New Grower FIRST GROW - Afghan Kush Ryder and Northern Lights Automatic

[Wienerwoods]

11 weeks in

The rust spots are at it again! There must be something in the nutrients that causes this kind of burning. Every time the pH of the soil gets bumped up the spots take over a new set of leaves. I think I need to flush ASAP. It's just that it's very tricky to do while trying to maintain stealth or else I would've done it already. But this madness is interfering with the most crucial part of the grow and it must be dealt with. I'm wondering whether only 11 liters of water (the volume of the container) with a pH of about 6.5-7 will do the trick?

Insects have also indulged themselves now that all of the neem oil has been either flushed away by the rain or absorbed by the plants. At least that I know I can deal with.

Other than that the girls have grown at a steady pace. Even the Afghan Kush Ryder looks like it will yield something now. The Northern Lights has turned a healthy shade of green once more and outgrown the fence in height.

I guess I could toss the fence if and when I'll use a car to haul all the water into the woods since it's not going to be high enough to put up a roof with. :dunno:

 

[Grateful Zach]

Are you giving plenty of cal/mag? Rust spots are usually a sign of cal/mag probs.. the other issue is that you may have plenty of cal/mag in the soil, but if your soil ph is too low, the cal/mag isn't available to the plant. However, if you are seeing critters on the plants, they are most likely the cause. Give more neem oil if you can keep it off the buds, I use neem also but never on the buds and usually not at all during flowering. Being outside is a different issue, keep the bugs off or they will terrorize your plants. Good luck, they look great, coming along real nice!

 

[Dazed]

The rust spots are at it again! There must be something in the nutrients that causes this kind of burning. Every time the pH of the soil gets bumped up the spots take over a new set of leaves. I think I need to flush ASAP. It's just that it's very tricky to do while trying to maintain stealth or else I would've done it already. But this madness is interfering with the most crucial part of the grow and it must be dealt with. I'm wondering whether only 11 liters of water (the volume of the container) with a pH of about 6.5-7 will do the trick?

Insects have also indulged themselves now that all of the neem oil has been either flushed away by the rain or absorbed by the plants. At least that I know I can deal with.

Other than that the girls have grown at a steady pace. Even the Afghan Kush Ryder looks like it will yield something now. The Northern Lights has turned a healthy shade of green once more and outgrown the fence in height.

I guess I could toss the fence if and when I'll use a car to haul all the water into the woods since it's not going to be high enough to put up a roof with. :dunno:

They both look so great bro. Zach is bang on the money, could be cal/mag issues. Espsom salts and some molasses will keep that in check, has for me. To be honest though bro, some slight dying of lower fan leaves is expected, especially when the plants are at the stage yours are. Try not to worry so much, they look awesome from here man! Good job dude.

 

[Wienerwoods]

I figure it's an abundance of something rather than a deficiency from the way it starts from the tips of the leaves and works its way in from there. The soil is acidic and keeps something from getting absorbed by the plants but when the water is alkaline (6.5 or more) the nutrient(s?) gets released all at once causing the burns.

Based on what I know and what you guys suggested I can guess and narrow it down to three main suspects:

Phosphorus abundance
Magnesium abundance
Calcium abundance

I remember a significant connection between the rust spots and feeding bloom nutes (0-5-4) which would indicate we're looking at too much phosphorus. The bloom has some magnesium in it, too (~2%) so I cannot rule out magnesium entirely.

I wouldn't mind if it wasn't slaughtering the fan leaves. Simple burns here and there wouldn't mean much. Time to get rid of the unhealthy snacks.

Thanks guys!

 

[Dazed]

If it was abundance of something, would it not be effecting the new growth too?

 

[Wienerwoods]

If it was abundance of something, would it not be effecting the new growth too?

I don't know, really. I'd imagine deficiencies would be more likely to affect new growth. Nitrogen doesn't, but they're all so different.

I've read about many cases like this but have never seen a definitive answer. Nutrient burn and lockout are the most popular verdicts and flushing is almost always what people recommend.

We might never know the cause for certain but if flushing helps I'm content.

Hit me up if you find anything!

 

[Dazed]

Flushing is a good move man, I don't because I grow organic, but yeah reset everything then knowing where you are at is a wise move.

Good luck bro, looking forward to seeing your harvest, they look killer.

Dazed..

 

[Wienerwoods]

I've now flushed the plants. It took about 3 hours and involved quite a bit of physical work but I'm hoping it was worth it. Both of the containers were flushed with about 25 liters of tap water from a well. The pH was just under 7 according to the drop test.

Now I'll just need to figure out what and when my next move will be.

 

[Wienerwoods]

I decided to check on the girls yesterday to see how they had handled the flush. They're alive but it seems like the leaves that were affected by the pH problems are still sentenced to death. I couldn't tell definitively if the rust spots had spread since the flush but it didn't seem like it.

I took some pictures as well. Is it just me or is the bud formation awfully slow?

Northern Lights Automatic < > Afghan Kush Ryder

 

[Wienerwoods]

12 WEEKS IN

The buds on these things have fattened a noticeable amount in just a few days, which really amazes me considering how slow their growth has been so far. They're both flowering very differently. The Northern Lights has developed nice chunks of buds while the Afghan Kush Ryder has grown buds here and there all along the main stem.

They smell different, too. The Northern Lights got me worried at first because her flowers smell kind of like a musty yet sweet strawberry. I couldn't see any sign of mold or rot or anything so I'm assuming it's normal. The AKR on the other hand smells really spicy, but up close she has a hint of freshly brewed cappuccino, which I also find odd.

I was at a loss as to what I would be feeding the plants, so I decided I'd try and play it safe by using the basic GHE bloom mixture (2 parts micro, 1 part grow and 3 parts bloom). I raised the pH of my tap water with ash, ran the water through a coffee filter and added the nutrients in the correct order. Still the calcium from the micro seemed to form solids on the bottom after a while of standing still. The solids would dissolve for a few minutes by giving the solution a good shake. The pH of the ready mixture was at about 7 and even though neither the pH the texture was exactly ideal I decided to just go with it.

Northern Lights Automatic < > Afghan Kush Ryder