Help - Tried everything Fox Farms Ocean Forest - Brown Leaves

[Awkcyde]

So to give a little background here on setup and everything.

Temps - 74F - 80F

2x 300w Mars Hydro LEDS

Planted in Fox Farms Ocean forest soil in 3 gal smart pots

Nutrients -
watering only when getting really dry schedule:
Feed - 3ml Fox Farms Grow Big, 2ml Fox Farms Big Bloom

After I feed I do 2 cycles of water that include 5ml - CalMag, 7ml Hydrogaurd before I do another feeding. So it goes feed - water - water - feed whenever they get dry. ---Water and feed using tap water Ph'd down to 6.5 - With water cycle getting around 350ppm - Feed cycle getting around 750ppm

2 plants - Papaya from Nirvana - Hybrid Indica. On day 40 of vegetation from first sign of sprouting.


I'm at a loss here for a few reasons and I've done a ton of research to try and remedy the problem. One plant is doing completely fine and great and the other is on the verge of dying. Both plants get the same water , same soil, everything.

They were growing great other than the one having issues now seemed like a different plant all together when it started growing it grew massive fan leaves like it was on steroids. The plants both had issues with a bit of nitrogen toxicity and chem burn on the tips but nothing major.. all bounced back when adjusting feed.

The plant having the issue though I have flushed, adjusted ppm's , adjusted PH etc. When I flushed I got a runoff of 4ph and around 350ppm - So I flushed until the runoff was 6ph. Still getting worse with the brown spots starting to take over all leaves.

I did some research it appears this is fairly common with fox farms ocean forest. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.. Don't want to see this plant go down because of the soil as it's my first grow.

 

[kornwood]

You should be giving them at least 2 tsp grow big and 3 tsp big bloom and 1 tsp boomerang there hungry and you can feed twice a week no water in between if you add lime you can ditch the calmag I use happy frog soil and can begin the feeding chart after the first week

 

[Final Phase]

Just thinking here...

In nature the plants grow all over the world outside on their own with just natures water, sun, and whatever soil it's in. When it grows wild it usually looks like green healthy plants... I use nutrients at half strength or less and never get plents that get all messed up. I'm guessing plants that freak out many times get that way because of rich soil and too much added nutrients...
Just my two cents worth...

 

[Alienwidow]

Is the plant root bound? If its not i would point the finger at over feeding. Ffof soil is pretty good stuff and lasts for a while without even needing food.

 

[Awkcyde]

I'm thinking it's the soil which I wouldn't have gone with now reading all of the horror stories about it... I don't think it's over feeding on the nutrients as I've tried flushing and I was getting a low runoff on the initial flush so there aren't a lot of left over nutrients. Tried a week with just ph'd water - no change... Tried a week with just added calmag - No change.

Now i'm trying with the big bloom and grow big and it's the 2nd day and it's just progressing even more.. Just gonna wait it out another few days and if no change rather than letting the plant die I'll try and replant using a non hot soil.

Also I don't think it's not feeding enough as my other plant on the same feed shows small signs of chem burn on the tips so increasing the feed amount may just make it worse

My best guess at this point is there's something funky going on with the soil because of the low PH runoff - I don't think it should ever be at 4 when I'm putting in 6.5..Though this is my first grow so I'm not entirely sure what's going on.

 

[PurpletrainWrecker]

first of all have you checked ph calibration make sure its right ??? let soil dry out and flush medium check ph if you got ppm meter or EC check EC levels once you determine what it is go from there could very well be phos def
in other words is strong acidic soils P gets bound and locked up raise ph when ever you see something going on remember if it starts at bottom works its way up its NPK if it starts from top to bottom its micronutrients Zinc , iron copper , Chlorine etc

 

[MA MED Grower]

I'm thinking it's the soil which I wouldn't have gone with now reading all of the horror stories about it... I don't think it's over feeding on the nutrients as I've tried flushing and I was getting a low runoff on the initial flush so there aren't a lot of left over nutrients. Tried a week with just ph'd water - no change... Tried a week with just added calmag - No change.

Now i'm trying with the big bloom and grow big and it's the 2nd day and it's just progressing even more.. Just gonna wait it out another few days and if no change rather than letting the plant die I'll try and replant using a non hot soil.

Also I don't think it's not feeding enough as my other plant on the same feed shows small signs of chem burn on the tips so increasing the feed amount may just make it worse

My best guess at this point is there's something funky going on with the soil because of the low PH runoff - I don't think it should ever be at 4 when I'm putting in 6.5..Though this is my first grow so I'm not entirely sure what's going on.

100% same thing happening to me. I think ocean forest is the prob for me. Maybe you. I'm switching over to promix and possibly mixing a bag of ocean forest to a bale of promix. I think straight promix would be fine. I've read so many stories where leafs look the same and they / me are using ocean forest. You're using LEDs and it's happening. I've got 9k and the leafs look identical.

 

[The Elvis]

FFOF is very hit or miss!! maybe you got a good bag, maybe you didn't!! Quality is shit!!! Know idea why..

 

[PurpletrainWrecker]

FFOF is very hit or miss!! maybe you got a good bag, maybe you didn't!! Quality is shit!!! Know idea why..

supply n demand as demand for anything goes up QC gets thrown out the door

 

[The Elvis]

supply n demand as demand for anything goes up QC gets thrown out the door

yep!!

 

[The Elvis]

I'm thinking it's the soil which I wouldn't have gone with now reading all of the horror stories about it... I don't think it's over feeding on the nutrients as I've tried flushing and I was getting a low runoff on the initial flush so there aren't a lot of left over nutrients. Tried a week with just ph'd water - no change... Tried a week with just added calmag - No change.

