I’m in tenth week with indica auto and getting rust coloered spots on upper leaves and what appear to be calcium def on a few lowers. Mid flower using Grow Dots and recharge only, well water 6.0 . Buds look great pistols approaching 50% orange but something is wrong in the leaves. Any ideas?
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Welcome to the forum.
A number of growers here in the forum use Grow Dots. I have no experience with them, but you can see their comments here:
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Hi @RileyRae , I’ve been using Grow Dots and Recharge for about 1.5 years for several autoflowers.
Do you have a picture?
The only time I’ve encountered something similar is with a current plant that is currently within a week of harvest. That plant is 65 days from sprouting. It started around 7-10 days ago, later in flower, a few spots, mostly on some middle and older leaves.
While the Dots have enough calcium, I use RO water and the manufacturer recommends a bit of calmag with RO users, so I upped the calmag dosage just a tad, and new spots have lessened since then. The plant otherwise is healthy and the buds have filled out well.
So … not sure if that helps or answers your question or not. Some plants are more sensitive, also.
It seems that not many folks use Grow Dots, at least from searching on the forum.
Over a year ago, I had a couple questions about the Dots, so I called the company, Real Growers. They answered the phone right away and were great, so perhaps give them a call. If you do, please let us know what you learned.
I’ll tag you in my journal.
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Thanks Twelve1,
I was going to get some cal mag tomorrow and give it a try. I appreciate the help. Other than that the Dots and recharge have been great. I can’t figure out how to post a picture. Lol, Thanks again.
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Thanks so much @Low for troubleshooting @RileyRae 's phone uploading thingy!
@RileyRae That’s a gorgeous (auto) plant, and wonderful training work you did! 
!
I’m not a nute expert at all, though looks like the spots could be a calmag issue. 
Looks like the plant is in soil?
I’m curious about the strain, what it is. It’s so vigorous!
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Thanks. Yeah it’s in 5 gal fabric pot with straight Happy Frog. It’s Critical Purple from Growers Choice. A little LST and quite a bit of defoliating which may have something to do with my problem. I think it still has another 4-6 weeks to go. My first run indoors.
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Ah yeah, I just read about it, she’s living up to her strain description, great job! 
And I see some purple starting. 
@MidwestGuy Would you mind looking at RileyRae’s pictures above, especially the close-up, to help assess a possible nute deficiency or something? Thanks!
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Thanks for the tag.
I would be more comfortable if someone familiar with Grow Dots chimed in. It’s my understanding that a Grow Dot grow is organic, and I only have experience with synthetic nutes. Support ticket info like pH isn’t so important with an organic grow. I would struggle to be useful here.
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Dots are synthetic. Thanks though, going to try some calmag.
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My bad.
Let’s start with a Support Ticket then. Particularly interested in runoff pH and PPM.
A support ticket will help us help you. Can you please fill out a support ticket? Please include what type of water you are using (RO, distilled, tap.)
COPY/PASTE the below list into your forum post.
Answer these simple questions the best you can.
If you do not know, or do not use something; Just say so; Or post
NA (non-applicable)
• What strain, Seed bank, or bag seed
• Method: Soil w/salt, Organic soil, Hydroponics, Aquaponics, KNF
Soil brand and type
• Vessels: Pots, Grow beds, Buckets, Troths
• Runoff pH
• Runoff PPM/TDS or EC
• Indoor or Outdoor
• Light system and wattage
• Temps; Day, Night
• Humidity; Day, Night
• Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size
• AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier,
• Co2; Yes, No
If growing Hydro some additional questions:
-DWC? RDWC? Autopots? Ebb and Flow? Other?
-Distance of liquid below net pot (DWC)
-Temperature of reservoir
-TDS of nutrient solution
-Amount of air to solution
Always try to upload a clear picture of any issues you may have to allow the community to assist you. Pictures taken under natural or white lighting are by far the best.
Add anything else you feel would help us give you a most informed answer should be included. Feel free to elaborate, but short and to the point questions and facts will help us to help you in a more efficient manner.
