Browning leaves

[Marcom1234]

So….
First grow….

Gorilla glue … grown from clone given to me.
Outdoor grow in 7 gal fabric pots.
Fertilize with fox farm liquids

Currently using Tiger bloom, big bloom plant food, and Bembe every other week.
Flowering for about 4 weeks.
water about every other day based on conditions.

Only real change is last week was super hot and humid. Sunday temps dropped and humidity also. The day before I used sledge hammer. Following directions I just mixed a gallon and used it… that’s it…. That night I read somewhere that after using I should flush with a few gallons of water…. Which i did the following day. I used just straight reverse osmosis water. Which I later read will strip calcium… lol
Kinda a comedy of errors on my part I think. So my best guess is … not flushing out the sledgehammer right away and then using straight reverse osmosis water… probably helped my problem along.

Plant has done perfect all summer. Then I get home Monday from work and a good portion of my leaves have brown areas.

My guess is calcium deficiency?

 

[Marcom1234]

As a follow up….

I also have a Wedding Cake plant that I do the exact same thing to right next to it…. And no browning whatsoever…. ‍

 

[Roy Growin]

Browning is K def

 

[ppm Charlie]

See attached.

 

[ppm Charlie]

Or, it could be fertilizer burn. You may have had nutrient lockup at some point and the Sledge Hammer released that load. Burned em a bit.

 

[Marcom1234]

Or, it could be fertilizer burn. You may have had nutrient lockup at some point and the Sledge Hammer released that load. Burned em a bit.

Hmmm that sounds very possible. As before the sledgehammer and flush the following day, they looked perfect…

which leads me to next question…

how will this effect my flowering?

 

[ppm Charlie]

Nutrient burn: How To Spot And Resolve Nutrient Burn

 

[ppm Charlie]

I'd recommend flushing with copious amounts of RO water (alone) until you are sure nutrient overloading/lockout is resolved. You might want to start with a pH of the RO water in the 6.5-6.8 range and finish your RO water flushing at the 5.8-6.0 pH range. This step will allow the nutrients to deliver less impact to the plant at first while flushing is ongoing (slow release of the excess or locked-up nutrients). You may have to flush several different times, depending on the degree of nutrient overload/lockup trapped in the soilless media.

Remember - less-is-more - many times. You do not necessarily need a "flushing solution" in a bottle. Proper flushing can be accomplished with pH adjusted RO or distilled water alone. If you feel a need to get that "last drop" of vegetative nutrient out of the soilless media before flowering, you can always use the bottled flush for the very last flush after the pH adjusted RO water flush.

Next, the recommendation on the bottle-label for applications of nutrient are MAXIMUM dosages. It is always better to start out at 1/2 dosages and ramp up as you see the plant needing more food (unless you know your plant sub-type very well). Watch the plant leaf tips. When the leaf tip "down turns" slightly that is about the max nutrient load the plant can take without leaf-burn damage (maybe back off dosage slightly a bit from there, if you want, for future feedings). The amount of nutrient the plant needs to eat changes with time and growth stage. Remember, it takes a day or two or maybe several days to see the "true" effects of a feed. Feeding and the effect on the plant is not "instant". Many growers feed less than max dosages and every other watering substitute pH adjusted plain water.

Also, different plants, different strains, different soilless media, different nutrients greatly affect plant growth and plant vitality. Just like people are different in the eating and living habits, so are plants. Know your sub-type strain genetics and pay particular attention to other's journals, articles, research and reporting on their experiences with that particular method or strain of plant. Ask them questions to be sure you fully understand their successes and failures with that type of plant strain or method.

Last, the pH of the soilless media and the pH of the nutrient solution are critically important. Plants can't eat properly if the soilless mix or nutrient water pH is out of range (according to this NCSU study, pH 5.8 to 6.2 - New Research Results: Optimal pH for Cannabis). Calibrate your pH meter. Check your soilless media pH before planting and a couple of times while growing (I use the "slurry" soil pH check method). DO NOT rely on those cheap soil pH meters - they are crap. Check your nutrient water pH, ALWAYS, before watering. Pay close attention to the nutrient label for mixing instructions and the order of steps in mixing. Never mix separate component nutrients together in their "raw" form out of the bottle. Mix them one at a time individually.

For example, you can mix a super concentrated form of one component nutrient in 1-gallon jug of hot water (hot water helps nutrient components dissolve quickly). Shake it up well and make sure it is well mixed. Same with additional super concentrated nutrient components, individually in separate jugs. Then add them, one jug at a time, mixing each time you add, to the total volume of plain RO water for the amount of mix you are preparing (say a total 20-gal volume). At the end of the mix-mix, make sure to measure and adjust the pH of the nutrient solution to the pH = 5.8 to 6.2 range (nutrient pH may vary slightly one way or the other depending on growth stage and plant genetics but not more than +/- 0.25 pH units, generally). Also, adjust temperature of the nutrient water - "not too hot, not too cold" - if needed (plants can sustain body shock, like people, in too hot or too cold water).

Live and learn - center and focus - try, try again - reflect and be patient with yourself- record and document your findings for future reference - smoke 'em if you got 'em - smile more - Be Happy. ppm