Think I may have a nutrient lockup PH issue maybe?

X

Xearoveg

Well-Known Member
I have seen very little progress lately and very little filling out of the buds for how tall the plants are. They are Afghan Kush and about 5 ft tall and probably are looking to have about 1 oz each right now (not good!). I am using foxfarm nutes right now as that is all I have access to. All I have is tiger bloom and grow big right now, I can buy the other nutes if needed but will probably start using more of the line of nutes in my next grow. I have no way of checking the ph, I'm gonna pick up some test strips tomorrow as I'm low on money for a good meter right now.

I'm basically looking for the best way to test it with strips (runoff?) and then how to adjust the ph once i figure it out without destroying any micro-bial life. I've heard my water here is not too hard or anything, ph is normal. But I may have been feeding them too much nutes as I only recently found the chart and some people suggesting exactly how many ml to use of each nute in the foxfarm lineup so I'll be trying to follow that in the future at least. Of course since I haven't even been testing the ph I can see how I could easily have a lockup of nutrient intake right now.

Afghan kush
Foxfarm nutes, tiger bloom and grow big
Plastic pots 4 gallon size
soil is mostly foxfarm ocean forest (I didn't mix in anything still pretty new at this) Next time I'll be sure to at least put in 25% of the perlite.
size is about 4-5 ft tall from base of pots.
 
they dont look too bad imo, how far into flower are they? its fairly normal for some of the leaves to die off during flower as far as i can gather. well they did on my 1st grow and i'm only on my 2nd so i ask quite a few questions on here too! I might be wrong but it doesnt look like nute burn to me. really hope someone comes along and helps you out more than i can with my very limited experience
 
I think it's been around 5 weeks in flowering now.

EDIT: Also now that I look at it, I notice I may have my 1200 watt light a little close as the dried up looking leaves seem to get worse closer to the top of the plants and seem to sort of line up with when I lowered the light about 3 weeks ago (experimenting), maybe lights are too close and that is what is causing the fan leaves to be drying up?

Either way I'm more worried about the yield being low here, I think it should be building up a bit more as I haven't seen much bud growth in the last week in a half at all.

EDIT 2: Also I am pretty new at this, this is my 3rd grow and my last one was outdoor, a lot different.
 
Xearoveg said:
I think it's been around 5 weeks in flowering now.

EDIT: Also now that I look at it, I notice I may have my 1200 watt light a little close as the dried up looking leaves seem to get worse closer to the top of the plants and seem to sort of line up with when I lowered the light about 3 weeks ago (experimenting), maybe lights are too close and that is what is causing the fan leaves to be drying up?

Either way I'm more worried about the yield being low here, I think it should be building up a bit more as I haven't seen much bud growth in the last week in a half at all.

EDIT 2: Also I am pretty new at this, this is my 3rd grow and my last one was outdoor, a lot different.
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where's all the leaves? are you defoliating or are they falling off. from the pics i expected you to say that yer using a 400w'er on those 4-5' plants. on def i see is maybe mild calcium. if the leaves are yellowing then falling off, it nitrogen. add dried blood to rapid correct that
 
Ok re-read your post a bit more. Yeah, they are yellowing and then falling off. So that should not happen normally? I figured plants do this throughout all stages to get rid of unnecessary leaves? Would perfectly healthy plants almost never "shed" leaves?
 
you may try to flush them with aged water the let them dry out for a while. so your next watering you could add some h202 and molasses this will help fatten up your nugs a bit. but there is alot smarter people on here that could give you better advice. hope everything goes well for you bud:peace:
 
Thank you! How much molasses to water ratio do you use? I was already thinking of using that.

Edit: I have watered them sort of heavy without and nutes after admitting to myself I needed more help if I wanted to achieve the results I want. Knew that was where I should start at least! I was worried about over watering so I was scared to put too much water through them.
 
I use 2 tbs per gallon of water and about a quarter c of hydrogen peroxide 3% sollution see what that does for you. if your water is hard do you have a softener that could be adding salt and cause some nute lock.
 
Thanks for all the help! Also I hope to get some good advice on testing the ph of the soil without a specialized meter. I heard just testing the runoff is really just seeing how the soil's ph changes the water you put through it and can't really be used to accurately measure the soil's ph itself. Is there a method that will get it close enough to maybe see what I will need to change it for the better?
 
wow, this is going to be a lot for me to cover but I will share what was told to me. I am still a novice grower myself on my fourth grow now....

I think it's been around 5 weeks in flowering now.
Click to expand...
Yeah, they are yellowing and then falling off. So that should not happen normally?
Click to expand...

Don't panic, it is normal for the leaves to turn yellow on your plant while in the flowering stage. Though you are using the nutes, at this stage your plant needs bloom boosters that has Potassium and phosphorous. I don't think they need much nitrogen in the flowering stage. So you may need to get those bloom booster nutes from Foxfarm...I think it's Big Bloom and Cha Ching but you can look it up on their site or check out this feeding schedule which has foxfarm product line and how to feed....hope this helps.

Nutes - What To Use & How To Use Them - Tutorial



Also I hope to get some good advice on testing the ph of the soil without a specialized meter.
Click to expand...

I still don't have a meter, it is on my wish list when I can afford it. But I did use a chemical tester to test the ph in my soil, got it from the garden store. You put water in the container,add some soil, break open a capsule, shake it all up then match the color to the chart which tells you what your ph is by matching up with the colors on the chart. I think it cost me like 6-7 dollars, you get like 10 capsules. And to get your ph within normal range, you will need to get some ph up and ph down. If you're strapped for cash like I am, I use distilled white vinegar to lower ph and baking soda to raise ph...
 
i got mine at lowes ($8 for 2lb bag), but i'm sure home depot any most gardwn center should carry it. its the quickest acting nitrogen out there and won't burn. i applied 2 tablespoons to each 14 liter airpot as top dressing and watered. should notice the fans greening up after 4-5 days.that should hold you through the rest of flowering. good luck
 
The plants look quite normal & fine to be honest, the buds will develope or swell up later in the flowering phase towards the end of cycle & i believe with the afghan kush strain has aprox flowering cycle of 8 weeks roughly... you still have few weeks to go yet.
 
Here are some pictures of the grow from the start.

To sum up what I did since the start of the grow, I fed them just grow big for the vegging and then just tiger bloom since flowering started. Using some standard potting soil with what I hope was not too nutrient heavy. Then transplanted later with foxfarm ocean forest soil. (I have done a lot more research since I started this grow and I wish I would have done it before). But now I am trying to turn them around best I can.

I watered them with just regular water about a week ago.

What I have done now that the soil has dried out completely is water with just 2 tbps of h202 and 2 tbps of organic unsulfered molasses. I hope to get some soil ph testers soon, some cha-ching and big bloom. I'll start following the complete schedule for the foxfarm nutes and check the ph to see where I'm at. I've also been told to get some dried blood from the garden store and add that in in case I have any sort of nitrogen deficiency. Hopefully this will increase my weight here a bit more before harvest.
 

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