Diagnose the Deficiency!

[DeeCee112]

Background: 8 clones of 4 strains I just flowered out, this time I'm trying organic. They were just uppoted from straight FFOF 1 gal containers into 3 gallon fabric bags of FFOF premixed with 2 tablespoons of Gaia Green 2-8-4 Bloom and 1 tablespoon of Gaia Green 4-4-4 General Purpose dry amendments per gallon of FFOF. This matches the instructions for pre amending from Gaia Green.
Plan was to give them fresh soil and Bloom heavier preloaded nutrients for a week to stretch out into then flip them for a quick bumper crop. Not looking for huge plants.

Humidity on the lower end 35 to 45% RH occasional dip to 30%
Temps controlled by a small heater
24C +-2C for days
22C +-1.5C nights
Tapwater only that has been bubbled for 24hrs minimum, PH around 6-6.5 only ever checked with strips.
LED lights 30" minimum from plants (more than any of my other grows so shouldn't be too much light)

Plan is off the rails as this has been the sight for the past week:

Tiny thin and unhappy spindly new growth on all plants
Yellow leaf edges and tips on the White Widow Mostly on upper leaves
Rusty orange brown spots mostly on white widows but some on other plants on lower bigger leaves

At time of Uppot

First signs of yellow edges - I figured they were just ready for bigger pots and fresh soil.

1 Week After

Symptoms worsen and expand to all plants. New growth almost looks like it wants to fold up into buds...

Lower growth rapidly discoloring

More tiny new leaves wtf man!

After some googling the discoloration looks like it may be phosphorus related and some texts indicate wispy upper growth due to phosphorus toxicity which kind of aligns with the extra 2-8-4 I added. Any thoughts / suggestions welcome!

 

[Herby Paisley]

Hi DeeCee112.... Did you check for pests the third pic shows alot of white lil specs, was thinking maybe aphids might be sucking the nutrients out of your plant and soil causing some deficiencies.

 

[DeeCee112]

Hey Herby That's just residue from my Safers sulphur powder I used as a Preventative

 

[Herby Paisley]

Oh ok good .... Hows the ph in the soil? What kind of watering schedule do you have going with this plant?

 

[Listersmeghead]

Hey deecee,
The ffof has alot of food in it already when it's fresh, i think your mixture has made it run a little hot imo. I think you're right, the added 4-4-4 was most prob ok but that 2-8-4 might of sent it over the top?

Maybe a good flush would fix it.

 

[DeeCee112]

Yeah I'm convinced this is the issue. In hindsight it seems obvious but a couple White widow joints on transplant day led me astray with the power Bloom, I should've reserved that for top dressing a few weeks into Bloom!

It's a shame but tonight they will get a good flush followed by a top dressing of just 4-4-4 then I'll see where they are at by next weekend.

 

[DeeCee112]

Flush and compost tea foliage feeds helped them work through it! Some lingering issues and certainly back a week or two in growth but we are back on track and into first week of flower now! Thanks for the help!

 

[Emilya Green]

So you applied 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 to the soil so the total nutrient load is 6-12-8, plus whatever you are giving via top dressings.

Mulders chart shows what happens with that very heavy P load... it sets up antagonisms with the availability of both K and Iron, not to mention Zinc, Copper and Calcium. You are applying extra K, so that lockout isn't being seen... but I see a clear Iron lockout going on here. If it were so easy that all you need to do is apply enough Gaia Green to the soil to get you through the grow, everyone would do it that way. Your plant is showing you why it is not advised to preload your soil with readily bio-available nutrients.

 

[DeeCee112]

So you applied 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 to the soil so the total nutrient load is 6-12-8, plus whatever you are giving via top dressings.

Mulders chart shows what happens with that very heavy P load... it sets up antagonisms with the availability of both K and Iron, not to mention Zinc, Copper and Calcium. You are applying extra K, so that lockout isn't being seen... but I see a clear Iron lockout going on here. If it were so easy that all you need to do is apply enough Gaia Green to the soil to get you through the grow, everyone would do it that way. Your plant is showing you why it is not advised to preload your soil with readily bio-available nutrients.

Yeah I got it, a few mistakes up front, underestimated FFOF, back on the rails now though.