I'm not sure what to do here, I brought pictures

[Sleepy One]

Hi, first time caller, long time listener. I am growing 2 Maui Wowie plants. One looks great and the other doesn't. Both are in the same soil. I'll just post some info:
2x4 grow room
2 small fans
humidifier and exhaust
2 Spider Farmer SF1000 LEDs
Humidity 45-50
Temp 81 F
soil: 50/50 Fox Farm Ocean Forrest and Happy Frog with 20% pearlite
No nutes other than Cal-Mag
PH 6.4 (Bad one) 6.5 (Good one)
I'm guessing the bad one has a PH problem. I just flushed the hell out of it.
The yellow started ad the middle and bottom but is moving up.
Since MW grows tall, I switched them to12/12 as soon as I saw roots coming out the bottom.
Using LST to keep them short
Using 4 gal Air Pots
I usually water every 2-3 days. Depends on the weight
I use tap water that sits in a bucket at least 24 hrs. PH 6.5
Can you guys look at these pictures and tell me what you think?
The first pic is the yellow tips starting in veg The rest are in flower. The last pic is the good plant.
They are both 4 weeks into flower. MW has a 9-11 week flower.

 

[Buds Buddy]

You need to use nutrients & pH to 6.3. The nutes in the soil only last 3-4 weeks at best. pH climbs in soil so you want to start at the low end (6.3). That way as it climbs from 6.3 - 6.5 it takes up each nute. You don't take up each nute if you start at 6.5.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Your plant is eating itself because it's hungry is the simple way to put it.

 

[Stoned Ape]

They are hungry for flowering nutes is what I am thinking.

 

[Stoned Ape]

U type faster buds. U like batman waiting for the sign a sick plant is out there and u swoop into action.

 

[Buds Buddy]

U type faster buds. U like batman waiting for the sign a sick plant is out there and u swoop into action.

I figure I either get to help with it, or call in the heavyweights & learn from it so these types of things attract me.

 

[bluter]

nutes nutes nutes ... help hungry ..
or believe the other guys above


it's all pk boost and maybe a touch of calmag with n. not sure if yours has.
you're not far off but it has to stop eating itself now. it's harder to ride to a good finish when you enter flower rough.


edit : also cease flushing to fix. your just washing the nutes out it has in the pot to feed. if you flush, feed after within the next cycle, or even immediately.

 

[Sleepy One]

Thanks guys. I fed both of them with Fox Farms "Buds and Bloom" 2-8-4 and some cal mag with 1-0-0. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Emilya Green]

Thanks guys. I fed both of them with Fox Farms "Buds and Bloom" 2-8-4 and some cal mag with 1-0-0. We'll see how it goes.

??? are you sure you are running Fox Farm? I don't recognize that product.

 

[Krissi Carbone]

I think he means Buds and Bloom Fert Em. That's what I have been using up until Prescription Blend comes in this week

 

[Sleepy One]

??? are you sure you are running Fox Farm? I don't recognize that product.

Sorry, I should have called it Tiger Bloom.

 

[Emilya Green]

Sorry, I should have called it Tiger Bloom.

ah... that explains it. It also explains your difficulty. The Fox Farm trio is a nutrient system... none of the individual components are meant to be used by themselves. Please download the FF soil feeding chart and adjust your methods accordingly. Follow the instructions to the letter and there are few nutrient systems better than FF.

 

[Sleepy One]

Thanks Emilya. I did not realize that. So I added Cal Mag and Tiger bloom (1/2 of what the chart says?) Should I now add some Big Bloom or wait till the next feeding? The problematic plant has been flushed (just water), should I flush the other one, since it is approaching it's 5th week of flower?

 

[Emilya Green]

Thanks Emilya. I did not realize that. So I added Cal Mag and Tiger bloom (1/2 of what the chart says?) Should I now add some Big Bloom or wait till the next feeding? The problematic plant has been flushed (just water), should I flush the other one, since it is approaching it's 5th week of flower?

cal mag is not part of the trio and should only be used when needed. Why 1/2? Are you by nature a timid person or did you read somewhere that this was appropriate? Trust the chart and the scientists that produced it, or flush the bottles down the toilet and buy something that you will trust. If by flushed, you mean that you moved 3x the container size through the container, then you have accomplished the task on the chart and the other plant will need it too. If by flushing you mean that you did something special by giving only water on one pass, then we need to talk again.
Normally in soil you should give nutes on one pass and then on the next watering give pH adjusted water only. F/W/F/W all the way through the grow. If this is not what you have been doing, then again going back to the symptoms, this makes sense. If you are feeding every time you water you are setting up lockouts in the soil since some nutes are used at higher rates than others. The soil can only capture so much and make it available to the roots... the rest gets locked out. At least you were only doing this at 1/2 strength, so it works for a while until the lockouts eventually show an over time deficiency building in.

