Yellowing bottom leaves in veg

[bobrown14]

@Bill284 he's in rural south America. I pointed him to his local feed store they've likely got everything he needs.

@kikikopa - Its not heat. Plants take a while to show signs of issues a week or more and also take a week or more to recover.

You soil mix is missing some important amendments like Calcium - this is your issue and why your leaves are dying off. Its not the end of the world. The problem with low Calcium in your soil mix can be resolved easily. EWC has Ca in it. You can make a slurry of EWC an water in. You will have to do that frequently.

I asked about your water filtration for a reason. What type of filter are you using to filter out chlorine?

 

[Rexer]

I'm losing lower leaves relatively quickly the last few days so I'm anxious to nip this in the bud. I'm thinking there might be multiple factors in play here. The last few days it's been very hot and also very windy which forced the ladies into the greenhouse that even when covered in shade cloth hovered around 100 degrees. Aside from that, one of the plants started showing lighter color in the newest growth which I assumed was a sign that it needed to be uppotted and it was within a few days of that happening.

The leaf in the picture above this post is typical of what I'm seeing now. Brown at the tips and yellowed throughout and eventually dropping off. If I was using chemical nutes, I would think it was nute burn so maybe it's too much organic at one time from the recent uppot in combination with the extremely hot weather perhaps causing some type of nutrient lockout?

Please point me in the right direction if this is not the best thread to get some different thoughts on what it might be. I've got two months invested in these ladies and to lose them at this point would technically be termed a disaster.

All inputs welcome!

Your in the right spot, just have a bit of patience. I know full well it's hard when seeing your plant in need, and the desire is to do something right away. But a bit of patience and keep the conversation going as you have and you'll get the correct answers.
Bobrown14 and Emilya are pros at this, and Bobrown is pointing you to what you need (seriously, don't underestimate his advice!!).

Hello @kikikoi apologize for not getting back sooner.
So your soil has some nutrients but she isn't getting everything she she needs.
I would try adding @GeoFlora Nutrients to her.
It has microbes that help feed your lady.
That should keep her going until she gets a big enough root ball into that soil.
And can uptake what is available in it.
Oh Mr @Rexer Are you available to have a look here, I'm not having the best day here at the moment.
I'm trying to paint the bathroom, hehe nothing bad.

Stay safe
Bill

Thanks Bill!

If he can get Geo Flora that would make his life easier, but i have no clue if they ship there, or budget restraints.

And he's got Bobrown14 helping

 

[kikikopa]

I love you folks! Patience is the key and I agree. However, I've had a few bad experiences with growing because I waited too long to address the issue and ended up losing a few. That thought is now always in the back of my head as I don't want to add one single thing more to my list of things not to do.

@bobrown14 I'm using a 12 stage filter that supposedly removes chlorine.

Yes, where I live it is challenging to obtain certain products. There is no Amazon or anything similar to order from so you have to rely on small shops that all pretty much carry the same things. There is a very limited selection of merchandise. That being said, there is no shortage of little shops selling chemical nutrients so most of those products are available except anything with nitrogen as they won't ship that in. I will look for something similar to Geo Flora. The three top brands of nutrients available here are Top Crop, Canna, and Plagron. I'm also wondering if I can cook up those egg shells that Emilya posted but that might not be read soon enough.

I don't underestimate any advice given to me here. I appreciate everyone's input! I like the idea of keeping it organic with the kelp but again it's tough to find what would be considered specialty products like that here. If it's not on Mercado Libre, it's going to be hard or impossible to find. We Americans are spoiled as far as access to products.

I wasn't sure if you could mix chemical nutrients with an organic substrate but it sounds like that's OK? Of all the variables I can think of, I would put missing soil amendments high on the list since it's a homemade/hybrid that I've never had tested to see the breakdown.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support.

 

[kikikopa]

EWC has Ca in it. You can make a slurry of EWC an water in. You will have to do that frequently.

I will try that since a Geoflora type organic product is not available here, only liquid chemical nutrients. Do you have a recipe to make the EWC?

 

[bobrown14]

On chemicals (mineralization) yes you can use them in soil. What they do is mimic what nature already does in the root zone. The problems are they dont give you "everything" and some nutrients too much that leads to waste and tail chasing.

