PH spotting? Need an experienced eye

BakedApple

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone. on my first grow about 3 weeks into flower and i’ve started noticing some issues with my ladies. I thought it was possibly PH related as i poured some water that wasn’t ph corrected on 2 of my plants (bout a 1/4 gal ea). I noticed about a week later i had these spots on the 2 i gave the water to. However all my plants (4 total) now have what looks like nute burn but idk i think it could be an overwatering issue.

Just need help because i don’t see the exact picture or close to my whole plants issue. is my issue a combination? Ph spotting and overwatering/nute burn?

My Setup:

Strains: 1 lemon venom, 1 chemdawg, 2 inzane in the membrane.

Light: 600w HPS 12/12 (in flower week 3)

Temp/hum: 65-70 & 50-55rh

Medium: Promix HP 5gal dirtpot

Nutes:
Botanicare PBP Grow Soilless 15ml/gal(was 20)
Cal-mag 5ml/gal
Silica blast 5ml/gal

water: tap left in jugs for 2 days to dechlorinate. PH to 6.0~ after mixing in nutes


I haven’t had any issues with my plants until just recently. I have always been a heavy waterer (not usually to runoff but damn near) and giving them this last batch didnt feel exceptionally more.

Prior to this i have been battling thrips and wpm. both are now eradicated (i hope.).

either way - if i can provide any more info for you to help me please let me know. or if anything is unclear. thank you in advance!

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Temp is low, probably borderline VPD issues, suspect overwatering. How often do you water? how much do you give at once?

Watering to runoff is not a bad thing actually runoff is preferred....

I suspect you would do well to tilt those buckets to steep 45 degree angle and prop them up so they won’t tip or fall over. Leave them propped up overnight and see how much each bucket pees out. This will reset the perched water table to a new lower and more normal level. Then don’t water again for about 7 to 10 days minimum. Bump ph up to 6.3

as always - see what other replies you get
 
Temp is low, probably borderline VPD issues, suspect overwatering. How often do you water? how much do you give at once?

Watering to runoff is not a bad thing actually runoff is preferred....

I suspect you would do well to tilt those buckets to steep 45 degree angle and prop them up so they won’t tip or fall over. Leave them propped up overnight and see how much each bucket pees out. This will reset the perched water table to a new lower and more normal level. Then don’t water again for about 7 to 10 days minimum. Bump ph up to 6.3

as always - see what other replies you get

I am growing in my basement here in the north in the middle of winter. Its been somewhat costly to keep them as comfortable as they are now.

I don't believe the temp is a variable in this as it hasn't variated really during this grow.

Right now i'm watering about 1gal total ea plant every 3 days (close to bone dry by that time). I was using Emilya's watering guide to make sure the soil (or promix) is fully saturated but I know this watering method is geared towards soil not promix. This last time I watered I did wait longer than normal before adding more - I try to give the water time to fully saturate the mix. The only reason i don't let them fully go to runoff is that they are a pain in the ass to empty out those plant trays and I can't just leave them sitting in that water.

7-10 days before watering again? My plants will be CRISPY. Do you suspect this may in fact be overwatering?? I watered them last night as it was day 3, and they weren't quite as dry as they normally are but they were pretty light. I gave them a lot less water and gave it all in 1 dose as opposed to watering, waiting 15-30, watering again, waiting, watering 1 last time.
 
