Magnesium deficiency?

[CassieA]

Hi there

Growing in coco and using pro cal supplement. 3-4 ml per gallon everyday. Feeding with organic biothrive. 1/4 dose everyday. About day 60 of veg.

Just switched to hard water from soft water / filtered due to issue with softener/ carbon filter.

Noticed on UPPER new growth and “newer” leaves that it is whitening between veins .

Could this be magnesium or something else?
Thanks

 

[BigDannel]

I'm not positive but if the only thing that changed was the water filtration, I'd expect it to be related to that. When you say you switched from soft water to hard, what exactly do you mean? What ph are you at? Typically I've found that adding nutrients will lower the ph of my water, which comes out the tap around 7.1 and when I add nutes it drops to around 6.2. If you've changed the ph of your water then you may need to test and adjust accordingly to prevent nutrient lock out.

 

[CassieA]

I'm not positive but if the only thing that changed was the water filtration, I'd expect it to be related to that. When you say you switched from soft water to hard, what exactly do you mean? What ph are you at? Typically I've found that adding nutrients will lower the ph of my water, which comes out the tap around 7.1 and when I add nutes it drops to around 6.2. If you've changed the ph of your water then you may need to test and adjust accordingly to prevent nutrient lock out.

Thanks for prompt reply. I have a water softener that softens the water and now that I’ve actually researched it I see that it says a water softener is a system “that removes hardness-causing calcium and magnesium minerals from your water through a process called ion exchange.”

Now that I research a bit more it leads me to the question ...

could it be an excess magnesium or calcium problem?

If the softener is not working then those minerals are more in the water and I am also adding a supplement.

You are probably right that it has to do with the filtration. (I hope to get that fixed today)

I keep my PH between the range of 5.85and 5.96 for most feedings. My water is usually close to 7.4 out of the tap.

thoughts?
Tha ks

 

[BigDannel]

Thanks for prompt reply. I have a water softener that softens the water and now that I’ve actually researched it I see that it says a water softener is a system “that removes hardness-causing calcium and magnesium minerals from your water through a process called ion exchange.”

Now that I research a bit more it leads me to the question ...

could it be an excess magnesium or calcium problem?

If the softener is not working then those minerals are more in the water and I am also adding a supplement.

You are probably right that it has to do with the filtration. (I hope to get that fixed today)

I keep my PH between the range of 5.85and 5.96 for most feedings. My water is usually close to 7.4 out of the tap.

thoughts?
Tha ks

It could be an excess, or it could also be that the water-softening system has drastically lowered the ph of your tap water and then when you add nutes, it's too low. Have you tested the ph of the tap water and the nutes since you've gotten the water softener? Here is some info from the plant and pest problems sticky, if you ph is below 5.8 it may be locking out magnesium -

Problems with Magnesium being locked out by PH troubles

Light Acid Soils, soils with excessive potassium, calcium and or phosphorus

Soil

Magnesium gets locked out of soil growing at ph levels of 2.0-6.4
Magnesium is absorbed best in soil at a ph level of 6.5-9.1 . (Wouldn't recommend having a ph of over 7.0 in soil) anything out of the ranges listed will contribute to a Magnesium deficiency.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums

Magnesium gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums at ph levels of 2.0-5.7
Magnesium is absorbed best in Hydro and Soil less Mediums at ph levels of 5.8-9.1
(Wouldn't recommend having a ph over 6.5 in hydro and soil less mediums.) Best range for hydro and soil less mediums is 5.0 to 6.0. Anything out of the ranges listed will contribute to a Magnesium deficiency.

 

[The Celt]

It could be that there is too much calcium in your water and adding cal mag has caused an over load in your soil. Too much calcium can cause lock outs of both magnesium and potassium plus a number of micro nutrients.