Magnesium def & orange pistils at 6 weeks?!

[milkmann]

Hey guys, would love some help or advice. All my ladies are around 6 weeks old. 3 of them are under AutoCobs, and one under a Platinum P300.

The one under the P300 is showing severe signs of (I think) magnesium deficiency. Really purple stems, all over, and fading lower leaves with brown spots. From the pics, does this look like I've diagnosed this correctly? I have been soaking her with Epsom salt spray, which is why she's so wet.

On top of this, all the ladies, but especially this one, are already turning orange pistils (6 weeks from seed), which I have never experienced before. I gave them a drench with some Malted Barley Powder (flowering enzymes) last week, which I know can make plants finish quicker, amongst a host of other supposed benefits - but I didn't think it would force the plant into finishing early? Apart form that, I have fed them with a number of organic amendments, such as Neem & Kelp Meal, the Ecothrive range, and a few other bits and bobs. They have had a distinctive lack of solid NPK due to user error (forgot to plant the biotabs) which could be causing the problem?

I suppose I'm a bit more alarmed at the pistil situation - especially as the structure of all the plants are pretty good - I'd be gutted to miss out on properly developed buds.

Cheers guys!

 

[namvet25]

Don't worry about the orange pistols to much because a few will always turn color.Remove those bad yellow leaves and keep using cal/mag at every watering.Also don't spray with epsom salts when lights are on because this could cause spotting. Purple stems is normal for some strains and not a deficiency.If your using chemical nutes you should also ph your water to 6.5 or close to it.You should be feeding bloom nutes with lower nitrogen and higher pk to develope buds.

 

[milkmann]

Don't worry about the orange pistols to much because a few will always turn color.Remove those bad yellow leaves and keep using cal/mag at every watering.Also don't spray with epsom salts when lights are on because this could cause spotting. Purple stems is normal for some strains and not a deficiency.If your using chemical nutes you should also ph your water to 6.5 or close to it.You should be feeding bloom nutes with lower nitrogen and higher pk to develope buds.

I was worrying because I haven't seen the orange pistils pre-week 9ish before on any of my plants, but okay! I grow organically, so I would need to add something organic (I have just fed a rich PK tea with Ecothrive Charge) and thanks for the tip about not spraying at lights on, this is what I've been doing as my lights-off-time is when I am also asleep. I will make an effort to get up to do this tomorrow. This is a deficiency purple, definitely, as its combined with the leaves - was just checking it was Mg, and not nitrogen or something else like Phosphorus. I could do a watering of epsom salts? But this might affect the pH of my soil. As I grow organic I do not pH my water. All my other plants seem okay, it's just this one that's been badly affected. I'm thinking it's the extra power behind the light.

 

[Arthur]

I run a tablespoon of Epsom per gallon once a week till about mid flower, my nutrient line won't work with the sodium based cal/mags. Works fine. I dissolve it in the water, then my nutes, then pH.

 

[Waira]

I think she's been needing more complete nutrition, as you said, you forgot the Tab's! ..hence the lack of fill-in on the buds, and now the fans are getting tapped... some of that is normal though at this stage,... that lower is showing more like P defc. wasting than N 9usually just yellowing at first), but both are likely in play here,... I don't really see Mg defc. symptoms...
I don't know about the malt feed, but there's not a lot to do if she;s starting to wind down already,... still a couple weeks out likely, so feed PK while you can!

 

[Waira]

I run a tablespoon of Epsom per gallon once a week till about mid flower, my nutrient line won't work with the sodium based cal/mags. Works fine. I dissolve it in the water, then my nutes, then pH.

Whaaaa?? Who the hell is using Na in their formulations mate, Na is toxic at even low levels....

 

[Arthur]

Whaaaa?? Who the hell is using Na in their formulations mate, Na is toxic at even low levels....

Damn stoner....
I use a calcium and magnesium carbonate
Carbonate, sulfate, phosphate...



The nitrate solutions cause my nute line to come out of suspension.
Add nutes and watch them just fall to the bottom.

I moved to the nute line to avoid the salts... and then the cal/mg to pair with the nutes to stay away from the salts....
Stoner logic?

 

[Waira]

Cheers Arty! ..funny you mention the precipitate,... I'm not a hydro guy, but I recall something about how ionic Ca and Sulfate can react together in solution to create a flocculant gypsum to form..? Are you sure it's the NO3--? ... for sure, these sorts of cross reactions are why there's really no such thing as an all-in-one liquid nutrient for cannabis,...

 

[Arthur]

Yep it's the NO3. Literally makes rock before you can get it on the plant.

 

[milkmann]

Thanks for the replies here guys. I have tried my best to treat the magnesium deficiency but I don't seem to be getting particularly far with it. I've soaked her several times with epsom salts, even put a tablespoon of them at the base of her stem before watering her with a very potent tea which should have everything in it that she needs...still really light green, the deficiency is slowly travelling up the plant, and I am getting burnt tips too. The other plants are a lush green with barely any marks on them so it's a bit odd. I think from now on I'll just add a small amount of epsom salts to each watering from week 3. @Waira what makes you think its a P def rather than Mg? All the symptoms, I thought, pointed to Mg. Always looking to learn!