The 1st pic looks like nute burn. The last pic looks like overwatering. I think the spots are being caused by pH being off when you feed. 6.3 - 6.5 is better & you should always feed till run off. You don't want salt build ups in your soil & feeding till run off helps prevent it. 5 ml. per gal. of Cal Mag is a lot. I use LED's & they require more Cal Mag then HPS & I've never in 4 years gone over 3 ml. per gal. Are you using Bloom nutes ? What is the NPK of your Bloom nutes if so.
N should be the lowest number, P the highest number & K somewhere between the 2. I'm not sure of the exact amounts of each thing to use without a nute calculator. @farside05 , has this calculator in one of his threads. Maybe he'll post a link.
If emptying the drain pans is an issue you can do it the lazy way like me. I rarely dump my pans. It evaporates before my next feeding. See the pics below. Oil Drain Pans = $1 ea. at the dollar store. Closet Wire Shelving = $8 for a 4' length which makes 3 - 16" pieces & covers 3 pans. Sure makes life easy !
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By the way, have you asked @Emilya , about your issues ? She is very, very good & I'm sure she can tell you exactly what's going on. She was my grow tutor 4 years ago when I started & I'd of never gotten this far without her .... and a few others.
I agree that the problem here is pH related. The HP is 70% sphagnum, and that sets the base (dry) pH very low. There is dolomite in there so it doesn't dive too low as you water, but that still doesn't allow you to come in on the high end as you are doing at 6.0pH. I suggest diving way down into the hydro range, and pH adjust to 5.6-5.7 pH. You may not even have to adjust at all after adding your nutes to the water! This way, as the plant starts to use up the acidic nutes in the mix, you will get a strong upward drift as the mix slides back toward the base pH of the water without nutes, and you should be able to drift through the entire usable pH range.
 
The 1st pic looks like nute burn. The last pic looks like overwatering. I think the spots are being caused by pH being off when you feed. 6.3 - 6.5 is better & you should always feed till run off. You don't want salt build ups in your soil & feeding till run off helps prevent it. 5 ml. per gal. of Cal Mag is a lot. I use LED's & they require more Cal Mag then HPS & I've never in 4 years gone over 3 ml. per gal. Are you using Bloom nutes ? What is the NPK of your Bloom nutes if so.
N should be the lowest number, P the highest number & K somewhere between the 2. I'm not sure of the exact amounts of each thing to use without a nute calculator. @farside05 , has this calculator in one of his threads. Maybe he'll post a link.
If emptying the drain pans is an issue you can do it the lazy way like me. I rarely dump my pans. It evaporates before my next feeding. See the pics below. Oil Drain Pans = $1 ea. at the dollar store. Closet Wire Shelving = $8 for a 4' length which makes 3 - 16" pieces & covers 3 pans. Sure makes life easy !
10-102.JPG


Buds, thanks for the reply man! I've checked out your most recent beginner series. I was already mid grow when i found it but some good info! . That said, i'm a lurker most of the time so I haven't reached out to anyone personally. I saw Emilya's watering guide back when I was first starting these ladies back in December and incorporated it right away to make sure I was fully wetting my mix, as I read that having dry spots could cause issues with both root density and also the dry spots harming the roots (I did try some clones right before this grow but I either murdered them or they were bad and doomed from the start because they didn't last). I know that guide was more geared towards soil but I have been using it for my Promix HP because watering just seems to be the hardest part of this whole thing.

Is 5mg/gal too much of cal-mag? I was using the full amount at first as I WAS using R.O. but that was a hassle to get so I have switched to tap water that I let sit to dechlorinate so I suppose that could be a little bit of my problem. I'll dial it back a bit on the mag.

As for my nutes I am using Botanicare PBP Bloom (used grow during veg). I have been noticing some nitrogen deficiency at the bottom of some of my ladies and so I was being a little heavier on my dosing of the PBP Bloom but after seeing this current situation I have since dialed it back. Maybe I should have just added in some of the grow for the nitrogen instead of being heavy on the bloom? I Use a 2gal watering pot so I put in 30ML total (or 15ml/gal). The time before I had used 20ml/gal and that might be part of the problem. The spots along with the leaf decay is what has me messed up though, but after seeing these replies it probably is 2 seperate issues?

I'm almost wondering if my pen is accurate. I have a cup with the 6.87 solution for calibration, but I don't know how long that calibration solution lasts. I put my pen into it a few nights ago to see if it was still close (my pen) and it reads about 6.7.

I see you mention 6.2 to 6.3. I thought promix was suppose to be a little more acidic at 5.8 to 6??
 
I agree that the problem here is pH related. The HP is 70% sphagnum, and that sets the base (dry) pH very low. There is dolomite in there so it doesn't dive too low as you water, but that still doesn't allow you to come in on the high end as you are doing at 6.0pH. I suggest diving way down into the hydro range, and pH adjust to 5.6-5.7 pH. You may not even have to adjust at all after adding your nutes to the water! This way, as the plant starts to use up the acidic nutes in the mix, you will get a strong upward drift as the mix slides back toward the base pH of the water without nutes, and you should be able to drift through the entire usable pH range.


