Leaves aren't Dark Green - Help

[tlunathegreat]

well i am about 3 weeks into the Veg cycle and when i got my clones from the start they were a nice dark green and a few days later they became lighter in color and aren't as stout i thought maybe my soil was too nutrient rich but then i switched to a less rich soil and still no difference could anyone help on what they think could be wrong

Nutes:

Botanicare Pro Grow
Botanicare Liquid Karma

Im not sure how to upload a picture to from a URL or else i would.

 

[DJ McFinnigan]

First things first, got here: Photo Gallery Guide - How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

It's hard to say what's wrong if anything is wrong, but DO NOT PANIC. Don't do anything drastic. Leave the plant alone and just water it normally until you can upload a picture.

 

[tlunathegreat]

First things first, got here: Photo Gallery Guide - How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

It's hard to say what's wrong if anything is wrong, but DO NOT PANIC. Don't do anything drastic. Leave the plant alone and just water it normally until you can upload a picture.

Ok I think I've figured it out thanks for the response and I will have the photo up soon

 

[tlunathegreat]

 

[tlunathegreat]

Here are some more photos after i gave them an epsom salt treatment

 

[OG1969]

How often are you watering ? and at what degree are you applying the nutes? Been through this before, Peace OG

 

[OG1969]

what is with the second pic of the square pot in the round one? If that plant is is that tiny little square pot sitting on the other I would recommend transplanting that plant and a very light water to allow any excess moisture it may already have in the root ball that has to be there to dry out and let the plants search for some water, just a guess.

 

[tlunathegreat]

what is with the second pic of the square pot in the round one? If that plant is is that tiny little square pot sitting on the other I would recommend transplanting that plant and a very light water to allow any excess moisture it may already have in the root ball that has to be there to dry out and let the plants search for some water, just a guess.

Well OG i only water when the bottom of the pots feel dry by poking a finger through one of the holes in the bottom of the pots. the nutes are given about half a cap full of each. The square "pot" you are seeing is a rockwool cube thats large. ive laid off of the nutrients a little in hopes they revert back up the leaves just wont become dark green and stout they just droop and hang down i even moved the light a little higher up in case it was heat damage

 

[Hiker]

To me, it looks like over watering mostly. I've also seen plants get pale with low intensity light, but if you have a flourescent close, it should be enough to make it green up.

If the soil feels moist, do nothing. Put your like back where it was. You will know if it's heat stress. The plant will look like it's burning or drying up. This not what your plant looks like.

Have you been measuring ph?

 

[tlunathegreat]

To me, it looks like over watering mostly. I've also seen plants get pale with low intensity light, but if you have a flourescent close, it should be enough to make it green up.

If the soil feels moist, do nothing. Put your like back where it was. You will know if it's heat stress. The plant will look like it's burning or drying up. This not what your plant looks like.

Have you been measuring ph?

The only thing I haven't done was ph the run off the ph of my water is 7.0 flat

 

[Hiker]

Don't you want 6.5-7 for soil?

I'm more familiar with Hydro, but I'm starting some mothers in a mix of coco, perlite, and vermiculite, and I've been using the guideline of 6.5-7.0.

I think you want your runoff about there too. Hopefully a soil expert will come in and correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

[tlunathegreat]

Don't you want 6.5-7 for soil?

I'm more familiar with Hydro, but I'm starting some mothers in a mix of coco, perlite, and vermiculite, and I've been using the guideline of 6.5-7.0.

I think you want your runoff about there too. Hopefully a soil expert will come in and correct me if I'm mistaken.

Yeah I'm not 100 percent sure this is my 2nd grow ever

 

[OG1969]

If you using any type of organic soil the ph is not as big a factor, the micro beasties help to comsume that product from the nutes and turn it into something more usable by the plant. Just think of all the lawns, trees, shrubs and flowers, do we ph our lawn or shrubs, no we just feed them. If not then it could be a few things are the stalks on your plant and leaf stems all purple? If so could be Ca/Mag concern, have you tried flushing the plants really good, let them dry out some and restart an every other feeding program? Just a thought any info you can give us will help , OG

 

[OG1969]

Let us know as much info as you can, but for me personally mine were kinda like tht but alos had some nute burn and Mcloadie advised me to flush the crap out of them and low and behold it worked. So let us know .

 

[tlunathegreat]

Let us know as much info as you can, but for me personally mine were kinda like tht but alos had some nute burn and Mcloadie advised me to flush the crap out of them and low and behold it worked. So let us know .

