soil is just that, the pH of the water that drained out and does not necessarily mean that the soil is the same pH.

The plant looks very healthy so it has been doing well up to now. You could decide to just continue with what you have been doing and start planning on the harvest and curing to come. Sometimes when we try to cure a minor problem this late in the game it can cause more problems than it is worth.

 

[SmokingWings]

The one I use is similar if not identical to
LCD Digital Pen Type PH Meter Tester Hydroponics Aquarium Pool Water Test Tool: Amazon.ca: Industrial & Scientific They come in may colors but I think in the end only one company makes this model. To calibrate mine I check it in a bowl of vinegar. Can't recall the pH of it but seems to work ok. Just not too sure on why the fools would have a pic showing 17.4 with it. lmao.

...why the fools would have a pic showing 17.4 with it. lmao..... Oh, such negativity.

I followed your link and it does look like 17.4 but looking real close with my worn out eyes and it is not a number 1 in front of the 7. Looks like some other sort of symbol with an upper and lower part. Maybe a battery indicator? It is for pools and aquariums and a search tells me that many people like pH their pool water to 7.4 or close to it. All part of advertising.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

@Emilya would probably tell you not to worry about soil pH. and to worry more about the pH water you are putting in. I never worry about soil pH and have no need for the item you listed. You might want to cancel that sale. Just sayin....

Have you had this problem with the leaves yellowing? The pH meter isn't expensive; even if I don't use it now, I may need it down the road.

Thank you (and everyone else) for your help.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

Today, my pH/light/moisture meter arrived. I did a pH reading with it and the soil was about 8.

I mixed half a teaspoon of tartaric acid (the acid from grapes) with a quart of water and poured it on Lupe's soil. Tomorrow, I'll do another reading. Friday is her next watering day.

 

[SmokingWings]

Today, my pH/light/moisture meter arrived. I did a pH reading with it and the soil was about 8.

I mixed half a teaspoon of tartaric acid (the acid from grapes) with a quart of water and poured it on Lupe's soil. Tomorrow, I'll do another reading. Friday is her next watering day.

Was the meter calibrated? Will the tartaric acid work that fast to change the pH of the soil?

 

[Doctor Trevor]

I did not calibrate it; that was foolish of me.

I'm adding very small amounts of the tartaric acid as not to shock the plant. Quickly changing the pH in wine/beer can stun/kill the yeast.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

My yoyomax Soil Test Kit turned out to be a total piece of shit.

Practically all the fan leaves on Lupe shriveled up (see photo). A friend did a little research and says it looks like the pH was way too low. I gave her a good flushing and then calibrated the meter.

The light meter doesn't work at all.

The pH meter won't drop before 6, even when I dip it in Star-San solution that has a pH of less than 2.8.

The moisture meter, which reads as dry/moist/wet told me that the bottled water I dipped it in moist.

FML

 

[SmokingWings]

We have all gotten so involved in the pH issue and the nutrient mix issues and might have completely missed something really obvious. There might not be a problem at all; the leaves could be yellowing because the flowers are ripening and the plant is drawing nutrition from the existing fan leaves causing them to yellow. I have found it can take a week to 10 days for the yellowing to progress to the end before the leaf falls off on its own. @AdaminCO brought this up in msg #11.

Maybe now is the time to do a flushing of the soil mix the roots are in, letting it dry a bit and seeing if it recovers. If the leaves start looking more normal again and not wilting then you know that you helped pull it through.

I went back through the thread again and still did not find any mention of what you are growing in. Is it a natural soil mix or is it one of the mixes with a lot of peat moss and/or a lot of coco coir?

 

[Doctor Trevor]

I'm growing in soil. Foxfarm Ocean Forest potting soil.

 

[SmokingWings]

You might be able to save the plant. Flushing the tartaric acid out and going back to square one might be enough to bring it back. As you mentioned earlier you feel that you are close to harvest and what I see says there is enough to try to save the plant.

Let us know what you are thinking about doing.