Emilya thanks for replying!

As mentioned i have been adjusting to between 5.8 - 6.1. I try not to drive myself crazy getting it spot on any 1 exact number, I just try to keep it in this range though usually its at about a 6.

My tap runs at about 7.6 PH with no adjustment and after sitting.
After nutes It seems to read different each time but usually around 6.4 or so - so I do have to use my PH down to get it to what i've currently been running it at.

So I should give these girls a 5.6 to 5.7 watering and see how they respond? I can do that for sure. I'm just trying to learn this whole thing and quit my overthinking which is easier said than done.

Overall my 2nd attempt at a 1st grow has been going good. I did battle WPM at first, but got my environment in check. Found out I had Thrips, I believe those are finally eradicated. Now it seems this is my newest thing. I just mainly want to make it to harvest! It would be SO discouraging to make it this far only to kill them or do something that ruins my harvest.
 
Buds, thanks for the reply man! I've checked out your most recent beginner series. I was already mid grow when i found it but some good info! . That said, i'm a lurker most of the time so I haven't reached out to anyone personally. I saw Emilya's watering guide back when I was first starting these ladies back in December and incorporated it right away to make sure I was fully wetting my mix, as I read that having dry spots could cause issues with both root density and also the dry spots harming the roots (I did try some clones right before this grow but I either murdered them or they were bad and doomed from the start because they didn't last). I know that guide was more geared towards soil but I have been using it for my Promix HP because watering just seems to be the hardest part of this whole thing.

Is 5mg/gal too much of cal-mag? I was using the full amount at first as I WAS using R.O. but that was a hassle to get so I have switched to tap water that I let sit to dechlorinate so I suppose that could be a little bit of my problem. I'll dial it back a bit on the mag.

As for my nutes I am using Botanicare PBP Bloom (used grow during veg). I have been noticing some nitrogen deficiency at the bottom of some of my ladies and so I was being a little heavier on my dosing of the PBP Bloom but after seeing this current situation I have since dialed it back. Maybe I should have just added in some of the grow for the nitrogen instead of being heavy on the bloom? I Use a 2gal watering pot so I put in 30ML total (or 15ml/gal). The time before I had used 20ml/gal and that might be part of the problem. The spots along with the leaf decay is what has me messed up though, but after seeing these replies it probably is 2 seperate issues?

I'm almost wondering if my pen is accurate. I have a cup with the 6.87 solution for calibration, but I don't know how long that calibration solution lasts. I put my pen into it a few nights ago to see if it was still close (my pen) and it reads about 6.7.

I see you mention 6.2 to 6.3. I thought promix was suppose to be a little more acidic at 5.8 to 6??
I missed the Pro Mix part earlier & just figured you were using something like a Fox Farms soil. I'd follow what Emilya said. She has been at this well over 10 years & has grown many different ways. She's been right when she said my issue was one thing &10 other people said it was something else. She has a really good eye for issues & knows how to fix them. Some of my go to growers here are Farside 05, Mr Sauga, In the Shed & West Hippie. All of these guys have unbelievable grow knowledge so it's good to hit them up if you need help. I just consider myself a mid range grower. They are closer to Pro.
 
I missed the Pro Mix part earlier & just figured you were using something like a Fox Farms soil. I'd follow what Emilya said. She has been at this well over 10 years & has grown many different ways. She's been right when she said my issue was one thing &10 other people said it was something else. She has a really good eye for issues & knows how to fix them. Some of my go to growers here are Farside 05, Mr Sauga, In the Shed & West Hippie. All of these guys have unbelievable grow knowledge so it's good to hit them up if you need help. I just consider myself a mid range grower. They are closer to Pro.

Rock on. In the Shed contributed to my Thrip/WPM post a few weeks back with some super solid advice! Of course I may be long winded but please don't think i'm discrediting any of the information that has been provided by any person on this thread. I'm like a sponge, just ready to soak up the knowledge. I really enjoy growing, I didnt realize how much until i grew veggies last year. Just glad I was able to make the jump and invest in a grow.