The stems are a purplish red and I've been flushing for about a week

 

[Hiker]

Why are you bottom feeding?

I've never heard anyone prefer bottom feeding, especially in soil. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it! I'm not really a soil guy. I was just curious.

One thing I notice is, it looks like the plastic is still on that rockwool cube. Cut that off if you still can. It will just keep the rockwool wetter and stop the roots from growing out the sides.

I still think the plants look over watered. I have no idea how you check the soil if you're bottom feeding. I know you said you stick your finger in the hole on the bottom, but how deep can you get it in there, and how to you decide it's dry enough? Maybe you could try top feeding for awhile and see if it helps? If it was me, I would water around the rockwool and let that thing dry out. Make sure the soil is pretty dry between waterings. Based on the pictures, I suspect you're afraid to let them go as long as they need.

It's very common for new growers to get excited and want to do too much for the plants. It's all about small changes and waiting for results. If you change 7 things, how do you know what fixed it?

Try letting the soil dry out a little bit before you water again. IMHO, the best way to tell if the soil is dry is by lifting the plant. You will learn the difference between a lighter dry plant and a much heavier wet plant, but I also will use my finger to dig down and feel the soil a couple inches down.

Keep em green

 

[tlunathegreat]

Why are you bottom feeding?

I've never heard anyone prefer bottom feeding, especially in soil. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it! I'm not really a soil guy. I was just curious.

One thing I notice is, it looks like the plastic is still on that rockwool cube. Cut that off if you still can. It will just keep the rockwool wetter and stop the roots from growing out the sides.

I still think the plants look over watered. I have no idea how you check the soil if you're bottom feeding. I know you said you stick your finger in the hole on the bottom, but how deep can you get it in there, and how to you decide it's dry enough? Maybe you could try top feeding for awhile and see if it helps? If it was me, I would water around the rockwool and let that thing dry out. Make sure the soil is pretty dry between waterings. Based on the pictures, I suspect you're afraid to let them go as long as they need.

It's very common for new growers to get excited and want to do too much for the plants. It's all about small changes and waiting for results. If you change 7 things, how do you know what fixed it?

Try letting the soil dry out a little bit before you water again. IMHO, the best way to tell if the soil is dry is by lifting the plant. You will learn the difference between a lighter dry plant and a much heavier wet plant, but I also will use my finger to dig down and feel the soil a couple inches down.

Keep em green

The bottom holes are big I don't bottom feed my bad if I said that and I water every 3 days or so

 

[DJ McFinnigan]

Why are you bottom feeding?

It's very common for new growers to get excited and want to do too much for the plants. It's all about small changes and waiting for results. If you change 7 things, how do you know what fixed it?

Try letting the soil dry out a little bit before you water again. IMHO, the best way to tell if the soil is dry is by lifting the plant. You will learn the difference between a lighter dry plant and a much heavier wet plant, but I also will use my finger to dig down and feel the soil a couple inches down.

Hiker is right on the money. It's all about the process of elimination, but you have to do it one at a time. While we may baby these plants I think sometimes we forget that they are plants. It didn't not survive and evolve in nature for tens of thousands of years because it didn't get watered on Thursday. I just had a drooping problem yesterday and thought it was because the soil has really high water retention, so I drilled more holes in the buckets. No change. Then I thought it was heat so I opened up the covering to bring down the temp. No change. The last thing I could think of was to water the plant even though the soil seemed moist to the touch. *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* We have a winner!

While you don't have to do this, I find it helps to take picture before I do any problem solving that way I have a before and after picture to know if what I am doing is correct or not. Under watering problem below and roughly about 3-4 hour total time laps between giving them some water.

 

[tlunathegreat]

Hiker is right on the money. It's all about the process of elimination, but you have to do it one at a time. While we may baby these plants I think sometimes we forget that they are plants. It didn't not survive and evolve in nature for tens of thousands of years because it didn't get watered on Thursday. I just had a drooping problem yesterday and thought it was because the soil has really high water retention, so I drilled more holes in the buckets. No change. Then I thought it was heat so I opened up the covering to bring down the temp. No change. The last thing I could think of was to water the plant even though the soil seemed moist to the touch. *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* We have a winner!

While you don't have to do this, I find it helps to take picture before I do any problem solving that way I have a before and after picture to know if what I am doing is correct or not. Under watering problem below and roughly about 3-4 hour total time laps between giving them some water.

Yeah Im starting to believe it's a cal/mag problem due to the red stem and lightness in color because they look the same after I took away heat and water

 

[OG1969]

Moving in the right direction just dont over due anything little steps , the color looks much better.