Help - Leaves blackening after flush

[Damien102]

Hi all. This is my second grow so I am by no means an experienced grower.
Plant is 8 weeks old and starting to flower. Typically I don't water to run off, but did last week to check my soil/ph condition. The run off was 5.7 (I'm soil growing) so I did a 5 gal (fabric) pot flush with 3 gal of water. First 2 gal tap water run through a Brita filter. Last gal dechlorinated tap water with a rounded half tea spoon of Recharge. BTW, all 3 gal of flush water ph'd at 6.5. The next day almost all the leaves were droopy and the day after that started getting darkened/black down the center spine and side veins. Its two days/light cycles since the flush and the soil is bone dry to 3 inches down (beyond that I don't know). My reaction now is WTF? Did I destroy the plant? Will this clear up by itself? When should I start watering again with nutes? Is there/what is the fix for this? Any help/advise is greatly appreciated.
THE FIRST PHOTO IS BEFORE FLUSHING, THE REST AFTER.

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi all. This is my second grow so I am by no means an experienced grower.
Plant is 8 weeks old and starting to flower. Typically I don't water to run off, but did last week to check my soil/ph condition. The run off was 5.7 (I'm soil growing) so I did a 5 gal (fabric) pot flush with 3 gal of water. First 2 gal tap water run through a Brita filter. Last gal dechlorinated tap water with a rounded half tea spoon of Recharge. BTW, all 3 gal of flush water ph'd at 6.5. The next day almost all the leaves were droopy and the day after that started getting darkened/black down the center spine and side veins. Its two days/light cycles since the flush and the soil is bone dry to 3 inches down (beyond that I don't know). My reaction now is WTF? Did I destroy the plant? Will this clear up by itself? When should I start watering again with nutes? Is there/what is the fix for this? Any help/advise is greatly appreciated.
THE FIRST PHOTO IS BEFORE FLUSHING, THE REST AFTER.

First of all, you didn't flush, you just heavily watered. A flush requires 3x the container size, so you would have needed to pour 15 gallons through that container to flush out that soil. All your work pH adjusting and de-chlorinating that water was not necessary. So now, 2 days after this heavy watering, your plants are getting dry again... no surprise there.

So I don't think that any of this has anything at all to do with the problem you are having. Since you are under the belief that giving plain water is flushing, I suspect you have been giving nutes with each watering. By only checking the top of the soil to 3 inches down to see if they need watering, I know that you are not letting them dry out all the way to the bottom between waterings, so in addition to over feeding, you are also over watering.

I am also curious if you have changed over to bloom nutrients? Now that your plants are flowering, their nutritional needs have changed. Typically in soil, gardeners will feed, and then on the next watering only give water, and then alternate f/w/f/w for the rest of the grow. This allows the soil to not get backed up with nutrients, as your low pH runoff readings indicate has happened.

So to recap, I suggest a proper flush to get rid of the nute buildup in your soil... 15 gallons in one sitting. After the container dries out all the way to the bottom again, feed with your bloom nutes. The next watering after that should be pH adjusted water... 6.3 pH in soil. Alternate like this until mid flower, and then flush again, or at least at the 6 week point, and then continue to feed and water alternating right up to the end of the grow.

 

[JoetheChro]

Hi all. This is my second grow so I am by no means an experienced grower.
Plant is 8 weeks old and starting to flower. Typically I don't water to run off, but did last week to check my soil/ph condition. The run off was 5.7 (I'm soil growing) so I did a 5 gal (fabric) pot flush with 3 gal of water. First 2 gal tap water run through a Brita filter. Last gal dechlorinated tap water with a rounded half tea spoon of Recharge. BTW, all 3 gal of flush water ph'd at 6.5. The next day almost all the leaves were droopy and the day after that started getting darkened/black down the center spine and side veins. Its two days/light cycles since the flush and the soil is bone dry to 3 inches down (beyond that I don't know). My reaction now is WTF? Did I destroy the plant? Will this clear up by itself? When should I start watering again with nutes? Is there/what is the fix for this? Any help/advise is greatly appreciated.
THE FIRST PHOTO IS BEFORE FLUSHING, THE REST AFTER.