My ladies were watered last night, but in the meantime I will purchase some of that wire shelving at home depot to get my babies a perch. I have had runoff a few times, nothing super crazy but a decent amount in the trays. It's just trying to empty the trays without making a mess all over the tent is tough, though with the racks the bottoms shouldn't be quite so wet. Also debated a turkey baster to suck it out lol.
 
Rock on. In the Shed contributed to my Thrip/WPM post a few weeks back with some super solid advice! Of course I may be long winded but please don't think i'm discrediting any of the information that has been provided by any person on this thread. I'm like a sponge, just ready to soak up the knowledge. I really enjoy growing, I didnt realize how much until i grew veggies last year. Just glad I was able to make the jump and invest in a grow.

My ladies were watered last night, but in the meantime I will purchase some of that wire shelving at home depot to get my babies a perch. I have had runoff a few times, nothing super crazy but a decent amount in the trays. It's just trying to empty the trays without making a mess all over the tent is tough, though with the racks the bottoms shouldn't be quite so wet. Also debated a turkey baster to suck it out lol.
Mine dries in a day or 2; but I'm in AZ. where it's a dry climate.
 
Just checked my Cal-Mag. It's the botanicare brand. 2-0-0. Comes with +Iron as well.

My Silica doesn't list it's NPK Value. Honestly I don't even quite know what it does but I was recommended to use it.

Are there any other supplements that I should add that would have a dramatic difference to my yield other than light? I'm trying to keep things simple for my first grow. Also cheap but I don't want to be too cheap.

I was debating some Blackstrap Molasses.
 
Mine dries in a day or 2; but I'm in AZ. where it's a dry climate.


I'm up in Michigan. It says today its 48% humidity. I'm not sure if its because of the water from the soil or what, but my exhaust fan cuts on pretty often to reduce the humidity to 50%. Going under 50% isn't really possible in the basement though. Not without dehumidifying the basement itself.
 
Ugh, here we go again. It is absolutely unnecessary to pH adjust your nutrient solution in Pro Mix! The topic has been covered ad nauseum. The pH of your substrate is effected hundreds of times more by the makeup of the Nitrogen component of your fertilizer than a couple of drops of pH Up or pH Down. My plants get fed a nutrient solution with a pH of 8.2 and there's nary a spot on them. Your problem seems 2 fold. There's damage there that is insect related, and you're also seeing things that are most likely from nute build up. You say you are a heavy waterer. 1 gallon for a 5 gallon container of Pro-Mix is nowhere near enough for run off of any kind. 2 gallons may get you a trickle. By this stage in your grow I would bet that there is quite a build up in your pots. If you have a PPM/TDS pen, pour a couple gallons of plain tap water though them, enough that you get some runoff. Capture a bit of that first runoff and sample it. It wouldn't be uncommon for it to be 1000 points higher than the PPM of you're starting tap. Continue running tap through it until you are a couple hundered points over (ie starting tap water of 150, try to get the PPM down under 400). Now right behind that, feed them 1 gallon of your regular feed to finish things off. I like to refer to that process as a Rinse and Reset. Will probably take you 4 gallons of tap and 1 of feed. I carry the plants to the tub for that process so I have a ready source of water and a drain.
 
Ugh, here we go again. It is absolutely unnecessary to pH adjust your nutrient solution in Pro Mix! The topic has been covered ad nauseum. The pH of your substrate is effected hundreds of times more by the makeup of the Nitrogen component of your fertilizer than a couple of drops of pH Up or pH Down. My plants get fed a nutrient solution with a pH of 8.2 and there's nary a spot on them. Your problem seems 2 fold. There's damage there that is insect related, and you're also seeing things that are most likely from nute build up. You say you are a heavy waterer. 1 gallon for a 5 gallon container of Pro-Mix is nowhere near enough for run off of any kind. 2 gallons may get you a trickle. By this stage in your grow I would bet that there is quite a build up in your pots. If you have a PPM/TDS pen, pour a couple gallons of plain tap water though them, enough that you get some runoff. Capture a bit of that first runoff and sample it. It wouldn't be uncommon for it to be 1000 points higher than the PPM of you're starting tap. Continue running tap through it until you are a couple hundered points over (ie starting tap water of 150, try to get the PPM down under 400). Now right behind that, feed them 1 gallon of your regular feed to finish things off. I like to refer to that process as a Rinse and Reset. Will probably take you 4 gallons of tap and 1 of feed. I carry the plants to the tub for that process so I have a ready source of water and a drain.