Now i'm trying with the big bloom and grow big and it's the 2nd day and it's just progressing even more.. Just gonna wait it out another few days and if no change rather than letting the plant die I'll try and replant using a non hot soil.

Also I don't think it's not feeding enough as my other plant on the same feed shows small signs of chem burn on the tips so increasing the feed amount may just make it worse

My best guess at this point is there's something funky going on with the soil because of the low PH runoff - I don't think it should ever be at 4 when I'm putting in 6.5..Though this is my first grow so I'm not entirely sure what's going on.

I think you have PH lock out, Do you have a PH soil probe? I use FFOF for autos but a accurate 8 has saved as plants many times.. Its does not lie about PH.. Because FFOF PH can and will change on ya!!

 

[DesertGrow89]

Ideally you want a wider temperature range than that, try 10-15 degrees day/night and the plant will grow faster. Water when the soil three inches down becomes dry, allowing the plant to become overly dry is bad, makes pockets and channels which make watering not so even.

Is your pen calibrated?

 

[PurpletrainWrecker]

i never understood why people even bother with FFOF or pro mix or anything resembling it
for like 20 bucks or even less you can make such a better soil mix from scratch

2 bags of black earth 4 bucks
1 bag of earth worm compost or sea compost or any type of compost 6 bucks
1 bag of perlite rinsed in strainer 5 bucks
mix it all together
if you want to get technical add some peat moss 20 percent to mass 6 bucks
this will in deed give you better odds and a healthier plant top dress with a green mulch Grass clippings and your set water only
Meanwhile making the finishing soil mixture before transplant to finish plants life cycle simple cheap and LIVING soil

PS i am seeing 4 - 6 " of growth all away around daily that plant in brush has been sexed 5 weeks from germ its already starting to look like a tree

 

[86Hemphill]

Following. I'm thinking we have a P deficiency. If not corrected, yours may look like mine lol. I think I'm having bad luck with FFOF and nutrients. I'm going to switch soil or go more organic next batch.

 

[PurpletrainWrecker]

first of all have you checked ph calibration make sure its right ??? let soil dry out and flush medium check ph if you got ppm meter or EC check EC levels once you determine what it is go from there could very well be phos def
in other words is strong acidic soils P gets bound and locked up raise ph when ever you see something going on remember if it starts at bottom works its way up its NPK if it starts from top to bottom its micronutrients Zinc , iron copper , Chlorine etc

 

[polishpollack]

the biggest problem is people chasing solutions. ffof doesn't need much added to it. the thing to do is use ffof, don't add anything and see just how long it will feed plants. don't be surprised if it's good for many weeks.

 

[Awkcyde]

So far the brown spots haven't progressed any further to anymore leaves since my 750ppm feeding. I'm noticing the purple starting to go away from the stems as well so hopefully that's a good sign.

My other plant is still doing great and growing like a bush.. Will post updated pictures here shortly for everyone out there in this same situation maybe we can find some type of solution.

I do need to get a soil PH meter right now I just have a water PH meter and can only measure what's going in and running off. Going to go with just a Ph'd water and 5ml of calmag for the watering today. It's been about 4 days now since I've fed the plant having the issues. The reason I'm letting it dry out is because that's what I've seen a few suggestions on other threads say to do.

Also I didn't start feeding the plants right away when I transplanted into the ocean forest from a solocup to a #3 smart pot. I waited a good 2 weeks until the plants started showing signs of stunted growth.

 

[StoneyMcphatter]

So far the brown spots haven't progressed any further to anymore leaves since my 750ppm feeding. I'm noticing the purple starting to go away from the stems as well so hopefully that's a good sign.

My other plant is still doing great and growing like a bush.. Will post updated pictures here shortly for everyone out there in this same situation maybe we can find some type of solution.

I do need to get a soil PH meter right now I just have a water PH meter and can only measure what's going in and running off. Going to go with just a Ph'd water and 5ml of calmag for the watering today. It's been about 4 days now since I've fed the plant having the issues. The reason I'm letting it dry out is because that's what I've seen a few suggestions on other threads say to do.

Also I didn't start feeding the plants right away when I transplanted into the ocean forest from a solocup to a #3 smart pot. I waited a good 2 weeks until the plants started showing signs of stunted growth.

Thats the thing about ocean forest. 2 weeks isn't enough time to start feeding. I've seen entire 3-4 month grows completed on ocean forest. It's a fine brand provided you don't drown the plant in salts aka nutrients.

 

[whitebb2727]

I'm thinking it's the soil which I wouldn't have gone with now reading all of the horror stories about it... I don't think it's over feeding on the nutrients as I've tried flushing and I was getting a low runoff on the initial flush so there aren't a lot of left over nutrients. Tried a week with just ph'd water - no change... Tried a week with just added calmag - No change.

Now i'm trying with the big bloom and grow big and it's the 2nd day and it's just progressing even more.. Just gonna wait it out another few days and if no change rather than letting the plant die I'll try and replant using a non hot soil.

Also I don't think it's not feeding enough as my other plant on the same feed shows small signs of chem burn on the tips so increasing the feed amount may just make it worse

My best guess at this point is there's something funky going on with the soil because of the low PH runoff - I don't think it should ever be at 4 when I'm putting in 6.5..Though this is my first grow so I'm not entirely sure what's going on.

Just so you know run off pH means nothing. The proper way to check soil pH is to mix one part dry soil to one part deionized or distilled water and check slurry.

Flushing the crap out of it is not helping. The constant moisture is bad.

I would say you are shoving too much down its throat.

 

[StoneyMcphatter]

Just so you know run off pH means nothing. The proper way to check soil pH is to mix one part dry soil to one part deionized or distilled water and check slurry.

Flushing the crap out of it is not helping. The constant moisture is bad.

I would say you are shoving too much down its throat.

More like holding a persons head underwater and trying to drown them.