Help please! PH or heat stress?

[Rixx]

New grower here.....in T R O U B L E.


Got these going outside in 110 degree heat. Moved them to the porch (sun 5 am to 10 am) after they started burning up. I thought it was heat related, but others I know have some plants going w/no problem.

This 'burning' started about 2 weeks ago.

It's mostly Sativa....

Think this is PH related....or heat?

I have been using tapwater at 7.3 or so. No nutes as of yet. Planted in fox farms soil.

I bought a Milwaukee PH tester that's pretty much useless. (sq yellow one) I don't trust it at all.

What to do??

Thanks!!!

 

[Truth Seeker]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

its possible that it is a pH problem, 7.3 water is a little to high, just a little though, but yea what is your pH run off??? remember that you want to send pH water at 6.5-6.8

 

[Rixx]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

Haven't tested it as I don't think I can get a proper reading using the tester I have.

I'm planning on going locally tomorrow and buying some ph strips to get me by till I can get another tester.

Don't know what else to do.

thanks

 

[chronicBJJ]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

I'd like to say I've been growing for about 10 years on and off, but sometimes even experienced people have issues identifying problems. Typically when this happens, I just do what I always do, which is pretty much the fix for most problems.

If the problem continues to get worse and does not get better after a couple days, flush the entire plant in Distilled Water (ph it if you wish, I usually dont since its neutral) and you can also use a tiny bit of additives like superthrive or a tiny bit of molasses (soil). A lil bit of sea kelp helps too.

 

[Rixx]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

OK....went and got some PH test strips....tapwater is 7.3.....measured runoff, it's at 7.5.

Looks like it might be a combination of both PH too high, and heat.

Now, how to lower it....

What's my best bet? Meanwhile I'll search to try and find out. (not lazy, just want to finish before the heat sets it. 113 today)

Thanks Guys!!

 

[FuzzyGrnMnstr]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

From your first picture it seems that they are curling up, perhaps this is a nute issue. How long have they been in the pots, and did you start them in those?

 

[Rixx]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

From your first picture it seems that they are curling up, perhaps this is a nute issue. How long have they been in the pots, and did you start them in those?

I applied some worm tea to them about 3 weeks ago. Problem did appear after that....I diluted it to 1/4 strength. PH was roughly 7.7 for the tea.

Yes, they started in the pots. 6 weeks or so. Same soil (FFarm)

I think I'm bringing them in today to a spare bathroom. Maybe a break from the temps will help? I can run a fluorescent in there to provide a little light anyway.


thanks

 

[Truth Seeker]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

that pH is way to high!!! your gonna need to invest in some pH down!!! otherwise your going to keep having problems including death!!! no good my friend!!!

 

[FuzzyGrnMnstr]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

Astonr is right, that is way up there. Nutes or not that ph is going to lock out alot of your plants munchi uptake. Do you have any nutes for growth? From my exp. with soil, you will need to start adding something to help supplement the soil at this point, you should have a much bigger plant at 6 weeks.

 

[Rixx]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

Don't ever buy a Milwaukee PH 60....totally useless. Different readings everytime you use it. (on same sample) Calibrated it first like directions said, keep it 'wet' in storage solution while stored. Nothing seemed to help.

Bought it at ESeason gear...wanted to return it. Nope...no returns on Milwaukee testers. Why don't they tell you than b4 purchase? grrrr!


Got the test strips, and PH down....mixed up 4 gallons of 6.4 water, have it sitting out ready to go.

Plants seem to look happier after the distilled water flush yesterday. (or is my imagination?) Trimmed off all the dead-curled leaves, tips included.

Going to let them dry a bit, then do a runoff ph test and see if it's lowered any at all yet?

I don't have any nutes, as of yet.

The smaller plant was at 4 weeks in photo...sorry for the confusion!!

Thanks again for the help!

 

[crazy horse]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

More perlite in your soil would mean you can fix things quicker and easier imo

 

[HB Rob]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

Did you store the meter in calibration solution? I've used many of the same meter with zero problems. High heat often leads to symptoms of nutrient burn in soil due to the higher breakdown rate of organic material. Either way get them under shade cloth. I'm assuming Tucson's municipal water district pulls from the Colorado River, in which case your high pH water is mostly due to its alkalinity (CaCO3). This will change the pH of your medium over time, but won't be an issue if you keep your plants in large containers (15-30gal outdoors).

