Help me diagnose, please
- Thread starter Groundtop
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- #22
Groundtop
Well-Known Member
Fifth week
I don't think a 3.5 gallon pot is going to get root bound and do what is happening. I've seen people grow plants to flower in a solo cup. This is something locking out Potassium uptake. That's what it looks like to me is potassium deficiency.Hey Groundtop,
I don't grow autos, but I'll throw in my 2 cents here.
My first impression of your photos above... If this was happening in my grow, I would say the plant is suffering from pot-too-small-itis, aka premature senescence, aka "dying in the home stretch". In other words, the plant is starting to die before the buds are ready to harvest.
What I have found is that if the pot is too small, even though nutrients are being added, the plant will not do well and will start to show signs of necrosis, i.e. leaves and bracts starting to die and turn brown, and stigmas (hairs) dying off too quickly and prematurely.
Logically, this is due to problems in the root zone, and most likely the primary one is a rootbound situation, i.e. the pot is filled up and tight with roots. As a result, nutrients are not absorbed and used properly. Some phenotypes will be more resilient to being rootbound. The type of pot – whether fabric or plastic – will also be a factor. A plant grown in a fabric pot may be less likely to become rootbound.
In conclusion, where some phenos may do OK in 3.5 gallons, others may not. You could try upping your pot size to 5 gallons. I grow 6-8 ft tall plants outdoors in 5, 7, 10, and 15 gallons. My new rule of thumb is not to flower plants in anything less than 10 gal.
happy growing!
@Groundtop - Are you supplementing with high levels of cal/mag? Too much calcium/magnesium will lock out Potassium. If you phospho loaded this can present issues down the line in flower also with lockout.
Back your light off a bit and reduce the ppm in your solution and watch any new growth for the signs you are currently seeing. You still have some time before they are ripe but you should be able to make it to harvest. I've grown cultivars where leaf senescence kicks in around week 6. Could be genentic also but I doubt it.
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- #24
Groundtop
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I'm not using any cal-mag. Could that be the problem?
I follow fox farm schedule and feed with every watering. For the most part following their schedule until recently where I upped the nutes just a tad to give them more potassium.
you should be running some calmag in coco under led standard. i think fox farm may have a little but it probably won't be enough.
it looks a bit like k may be too high. a k excess will lock calmag out and vice versa. this strikes me more as an excess than deficiency. fans going crispy fast would be a good indicator. excesses generally move faster in flower than a deficiency to show.
running a little calmag will probably allow you to roll the nutes a little cooler. you are running under burple led so i can't see it driving the plant hard enough for high nute levels. it's probably just a matter of balance.
also a 5gal grow bag would smooth the grow out a little especially in flower.
how often are you feeding ?
common practice in coco is to run a cooler ppm and feed more often. with a 3.5gal bag feeding twice to 3 times a day in flower is fairly standard. never let coco dry out.
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- #26
Groundtop
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Hey Bluter! Thanks for the info!
This mix is actually considered soil.
I feed twice a week according to FF schedule
Tiger bloom grow big and big bloom twice a week
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- #27
Groundtop
Well-Known Member
This is her today.
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
Everyone here agrees... potassium. I was thinking this plant was taller... I guess it's a very short plant. I'd like to see a photo that shows a side view of the plant and the pot, in normal light.
I think it's a root zone problem. I'm still guessing root bound in 3.5 gal, which could upset pH in the root zone, affect drainage, and cause nutrient build-up. But I'd like to see another photo to get a better idea of plant size vs. pot size.
I can see what you're saying as a scenario also but I've grown 6 foot tall plants in a 3 gal with zero issue so I'm not sure that's what's causing this. The other thing I see is the plant is fairly small so a 3 gal should be plenty for the root ball that would support a plant that size.
I know that Coco Loco is to be treated like soil but a higher concentration of coco is going to make the issues that happen in coco more prevalent. Coco typically needs mag supplements hence why my first thought was he was toxing it with cal/mag and locking out potassium.
@Groundtop - have you looked for any bug infestations with a loupe or magnifying glass? Could be some weird bug fucking up your plant. Haven't read anyone asking so I thought I would.
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
I had some sativas in 1 gal pots that probably reached 7 ft, but I wasn't interested in flowering them. Did you flower a 6 ft. plant in a 3 gal pot, in soil, and get a good harvest?
Yeah, the plant does seem small in one photo, but I'd like to see a side shot showing the plant and the pot, in normal light.
I grow in my own custom organic super soil, which contains a good amount of coco coir. I recently had a build up of too much coco because I recycle my soil, and was adding additional coco each time. The result was too much drainage. So I've stopped adding additional, and instead I add more compost soil.
What we are seeing as potassium deficiency in the leaves surely cannot be due to bugs of any kind.
I did. I use to run a small illegal warehouse for a buddy of mine. He had setup a warehouse with 40ft sea containers and built each one out with mini splits, CO2, humidifier and dehumidifier. We would run them in 4 x 8 trays and transplant the vegged girls in to 3 gal cans. 21 plants per tray.
This was the 20ft tester that he used for new cultivars he wanted to test out.
Yeah! It would be better if we could see an overall shot to see the size of the plant.pot, size and style.
I try and reuse the soil I grew in, adding in some new soil to revitalize the nutrient content. I believe that reusing soil allows the bacterial endophytes and other fungi and bacteria that the plant liked, to already be present to give the plant a leg up on having to develop the bacterial colony it likes.
Probably not but it's always good to check. I've had issues before that I swore were this and that only to find out it was a bug infestation.
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
Nice looking plants almost ready to harvest. They look at most 4 ft tall, not 6 ft, comparing to height of the shipping container (not including height of the pot). I can believe that you got an OK harvest from 4ft tall plants in 3 gal.
Here's my compact CBD #18 pheno in supersoil 5 gal + fertigation, flowered last summer. I estimate she's a little over 4 ft. tall. I got a good harvest from her. She wouldn't have done nearly as well in 3 gal.