I had the same problem the other day. Looks like over watering.

Leave it for 4-5 days. Will improve as pots dry out

 

[Damien102]

First of all, you didn't flush, you just heavily watered. A flush requires 3x the container size, so you would have needed to pour 15 gallons through that container to flush out that soil. All your work pH adjusting and de-chlorinating that water was not necessary. So now, 2 days after this heavy watering, your plants are getting dry again... no surprise there.

So I don't think that any of this has anything at all to do with the problem you are having. Since you are under the belief that giving plain water is flushing, I suspect you have been giving nutes with each watering. By only checking the top of the soil to 3 inches down to see if they need watering, I know that you are not letting them dry out all the way to the bottom between waterings, so in addition to over feeding, you are also over watering.

I am also curious if you have changed over to bloom nutrients? Now that your plants are flowering, their nutritional needs have changed. Typically in soil, gardeners will feed, and then on the next watering only give water, and then alternate f/w/f/w for the rest of the grow. This allows the soil to not get backed up with nutrients, as your low pH runoff readings indicate has happened.

So to recap, I suggest a proper flush to get rid of the nute buildup in your soil... 15 gallons in one sitting. After the container dries out all the way to the bottom again, feed with your bloom nutes. The next watering after that should be pH adjusted water... 6.3 pH in soil. Alternate like this until mid flower, and then flush again, or at least at the 6 week point, and then continue to feed and water alternating right up to the end of the grow.

The Nute's I use are 1/2 what's manufacturer recommended GH Flora Trio and I am changing amounts of each to match the plants stage. But you are correct in your assumption that I feed with nutes every watering, and will try your recommendation to water with nute only every other watering.
I have read 3x the container size for flush, but at the time was just trying to up the ph all at one time. This grow is under a net/SCROG so I cant move the plant to the tub and flush there. I did what I described right in the tent and kept the tray under the plant from over flowing with a wet-dry vac. 15 gallons in my situation would be quite an undertaking, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. You also recommend waiting till the plant dry's to the bottom before watering. I have a Trazon/Amazon light/moisture/ph meter that I find to be crap, so I check the moisture sticking my finger in the pot. I'm sure sure fingering to the bottom would damage roots. Is there any other way to check moisture in the bottom of the pot without a good meter (plant is SCROG netted so I can't lift it)?

 

[CelestialNurseries]

THE FIRST PHOTO IS BEFORE FLUSHING, THE REST AFTER.

It looks like you've always had some over watering issues. Learn how and when to water your media.

 

[Damien102]

First of all, you didn't flush, you just heavily watered. A flush requires 3x the container size, so you would have needed to pour 15 gallons through that container to flush out that soil. All your work pH adjusting and de-chlorinating that water was not necessary. So now, 2 days after this heavy watering, your plants are getting dry again... no surprise there.

So I don't think that any of this has anything at all to do with the problem you are having. Since you are under the belief that giving plain water is flushing, I suspect you have been giving nutes with each watering. By only checking the top of the soil to 3 inches down to see if they need watering, I know that you are not letting them dry out all the way to the bottom between waterings, so in addition to over feeding, you are also over watering.

I am also curious if you have changed over to bloom nutrients? Now that your plants are flowering, their nutritional needs have changed. Typically in soil, gardeners will feed, and then on the next watering only give water, and then alternate f/w/f/w for the rest of the grow. This allows the soil to not get backed up with nutrients, as your low pH runoff readings indicate has happened.

So to recap, I suggest a proper flush to get rid of the nute buildup in your soil... 15 gallons in one sitting. After the container dries out all the way to the bottom again, feed with your bloom nutes. The next watering after that should be pH adjusted water... 6.3 pH in soil. Alternate like this until mid flower, and then flush again, or at least at the 6 week point, and then continue to feed and water alternating right up to the end of the grow.

I also have one more question. If running 3 gal of water through the 5 gallon pot renders an over watering with the effects I got, wouldn't running 15 gal of water for a proper flush have the same effect?