Farside, thanks for the post. I want to say first, that I did try and search through the forums to see if i couldn't find what was up with my plants. The closest problem i seen to those brown spots was PH? You are saying a bug problem. I sure as hell hope I don't have another one! I just got done about a week or 2 ago spraying religiously with a neem/dish soap solution to get rid of Thrips & WPM.

You say that 1gal isn't enough to saturate my pots. Idk why but it seems to do so. I will take my time and water, wait, water again, wait, then water a 3rd time and by then itll be coming out the bottom. When i pick the pots up they even FEEL heavy. It may not be exactly 1gal, maybe 1 1/4gal but its not 2gal. I only fill my 2gal pot up 3 times during my watering session for my 4 plants.

Thanks for the nute buildup reply though. I was thinking it was a heavy dose of nutes but I suppose it could be buildup. When i was getting "runoff" it wasn't much. I'd have to dump my tray into a measuring glass to see for sure how much but maybe a couple cups worth?
 
N should be the lowest number, P the highest number & K somewhere between the 2. I'm not sure of the exact amounts of each thing to use without a nute calculator. @farside05 , has this calculator in one of his threads. Maybe he'll post a link.

I actually like to shoot for N-P-K numbers around 2-1-3 to 2-1-4, and use that throughout my entire grow.

Using:
15ml Botanicare PBP Bloom with a N-P-K of 2-3-5
5ml Cal-Mag N-P-K of 2-0-0
5ml Silica Blast N-P-K of .5-.5-1

Gives you a blended N-P-K of 1-1-2.3

MY CALCULATOR SPREADSHEET LINK IS HERE

You'll may have to save a copy of it in order to make any edits.

You mentioned some yellowing. With your current mix, your Nitrogen load is around 112ppm. That's probably on the lower end. Once you get everything reset, you may want to bump that BPB back to 20ml per gal. That will put you around 139ppm with the 5ml of Cal-Mag. I find they like to have about 150ppm from N as mature plants.
 
I actually like to shoot for N-P-K numbers around 2-1-3 to 2-1-4, and use that throughout my entire grow.

Using:
15ml Botanicare PBP Bloom with a N-P-K of 2-3-5
5ml Cal-Mag N-P-K of 2-0-0
5ml Silica Blast N-P-K of .5-.5-1

Gives you a blended N-P-K of 1-1-2.3

MY CALCULATOR SPREADSHEET LINK IS HERE

You'll may have to save a copy of it in order to make any edits.

You mentioned some yellowing. With your current mix, your Nitrogen load is around 112ppm. That's probably on the lower end. Once you get everything reset, you may want to bump that BPB back to 20ml per gal. That will put you around 139ppm with the 5ml of Cal-Mag. I find they like to have about 150ppm from N as mature plants.

When I get off work tonight I'll look into it. Good to hear I don't need to worry about PH so much with the promix.

Which damage has you suspect of bugs?? The main reason I am here is those brown spots. I suspected the rot to be nutrient burn which of course could be from the mix being overburdened with unused nutes.

Do you personally use promix? What nutrients do you use with yours? I just checked out your faux-mix - if that's what you use all the time it seems pretty much the same as the promix hp which is cool.
 
When I get off work tonight I'll look into it. Good to hear I don't need to worry about PH so much with the promix.

Which damage has you suspect of bugs?? The main reason I am here is those brown spots. I suspected the rot to be nutrient burn which of course could be from the mix being overburdened with unused nutes.

Do you personally use promix? What nutrients do you use with yours? I just checked out your faux-mix - if that's what you use all the time it seems pretty much the same as the promix hp which is cool.

The third pic to me would look like bug damage. Might be leftover from your battles.

I used to use Pro-Mix BX (no source for HP in my area) until I started making my own Faux-Mix®. The cost on Pro-Mix had gotten too pricey for me at $50 a bale. My plants haven't noticed a difference between the two and I cut my costs in half.

I use Mega Crop's 1 part dry fertilizer and my DIY Silica supplement dubbed Faux-Tekt® (similar to your Silica Blast, but again, at about 1/3 less cost).
 
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