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We did have a few people here using grow dots. Actually I recall a couple side by side w soil & dots etc… There is a guy on YouTube that promotes growers choice grow dots in all his videos. I would love to use these in an outdoors grow.
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I use grow dots and occasionally recharge, i believe its tge recharge i have experienced this when i soak the soil with a half strength recharge… never had the issue only when using recharge
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Good idea. Do you happen to know what the pH is in the run off? Calcium deficiencies in flower are common. A lot of times due to pH. I woulda chimed in last night but I was pretty elevated, and didn’t realize you guys were discussing a problem.
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Dots are organic…at least you treat them like an organic soil amendment
I really feel your problem is too much recharge, if you are using more water then what they recommend, i think its like 8 oz or something, thats when i have noticed rusting is whenever i get my roots soaked with it (i always PH to 6.2 i know thats not the issue. Judt something about the volume of the solution used in my honest gut feeling
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I don’t see how recharge can cause problems. Unless you do too much on top of a standard feed that’s high in nitrogen.
Recharge is nitrogen, humic and fulvic, carbs, and microbes.
And it’s pretty laid back in terms of how strong it is. I stopped using this on plants that appear healthy on a liquid diet. If you need the supplementation then it’s good, but I wouldn’t recommend to feed just to feed on healthy plants. Well I actually stopped altogether because I have everything in it sitting on my shelf.
I’ve used it sparingly, I’ve used it every feed. The most beneficial use of it is when a plant is in need. Like after a flush, bouncing back after a problem, or in a slow release medium.
If you are using it just for microbes you are wasting your money. I’d recommend buying the ingredients separate and using that way. The purer the products the better, and the cheaper it is. You also have a little more freedom of use.
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Maybe a bit of ph problem, though that would be very rare with the Grow Dots.
I’d be a bit concerned with the soil if it were OF, but Happy Frog has much less ph tanks than OF.
I use Roots Organics Original soil, I don’t even test ph, lol.
I use Recharge, always, about once a week. Shouldn’t be an issue if used according to the product’s instructions, but again different plants can have sensitivities.
I mentioned several posts ago that it could be a bit of a calmag issue, also your suspicion @RileyRae , and I think that I had a similar issue recently, for the first time on a plant in late flower, after using Grow Dots on many plants. Same bag, too, so it’s not like I had a bad bag or something.
I’m not a nute expert, but that’s my guess, and perhaps some plants are a bit sensitive to calmag issues. Grow Dots does pretty well with having enough calmag, but I supplement a bit with it throughout the grow, as is common with most growers, especially that I use RO water. I added a bit more calmag to my current plant, and she’s stable and about ready to harvest, anyway.
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We are limited on what links are allowed, so go to realgrowersdotcom/recharge. I don’t see where there’s any nitrogen in the product. As far as burning plants, it claims in BOLD that it won’t burn plants. Further down, it claims that the microbes in it eat excess nutes and therefore will help prevent nute burn.
Recharge, a separate product from the Grow Dots, is supposed to be a companion product with the Grow Dots, same maker/manufacturer. Though as Low said, mixing and matching (my terminology, lol) of microbes and nutes is successful for those experienced enough. That’s not me, though. 
I just use both products and follow the instructions, rarely have any problems, and if so, they are mild. And in the recent case of a possible mild calmag issue on one of my plants, I upped the calmag just a hair and it’s been under control.
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I use the recharge once a week at 1/4 tsp to a gal of water. I’ve never ph the water as my neighbor did and it was neutral. Basicly spring water (well) as we are surrounded by natural springs. Never had any issues with my outdoor stuff other than catipillers, nug eating bastards! It’s going to get some calmag today and will start with half dose.
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Hey @Twelve1 the nitrogen is in the kelp if I remember right. That’s why some see a “green up” in hungry plants after use.
I wasn’t calling anyone out. Was just talking. There’s an appropriate use for recharge like you are doing, and then there’s people who just use it to use it.
I hopped on that train when recharge gained a following, played with it a bit and when the more pure route.
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