First time grower NL Auto - Possible issue with top cola bud

[sneakygrower]

Hey, first time grower here looking for some help with an issue I'm having. Btw I only got this far from all the great posts on this website so thanks for all the great info so far!

What Strain is it? NL Auto
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? Mostly Indica
How Many Plants? 1
Is it in Vegetative or Flowering Stage? Flowering Stage
If in Flowering Stage... How Long? Planted on 12/29/15, Flowering since roughly 1/21/15. Tomorrow will be the beginning of 7th week of flowering
Indoor or Outdoor?Indoor
Soil or Hydro?Soil
If Soil... What is in your Mix?FF Ocean Forest
If Soil... What Size Pot?5gal, fabric pot
Size (Wattage) of Light? How Many?400W HID set, used MH for veg, currently using HPS for flower. Switching between 200W-400W due to temps
Is it Air Cooled?Lighting is not air cooled but there is full ventilation using 6inch duct fans and carbon filter
Temperature of Room/Cabinet?Had some issues with temp, especially with MH. Averaged high 80s. Currently around 82F with HPS at 200W
RH of Room/Cabinet?Low with not much ability to control as its winter and air is very dry, around 18%
PH of Medium or Reservoir?kept around 6.5
Any Pests?None that I am aware of
How Often are you Watering?Usually every Sunday and Thursday, about 1 gallon of filtered tap water per watering
Type and Strength of Fertilizers used?Fox Farm trio, using roughly 50% of recommended dose
Size or Square Footage of Room? roughly 3ft, by 4ft, by 5ft

- Near the top of the main cola there is a little spot that seems to be dried up where no white hairs(forgot the real name) are growing from. I am not sure if I accidentally bumped it into the grow light at some point and maybe it got burned or if its possible mold/fungus. This has been a pretty controlled grow with no major issues. As noted above, the RH is around 18%-20% and temps at night drop to 66-68 degrees for only a few hours, then back to mid-high 70s. I don't think these are the conditions for mold to really set in but just want to make sure so I can stop it before it spreads. I noticed this possible abnormality about 1.5weeks ago and it doesn't seem to be getting much worse, but the fact that is hasn't gotten any better by now has made me start to worry. I only have one plant and don't want to ruin the majority of the upcoming harvest. Tomorrow will be the beginning of 10th week since planting.

 

[Peripatera]

I see nitrogen toxicity did you fix that? Did you add dolomite lime in soil It looks that your soil is too acid.

 

[sneakygrower]

Hey ICHIJAVA,

I did notice some nutrient issues and have since flushed. I'm a few weeks away from harvest but in future grows I plan to feed every other watering and then only use PHd water for the other waterings.

I have been putting 6.5ph water into plant but did notice the runoff PH was much lower, at or around 5ph. Is that because of leftover salts from not normally flushing my plant?

Do you think these issues are what could be causing the issue with the growth of the top cola?

Thanks!

 

[Emilya Green]

I fail to see a big nitrogen toxicity here, especially under yellow light.... keep calm folks

Do you have a good fan going in there? Unless you are misting or in a super high humidity, a good oscillating fan usually will prevent mold and mildew problems.

And then, how it was prognosticated from your HPS colored pictures that your soil is too acid is way beyond my skill level to accomplish... you said you were in FFOF and that is fine for me.

Let's just go with the simplest explanation... there is nothing wrong! Your buds look fine to me, and no doubt will be getting much bigger. They are also starting to mature, so the pistils will change in nature, their color, shape and density will begin to change. This is all normal.

What I do see is that you made a great call with going with 50% nutes. I see just a bit of tip burning, which indicates that the nutes are still just a tad strong... but not so very much. If there was severe over fertilization going on you would see clawing of the leaf tips and a much more dramatic tip burn. There is an adage about nutes, if you aren't burning the tips, you aren't trying hard enough. That is one crowd's opinion, I tend to go to the opposite side and believe that less is better, and burning indicates a problem. I am betting that you could go to 1/4 nutes and still get great plants, without the burning. Why just 1/4? If you think about the size of your lights compared to a large grow with 1k lights minimum, you can see why your plants can only use 1/4 of the nutrients... it's logical. Or, in re-reading what you wrote, if you are applying 1/2 strength nutes every time, try doing the same, every other time. That would be the same as going 1/4 strength. Some people even have good luck giving nutes every third time.

So anyway, from me you get a pat on the back and an advisement to keep doing what you are doing. The flush was a good idea because salts do build up in FFOF and FF nutes. The feeding schedules provided by FF indicate the need for several flushes, and when I ran that system I would do 4 throughout the grow. You are on your way to a great harvest, just be patient and let the plant do what it wants to do.

 

[Peripatera]

Company chemicals in soil makes your water ph down to 5 next time flush your soil every day for 2 weeks before you use it for flowering plants, flush until runoff is same with the original water add some cal-mag when you transplant and water for the first time then add your nutrients whene you water for the second time and something else use ph water 6.7-6.9.