Brown and black spots, yellowing, drying and dying!

[budddd]

Hello friends,
first post here under annoying circumstances. .
I have an outdoor plant almost 2 month old. I grew it pretty natural using tap water and middle-eastern sun and it was doing great. I even topped him almost a month ago and he recovered pretty nice..
but two weeks ago problems start coming. Small brown spots start apearing on the bottom older leaves, than the spots grew to cover most of the leaves, than leaves was getting dry and yellow which led me to cut them off. I was trying diagnosing the broblem using these guide: https://www.------------.com/marijuana-symptoms
and by looking at the pictures it looks pretty much like the plant suffer from Fungus Gnats. I can also confirm that I saw those bastard lately all over the plant. Immediately I stopped watering the plant and also placed some vinegar traps. Altogether It seemed to help getting rid of those gnats but the plant is not showing any signs of recovering. The spots and yellowing just start eating most of the leaves getting almost to the top leaves. Worth mentioning that the growth of the plant has almost completely stoped. Im attaching pics taken today showjng the symptoms. Keep in mind that I already cut off most of the sick leaves which is more than I have left now. Just imagine plenty of yellow brown spotted leaves all over. .

So my questions are:
1. Anyway that this plant can be saved or is it a dead end?
2. If there's still a chance to save it what do you suggest doing now?
3. Do you think the problems happend not only from those gnats, but also from some nutrient deficiency like nitrogen, molybdenumor magnesium?

Any help would be great. I really hate the thought of starting all over again and not having anough time for new growth

Thanks

 

[Antics]

Welcome to

What is your soil PH? What is your water PH?

What nutrients are you using?

 

[budddd]

Thanks antics.
I can't tell the ph of the soil. But I did measure the ph of the water yesterday snd it's pretty high around 8-8.5.
I already bought a ph down bottle but im hesitate about using it because I read that you should not mess with water ph levels if you growing in soil because it's possible that the soil can handle and balance a high ph water. .

What do you think about it?

 

[budddd]

some more photos of the current status

 

[Antics]

Thanks antics.
I can't tell the ph of the soil. But I did measure the ph of the water yesterday snd it's pretty high around 8-8.5.
I already bought a ph down bottle but im hesitate about using it because I read that you should not mess with water ph levels if you growing in soil because it's possible that the soil can handle and balance a high ph water. .

What do you think about it?

A soil PH meter is extremely helpful. The digital ones are the best and most accurate, but the cheaper meters can also be helpful if that's all you can get. I use a cheapo meter myself for now

8-8.5 PH water is really high, ideally your water should be 6.5 PH, which will keep your soil right around the same.

I'm sure it's possible that some soils can buffer a high PH and stay balanced around 6.5, but right now your problem looks like a nitrogen deficiency. But you also have high PH water, and an unknown soil PH, so at the very least, you should PH your water down to 6.5 and start watering with that until you get your hands on a meter to measure soil PH.

Once you have the soils PH under control, we'll need to look at nutrients.

And here is a Plant and pest problem solver to help with your fungus gnat problem also.

 

[budddd]

really appreciate your help mate!
I would try to get the soil PH meter as fast as I can and follow your instructions and update about the status.
do you think that cheap one would be good anough?

the "problem" spread so fast that I think in few days it would be a dead story, so I'll try act as fast as possible.
I also suspect the soil a little bit, although I have just bought it not so long ago. it's too soft and "airi" it it doesn't even seem to hold tight the plant..

 

[Antics]

I enjoy helping. I learned a lot this past year, so expect to learn a lot yourself. You can learn a TON of cool stuff by checking out this thread: Everything you need to know This topic covers pretty much everything you'd ever need to know about growing Cannabis, I often refer back to it myself when I'm trying new things, or a strange question pops up.

That meter right there is crap. They're cheaply built and very, very inaccurate. However, with that being said, it's the type of meter I'm using for now also lol. You can use some distilled water to test the meter and see how close it is. Distilled and deionized water should have a neutral PH of 7. From there you will have a good baseline to use your meter with more accuracy. And always clean the probes after every use.

And now that you mention it, your soil does appear to have a very high fibrous content. You could possibly just "water in" some soil by sprinkling it on top before you water. At the age your plant is now, the roots have spread out a bit, and too much disturbing the soil will possibly cause root damage. At most you can remove the top layer, about 1"/2.5cm deep. But be careful, roots can grow near the surface also. Anything below that and your chances of hitting roots increase.

 

[budddd]

thanks again!

1. what exactly does "water in" means?
2.also, I should mention that the plant was in a smaller pot with different soil
And I have just transplanted them to a bigger pot with that soil a week ago.
I did damaged the roots a little bit when transplanting and it sure didn't help the situation, but that not the reason for the whole "problem" and the spots because as i mentioned it did started a week before that..

3.I wonder if eventually I manage to save that plant, it will take some time for it to recover and probably i won't get that much yield from it (also i don't even know if it female yet O

4.another question- what role does the leaves play in the flowering- what i mean that, how does it effect the plant thta i removed so many leaves from it?

