My first grow crisis help

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1

Okay yesterday everything was going along fine…all plants were green and growing beautifully. First some background. WW Fem planted 1/3/16 grow medium is soiless mixture growing with KIND LED Soil PH about 6.8, been watering with 6.0 to 6.8 RO water. My soil mix does have some Bat guano and worm casings so it is not totally soiless. Yesterday afternoon I watered plants and added 1/4 tsp of GH Flora nutes into 1 gal of water. My usual feeding. Water ph was 6.9 which was a little high but not off the chart. The LED was only a few inches from the plant tops but that has been how they have been growing all along. This morning 3 out of 4 of the plants are showing SERIOUS stress. The 4th plant (the shortest) has a little stress but definitely less than the others. I can’t believe this could change like this overnight. Ideas. I am going to try and upload pics but wanted to get this going.

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Uploading… These are being grown in a tent with temp 65-82 farenheit and 40 -65 % humidity. I am stunned!

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Ok so if this was 1 day you better have a look at light distance because looks like heat stress actually light burn to me. If your plants had even close to these leaf issues I assume you would’ve adressed earlier?

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3

Move your lights that’s light burn and bleaching with temps in the 80’s it doesn’t take much and as for plants being as close the whole time to light with some light systems particularly led an inch may as well be a mile it can move you into an extremely focussed area. Led’s are known for having hot spots where they will bleach or burn plants

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This was overnight and of course the plants have been growing and I raised lights one but doing the back of the hand thing it did not seem to be a problem…Would you keep the LED about 12 to 18 inches from tops?

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Led is very different from HID an hid light has a very broadcast light so the further away the less intense and also less heat directly from the bulb the back of hand works because you feel the bulbs heat.
Led is like using a microscope the light is very directed and focussed so much like a magnifying glass it focusses more at the perfect distance pull your lights up to the 18-22" range if it doesn’t adversely effect growth keep it that range

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If you have any Kelp based nutes or B-vite nutes use them next water let the leaves grow out then trim them off as they continue to die unless they were hiding healthy foliage if they are then clip them your plant is going to be slow growing while it recovers regardless. I would let all the healthy leaves get the extra light

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On a personal note measure before you move so you know to avoid that range in future this is what they call learning curve and shit happens it does to all of us regardless of experience it’s whether we learn from it and don’t repeat that makes us better growers :wink: I’ve had plants stretch into the danger zone overnight more than once.

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Yes Donaldj as I have researched I have seen the error I made. since this is my first grow I am not surprised. I have set the light about 15 inches above the plants and am hoping they will recover. I am sure I don’t have to tell you how this bums me out as the plants were coming so beautifully. I feel sort of stupid at being this bummed but there is an attachment to these girls that I would never have believed. I hope they know I am sorry :frowning:

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It’s all good if they aren’t auto’s or in flower they will recover fine get rid of the damaged leaves so the healthy ones get more light they’ll be fine

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@taleone I think that all of us have some problems that first grow. The big thing is to keep this in mind on subsequent grows, or if you are like me, I have to write them down as it seems like my memory is full. Guess that is the 60+ years working on me! Try to keep the pH a little more stable. Since the grow is in soil less mixture, the pH should be a little lower than soil. A pH of 6.9 is pretty high for soil less growing. Also check your runoff and see what the real pH in the medium is. Sometimes there is a difference in what you put in and what it is in the medium.

Just try to remember that less is sometimes better on the first grow or two. Let the plants do their own thing and they usually come out pretty good. If you have not already, Robert’s Growing Marijuana e-book has a ton of great information in it. It is free on his website. Most of us here have one on hand and reference it when problems come up. Good luck on your grow. Jerry

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Thx for the suggestions TxGrowman. I have read the manual several times and am member of Lab . I do have a journal that I have been keeping. What surprised me here is that the damage occurred in overnight. One day everything is beautiful the next it is shit! I did not lower the light to cause this problem and would have thought that the signs of light being too close would have come on a little more gradually. Oh well as they say, I am hoping for the best still from this grow and have more seeds if it fails. I really only need 2 of the plants to make it as tent is a 2X4X7. Let’s hope!

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The damage had likely been coming on but the signs were subtle and unless you know what you were looking for, you might have missed it. Kind of makes me think that there was more than the lights involved. As you read more into the forum, you will hear over and over that the pH is at fault most of the time. (just ask MacGuyverStoner if you don’t believe me LOL) The guano and worm castings could have made the pH change a little. Look in Robert’s book again about pH and soil less grows and test your run off, you may very well find that part of the problem is there also. Good luck. Keep us advised on what is going on.