For a 'fix' right now get some local worm castings - toss some on top of the soil and make a slurry and water that in. Worm castings have a lot of good nutrition for plants and its soluble in water ready for immediate uptake. You'll need to do that frequently - too much wont hurt either.

Can do the egg shell thing but it takes a few weeks to be ready.

One other option and this should be available at your local store - Gypsum

Can dissolve like 2 tbs in a gallon of water and water that in. The Ca is "somewhat" soluble in water but that will give you what you need right away and also longer term Ca.

You cant use lime. For a lot of reasons.

These are my go to amendments:

Crustacean meal
crab meal
lobster meal
fish bone meal
compost
EWC
Leaf mold (under trees take a walk)
Kelp Meal

These all will have calcium in spades.

 

[bobrown14]

I will try that since a Geoflora type organic product is not available here, only liquid chemical nutrients. Do you have a recipe to make the EWC?

1/4 cup of EWC in a quart of water - shake up water in pour the dredges in along with let it sit on top of the soil.

 

[Bill284]

1/4 cup of EWC in a quart of water - shake up water in pour the dredges in along with let it sit on top of the soil.

Thank you @bobrown14 hope you are doing good today.
Sorry I dropped the ball yesterday.
I guess I can't paint and read at the same time.
Your Awsome Bob.

Stay safe
Bill

 

[kikikopa]

1/4 cup of EWC in a quart of water - shake up water in pour the dredges in along with let it sit on top of the soil.

Good morning bobrown14. Thank you for this additional information.

So EWC stands for worm castings? I wasn't sure what the acronym meant.

I do have worm castings on hand as that is a popular product here and I used a lot in my substrate mix. I will go ahead and do as you say and make the slurry this morning and apply it right away. Since my substrate mix does contain quite a bit of worm castings (11 liters per 57 liter batch), I'm wondering why it's not supplying enough calcium as it is?

From you list of amendments, I can see that fish bone meal is available as well as worm castings.

There are also some additives available from Plagron like Fish Force and two liquid types derived from algae - Alga Grow and Alga Bloom. Those two may be similar to the Geo products except in liquid form. I need to compare those and see if they are and maybe that can be something that can be added to the water.

 

[nivek]

Here are a few pictures of what is happening. I hope they're enough to see the problem but I can take more if they're not. Many thanks to all the helpers!

looks like another reveg to me,, for whatever reason,, they are so distinct

karma sent friend

 

[kikikopa]

looks like another reveg to me,, for whatever reason,, they are so distinct

karma sent friend

Good observation @nivek!

Yes, the first plant picture is of the one that did eventually reveg but became what I think @Bill284 termed a monster. Lots of branches with short inter-nodes. She eventually began growing again but did not take off like the other. I decided not to top her because of that and I also put her in the smaller final pot because I don't know how well she is going to do but yet didn't have the heart to abandon her.

If it was just that one plant, I would consider the yellowing of the leaves as perhaps somehow being related to the reveg thing but this is an issue across the board and not just with her.

 

[nivek]

well, sure looks dry

 

[kikikopa]

well, sure looks dry

The soil or the plant? I'm using Emilya's wet/dry watering schedule. The bottom portion of the pots are still wet and the top centers where the root zone is gets moistened to keep it from drying out. The plants are in direct sun for 12+ hours so the top soil layer looks dry but the center portion is moist underneath. The 3 gallon pot just received a complete slow watering last night but the 5 gallon pot still has a little way to go before it too gets a complete watering.

Unless I'm doing something wrong with the watering, I can't see how the soil wouldn't look dry after being in the sun all day. Should I be top dressing these plants to keep the top of the soil moist all the time? Emilya?

 

[Bill284]

The soil or the plant? I'm using Emilya's wet/dry watering schedule. The bottom portion of the pots are still wet and the top centers where the root zone is gets moistened to keep it from drying out. The plants are in direct sun for 12+ hours so the top soil layer looks dry but the center portion is moist underneath. The 3 gallon pot just received a complete slow watering last night but the 5 gallon pot still has a little way to go before it too gets a complete watering.

Unless I'm doing something wrong with the watering, I can't see how the soil wouldn't look dry after being in the sun all day. Should I be top dressing these plants to keep the top of the soil moist all the time? Emilya?

