Continuing problem of yellowing/dying leaves early in bloom

[TwoBirdStoned]

Leaves are yellowing, getting brown spots, wilting, and then falling off, all in that order. This is only about 3 weeks into flower.

My pennywise had the same problem and I never solved it. Now my other three plants are having the same symptoms. The most recent watering I reformulated my nutrients to have more N, it kind of looks like it is helping. Previously I was just using Dyna Gro Bloom for flowering but I think it has too little N. My last watering I combined 1/2tsp Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro, 1/4tsp Bloom, 1/4 tsp Mag-Pro, and 1/2tsp Protekt.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[Brunt FCA]

Right off the top of my head it looks like too much bloom nutrient. What soil are you using? What are your watering practices? Have you tried a good flushing? They aren't going to recover into healthy looking plants again.

 

[TwoBirdStoned]

My soil is Professional's Choice Organic: Aged bark, peat moss, coconut coir, pumice, perlite, lime, dolomite, gypsum, DTE all-purpose (4-6-2) and natural yucca wetting agent. Contains NO sludge or bio-solids. I mix 10-20% perlite.

With Dyna Gro I flush the last week of veg, the 5th week of bloom, and the last week of bloom. Should I be flushing more often?

I water when the soil is dry, I judge by the weight of the pot and I also have a digital moisture meter that will read 0-1 in the first 2-4 inches of soil, and no more than 3 throughout the rest of the soil before watering again. In approx. 3.5 gallons of soil, I water every 5-7 days. I only grow my plants to about 30" tall.

I know these won't recover, neither did my Pennywise. I'm hoping to learn for the next bloom cycle coming up in a couple months. Thanks for the input!

 

[Brunt FCA]

Are these strains hybrids? Pure-breed strains are more susceptible to disease.

Are they healthy through the veg stage and start to go sour in flowering?

I would give them a flush for now. Water them in intervals, a little at a time, with several minutes in between. This gives the water time to move throughout the soil. The key is to get all of the soil saturated, no dry spots.

I've had this problem before. I know I caused it with too much bloom nutrient. I think they were getting N deficient early on in the bloom cycle. So, I increased the bloom nutrient and caused the burn, like yours. To solve this problem I stay with veg nutrients during early bloom. I top dress with Happy Frog 7-4-5 at around week 2. This gives them plenty of N to last through the bloom cycle without skimping on the P and K. I still add bloom nutes as flowering progresses.

So, maybe the problem is switching to bloom nutes too early. Too much P when they still need more N.

Lastly, it might be worth checking the pH of your run off. Compare the pH of your water going in vs coming out. You're using a quality pre-bagged soil and quality nutes, so, you're probably alright though.

 

[TwoBirdStoned]

Thanks BruntFCA, I agree that is likely the problem. I created an N deficiency and didn't catch it fast enough. The plants grow beautifully through veg, no problems whatsoever. After flushing before bloom, I only used 1/2tsp of DG Bloom with an NPK ratio of 1-4-2 (3-12-6). I'm going to change my feeding regimen for the next bloom cycle and I hope it prevents this problem. I usually just use 1/2tsp of DG Foliage Pro all the way through veg. I'm going to extend that 3 weeks into flower and then switch to 1tsp Foliage Pro, 1/2tsp Bloom, 1/2tsp Mag-Pro, and 1/2tsp Protekt. Does that look correct?

The strains are Hash Plant (90/10 IDH Afghani x Northern Lights) and Obama Kush (70/30 IDH Mendo Purps x Bubba Kush).

 

[TheFertilizer]

I am having a very similar experience lately, but using totally different nutrients. I was using General Hydro Flora Nova and from people I have asked, you don't want to switch them to a bloom formula right after the switch to flower. The general consensus was they either used the grow formula with other P and K supplement the whole way through flower, or they waiting until mid flower to use bloom nutrients.

Personally I am still having problems with mine. I am noticing leaves starting to turn kinda purpleish now too and believe I may have blocked out iron uptake with too much P.

 

[fanleaf]

Looks like a good sized plant. Is it possible that it was showing very minor signs in veg? I ask because its a big plant in only 3.5 gallons of soil. My guess would have been rootbound.

Sent from my VS980 4G using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[TwoBirdStoned]

@fanleaf, I didn't notice any problems in veg or for the first few weeks of flower. I've heard a gallon of soil for each foot of growth, is 3.5 gallons of soil for a 2.5ft plant not enough? I don't see roots crowding the top or bottom of the soil, any other way I can tell for sure?

 

[Brunt FCA]

I have a Lemon Kush that is looking a little yellow. Its in week 2. I top dressed with Happy Frog. I'll post a pic if I remember.

 

[farside05]

Also a Dyna Gro user and I use Foliage Pro and Pro Tekt start to finish. I do not switch to a bloom formula at all. Your last proposed feed schedule seems pretty hot to me. I max out at about 3/4 tsp of Folige Pro and 1/4 tsp Pro Tekt and that's in Pro Mix that has no other nutes in it. I use RO water with a starting PPM of 11. Beginning from seed I use 1/8 tsp of Foliage Pro and increase that weekly by 1/8 tsp until I get to 3/4 tsp. The whole time I use 1/4 tsp of Pro Tekt. Yours may have different needs due to a different soil, so you can adjust as needed.

Do a Google search "Dude Grows Dyna-Gro". You'll find an interesting podcast if you're using using Dyna Gro fertilizers.

 

[Brunt FCA]

I was having some serious yellowing on this plant at week 3. It didn't look healthy enough to finish flowering. 3 days after top dressing with Happy Frog its looking healthy again.

 

[NoRCaL707]

she needs N..nitrogen

 

[masonman]

@fanleaf, I didn't notice any problems in veg or for the first few weeks of flower. I've heard a gallon of soil for each foot of growth, is 3.5 gallons of soil for a 2.5ft plant not enough? I don't see roots crowding the top or bottom of the soil, any other way I can tell for sure?

Wait for the soil to dry out and pull the root ball up out of the container to inspect for root bound. Just like you would if you were to transplant. I do this in veg to see if it's time to transplant to larger container. I think it's kind of too late now that your in bloom to do anything about it. maybe someone else has more experience at fixing root bound in flower.

I wouldn't flower in anything smaller than 7 gallons. They need too much attention.