Yellow Leaves on WW Autos [First Grow]

Troubleshooting
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Hey there!

First time posting but been creeping for a while. I appreciate all the knowledge and insights you folks share on here. I can usually find answers to my questions but was hoping to get a little feedback on a particular issue I’ve been encountering lately.

Background. This is my first grow. Indoors under Kind 420W LED in a 2x4 gorilla tent with 4" vent exhaust, carbon filter, and AC Infinity humidifier & controller. I’ve been running into some issues with yellowing leaves and I’d appreciate any insights.

So, I went with the ILGM beginners kit for my first grow. I’m using white widow autoflowers in Happy Frog planted in a 3-ish gallon plastic pot. The kit came with fertilizers but I have not been feeding them since they began showing symptoms of burn. I’m a noob but based on my research I assume these issues are from nitrogen burn. However, I’m wondering, is that actually the case? is there anything else is going on. Pictures attached.

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The tent kit I ordered came with a PH Up/Down treatment. At one point, the soil began to test as slightly acidic for both these plants. So I applied the PH Up treatment according to the instructions. They seemed to respond well to it at first, but the leaves began to brown shortly (1 to 2 weeks) after. Besides this, I have not fed the plants anything.

Im also seeing some leaves yellowing on other plants that are earlier along in the grow process. These plants are in 3gal fabric pots, and they’ve been managed a lot better. They were topped, pruned, given the proper amount of water and light for their whole lives. The other two plants were my first and I made some mistakes in the early phases, so they ended up being a little stunted. These plants are doing much much better but I’m still running into issues with yellowing/burnt tip leaves.

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The first set of plants have already been harvested, but wondering where I went wrong with them. For the plants that are beginning to yellow now, Is there any corrective action I can take? I have not been feeding them any fertilizers. These plants never received the Ph Up treatment either. I have been applying Bergman’s Bug Guard occasionally, but the plants dont seem to mind it.

Lastly, when should I prune off yellowing leaves? For example, if a leaf is beginning to yellow, should I cut it off immediately or let it be until it’s totally yellow, etc.

TIA for your feedback. Much appreciated.

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The lower leaves will naturally yellow and fall off. Regarding the rest of the plant - it is normal for a plant to fade close to harvest; however, the fade your plant is experiencing is excessive. Your harvest should go fine, but it’s too late to correct discolation at this point. Suggest managing both runoff pH and runoff PPM for future grows. Problems like this are most often due to pH out of range or PPM too high or too low.

Welcome to the forum.

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My blue cheese looked the exact same as yours. I was battling low ph issues. Do you ph your water or nutes when you feed?

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Thank you for your insights. By run off PPM, would that mean testing the soil before I plant? Could it be that the Happy Frog is too strong for this strain?

Thanks again!

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You dont test the soil. You test the water or nutes that runoff

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Happy Frog isn’t the issue. pH and PPM must be managed throughout a grow regardless of your grow media.

By runoff I mean catching the runoff water out of the bottom of the pot when you water and testing it for pH and PPM. As @anon40797889 suggests, it is also necessary to adjust the pH of your feedings.

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I had low Ph issues too. I gave them some PH up at one point. I never knew to test the water run off so thanks for that. I have just been testing the soil. I dont have a ppm tester I’ll have to get one. I do have PH testing stuff though.

The big ones that got the bad burns have already been harvested, but I will get a Ph reading off the run off for the other plants and come back with an update.

Thanks for the feedback!

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What are you using to test pH? Some meters are notoriously inaccurate.

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Oh, I see. Thank you. I’ll have to get a PPM reader. Apparently, I have been overlooking this aspect of the grow. Appreciate the clarification.

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Your runoff pH should be in the rage of 6.3 to 6.8. I expect yours is very low if you haven’t been managing pH. What product(s) are you feeding the plant with?

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Primarily using litmus paper. I dont really trust the little dinky meter my tent kit came with. I also have some drops that came with the PH Up/Down package but I’ve been using the litmus paper strips.

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Apera and Bluelab both make quality pH and PPM meters. I use an Apera PC60 which measures both.

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I grabbed the beginner kit of ILGM so it came with the full treatment of nutrients. I haven’t been using them though because I assumed the plants were burned bc the soil was too hot.

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Happy Frog isn’t a hot soil. The issue is management of pH and PPM.

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Agree with @MidwestGuy i suspect your PH is super low creating multiple nutrient deficiencies…not burn or toxicity. Correct or at least in range Input PH and PPMs are critical aspects of growing cannabis Growmie as well as periodic checking the run off of these 2. With several more grows under your belt the run off testing becomes less frequent as you learn to read the plants health from her leaves :love_you_gesture:

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Sorry for the delayed response. The system locked me out for too many replies bc my account is relatively new. I picked one of the testing meters you recommended off Amazon, an Apera Gro-Star. It just got here, and I will be testing soon.

I fed them with some Lotus Grow a few days ago, and the run off for all the plants tested around 6 on litmus paper. I will check with the probe next time I water and report back.

Should I continue to feed them on a set schedule (weekly, for example) or use my meter to determine whether or not to feed? Also, with autos, I suppose I should be feeding them something more geared towards flowering at this point?

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I just tested the run off and getting like +600-800 on PPM from the inflow. Not sure what to make of that. I know it’s high but I don’t get why it’s too high if they’re no getting fed enough. Ph tested 6.5. I’ve been giving them pure RO prior to these initial feedings.

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Feed as necessary to maintain a runoff PPM of ~1,000. It’s not possible to prescribe a schedule as plants in differing environments and with differing genetics are going to have differing appetites. Use as directed and adjust from there as needed.

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