 

[N.W.Green]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

if you still dont have anything to adjust Ph i use apple cider vinegar should only take about 1-2 ml to get to where you want to go PH wise.

Lemon juice works too.

 

[Rixx]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

Did you store the meter in calibration solution? I've used many of the same meter with zero problems. High heat often leads to symptoms of nutrient burn in soil due to the higher breakdown rate of organic material. Either way get them under shade cloth. I'm assuming Tucson's municipal water district pulls from the Colorado River, in which case your high pH water is mostly due to its alkalinity (CaCO3). This will change the pH of your medium over time, but won't be an issue if you keep your plants in large containers (15-30gal outdoors).

I sure did...bought an extra bottle of it.

I have them on the back deck in shade now. Brought the worst one inside for a break from the heat.

Smaller plants are in 1 gal containers, and larger ones in 3 gal. Someone else suggested going bigger on pots too. Makes sense....larger pot would provide a more stable growing medium. As it would hold more water, and isn't constantly drying out, over and over again.

So should I use distilled water next time to chk PH on the runoff? Or would it be more accurate to soak some of the soil in something for awhile, then chk it?

THANKS!

 

[Rixx]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

if you still dont have anything to adjust Ph i use apple cider vinegar should only take about 1-2 ml to get to where you want to go PH wise.

Lemon juice works too.

I did get a bottle of PH down at the local aquarium store....

Noticed it said "sulfuric acid" on the bottle.....hmmmm

I use muriatic acid to balance the ph of my swimming pool.....I wonder if that will work as PH down as well?

thanks

 

[Truth Seeker]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

I did get a bottle of PH down at the local aquarium store....

Noticed it said "sulfuric acid" on the bottle.....hmmmm

I use muriatic acid to balance the ph of my swimming pool.....I wonder if that will work as PH down as well?

thanks

being as how one of my prior jobs in my lifetime, was being a pool technician... let me tell you now!!! NO its not!!! you give that muriatic acid to the plants and you might as well say die die,(bye bye) no joke!!! that is a different type of acid!!! it will harm more than anything!!! stick to the aquarium pH down!!! it will do the same!!! as pH 4.01 down!!!!

 

[Goldengoose7]

Re: Help...plz!!....PH or heat stress??

If I could jump in here? ...

Looks more like a nute or chlorine burn to me since it is happening on the lower leaves first. That stuff you added a few weeks ago could have been the cause if the concentration was too high, or it was allowed to remain in the soil undilluted by additional waterings for too long. Those plants are a little young to be getting ANY soil treatments yet. Try to stick to the KISS approach for at least the first several weeks with seedlings or newly rooted clones.

FYI: A water PH of 7.3 is NOT too high for MJ! In fact, Cannabis can tolerate water PH several points higher than that without any significant effects on growth or overall health. If your tap water is indeed 7.3, then it is about normal for tap water and is defnitely NOT the cause of the problem. I wouldn't worry about trying to adjust that right now.

As was already suggested, the best course with a case like this is to flush with distilled water for the next several waterings and lay off ANY nutes for at least a week. Until you can rule out a possible problem with your tap water, such as higher than normal levels of Chlorine or even Floride, I would stick to a Reverse Osmosis bottled water to water your plants. If you can smell or taste Chlorine in a glass of tap water, fill a few gallon containers and let it sit for 48 hours. Most of the Chlorine will evaporate out at that point making it far less stressful on your plants. Any plants. If you are in a hurry, you can boil the water and then cool it down and accomplish the same thing quicker.

More thoughts on water PH for every day watering...

I water all my MJ plants with 7.1 Well Water all the time and have done so for years with great results. I only adust PH when I am using certain nutes that require a specific PH for proper uptake and when cloning etc. As we all know, plants have been around for millions of years. It takes a lot more than a couple of point difference in soil or water PH to kill them all off. Especially such a highly adaptable and hearty WEED as Cannabis.

By the way, most of those bottled waters have a PH of between 7.1 and 8.5 which again, IS FINE for just watering your plants without nutes added.

Also... When you do want to fertilize your plants with a product that calls for a specifc PH range in order for it to be effective, then you are going to want to have a quality/accurate PH meter at your disposal!

I swear by the HM Digital PH-200. Works great, is as accurate as some $500.00 lab meters and will be the last meter you ever buy as long as you take care of it. I also recommend PH adjusters from General Hydroponics. They sell a kit called the GH-500 that comes with everything including test solution in case you can't afford the PH-200 right away.

