Deficiency, lockout? (day 19, soil)

[ATX57]

Chances are, the problem is either lockout due to too much of something, or a PH issue, not a deficiency. I suspect a lockout due to too much Calcium. Stonington Blend has a lot of calcium in it to start with, adding the calmag to it may be too much. Your tap water at 80 ppm should have enough Magnesium. I'd do a runoff test to check your ph also. Usually in organic soils, PH is not an issue however with very rich blends you can run into low PH issues. Campare the runoff to the PH of the water your using. If the PH of the runoff is a lot lower than the water source, you've got a PH issue. Correcting PH in organic soil is tricky. You don't want to use lime, too much calcium if it is already high, best to use PH up in your water. And you only try to raise it a bit and slowly. If your runoff is say, 5.9, ph your water to 6.8 for two waterings then drop back to 6.6 and keep it there.
Also, I like to keep the PH of water at 6.5 to 6.6 in organic soil.

That all makes sense to me, great advice. Now I feel like I can get a handle on it. Thanks!

 

[MotaZona]

I think mine’s growing out of it. It stretched over the weekend & appears to have picked up vigor. Although still light green, the new leaves appear to not have the yellow.

 

[ATX57]

I think mine’s growing out of it. It stretched over the weekend & appears to have picked up vigor. Although still light green, the new leaves appear to not have the yellow.
View attachment 1376920

Nice. That gives me hope for mine

 

[MotaZona]

Nice. That gives me hope for mine

Yup.
Mine must have needed to establish in my Hot Mix. Still not sure why she acted strange though. I hate these types of mysteries.
Good Luck with your girls! I’ll be following along.

 

[ATX57]

Chances are, the problem is either lockout due to too much of something, or a PH issue, not a deficiency. I suspect a lockout due to too much Calcium. Stonington Blend has a lot of calcium in it to start with, adding the calmag to it may be too much. Your tap water at 80 ppm should have enough Magnesium. I'd do a runoff test to check your ph also. Usually in organic soils, PH is not an issue however with very rich blends you can run into low PH issues. Campare the runoff to the PH of the water your using. If the PH of the runoff is a lot lower than the water source, you've got a PH issue. Correcting PH in organic soil is tricky. You don't want to use lime, too much calcium if it is already high, best to use PH up in your water. And you only try to raise it a bit and slowly. If your runoff is say, 5.9, ph your water to 6.8 for two waterings then drop back to 6.6 and keep it there.
Also, I like to keep the PH of water at 6.5 to 6.6 in organic soil.

So, the struggle continues (day 28). The plants seem to be growing normally, but still showing issues. There’s still some of the same discoloration and additionally there’s now leaf tip burn on the Sour (photos attached)

The soil pH is actually high instead of low. The last watering was in at 6.3 and runoff for the Sour was almost 6.8, and the 3BOG runoff was 6.5. My initial runoff test was in at 6.6 and runoff for both plants was also 6.6

It’s been only water going in, but the TDS has been higher the last few waterings, around 150ppm (different filtering).

Any advice very much appreciated.

 

[pop22]

Calcium raises PH. I mentioned low PH as it is a common issue. So one more link to too much calcium.

 

[ATX57]

Calcium raises PH. I mentioned low PH as it is a common issue. So one more link to too much calcium.

Your help has been huge for this noob, thank you. One more bit of advice and I’ll leave you alone… maybe. Lol.

Day 35 now, and I’ve been “passive flushing” for the past week, just PHed, low TDS water. They’ve been stretching (Sour is 28”, 3BOG 23”) and drinking quite a lot. No worsening of any issues, new growth looks decent.

My question is, when should I think about feeding them now that they’re flowering, and what? I don’t want to get into another mess.

I’m willing to spend some more cash if it’s best.
I have these in hand now:
CoM Stonington dry 5-2-4 (Ca 4%, Mg 1%, S 2%); fed 1/8 cup on days 15 & 25
CoM Liquid Squid concentrate 2-3-0 (very little Ca I would think)
CoM Fish Bone Meal 5-13-0 (Ca 18%)
Dr. Earth Flower Girl dry 3-9-4 (mucho Ca probably, fishbone & bone meal)

Thanks in advance!

 

[pop22]

Your growing in organic soil, don't be adding anything! If your tap water is above 70 ppms, it has plenty og Calcium and Magnesium, no need for any cal mag. My advice is do nothing! that's key with organics. the more you tinker with it the more likely you are to have problems. See how they look in say 10 days, I'll bet they'll look good! They are looking pretty good now. Give them just water, PH'd to 6.5.

 

[ATX57]

Your growing in organic soil, don't be adding anything! If your tap water is above 70 ppms, it has plenty og Calcium and Magnesium, no need for any cal mag. My advice is do nothing! that's key with organics. the more you tinker with it the more likely you are to have problems. See how they look in say 10 days, I'll bet they'll look good! They are looking pretty good now. Give them just water, PH'd to 6.5.

Ok, I’ll resist the urge to tinker. It’s true that they have done better when I’ve done less.
Muchas gracias

 

[MotaZona]

It’s amazing how fast these plants are & how fast things change. Mine grew out of whatever wasn’t quite right & now looks good except for a few of the oldest leaves getting crispy on the ends.
34 days.