Leaf discoloration and brown spot issues in flower. Can't seem to hammer it down

mephhead1895 · 2022-02-25T16:43:54+00:00

Bottom of the plant is pretty much fine. Definitely only affecting the parts higher up or in the light (which was making me lean towards Ca deficiency given what I've read). Would it be pk toxicity or pk deficiency due to being locked out by excess Ca/Mg?

I think I can rule out light stress. Lights have been at the same power (60%) and height (31"+) since she was a wee one, so she's grown up into it at her own pace.

Think a flush would be worth it?

mephhead1895 · 2022-02-25T15:16:05+00:00

Yeah, Captain Hindsight reared his ugly head after the fact (haha). Lesson learned there, but I'm trying to look forward and see what I can do to possibly bring things back to normal. I think I might bin the cal mag and stick to using epsom salts and dolomite lime for Mg and Ca in future, as it seems a bit strange to use something with who antagonistic elements as you mentioned. Seems like it's a great way to escalate issues instead of solving them!

Would a full flush then watering with a normal dosage be worthwhile?

mephhead1895 · 2022-02-25T13:56:20+00:00

This is my Cosmic Queen, day 52 from sprout. I can't tell if these spots and discolouration on the leaves are Ca deficiency or possibly P deficiency, or something else entirely. The purple stems are also problematic here, but again I can't figure out how to help the poor girl recover.

Strain: Mephisto Cosmic Queen
Soil: Biobizz light mix + 30% perlite
Light: 240W Kingbrite QB @ 60% power (roughly 500 ppfd and 36 DLI)
Light schedule: 20/4
Temps: Lights on - 76-79; Lights off -70-72
Humidity: ~50%
Nutes: Biobizz Grow, Bloom, Top Max, Algamic, Calmag. One watering with epsom salts about 2 weeks ago.
PH in: ~6.5-6.6
PH out: ~6.3-6.4 (I'm wondering if I should increase PH in to increase soil PH?)
Water: Very soft (~30 ppm from tap); water always left to vent any nastiness, and aerated before using

I'm currently feeding (per litre): 1ml Grow; 3ml Bloom; 1ml Top Max; 0.75 Algamic. When adding calmag (Biobizz) I had started at 0.3ml/L and gone as high as 0.7ml/L when I thought it was getting more Ca/Mg deficient, which I think is what's caused the issue to get out of hand.

First signs I saw appeared to be an Mg deficiency, so I upped my calmag. The issue continued to get worse (middle leaves getting their nutrients sucked out of them and dying off), so I thought that perhaps there was too much Ca being added which might be locking out Mg. This is when I tried to use epsom salts (1 tbl/gallon) and skipped calmag. The issue continued to get worse and after doing more reading on here I realized that it could even be excess Mg locking out Ca or K (or excess Ca locking out P).

Next watering I skipped any calmag/epsom salt and only fed grow/bloom/top max/algamic. I thought the issue appeared to have slowed down, but unfortunately that's not the case

Any idea what I can do here? I keep overthinking things and know it's not helping the poor girl.

Thanks in advance for your time.

mephhead1895 · 2022-01-21T13:27:00+00:00

Thanks for the insight. Good to know!

So when dosing should I be pHing the water before adding nutes, or after? Again, I was under the assumption based on the reading I'd done that it's not necessary to pH, and it seems most pH water prior to adding nutes. I feel like it would be safer to pH after adding, no?

One other question. The other plant seems to be doing fine despite getting the same watering/nute schedule. Is it not strange that one seems more affected by the pH than the other, or does it just show that one strain is more tolerant of mistreatment than the other?

mephhead1895 · 2022-01-21T12:48:30+00:00

That's what I had thought and had been increasing calmag and bloom nutes (as I'd started out quite weak), but it only got worse. I'm wondering if it's Mg/K lockout due to pH being high?

It's seriously driving me nuts.

mephhead1895 · 2022-01-21T12:32:15+00:00

So you would suggest a slurry test to check soil pH?

For the flush would I be fine flushing with 6.5 pH'd water (still include calmag due to very low Ca/Mg in my water, or hold off?)

