5 weeks into 12/12 and developed nute lockout, checked everything i could think of and it turns out my PH test strips are garbage.
bought a proper PH pen and my water is 8-8.1
i 1st thought overfeeding even though i went 1/3 of recommendations so i flushed yesterday not knowing real PH.
using gaia green living soil and was wondering if i could flush again today with PH’d water or should i wait until dry?
would 1 extra day with soggy feet hurt?
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My first thought what brand PH meter are you using. It would be good to Verify your ph meter in a fresh bottle of 7 PH solution.
To make sure 8 is a real number.
Good luck 
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hm digital PH_80 meter, and yes i did check it when i saw how high it read. said 6.9 with 7.0 solution.
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Sounds good , If you choose to flush again, I would go with 6.5 p h water. Have you checked the ph number of run off.
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6.9-7 isn’t too terrible. Personally I’d wait until the soil is dry.
Also over feeding and lock out usually results in a pH drop. Sounds like your pH you have been running was just too high for the plant(s) to consume easily.
A meter to check PPMs would be good.
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now i’m really confused.
i flushed 1 gallon thru 1 girl at 6.4 in and 6.4 came out, then i flushed 1 gallon thru at 8.0 and 6.4 came out. i know soil buffers PH but what else can be the issue here?
they were fed 3 tbsp 4-4-4 and 3 tbsp 2-8-4 1 wk ago and 4 wks previous i up potted to3 gal pots and added 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 with a couple handfuls of worm castings.
it can’t be over feeding so IMO it must be lockout from PH.
any help here is muchly appreciated people.
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never been over or under watered, i wait until pots (fabric) are light and use a moisture tester also, so i ruled out root rot
temps are good at 26c (79f) lights on and 21c (70f) lights off
humidity is 45-50 since flowering 60-65 during veg
i’m stumped people
some pistils are also turning brown, and no balls to be found anywhere.
these are purple kush photos and are supposed to love lots of nutes
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Looking at the pictures leafs curling also burnt tips showing nute burn. You really need a meter to read PPM when mixing up your nutes It takes the guess work out .as @Low mentioned. You can pick up a meter for less than twenty bucks.
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i have a PPM pen but i use gaia green living soil and gaia green dry amendments at 1/3 the recommended dose.
the only thing i can use the PPM pen for is water going in, and it reads 35 PPM.
i’m pretty new at this but i really can’t see nute burn happening with that dosage every 3-4 weeks.
don’t get me wrong, i really appreciate the help you people are trying to give, but i just can’t see it being nute burn.
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My bad , I thought you were feeding nutes I agree Next time you have a run off check the PPM number.
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Living soil isn’t supposed to have run off, right? And the pH is lower than usual? I don’t grow in soil generally…
Hmm
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This looks like nutrient burn from the soil ph fluctuations organic soil should not be allowed to dry out it should be kept moist all the times to allow the organic amendments to properly break down biggest thing to remember with organics is you dont feed the plant you feed the soil that in return opens up a buffet for the plant to uptake what ever it wants when it wants
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@BDS G’day mate,is a tricky 1,was wondering what light you are using ? 
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It can be made into a tea as well. So if ever wanted to get a better control on your feeding and ppms going in.
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Using 2 mars hydro ts 3000 lights about 20 inch above.
Was at about 850 ppfd but i turned them down to about 700 ppfd when this started happening.
You thinking light burn?
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to address the nute burn comments, i thought nute burn started at the bottom of the plant and worked it’s way up.
i may be way off on that, but i’m sure i’ve read that from some published papers and not some random internet guy.
most of the issues are at the top of the girls
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This is exactly what I was going to say. 
Normally starts at leaf tips and edges. Can superficially appear as a deficiency. There is a difference between ‘mobile’ and ‘immobile’ nutrients when it shows on plants.
Like stated; you need a decent TDS meter to look at your runoff. I suspect you are fairly high in the root zone.
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i don’t mix nutes, i top dress dry amendments at 1/3 gaia greens recommendations into gaia green living soil.
and as i said before, water going in reads 35 or so PPM on the HM COM-80 pen i have.
again, after flushing with PH 6.4 water the run off was 6.4 and ppm was 2000ish, which is expected with soil.
fresh soil ( i tested once out of curiosity ) was 2-2500 ppm
i’m really not trying to start an argument and i really do appreciate to people trying to help.
i also read somewhere that lockout from PH can slowly add up until you get into flower, which has now happened twice in a row. our PH is supposed to be 6.2 at the tap but it turns out it now is 8.0+
now that i have a good PH pen instead of garbage test strips i will keep everyone informed.
and none of my leaves showed the dark green from over feeding that comes with over feeding FWIW , but the stems are wimpy
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Organics. It can be a very confusing this at times. I have grown organically for the past many many years. Learning and building our own living soil. It gets better over the years. One of the lost importance things I have learned is less is normally best.
This starts with everything soil. Do you really need the amount of nutrients you are adding? Do you need to water as much as you are? Dose one really need to check the PH or runoff?
Nope. Nope. Nope and nope.
From the photo it looks like the colors of the plants are extremely different. The shades of green (not talking about pheno expression) Along with some extrem leave curling, up and down. That shows me that the nutrients is off along with the moisture of the soil.
*Cut back on the nutes for a while
*Cut back on the watering. (Yes you want to keep the soil moist for the living aspect but as of now you need to get the plants in check)
Organics and PH/ runoff. Take a step back and look at the soil content. Is there enough air pockets to allow the roots to breath, dose it drain properly over time?
*You might need to let it dry out for a day or to simply to get those roots in order. (Less is best sometimes) watering less but more frequent might be for you.
*I have never check runoff nor will I ever. I feel like this is an area of organic farming that isn’t relevant to some.
My growing style is alittle different from most but it works great for me. I wish you the best my growing friend.
Happy farming… 
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I agree 100%. Youre girls look amazing!!! 
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