3 autos: “Blanca” White Widow, “Tanya” Tangerine and “Betty” Bruce Banner.
Today is day 28 since popping.
Growing indoors in 70% Coco/30% perlite, 3 gallon fabric pots.
Using Fox Farms Hydro series nutes at 1/2 strength plus Botanicare CalMag at full strength, EC 1350, pH 6.4.
Blanca has had many brown spots continuously appearing on more and more leaves, and at the start, she had a few misshapen leaves - which I think are a sign of Ca deficiency. I think the deficiency is due to not equilibrating the coco with enough CalMag when it was prepared. I’ve been using a foliar spray of CalMag twice a day.
Blanca has been the slowest of the three plants. It maybe didn’t help that I dropped her on the floor as a seedling and she came out of the cup with a small root ball, which I quickly replanted.
Anything else I should be doing with this plant to help it?
The other two seem very healthy. I have been doing some very mild LST on Tanya, but I’m leaving Betty alone for now.
Question: Taya and Betty are very dense - should I be doing some light pruning at this stage? (first image in Tanya, Second in Betty)
It’s never a good idea to spray a cannabis plant with anything unless absolutely necessary to treat bugs or mold. The plants can get everything they need from its roots. Spraying invites more problems than it could ever offer in benefit. It clogs stoma and risks mold / mildew.
Trim as necessary to maintain good airflow within the plants’ canopies.
Are these your runoff numbers? pH should be btw 5.8 and 6.2. EC is a little low. Shoot for an EC of 2.0, though being a little low with autos is generally fine.
These are the nutes I’m feeding, not runoff. I had been using pH about 6.0, but then I read that low pH is “a major cause of ca deficiency”, and Ca absorption is better above pH 6.2 (How to fix Cannabis Calcium Deficiency (Ca) Pics & Symptoms), so I raised the pH.
What you read is probably for soil, which requires a different range. The proper pH range for coco is 5.8 to 6.2 for max nutrient uptake.
Suggest measuring and managing runoff PPM and pH, particularly if using FF nutes. FF products are very salty and will eventually cause runoff pH problems.
@MidwestGuy IS correct: foliar applications should be carefully thought out before use. The only time i would apply anything is if the health of the plant is at stake. Pest control is about it for foliar application.
Mold and bud rot is a real consequence of spraying liquid on the plant.
So in this case you are 100% incorrect (to use your wording)
What i fully understand is that the risks taken on by spraying exist whether a grow is organic or synthetic. My opinion isn’t based solely on my personal grow experiences. It is based on over 4 years of experience watching new growers making such mistakes.
Well I thought this place was supposed to help? Not sit here and tell someone they shouldn’t do something because you or I or they or he or whoever does/don’t do it. FACT is foliar spraying is great for plants! Saying it’s only for powder mold or pest only is about as dumb as saying you can’t use salt water on your plants! Which you can definitely do. ( and I don’t mean stuff like AN or GH or Jacks. I’m talking real sea salt )
Maybe @MidwestGuy is use to seeing noobs mess shit up. Guess what that happens daily! It’s not out fault that someone is like hey I’m going to grow weed and start then they only seek help after shit goes south. It’s literally their fault for failing to research. Then to tell the man not to spray cal-mag which is by far the most effective way to treat a cal-mag deficiency.
Maybe you don’t understand how to do a foliar spray correctly and that’s cool but don’t blatantly make it out to be the worst thing ever !
I PERSONALLY have used foliar spray for my plants a few grows ago and it did amazing. The only reason I don’t do it now is because I am not willing to pay the price for something that I can substitute cheaper. ( by that I mean I’m in the process of making my own inputs. )
@FrankCos these guys know a lot just because I disagree with Midwest view on foliar. He just don’t practice it so he says stay away. Make sure you do your research on here and other sources. Also just because someone don’t do it don’t make it wrong. Ffs we all grow weed. We all have smoked weed when it was illegal and that was wrong but did it stop us?
Here are the risks taken on by spraying a non-smoothed leaf cannabis plant.
If using a foliar feeding spray, those nutrients are delivered to the leaf surface as dissolved solids. The moisture will evaporate away and leave behind the residue of dissolved solids. The residue clogs the leaf stoma and compromises the plant’s ability to respire moisture, to take in CO2, and to expel oxygen.
Spraying increases the humidity around the plant and it is unnecessary when humidity is maintained in a proper range (~40 to 60%, depending on the growth stage and ambient temperature.) Artificially raising humidity increases the risk of both mold and mildew. It is a particularly bad idea to spray a flowering plant, as it increases the probably of experiencing bud rot. Mold on leaves is treatable in most cases. Bud rot is not so easily overcome and usually results in having to throw away your harvest.
Cannabis is quite capable of getting all of the water and nutrients it needs via roots in your grow media (soil, coco, or hydro.) There is no need to take on these additional risks and this is why spraying should be avoided.
Man, I don’t know where you’re growing, or what your set up is. I’m sure in the “right” environment foliar feeding is fine and even beneficial. However, @Myfriendis410 & @MidwestGuy was answering a question related to a specific environment for a specific application, by a brand new grower. His answer is the best answer to provide a new grower. As they gain experience they can and should venture out and try different techniques. You can only do / learn so much at a time. Knowing what to do when things go sideways can be a challenge for newbs.
It’s all good man, grab some of your choice weed and relax. Best wishes for ya, seriously.
I think your plants look fine. I had spots like that when i sprayed my plant aswell. Wasnt a fan of spraying and issues like these guys have said happened. Ive also had plants that handled well. This is a forum of growers and everyone has their own way of doing things, and when it comes to growing cannabis you’ll find many methods that will reach the same result. Majority usually makes sense, but sometimes you gotta try things yourself. I agree not to spray
Wow - little did I know what a storm this question would unleash. Anyway, I appreciate all the advice. MidwestGuy, I was spraying only the tops of the leaves. I just read that “Dicotyledons usually have more stomata on the lower surface of the leaves than the upper surface.” (Stoma - Wikipedia). Is that true of cannabis?
As for the mold/budrot issue, my plants are in mid/late veg, no flowers yet. I will certainly avoid spraying them once they are flowering.
Yea, sorry about that. It doesn’t happen around here all that often. We usually get out-of-control debates dealt with pretty quickly.
It is; however, stoma exist and respiration occurs even on stems. Respiration even occurs at the root hairs so that roots can take in oxygen. Energy exchange occurs on both sides of a leaf and having mineral residue on your leaves may reduce the ability of the plant to perform photosynthesis.
@DarhkGrows
The reason for your post being deleted is they are inappropriate in tone, and language.
We offer a polite friendly discussion, including responses.
Keep it civil or take a vacation.
Have a great day!
Seems like it’s just me being targeted!! He calls me a douche nothing happens I say he’s childish for calling me a name and everything I say gets deleted? Get real
