W
whatsgoodie
Guest
A seedlings purple stem doesn’t necessarily indicate an unhealthy plant.
Consider these three things before going crazy and over diagnosing (some people say P def. some people say other crappy things.. I've had several seedlings with purple stalks, they always go back)
Purple stalks could be genetics. If this is the case, the stalk will remain purple throughout the entirety of the plants life. You'll know right away if this is the case because growing the same strains, they'll all show it while other plants will not. (This is the likely conclusion for you... but I'll post the rest anyways)
A baby sprout with a purple stalk is pretty natural in my experience. Young seedlings are still adjusting to their environment and may be slightly lacking in a nutrient or not absorbing one completely yet. You'd see other signs of deterioration in a few days after seeing the purple stalk if this is the case and it was going to get worse. If this is the case and it's not going to get worse, healthy plants will regain their green/greenish-brown color within a few days to a week or two.
If you have ruled out the possibilities of genetics and the seedlings adjustments to life, you should only then begin looking for a nutrient deficiency. Purple stems are commonly caused by a Phosphorous (P) or Magnesium deficiency, if there is a P deficiency you may also notice symptoms such as brittle leaves or greyish spots. To assist the uptake of Phosphorous (as well as most other nutes) you should ensure the pH is slightly acidic-- 6.1 - 6.3 will suffice. Cal/Mag+ is a nice supplement at 1/4 strength for plants over a week old. I wouldn't mix it with other nutes, I'd only give it by itself ... i.e: nute watering, regular watering, cal/mag watering.. I know you said you want to do it organic, so get some blackstrap molasses and use it when you nute.. if it's mag def it'll fix it up in a couple of waterings and strengthen the root system.
Consider these three things before going crazy and over diagnosing (some people say P def. some people say other crappy things.. I've had several seedlings with purple stalks, they always go back)
Purple stalks could be genetics. If this is the case, the stalk will remain purple throughout the entirety of the plants life. You'll know right away if this is the case because growing the same strains, they'll all show it while other plants will not. (This is the likely conclusion for you... but I'll post the rest anyways)
A baby sprout with a purple stalk is pretty natural in my experience. Young seedlings are still adjusting to their environment and may be slightly lacking in a nutrient or not absorbing one completely yet. You'd see other signs of deterioration in a few days after seeing the purple stalk if this is the case and it was going to get worse. If this is the case and it's not going to get worse, healthy plants will regain their green/greenish-brown color within a few days to a week or two.
If you have ruled out the possibilities of genetics and the seedlings adjustments to life, you should only then begin looking for a nutrient deficiency. Purple stems are commonly caused by a Phosphorous (P) or Magnesium deficiency, if there is a P deficiency you may also notice symptoms such as brittle leaves or greyish spots. To assist the uptake of Phosphorous (as well as most other nutes) you should ensure the pH is slightly acidic-- 6.1 - 6.3 will suffice. Cal/Mag+ is a nice supplement at 1/4 strength for plants over a week old. I wouldn't mix it with other nutes, I'd only give it by itself ... i.e: nute watering, regular watering, cal/mag watering.. I know you said you want to do it organic, so get some blackstrap molasses and use it when you nute.. if it's mag def it'll fix it up in a couple of waterings and strengthen the root system.
yummy. She is 33 days old now and pics where taken yesterday. Speaking of primera a lot of interesting things have been happening with her. The day before my first post I had just transplanted her, she recovered in a week and started growing again. That's when I discovered the solution to my pondering question, why does she have purple stems nute deff. or strain trait? Well the answer was.........................I don't know all I know is I decided to up my nutes and she then started growing like crazy. Now all new stems are normal color and the red stems seem to be slowly turning back to green, and I think that's just as good . I decided to start low stress training, in which I did and I also topped her. I used string and put it around the plant in an appropriate place and pushed the string through the soil with a chop stick to keep her down. This is good for this sativa plant in my grow cabinate using cfls I decided for a non auto this would be the best choice allowing light to go to the under growth and increasing space and possibly most likely maybe yield. 
well that's about it a lot of exciting things to come for me. never mentioned but this is my first indoor grow but have grown outdoors in the past.
and maybe a little:smokebuds:
