Quick Confirmation- Is this a Magnesium Deficientcy?

WillGrow510

Well-Known Member
Hey there. Looking at a group of 4 Thai sticks. Two of them are showing signs of a deficientcy. I'm running GO line, full nute schedule, pH on point at around 6, 18/6 light schedule on 340 watts of 2,700k CFLs, they are 5 weeks old, black gold potting soil with 30% perlite, air pots, was running 25% humidity but finally got that up to 45%, 68-72 degF, what else am I missing? For now, I gave an extra dose of Cal-Mag to see how they do. Any thoughts?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

IMG_425211.JPG

:Namaste:
 
I think so. It looks like mag deficiency as I know it from surfing through a lot of threads and seeing a lot of pics of it, which look much like yours. I haven't had this deficiency myself - and I'm not a soil grower, fwiw.
It's possible that it's caused by your ph being a bit low. If you check this chart you can see that it's possible you're under shooting the ph and missing out on the magnesium.
Usually any decent soil should balance the ph for you though and if you're watering at 6 there should be an upward shift towards neutral/7. Might be worth checking the ph of the runoff sometime.
Also double check that your meter is calibrated and working properly.
Nutrient_Chart2.gif
 
It's not nute burn. It does look like mag def. but remember. That doesn't mean you automatically add mag. If your ph is off the plant won't absorb available mag.

In soil, magnesium is best absorbed by the roots in the 6.0 - 7.0 pH range (some growers say a 6.5 - 7.0 pH is best if you suspect a magnesium deficiency)

In hydro, magnesium is best absorbed by the roots in the 6.0 - 6.5 pH range (in hydro, it's generally recommended to keep the pH between 5.5 - 6.5, but magnesium specifically tends to be best absorbed above 6.0)


I don't know everything. My opinion is just that. It's up to you to research the information offered by me or anyone else. It's not wise to act on the first opinion you get.
 
Cool. Thanks people. I think the last part of the equation missing is run off pH as weasel mentions. I never really thought that would be a big deal as I thought soil would self regulate. I will check that next time I water. My first thought was to ass more cal-mag like the noob I am. So I did do that. Especially because the label on the GO Box says no need to adjust pH. I've read a lot and the experienced growers usually do, some do not. Being my first Grow, the outcome of this will help me next time.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions and really good, simple chart from the cracker. Thanks for that. Thanks all. I'll come back in a week and update the condition.
:Namaste:
 
Yeah when I had my calmag deficiency I used more epsom salt and molasses then I did calimag just because I was in flowering and did not want to feed her more N. So If it was me . I would add 2tsp of epsom salt to a gallon of water and try that. If it doesnt help it will still cause no harm. I have noticed that a lot of times I do not have to add both. most times all I need is a little extra magnesium but then again I know my soil has calcium added to it.

Good luck

anything that occurs in nature cannot be unnatural!
 
A little tangent here about Epsom salts- which I've been scratching my head over a little bit in the last few months. The stuff is pure magnesium and it's very strong. I've been doing some testing with the EC meter.
I usually add Botanicare calmag to my plants at the recommended 5ml/gallon- which works out to roughly 180
ppm. Ppm is at .5 conversion.

In rough proportion -that 180ppm of calmag in a gallon of water would break down to be about:

-Nitrogen 60 ppm
-Calcium 90ppm
-magnesium 30ppm

Now if I take a gallon of distilled water and add 5ml (one tsp) of Epsom salts, which is a common recommended dose- I get almost exactly
-400 ppm
So two teaspoons as you recommend - (and lots of people recommend even higher)
-800ppm

So I'm thinking that we could easily drop the added amount down to one ml or less.
 
A little tangent here about Epsom salts- which I've been scratching my head over a little bit in the last few months. The stuff is pure magnesium and it's very strong. I've been doing some testing with the EC meter.
I usually add Botanicare calmag to my plants at the recommended 5ml/gallon- which works out to roughly 180
ppm. Ppm is at .5 conversion.

In rough proportion -that 180ppm of calmag in a gallon of water would break down to be about:

-Nitrogen 60 ppm
-Calcium 90ppm
-magnesium 30ppm

Now if I take a gallon of distilled water and add 5ml (one tsp) of Epsom salts, which is a common recommended dose- I get almost exactly
-400 ppm
So two teaspoons as you recommend - (and lots of people recommend even higher)
-800ppm

So I'm thinking that we could easily drop the added amount down to one ml or less.
I was e mailing with biobizz and they recommended epsom salts 2 weeks into flowering.
A lot of the posts I have read say a tabl. Spoon to 1 gallon of water. I use the Imperial system. And you do this every 6 weeks or so. Depending on what soil you are using.
 
Yeah it's often necessary to supplement calcium and magnesium. Just seems that some of the recommended amounts are wrong when it comes to Epsom salts, unless there is something else I'm missing. When 30 ppm of it (using 5ml/gallon calmag) is enough - it's hard to see why we would want to add 400 -1000 ppm. Still, I'm not seeing people report problems from it so it's obviously hard to OD with. Either that or I'm missing something. But I've got a very good EC meter.
 
A little tangent here about Epsom salts- which I've been scratching my head over a little bit in the last few months. The stuff is pure magnesium and it's very strong. I've been doing some testing with the EC meter.
I usually add Botanicare calmag to my plants at the recommended 5ml/gallon- which works out to roughly 180
ppm. Ppm is at .5 conversion.

In rough proportion -that 180ppm of calmag in a gallon of water would break down to be about:

-Nitrogen 60 ppm
-Calcium 90ppm
-magnesium 30ppm

Now if I take a gallon of distilled water and add 5ml (one tsp) of Epsom salts, which is a common recommended dose- I get almost exactly
-400 ppm
So two teaspoons as you recommend - (and lots of people recommend even higher)
-800ppm

So I'm thinking that we could easily drop the added amount down to one ml or less.
I say 2tsp because its deficient. If I do not have a deficiency I will only give 1tsp maybe once a week. When I gad my mag deficiency I actually added 1 tbs to my watering and after a week my deficiency looked to be gone. Now as far as ec and ppm I dont know I dont check ec or ppm. Im in soil I just focus on my ph and wait for my plant to tell me what it needs. But logically if you are deficient in magnesium and led's make your plant uptake more calmag to begin with then as you are adding calmag to try to bring it up to proper levels the plant is also pulling calmag at the same time. So that being said theirs a big difference between adding nutes as a preventive measure and adding nutes to make up for a deficiency/lack of. You are rite though with epsom salts being strong it is afterall straight magnesium sulfate

anything that occurs in nature cannot be unnatural!
 
I very much could be wrong but im thinking that if you ACTUALLY DO have a mag deficiency then 1ml might not cut it. Maybe someone else could lend some expertise in in the matter. Like I said im not 100% sure but my logic 1ml dont seem enough for a deficient plant but 1ml would be ok for preventive upkeep

anything that occurs in nature cannot be unnatural!
 
Thanks for the info everyone. I was underfeeding my plants and now it looks like one is really absorbing alot of nitrogen and needs more. Its amazing how much nutes these Thai Sticks are taking. Here's and updated photo. Cheers!

IMG_459012.JPG
 
Back
Top Bottom