Just a question or two: What stage are you in, Still Veg or early flower and what week are you in? Have you filled out a support ticket from the site? It helps us immensely if we know all the variables such as nutrients used and so forth. Would definitely recommend a support ticket so we can all start from the same knowledge base. You gave us some information at the beginning but some of the more important info is missing. That will really help us help you. We all struggle on the first grow or two. Jerry

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The reason the damage seemed to occur overnight has to due with the breakdown of chlorophyll in the leaves. It has been going on for some time but finally hit the point of intense light saturation that is now destroyed. It is like the clutch I just replaced, I could feel that it was starting to go but didn’t much of it until one day I suddenly couldn’t put it into gear, it happened that fast for the major damage to appear even though it had been an ongoing deterioration for who knows how long :slightly_smiling:

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I keep my 350 watt (2 each) about 17 inches from the tops of my plants once they are well into the veg stage. Your water Ph at 6.8 is way to high in my opinion. Get some Ph down and get your Ph to 6.0 or very close to it. If you are using baking soda to lower your Ph stop using it. It will lower the Ph but it is not stable. The Ph will come back up very shortly. I use a Ph down which is called Double Down. It takes very little of this to lower the Ph from 6.8, which is what my tap water runs normally is. I am presently using Techniflora BC nutes and after I mix it per the instructions my Ph value falls to 6.1. I would prefer 6.0 but I can live with 6.1 or 6.2. To me, 6.8 is way out of range. This is only my opinion but it is what I do. The rest of the damage does look an awful like light burn because in the pictures it looks like you have less damage further down on the plant. This is probably due to them being a little further from the light and they receive some shielding from the heat from the top leaves. Since you are a Bergman’s Lab member go to the section on watering and learn all about Ph and its importance. Good luck. I hope there is something here that will help you. There is lots of help on this forum so keep looking for another answer in case I am wrong. Keep it green.

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15

and then there were none…I buried the last 2 plants today. I am still not sure it was the light but I have learned for sure that I have to keep it 15 inches or more away from the canopy once the plants go to Veg. It could be my Hanna checker went bad because I couldn’t test the calibration successfully. I am taking it back to Hydro store to see what the deal is before I get going on the 2 seeds I have just dunked into water. One thing for sure is 2 plants will be plenty and I am pretty sure I can get both of these to germinate and begin growing. If at first you don’t succeed try again! Thanks for the input.

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This may very well be your problem.
The three pic’s I posted is whyni believe it Boron Deficiency

Boron – (B) (immobile in plant, mobile in soil)

boron Deficiencies show up first in younger leaves; they turn yellow. Boron deficiencies resemble calcium deficiencies. Symptoms include stunting, discoloration, death of growing tips, and floral abortion.

Boron deficiencies stunt roots, mutate leaves, and create brittle leaves that appear bronzed or scorched.

Boron deficiency symptoms first appear at growing points. This results in a stunted appearance and short internodes (rosetting). Both the pith and epidermis of stems may develop hollow, roughened or cracked stems.

Leaf margins discolor and die backs. Necrotic spots develop between leaf veins. Deficient leaves become thick and they may wilt with necrotic and chlorotic spotting.

If you have a potassium deficiency, plants have a hard time absorbing boron.

Potassium

Excessive boron can cause the same kinds of problems as calcium deficiency cause. To complicate matters, the symptoms of excess boron can resemble the symptoms of deficient boron.

Calcium

Boron is used for sugar transport within the plant. It helps with cell replication, production of amino acids, pollination, seed production, carbohydrate synthesis and transport, cell division, differentiation, maturation, respiration and growth, and water uptake.

Boron is essential for plant growth but its mode of action is poorly understood. Boron is taken in by roots and transported via xylem to other parts of the plant. In the cell membrane it is mainly present as a borate ester. Boron is involved in lignification of cell walls and in differentiation of xylem.

Boron plays a regulating role in synthesis of cell walls. as well as in stabilization of constituents of the cell wall and cell membranes. Boron deficiency immediately results in inhibition of primary and secondary root growth.

Boron regulates phenol metabolism and synthesis of lignins by forming a stable borate ester with phenolic acids.

To properly augment boron, copper, cobalt and other micronutrients, use Advanced Nutrients Micro or Well Water Micro.

Will

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17

My deficient leaves were first the larger leaves and then over time spreading to the smaller ones. I am pretty sure my problem was in water I adjusted with too much acidity and because my meter was broken it continued registerring around the 7.0 range…I waterred and then next day poof!

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pH, pH, pH…pH**king pH…

out of all the variables, this site has me the most concerned about pH, the invisible killer.

I store my meter in a little 7.0 pH calibration liquid, and see that it reads 7.0 when I take it out. Then I use the meter on something else I know the pH of (my distilled water, 6.8). I don’t trust the meter at all until it proves itself.
Get a back up for the meter, drops or litmus paper, non-mechanical, for peace of mind.

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Yup there is no denying I brought this on myself not by lighting but by poisining my own plants with what amounted to acid! Live and learn. Got my new meter and a solution to store the tip to keep it from drying out!
Hanna should stress that a little more in their literature!

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Growing marijuana demands that you own a meter.
Not have meter is nothing more than guessing and thats exactly what you are doing " Guessing "
Surely you have some sort of graden center around.
If not Amazon has some really good one and not that expensive at all. Here is a link.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aph+meters&keywords=ph+meters&ie=UTF8&qid=1455346864?tag=greenrel-20

WILL

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