Good morning @kikikopa hope your well my friend.
If you are using the method recommended by Em you should be fine don't worry.
Soil needs to dry in-between watering.
Stick with it just make sure it's dry before you water again.
If your following Bobrown's instructions she will green up.

Stay safe
Bill

 

[nivek]

the plant looks big enuf to be watering fully, imo

the roots will not reach out to the edges of that pot if there is no water there for the roots to search for

but for sure let it dry out between waterings

 

[kikikopa]

Good morning @kikikopa hope your well my friend.
If you are using the method recommended by Em you should be fine don't worry.
Soil needs to dry in-between watering.
Stick with it just make sure it's dry before you water again.
If your following Bobrown's instructions she will green up.

Stay safe
Bill

Hi Bill. I'm doing fine today although it's been extremely hot here the last few days. How's the bathroom painting coming along? I've got a kitchen soffit to paint this week myself.

I have to stick with Emilya's method since I'm committed to it and it's worked well so far. I don't know how much time I can spend building the root balls in these final pots, more so the 5 gallon, since every day the amount of sunlight decreases and the ladies will need to have enough time in the sun to flower. I can go to about the end of this month before I flip so we'll see.

Bobbrown's advice is being implemented and I'm monitoring the ladies closely for indications of improvement (hopefully) or no improvement (try another one of his methods).

All the best to you and the 420magazine family of members.

 

[Bill284]

Hi Bill. I'm doing fine today although it's been extremely hot here the last few days. How's the bathroom painting coming along? I've got a kitchen soffit to paint this week myself.

I have to stick with Emilya's method since I'm committed to it and it's worked well so far. I don't know how much time I can spend building the root balls in these final pots, more so the 5 gallon, since every day the amount of sunlight decreases and the ladies will need to have enough time in the sun to flower. I can go to about the end of this month before I flip so we'll see.

Bobbrown's advice is being implemented and I'm monitoring the ladies closely for indications of improvement (hopefully) or no improvement (try another one of his methods).

All the best to you and the 420magazine family of members.

I'm glad you are well my friend.
The painting omg it's a pain with my back. Not going great, hehe.
It will take some time to see the results of your work but they should green up.
Happy growing Amigo.

Stay safe
Bill

 

[kikikopa]

On chemicals (mineralization) yes you can use them in soil. What they do is mimic what nature already does in the root zone. The problems are they dont give you "everything" and some nutrients too much that leads to waste and tail chasing.

For a 'fix' right now get some local worm castings - toss some on top of the soil and make a slurry and water that in. Worm castings have a lot of good nutrition for plants and its soluble in water ready for immediate uptake. You'll need to do that frequently - too much wont hurt either.

Can do the egg shell thing but it takes a few weeks to be ready.

One other option and this should be available at your local store - Gypsum

Can dissolve like 2 tbs in a gallon of water and water that in. The Ca is "somewhat" soluble in water but that will give you what you need right away and also longer term Ca.

You cant use lime. For a lot of reasons.

These are my go to amendments:

Crustacean meal
crab meal
lobster meal
fish bone meal
compost
EWC
Leaf mold (under trees take a walk)
Kelp Meal

These all will have calcium in spades.

Hi Bobrown14, how are you doing today my friend? A friend that helps me to grow weed is a friend indeed!
When I was a kid, we went to a place in upstate NY called Gaslight Village. Do you know where that is (was)? This was over 50 years ago so I'm not sure if it even exists anymore. If I remember correctly, it was close to Lake George.

So I've tracked down fish bone meal and alfalfa pellets and want to ask your advice on how to make a top dressing with these two ingredients. A little goes a long way for the fish bone meal from what I understand so I don't want to add too much. I can top dress the plants that are in final pots now and can add the fish bone meal to my next batch. Any guidance on using these two amending ingredients will be most sincerely appreciated.

 

[kikikopa]

Does anyone have a top dressing recipe using alfalfa pellets? I had fish bone meal lined up and the deal went sour so I'll keep looking for that but in the meantime, I have earth worm castings aka humus de lombriz and can use that until I find the fish bone meal. I'm not sure how much of these alfalfa pellets to use.