Sorry mate i saw the pipes and thought it was hydro, ph should be 6.5 in soil.
Signs of Nitrogen Toxicity
Dark green leaves and foliage
- Leaf tips may turn down, without signs of overwatering.
- You may notice yellowing on the affected leaves or other signs of nutrient deficiencies as time goes on
- Nitrogen toxicity is often but not always accompanied by nutrient burn
- The Claw often seems random, affecting leaves here and there
- Heat and pH problems will make the clawing worse, as they stress out the plant and lower her defenses, and cause her to drink more water (and uptake more N)
- As time goes on, the claw leaves will eventually start turning yellow, getting spots, and dying
Solution: Reduce the Nitrogen your plant is getting!
Reduce the amount of nitrogen that is being fed to the plants. If you are feeding extra nutrients, cut down that amount. If you are in the flowering / budding stage, make sure you're using a formula that's specifically meant for flowering, or else it could have too much nitrogen.
If you are not feeding extra nutrients, you may have "hot" soil that has been giving your plants extra nutrients. In that case, flush your plants with filtered, pH'ed water to help clear out the extra nitrogen.
Effected leaves likely won't recover, but you should see the problem halt with no new leaves being affected.
Wait! I'm not sure if it's Nitrogen toxicity!
Ok, you ruled out
overwatering, now what?
When I first got started growing, everyone kept telling me that this particular kind of leaf clawing was caused by under or overwatering my plants, pH problems, or heat problems.
Yet in my case, I knew that it wasn't over or under watering (I was growing in hydro, where roots grow directly in water and air stones are constantly adding oxygen). I knew it wasn't pH (my reservoir water had the right pH) and I knew it wasn't heat since the grow area was slightly cooler than room temperature.
So then what was really causing my claw leaves?
It's understandable that other growers were mistaken. It is true that many stresses will make any other problem worse.
Plus overwatering can cause a similar kind of leaf clawing (learn more below). And if you do have nitrogen toxicity, than heat or pH problems will make the problem much worse.
Now, you may or may not know that marijuana (or any plant) needs an element known as "Nitrogen" to grow.
In fact, nitrogen is one of the 3 nutrients that are included in almost every kind of plant food.
When looking at plant nutrients, you'll almost always see 3 numbers listed, like 3-12-6 or 5-10-5. These numbers represent the ratio of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) contained in the bottle. Just about all plant life on Earth needs these 3 elements to grow.
The very first number, "3" in the case of the picture to the right, always displays the proportion of nitrogen in this nutrient bottle compared to the other 2 nutrients (Phosphorus and Potassium respectively).
The reason nitrogen is in all plant nutrient formulations is because it's vital to plant processes.
For marijuana plants, when they don't get enough nitrogen, the bottom leaves start turning yellow and dying. Left unchecked, a
nitrogen deficiency can cause the whole plant to eventually die.
However, this time we're the dealing with the opposite problem: nitrogen toxicity, or too much nitrogen.
Why You Should Treat And Prevent Nitrogen Toxicity
- Marijuana plants that get too much Nitrogen in the vegetative stage don't grow as vigorously.
- Too much nitrogen is especially harmful in the flowering stage, because this will cause your plant to produce much smaller buds.
- If you react quickly and reduce your nitrogen levels at the first sign of toxicity, your plant will quickly recover.
Note: Some strains with the word "Claw" in the name tend to do The Claw more easily than others.
Problems with excess nitrogen are not common in the wild; it's a lot more common to see nitrogen toxicity on indoor plants, especially when overzealous growers go overboard with nutrients.
Occasionally you'll come across a strain or particular plant that likes lower levels of nutrients, and when this happens, it's important to realize the plant is showing signs of toxicity, even if all the other plants in your garden seem fine.
One of the most common signs off too-many-nutrients is "nutrient burn," or when the tips of your leaf appear brown or burned. Yet there are specific signals your plant will display when she's getting too much nitrogen...
Recap: How You Know You Have a Nitrogen Toxicity
- Dark green leaves and foliage
- Leaf tips turn down, without signs of overwatering.
- You may notice yellowing on the affected leaves or other signs of nutrient deficiencies as time goes on
- Nitrogen toxicity is often but not always accompanied by nutrient burn
- The Claw often seems random, affecting leaves here and there
- Heat and pH problems will make the clawing worse, as they stress out the plant and lower her defenses, and cause her to drink more water (and uptake more N)
- As time goes on, the claw leaves will eventually start turning yellow, getting spots, and dying