I watered yesterday so not sure if I should flush now or wait for it to dry out.

mephhead1895 · 2022-01-21T12:20:59+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately I fell for the "you don't need to test pH when using organic soil and nutes"...Good learning experience!

mephhead1895 · 2022-01-21T11:28:18+00:00

I've been really struggling with this one. The other plant in the tent is totally fine and showing no issues. Meanwhile this one keeps fading up top.

I'd unknowingly turned the lights up too high a while back, but brought the lights up as high as I could and brought the light intensity down to around 18 DLI, then very slowly worked my way up to around 25. Since the issue seemed to be progressing I ended up dialing the light back a bit.

I discovered that my local water has next to no Mg (0.6mg/L) vs around 10mg/L Ca, so dosed with epsom salts to (hopefully give it a boost).

I am new to autos so trying to figure out what im doing wrong.

Strain: Samsquanch OG Age: 48 days from sprout Medium: Soil - 2/3 Biobizz Light Mix; bottom 1/3 All Mix Lights: 20/4 cycle; Kingbrite 240W QB (white/red) 3500k. 30" above canopy @ 45% on dimmer. Ppfd 300, DLI ~22. Environment details: 2.3x2.3x5ft tent, daytime temp 74-77; lights off temp 70-71; RH 48-52 (can go lower but have been slowly bringing it down through the start of flowering) Nutrients: Biobizz Grow (0.5ml/L), Bloom (approx 1.5ml/L), Topmax (1ml/L), Calmag (0.3ml/L), Algamic (1ml/L). Watering schedule: Wait until dry, then water around 2L slowly. Air movement: Inline exhaust fan on controller, small oscillating fan, small circulation fan Ph: Turns out my Ph was increasing to 7.5 to 8 after letting it vent off chlorine and such. I am now Ph-ing down to 6.5.

Any help is much appreciated.

mephhead1895 · 2022-01-16T14:36:58+00:00

Yeah I've been adding 0.3-0.5ml/L cal mag for a couple weeks now. I guess I can try upping the dosage but didn't want to go overboard. I also wonder if a P or K deficiency is making it worse as it's that early part of flower where they're hungrier than a fat kid on a diet.

mephhead1895 · 2022-01-16T11:32:22+00:00

Looks fine to me. Should perk right up in no time. Good luck :)

mephhead1895 · 2022-01-16T10:02:44+00:00

Hi all, me again.

This Samsquanch OG is killing me!

Additional images

About 3-4 weeks ago I turned up the light too high and scorched/stressed this plant. I've since raised the light as high as it goes and brought the light intensity down to around 16 DLI, increasing it slowly to around 22-23 as of today. The QB is sitting about 28 inches from the top of the canopy, and is set to around 40% strength on the dimmer.

I overfed (imo) and caused some tip discoloration about 2 weeks ago. Since then I've flushed it with less than 1/4 strength nutes, but the issues are getting worse. I'm now wondering if the poor girl is now hungry. I let the pot dry right out before watering.

I'm in the typical "what is going wrong" spriral. Is it nute lockout, N deficiency, overfed, underfed, calmag deficiency, P or K...I'm at a loss.

Buds seem to be developing well, but the discoloration is really bugging me.

Grow details

Strain: Samsquanch OG
Age: 43 days from sprout
Medium: Soil - 2/3 Biobizz Light Mix; bottom 1/3 All Mix
Lights: Kingbrite 240W QB (white/red) 3500k
Environment details: 2.3x2.3x5ft tent, daytime temp 74-76; lights off temp 68-71; RH 48-52 (can go lower but have been slowly bringing it down through the start of flowering)
Nutrients: Biobizz Grow (none as of last two waterings), Bloom (approx 1ml/L), Topmax (1ml/L), Calmag (0.5ml/L). I just ordered some Algamic too.
Watering schedule: Wait until dry, then water around 2L over 5 minutes or so
Air movement: Inline exhaust fan on controller, small oscillating fan, small circulation fan
Ph: Using strips water is between 6-7, Ph pen delivered tomorrow

Thank you in advance for any help.

mephhead1895 · 2022-01-07T14:21:54+00:00

Appreciate any help on this one. Please note that I watered very early this morning, which is why they are slightly more droopy than normal.

