Ongoing problem with deficiencies at around 30 days, hard water problems.

[Renaissance Redneck]

Ray-ed, Niz' what's good my friends? .............. Tangle, just how hard is the water? If it's brutal EC/ppms, cumulative inputs of the minerals (mainly CaCO3) can start to screw up pH, cause ion overload in the soil, both of which can mess with Mg uptake,... adding the Ca-Mg to it will magnify the problem faster and worse!

Brother W! Currently seeking a guide dog that's trained in plant analysis :smoking:
Great point on overloading soil with CaCO3
Would it be worth a foliar app or two of MgSO4 to narrow things down, and what are your thoughts on just switching to a natural spring water?

 

[Tanglefoot]

If you're in the UK go to your local water board's website and they will have an analysis of the water. I was having similar problems, turns out my water has a shit ton of calcium and virtually no magnesium... I'm my case magnesium foliar spray worked to clear the deficiency, but I stumped up for a decent RO filter for the next grow. Good luck!

Good shout, it says 290ppm as Calcium Carbonate, moderately hard. Doesn't say anything about magnesium though. Will try epsom salt & see what happens.

Thanks all

 

[Waira]

..any low ppm water will do,.. are there self-fill water machines in your area? Roger that on the EC, that's about 250ppm, (1.0EC = 500ppm on most meters)..... that's not moderately hard though, that's officially hard,..
...sure you can try a foliar treatement with epsoms, at 1tsp/qt, use a wetting agent or castille soap, so it coats and sticks better, more gets absorbed,... BUt this is all speculation with no pics mate,... and adding more ionic load to the soil may make matters worse, not better,... it's seems something of a trend in UK, several other growers I encounter say their prob's often trace back to the damn water!

 

[Tanglefoot]

An update on this. I added 1 tablespoon per 5L of epsom salts @ about 30 days. 2 of the 3 girls ( Toof Decay ) have responded well & are pretty healthy but do have a few rust spots here & there, nothing drastic though & nothing like previous grows, it's now day 53. However the other girl (HBSS) did the same as I've previously explained with yellowing leaves on the top half of the plant starting from the tips/edges & a few rust spots here & there, I think she's over the worst of it now but it did slow the growth down for a few weeks.

I just wanted to ask, as an experiment would it be worth me adding epsom salts more often during the grow & if I did this how much is too much ? I am thinking now that adding the epsom salts is helping a lot & perhaps adding it more often could be beneficial for my less than ideal water situation.

Thanks for any advice, & sorry no photo's.

 

[Waira]

epsoms are MgSO4, no Ca... so if you have scattered fine spotting, likely it's Ca defc.,... Mg yellows out interveinally, then starts necrosis along tips/edges typically,.... go to the Defc. Pic Depot here, in highlighted section above here,...
Regular dosing of epsoms is about 1/4tsp/L,....

 

[Tanglefoot]

Thanks Waira. Looking at the pics you point out, generally I get either mainly Mg def on certain strains & then mainly Ca (spotting & hardly any yellowing) on others. The one I mentioned currently is definitely mainly Mg according to the pics & I didn't mention also that the stems went red as well (as well as the yellowing interveinally). Also this one, like I said, has hardly any spotting although there are a few tiny bits here & there.

My question for now is how regular can I give the epsoms? It's definitely helping a lot but am not sure how often I can add it throughout the grow cycle without over doing it ?

Thanks

 

[Rev. Green Genes]

I have hard water, and these help a lot. I installed two, and filter the whole house water to 5 microns. First filter is for course and second for fine. One is charcoal and the other is ceramic. It cost me about 100 to do it. It's a middle step before you get an RO system and will add to the life of RO filters. The other upside is it extends the life of plumbing, hot water tanks, and appliances as well.

 

[Rev. Green Genes]

Thanks Waira. Looking at the pics you point out, generally I get either mainly Mg def on certain strains & then mainly Ca (spotting & hardly any yellowing) on others. The one I mentioned currently is definitely mainly Mg according to the pics & I didn't mention also that the stems went red as well (as well as the yellowing interveinally). Also this one, like I said, has hardly any spotting although there are a few tiny bits here & there.

My question for now is how regular can I give the epsoms? It's definitely helping a lot but am not sure how often I can add it throughout the grow cycle without over doing it ?

Thanks

It's my understanding that epsoms are long lasting in soils, and a little should last through many waterings. Waira will know for sure, but it also matters whether it's added dissolved in water or added dry to the soil.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Thanks green, that's really helpful & something I'll look into.

Still could use some advice on how often I can add epsom's baring in mind my apparent lack of Mg in my water.

 

[Waira]

... depends on what your nutes have, and if you're still battling a defc.,... as mentioned above, that can go in 1-2x/week,...