 

[Antics]

By "water-in" I mean that you'd take a handful of dirt, and add about 2.5cm, or less so you don't touch the leaves with it, then you water the plant like normal, which will slowly bring the smaller soil particles down in between all the fibrous material.

When you damaged the roots, you definitely increased the risk of stunted growth, and although it doesn't usually kill a plant unless severe, or the damaged roots get a pythium infection, you'll still deal with a certain degree of shock where the plant might not grow much for a few days.

It looks like you can save it, but you're right, yields can be affected, and you will likely get less, unless you veg the plant for an extended time, which will require bringing it inside under lights so it doesn't flower outside when the days get shorter.

The large fan leaves store water and nutrients for the plant, absorb CO2, give off oxygen, absorb light, and the leaves are where photosynthesis occurs.

 

[budddd]

By "water-in" I mean that you'd take a handful of dirt, and add about 2.5cm, or less so you don't touch the leaves with it, then you water the plant like normal, which will slowly bring the smaller soil particles down in between all the fibrous material.

so I should use a different soil? by dirt you mean different soil- not from the bag?
(sorry i'm not a native English speaker so my terminology is not there yet ...

we have a long summer here so i might make up for the time lost. i wouldn't go indoor with it anyway..
and just to make sure- so buds cannot grow where leaves used to be and no longer exist?

and again, thanks a lot! I will sure update this thread with news or further questions.

 

[budddd]

Also small update.
I purchased this cheap soil meter. I dont know how accurate is it but it shows that my soil level is preety nice around 7.
Can this meter also be used in water because I do have some water ph test kit and I will be able to compare and see if it's accurate. .

 

[Conradino23]

First you need to figure your soil and its PH. Is it peat I'm seeing?

 

[Antics]

Different soil yes.. BUT your plant has roots in that soil, and stripping all that soil off the plant will most likely damage the roots, which is why I suggested adding plain soil on top and then watering. The water will slowly draw the soil down without damaging the roots.

I like to use plain potting soil, it might sometimes be called top soil, and it's usually the cheapest soil you can buy. I'm more comfortable adding my own nutrients, so I know exactly what's in my dirt.

Yes, you can use the meter in water, as long as only the metal probes are placed into the water. You want to try to keep your PH between 6.0 and 6.8.

Now, have you been feeding any nutrients?

 

[budddd]

Ok another update. I suspect that this soil is a bit shitty or at least not that suitable for the plant because it "holds" the water and not let it drain.
So yesterday I purchased a good neutral soil, some biobizz fish mix, a new big pot with good draining and I replanted again. As I thought the old soil was pretty wet after at least 5 days witthout watering.
I know it's not a good thing to replant so often but I do believe that this time the conditions are much more optimal. I've watered the plant with a very low dose of the fish mix and I hope for slow recovering. .
I will post some new photos when there will be any noticable change. Regarding the Ph, I think because im using soil and some fertilizer s now it will be ok and tge ph levels will remain near optimal but il keep monitor it using my high tech super advanced soil ph meter
Thanks for the feedbacks guys!

 

[Antics]

In your future grows, you can even mix in some perlite to improve drainage, but it sounds like you're on the right track now
As for the replanting, yes sometimes it's bad, but in cases like this, you might have done your plant more harm keeping it in wet soil. You'll have better drainage now, and hopefully a happier plant

Just keep a close eye on the soil, and you can actually use that 'crappy' meter we both have (lol) to make sure you're watering enough, but not too much.

I like to water before the needle gets into the DRY area. I try to water around a 4 or 5, and I stop when it gets to 7 or 8.

I check my PH 2x a day because my soil likes to climb up to 8 (I know.. it's really bad soil lol) But it's not a bad habit to get into.

The meter isn't the best, but it's 100 times better than guessing the soil PH It's going to make it worth the money the first week you own it. Keep on growing

 

[budddd]

I have no idea how to relate to the results of that cheap ph meter. It usually measure the soil ph as 7. BUT that what he also measure the water. .the problem is that I had tested ny water with a much more accurate test and it gave me something like 8.2.
So it means that either my actual soil ph is 8.2 as well or either I can't make no assumptions what so ever regarding the soil ph..

 

[budddd]

Small update
A week after transplating the plant looks like things are going into the right direction- there's new growth, no more spotting and yellowing leaves and overall looking healthy

 

[Antics]

some more photos of the current status

Small update
A week after transplating the plant looks like things are going into the right direction- there's new growth, no more spotting and yellowing leaves and overall looking healthy

Dude.. nice! That doesn't even look like the same plant. I'm guessing you removed all the damaged leaves and let her start fresh?

Just keep a close eye now for the first sign of trouble, and it will be easier to fix next time Keep up the great work!

 

[budddd]

Thanks
Yep I did remove most of the damaged leafs and left only ones that were slightly damaged or full healthy.
Just to remind you. This plant can still turn into male, it's from some random seed..so cross your fingers for me.
Thanks for the feedback!