I think I would recommend that you feed all of your plants the full proper mix of nutes, and if you also have the solubles, mix in the beasty bloomz too on your next watering. Make sure you pH to 6.3 every time you apply any fluids to your soil from now on, except for the next flush, and lets give them the food they need for about 3 watering cycles, f/w/f. Be sure to get that plain pH 6.3 water in there inbetween, and then on the 4th watering, do the proper 3x flush. This will set you up for a good finish as by then you will be in the last two weeks. Continue piling on the nutes as recommended, by the way at the highest concentration in the entire grow, and switch to the cha-ching after the next flush to start building the resins. Done right, you still can get to a spectacular finish... these nutes mean business!

 

[Sleepy One]

I guess I had read in a few places to never add nutes because the soil provides it all. I didn't notice until now that FF even says that they only last a few weeks. Must have been the same place that said to use 1/2 the nutes.I thought I was getting a slight nute burn because the leaf tips were slightly turning yellow.
As far as flushing, yes, I used at least 3x the volume.
I'll follow your recommendations and let you know how it turns out.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Sleepy One]

I flushed the "good" plant because it was time. Do you think I should add nutes now or should I wait. All that I fed it yesterday was 1/2 the recommended Tiger Bloom.

 

[Emilya Green]

I flushed the "good" plant because it was time. Do you think I should add nutes now or should I wait. All that I fed it yesterday was 1/2 the recommended Tiger Bloom.

Since you have not been properly feeding, I would add the nutes now and then go to the f/w/f/w schedule for the rest of the grow. Schedule that last flush on the chart for a water only day and you should be good. For now, feed full strength, everything the chart tells you to give.

The half strength ideas come from the hydro world. There, they feed roughly half to 1/4 of the concentrations that we give in soil... because they are giving it in their water based system 24/7. Being in constant close contact with the roots, hydro systems can use less nutes. Soil works differently. It is a totally different mindset from hydro. When you are using the f/w/f/w schedule that soil supports, you are able to feed twice the nutrients that the plant needs, without burning the plant, because the soil captures roughly half of the nutes you give before it dries out. When you come along at the next watering with pH adjusted water, you reactivate all those nutes that the soil captured, making them available to the plant. This not only gives the plant plenty of nutrient, but it also serves to clean out the soil of leftover nutrients. The only thing that should be left over in the soil between feedings is the salt that is left behind as the nutrients are made mobile in the soil, and that is what you need to flush out periodically, so that the soil can continue to capture nutrients so as to continue this cycle.

 

[Sleepy One]

Thank you Emilya. I believe I'm on the right path now. I guess I tried to learn too much too fast and got things all mixed up. Of course, that's a daily occurrence anyway.

 

[MAK1]

Thank you Emilya. I believe I'm on the right path now. I guess I tried to learn too much too fast and got things all mixed up. Of course, that's a daily occurrence anyway.

If you look at Fox Farms feeding schedule there is a row for "PPM" of your mix for each week. I measure these liquid nutrients using a 10 ml syringe. This is a very accurate way to measure. You should be using a ppm meter.

 

[Emilya Green]

If you look at Fox Farms feeding schedule there is a row for "PPM" of your mix for each week. I measure these liquid nutrients using a 10 ml syringe. This is a very accurate way to measure. You should be using a ppm meter.

This level of accuracy is not needed in a soil grow. The ppm reading is given for reference for the hydro based crowd, but the tsp/gal dosage suggestions are accurate enough. Trying to maintain ppm levels as suggested for water based systems is a quick way to get a soil grow in trouble. EC can also be used, but again, it is not necessary. I own both a ppm and an EC meter... but I havent felt a need to use them for long long time.