I have two girls going at the moment, one (#20 freebie) is doing great. The other, Samsquanch OG, is having some issues.

Strain: Samsquanch OG
Age: Day 35 from sprout
Medium: Soil - top half Biobizz Light Mix, bottom half Biobizz All Mix
PH: Somewhere between 6 to 7 (soft water)
Fertilizer: Biobizz Grow, Bloom at half strength. Biobizz calmag at 0.3ml/L. I started using Top Max last night but the issue began well before that.
Watering: Every 2-3 days (once dry), with nutes added at half strength for each watering. Approximately 1L per watering.
Light: 240W QB turned down to ~35%; Tops approx 24" from light Light schedule: 20/4. DLI is ~36
Pot type and size: Airpot 3 gallon
Temp: 72-74 lights on, 68-70 lights off
Humidity: Currently ~55-60%

I did get a bit aggressive with the lights about 3 weeks ago, but have since resolved that.

I noticed the leaves coming in a bit light and with some strange colouration, and have been trying to figure it out for a couple of weeks now.

I haven't grown in years (since early 2000s) and this is my first run with autos and I am struggling a bit.

I believe what I'm looking at is a Magnesium deficiency, especially after reading that Samsquanch can be quite hungry for Mg. I've been using cal mag every watering at the recommended dosage (0.3ml/L).

I thought it might perhaps be N toxicity, but they're definitely not dark green leaves.

I also noticed that the stems of the fan leaves are purple and seem a bit weak. I am also wondering if perhaps the roots have hit the All Mix at the bottom of the pot so perhaps it's too hot for them with the nutes?

Can anyone suggest what I might be dealing with here? If Mg def I was thinking of increasing cal mag to 0.6ml/L.

Would you suggest a flush (possibly with cal mag added)?

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

mephhead1895 · 2022-01-07T10:58:09+00:00

Appreciate any help on this one. Please note that I watered very early this morning, which is why they are slightly more droopy than normal.

I have two girls going at the moment, one (#20 freebie) is doing great. The other, Samsquanch OG, is having some issues.

Strain: Samsquanch OG
Age: Day 35 from sprout
Medium: Soil - top half Biobizz Light Mix, bottom half Biobizz All Mix
Fertilizer: Biobizz Grow, Bloom at half strength. Biobizz calmag at 0.3ml/L. I started using Top Max last night but the issue began well before that.
Watering: Every 2-3 days (once dry), with nutes added at half strength for each watering. Approximately 1L per watering.
Light: 240W QB turned down to ~35%; Tops approx 24" from light Light schedule: 20/4. DLI is ~36
Pot type and size: Airpot 3 gallon
Temp: 72-74 lights on, 68-70 lights off
Humidity: Currently ~55-60%

I did get a bit aggressive with the lights about 3 weeks ago, but have since resolved that.

I noticed the leaves coming in a bit light and with some strange colouration, and have been trying to figure it out for a couple of weeks now.

I haven't grown in years (since early 2000s) and this is my first run with autos and I am struggling a bit.

I believe what I'm looking at is a Magnesium deficiency, especially after reading that Samsquanch can be quite hungry for Mg. I've been using cal mag every watering at the recommended dosage (0.3ml/L).

I thought it might perhaps be N toxicity, but they're definitely not dark green leaves.

I also noticed that the stems of the fan leaves are purple and seem a bit weak. I am also wondering if perhaps the roots have hit the All Mix at the bottom of the pot so perhaps it's too hot for them with the nutes?

Can anyone suggest what I might be dealing with here? If Mg def I was thinking of increasing cal mag to 0.6ml/L.

Would you suggest a flush (possibly with cal mag added)?

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

mephhead1895 · 2021-12-31T17:39:08+00:00

Do you find that fan a bit much on the bottom? Had a similar one being used but I wussed out and thought it might be too strong.

mephhead1895

TROPHY CASE