What Went Wrong? 5 Weeks

[GenerosityP]

Indica afghan strain, medium mix of clay pebbles and rockwool in a 5 gallon drip, black self-container, using an airstone, nutrients general hydro (bloom, liquid Koolbloom, Floralicious; pH and ppm checked everyday, twice a day am and pm with adjustments made IF necessary to keep pH 5.5 to 6.5; change reservoir every 7-10 days topping off with water in between, H2O temp about 70 degrees, temp of room also about 70 degrees with normal humidity range. Plants doing awesome until about 1 week ago, which about 5 weeks into flowering. Fan leaves turning yellow with 3 weeks to go but within past few day plant looks totally sick/dying........again nutes are in check.....anyone??? we have had a persistent spider mite problem which we try to keep under control with ladybugs and a mixture of sterile water and lemon juice.

 

[GenerosityP]

Wth is/went wrong???

Indica afghan strain, medium mix of clay pebbles and rockwool in a 5 gallon drip, black self-container, using an airstone, nutrients general hydro (bloom, liquid Koolbloom, Floralicious; pH and ppm checked everyday, twice a day am and pm with adjustments made IF necessary to keep pH 5.5 to 6.5; change reservoir every 7-10 days topping off with water in between, H2O temp about 70 degrees, temp of room also about 70 degrees with normal humidity range. Plants doing awesome until about 1 week ago, which about 5 weeks into flowering. Fan leaves turning yellow with 3 weeks to go but within past few day plant looks totally sick/dying........again nutes are in check.....anyone??? we have had a persistent spider mite problem which we try to keep under control with ladybugs and a mixture of sterile water and lemon juice.

 

[oldman60]

Sounds like the mites got it.

 

[GenerosityP]

I have read SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much online, in books, etc about mites. Do you think, in your honest opinion, they could do that in a matter of days? This particular plants was SO healthy and happy until just about New Year's? Should I harvest early? Ugh.

 

[oldman60]

Not in days but you did say it was a persistent problem. You probably haven't as much control over them as
you thought.
It could also be the plant is just about ready to harvest and is using up the energy in the fan leaves.
A look at it with a scope will tell you if that is the case.

 

[GenerosityP]

OK don't mean to sound like a dumb ass. I have a magnifying glass but what do you mean? How can I tell if it's time to harvest because it's pretty early (about 20 days). Thanks.

 

[JJ Bones]

Pictures will help tons.

 

[JJ Bones]

Re: Wth is/went wrong???

Did this occur overnight?

 

[oldman60]

You need the scope to see the condition of the trichomes. Not sure the magnifying glass is strong enough to see them.
100x will give you a good look at them. You look at their color to determine when to harvest.
I saw the photo you put up in the other thread on this. It's not uncommon for the fan leaves to die off shortly before
the plant reaches it's peak. If all of those turned like that overnight I would suspect bugs since everything else is in range.

 

[GenerosityP]

Re: Wth is/went wrong???

Did this occur overnight?

I would not say that it occured overnight, more like a matter of days. This plant, and another, were doing awesome from the 3rd/4th week of November till about the last week of December/first week of January. I'm diligent about checking numbers (pH, PPM) everyday, twice a day (am and pm). The majority of times the numbers are in check with very minor adjustments needing to be made, if at all. For about two weeks before they started looking like the pics they were drinking lots of H20 then suddenly the levels dropped. They have about 21 more days to go so I thought it was a little early. When I get yellow leaves toward the end I LEAVE them alone. If I give the leaves a gentle tug and they come right off, I figure they are done. Their energy has been expended. However when the fan leaves here turned yellow it was as if it was premature because they were still strongly attached to the plant. All I know is the plant(s) look like death and it's scary.

 

[Xlr8]

How do the roots look? You said they were drinking a lot of water, but stopped? It's hard to tell from the one pic, and not knowing a little more, but I'd be tempted to flush with a really diluted nutrient mixture. For example, instead of their regular nutrient mix, dilute it to say... 25% for a day or two. This should help eliminate salt build-ups if you have them. Is it possible you have a build up in nutrient salts in the media perhaps? This could cause nutrient lock-out, and they could start to falter pretty quick if it's bad enough.

If you don't have a scope to check trichomes, you should look for the pistils to be receding into the calyx's (false seed-pods) and for the seed-pods to be swollen as if they are indeed seeded. Most pistils should be reddish/brown when they are ready (depends on the strain but say 70% on avg or so). Sampling a bud or two can tell you if the effect is what you are looking for too.

Sure sorry this has happened to you - hope you can rectify it. I'd remove any dead leaves if you haven't already. It looks like in a pinch, they are done enough that you can harvest them if you have too.

 

[GenerosityP]

I posted pics of roots in the gallery. Roots do not smell. I do not suspect root rot. I've been told that occurs because temp of water gets too high. My water in reservoir is maintained anywhere from 69 to 71 degrees and I use an airstone as well if using what I call a "self-contained" bucket. Any "brownish" color is due to clay pebbles. Partner thinks perhaps plants were not receiving enough feedings. I'm not sure.