 

[Emilya Green]

The Nute's I use are 1/2 what's manufacturer recommended GH Flora Trio and I am changing amounts of each to match the plants stage. But you are correct in your assumption that I feed with nutes every watering, and will try your recommendation to water with nute only every other watering.
I have read 3x the container size for flush, but at the time was just trying to up the ph all at one time. This grow is under a net/SCROG so I cant move the plant to the tub and flush there. I did what I described right in the tent and kept the tray under the plant from over flowing with a wet-dry vac. 15 gallons in my situation would be quite an undertaking, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. You also recommend waiting till the plant dry's to the bottom before watering. I have a Trazon/Amazon light/moisture/ph meter that I find to be crap, so I check the moisture sticking my finger in the pot. I'm sure sure fingering to the bottom would damage roots. Is there any other way to check moisture in the bottom of the pot without a good meter (plant is SCROG netted so I can't lift it)?

The $6, 3 way moisture/light/ph meters that are available at any gardening center are crap, but they do have one very useful feature, the moisture sensor. There is only one reading that should concern you, wet. Slowly lower the long probes into your container. The meter will read "moist" through most of this, and that is a totally worthless reading. Keep lowering the probes until you see the meter suddenly spike over to the right, indicating, "wet". This is a valid reading... you have just hit the top of the water table. Gravity pulls all of the water down toward the bottom and it forms a mini lake under that surface. Your meter can show you where the top of that lake is sitting. Careful measurements will show you that this water table drops a little bit each day due to evaporation and the plants using up that water.

The bottom inch to two inches will never completely dry out because of capillary action between the roots and the sides and bottom of the container. When the top of the water table has reached this level, it is safe to water your plants.

Now that you know to feed/water/feed/water, let's fine tune the use of your nutes. You are giving less than the manufacturers recommended dosage. Are you doing this because you are growing an Auto? Thinking that they need less nutrients than a photoperiod plant is a fallacy... they are often quicker growing and much more aggressive than their photoperiod cousins, and they can easily use the full recommended nutes. Find for us, anywhere, with any brand of nutes, a special feeding recommendation for Autos... you will not be able to find it. The belief that Autos need less food is a myth created on the internet. Follow the directions that come with your nutrients for best results.

 

[Emilya Green]

I also have one more question. If running 3 gal of water through the 5 gallon pot renders an over watering with the effects I got, wouldn't running 15 gal of water for a proper flush have the same effect?

You totally missed my point. You CAN NOT overwater this plant in one watering session. Soil can only hold a set amount before the rest runs out of the bottom.

The ONLY way to overwater is by watering too often... before the container dries out all the way to the bottom. If you do this consistently, the lower roots that are constantly sitting below the water table, will eventually drown and rot. Your plant is showing you the first signs of this gardener induced death.

Have you read my guide on how to water? Almost half a million readers have gained valuable insight from this article. I invite you to read it.

The Proper Way To Water A Potted Plant

The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant Also covered: the importance of pH and why we successively up-pot How to Water Over the last several years I have put a lot of study into this, and I feel that I can now define the proper way to water a potted plant. Keep in mind that this discussion...

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[Bill284]

Hi all. This is my second grow so I am by no means an experienced grower.
Plant is 8 weeks old and starting to flower. Typically I don't water to run off, but did last week to check my soil/ph condition. The run off was 5.7 (I'm soil growing) so I did a 5 gal (fabric) pot flush with 3 gal of water. First 2 gal tap water run through a Brita filter. Last gal dechlorinated tap water with a rounded half tea spoon of Recharge. BTW, all 3 gal of flush water ph'd at 6.5. The next day almost all the leaves were droopy and the day after that started getting darkened/black down the center spine and side veins. Its two days/light cycles since the flush and the soil is bone dry to 3 inches down (beyond that I don't know). My reaction now is WTF? Did I destroy the plant? Will this clear up by itself? When should I start watering again with nutes? Is there/what is the fix for this? Any help/advise is greatly appreciated.
THE FIRST PHOTO IS BEFORE FLUSHING, THE REST AFTER.

Sorry I was late getting your request.
Looks like you have someone giving you good advice already.
Hope it goes well.
Let me know if you need help with anything else.




Stay safe
Bill284

 

[Damien102]

You CAN NOT overwater this plant in one watering session.

That part clarifies what I was asking... Thank you