Let us know how it all turns out!

Cheers.

 

[Rixx]

I see

If I could jump in here? ...

Looks more like a nute or chlorine burn to me since it is happening on the lower leaves first. That stuff you added a few weeks ago could have been the cause if the concentration was too high, or it was allowed to remain in the soil undilluted by additional waterings for too long. Those plants are a little young to be getting ANY soil treatments yet. Try to stick to the KISS approach for at least the first several weeks with seedlings or newly rooted
clones.

I tried to adjust the PH of the worm tea b4 adding. I'm thinking I used too much PH down, and the PH meter didn't read it properly. So I'm thinking they got a shot of 4-5.0 worm tea. Would that 'burn' them as well?



FYI: A water PH of 7.3 is NOT too high for MJ! In fact, Cannabis can tolerate water PH several points higher than that without any significant effects on growth or overall health. If your tap water is indeed 7.3, then it is about normal for tap water and is defnitely NOT the cause of the problem. I wouldn't worry about trying to adjust that right now.

I was thinking it wasn't the water, since things were going smoothly b4 adding the tea. Seems that's when things went south.




As was already suggested, the best course with a case like this is to flush with distilled water for the next several waterings and lay off ANY nutes for at least a week. Until you can rule out a possible problem with your tap water, such as higher than normal levels of Chlorine or even Floride, I would stick to a Reverse Osmosis bottled water to water your plants. If you can smell or taste Chlorine in a glass of tap water, fill a few gallon containers and let it sit for 48 hours. Most of the Chlorine will evaporate out at that point making it far less stressful on your plants. Any plants. If you are in a hurry, you can boil the water and then cool it down and accomplish the same thing quicker.

I'll try that.

More thoughts on water PH for every day watering...

I water all my MJ plants with 7.1 Well Water all the time and have done so for years with great results. I only adust PH when I am using certain nutes that require a specific PH for proper uptake and when cloning etc. As we all know, plants have been around for millions of years. It takes a lot more than a couple of point difference in soil or water PH to kill them all off. Especially such a highly adaptable and hearty WEED as Cannabis.

By the way, most of those bottled waters have a PH of between 7.1 and 8.5 which again, IS FINE for just watering your plants without nutes added.

8.5 is fine for watering?

Also... When you do want to fertilize your plants with a product that calls for a specifc PH range in order for it to be effective, then you are going to want to have a quality/accurate PH meter at your disposal!

I swear by the HM Digital PH-200. Works great, is as accurate as some $500.00 lab meters and will be the last meter you ever buy as long as you take care of it. I also recommend PH adjusters from General Hydroponics. They sell a kit called the GH-500 that comes with everything including test solution in case you can't afford the PH-200 right away.

Let us know how it all turns out!

Yes, another meter is def needed. Going to start looking later today.

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it!!!

Cheers.

 

[Goldengoose7]

No problem!

Ah! You didn't mention that any PH adjustment solution had been used in that tea! PH down is essentially an ACID, and what your pictures showed was a BURN. An acid burn would definitely manifest itself in that look your plants had in those photos. Starts to make more sense now.

8.5 all the time could be pushing it since that is on the high side of what would be considered acceptable as is something on the low end like 4.0 to 5.0. I thought you said your water was 7.3? I would prefer to see the range between 5.2 and 7.3 as a range for plain tap water. Ideal for everything associated with Cannabis growth is 5.7 to 6.2 give or take.

I would seriously look at getting a PH-200 meter over anything else out there right now in that price range! The other thing I didn't mention was calibration, and when it comes to that, there isn't a meter anywhere close to that price range that is easier to calibrate. Since calibration is key to all of this kind of stuff, the ease at which a meter can be calibrated is HUGE. A PH meter that is a pain to calibrate and keep calibrated is about as useless as it gets. Not only useless, actually dangerous since it can fool you into a false sense of security if it is not giving you accurate PH readings at crucial moments such as cloning or seed development/germination.

Considering how much time and money we all end up putting into this process, the $80.00 bucks you would spend on a PH-200 is nothing in the grand scheme! Look at it more as a WISE investment rather than as an expense.

Hope that helps!

HAPPY FOURTH!!

 

[Truth Seeker]

Happy 4th Rixx!!!


Keep em growing!!!