Colorado High - Soilless - LED/CFL - Skunk Red Hair - 2014

[Scottay]

I really dig the great sense of humour with people here!!! Its a great thing! I gotta live vicariously through you great growers for the moment!

 

[Mike Wright]

Primo plants CH. Nice photo update.

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks Pantagruel!

 

[PeytonManning]

Damn them girls are looking nice CH

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks PeytonManning!

 

[David Bowman]

Day 45 of flowering and while one lady is chugging along nicely, the other lady is in a bit of distress. It appears to me that the right lady is suffering from P deficiency, the leaves have that classic appearance of P deficiency and the topside of the stems of the affected leaves are red, but only in the middle of the plant. The bottom leaves/stems are free from any visible issues and the top leaves and stems are only slightly affected by this issue at this time. While it could be related to a pH issue, I'm thinking it might be due to fungus gnat damage due to an error I made with the humidifier. When I turned off the humidifer, I did not empty it out, just in case I needed to use it again. I noticed an increase of fungus gnats over time and I was wondering why. Well, after a few weeks of flowering had passed, I checked on the humidifier and found it full of dead fungus gnats. It appears that the humidifer was being used as a water source for the gnats inbetween feedings/waterings. The humidifier has since been emptied and cleaned out and the fungus gnat population has dropped significantly. The right lady is closest to the humidifier and other than this subtle distinction, the ladies have been treated identically. I have also noticed that the right lady has significantly lowered it's water intake as the medium is still quite moist compared to the left lady and they have been fed the exact same amount at the same time. Another difference between the two ladies is the main stem circumference, the right lady's main stem is easily half the width of the left lady's main stem.

I could be wrong with my diagnosis and it still be another issue altogether, but at this late stage of flowering, any flushing will effectively end the right lady's progress since by the time it dries out and recovers, it will be harvest time. Interestingly, the right lady is frostier than the left lady which might also indicate that the right lady is getting ready to shutdown. Another issue is that the right lady has started to respond with nanners. I've found and removed a few already before they reached maturity, but if this is not controllable in this manner, I will have to pull the right lady and harvest her earlier than planned anyway. You can see in the photos below that the right lady is slightly behind the left lady in development but otherwise is continuing to mature and might make it all the way to harvest next month.

Overhead shot of the ladies on day 45 of flowering -

Two shot of the ladies on day 45 of flowering -

Single shot of the left lady on day 45 of flowering -

Close-up shot of a cola on the left lady on day 45 of flowering -

Single shot of the right lady on day 45 of flowering -

Close-up shot of a cola on the right lady on day 45 of flowering -

Close-up shot of a couple of affected leaves on the right lady on day 45 of flowering -

I'm letting both ladies dry out further before I feed/water them again. I may stagger their feedings/waterings to give the right lady a chance to dry out and use up any nutrients left in the medium. In any case, I'm keeping a close eye on the both ladies, to make sure I keep the nanners under control on the right lady and to ensure that the left lady continues to mature without any issues. While this setback is a bit disheartening, it is providing me with yet more growing experience and knowledge which will come in handy during my future grows.

 

[PeytonManning]

Those look great, deficiency or not. Buds are getting nice and big too. Keep up the great work man!

 

[Seraphim]

Yeah man they both look pretty good. Stay on top of those nanners if you can and let her finish out. Maybe put in a separate area if that's an option for you to make sure the left lady is not affected but like Payton said, they both look great and buds are starting to swell. Good luck man! We learn as we go.

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks PeytonManning!

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks Seraphim! Unfortunately, I have only one grow area or I would do exactly as you have suggested. I think I can control the nanners but boy are those suckers hard to find hidden in the middle of buds. I though it was difficult locating regular male stamens during my first grow, but these nanners are significantly more difficult to locate and extract. But the right lady appers to be nanner-free at the moment.

 

[skunnymonster]

It certainly looks like a phosphorous deficiency but it seems strange it's not affected the bottom leaves 1st. As this deficiency affects photosynthesis the rest of your description also adds weight to it being the case. I hope you get her sorted before harvest my friend.

 

[David Bowman]

That's why I think it is more of a root issue than solely a pH issue. It isn't plant-wide that's for sure and the P deficiency hit the upper middle of the plant and is moving up more than moving down. This, along with the slower moisture uptake, would seem to indicate that the newer roots are being more affected than the older roots, which I think points to fungus gnats as well since they have a more significant impact on young tender roots as compared to older roots.

 

[skunnymonster]

Luckily I've never suffered from any form of insects in my grows, I think that's the only bonus to living in the UK. Hopefully yours recovers in time to make your harvest a good one now you've solved the issue

 

[David Bowman]

Well, I hope I've resolved the issue. I've had fungus gnats before but never reulting in these kind of issues.

 

[NOCO Farmer]

Fungus Gnats, are these visible? and in anyone's experience is there any way to make them visible? Meaning coming out of soil, etc....

 

[David Bowman]

They are not that visible to me on the surface of the soil, which is dry most of the time. I'm sure the larvae are underneath this dry surface but I've yet to go digging as I don't want to cause even more stress for my ladies. However, the adults are quite visible against the bright yellow drip tray under the pots. In fact, I see a lot of dead ones on this tray and I think the color draws some of them out to their deaths. They are more numerous than during any previous grow but not that much to be too annoying. I'm not swatting them out of my face or anything like that but I've seen a lot more crawling and flying around that during last summer's grow. I rarely see them outside the summer season.

Here are a couple of photos of some fungus gnats I took last year during my first grow -

 

[stealthgrow]

Hi CH, your plants are looking alright man.
I hope you get the deficiency under control, but you should have a good yield from those two plants. The cola photo's are nice, looks like the buds are getting frosty.

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks stealthgrow! I forgot to add that the ladies are starting to emit a most wonderful odor. When I open the grow box, especially right as their day starts, I am rewarded with a very pleasant musky, skunky odor that tells me that these ladies are maturing quite nicely. Even with this issue, I think that this will be my most potent grow and anything over 1 ounce per lady will satisfy my needs.

 

[NOCO Farmer]

What's up with fungus gnats, I'm thinking I have them as well.

 

[David Bowman]

In my experience, they're mostly harmless until they become harmful. The eggs that the adults lay in the soil turn into larvae which feed on young tender roots. They typically do more damage the younger a plant is but with the right environment, they can cripple or even kill a sexually mature plant.