Purple Stems, Dieing lower leaves, and stunted growth?

FireAm80

Active Member
Just as the title says the stems are purple, lower leaves are yellowing and then dieing. and they just are not growing like they should. Some are barely 12" tall others 4" but its been a over a month since sprout. The short ones are bushy but suffer same problems just not as extreme. I don't have pics as i spilt water on my camera. I've been using straight water lately because i was thinking it was nute lockout. some of them stems are returning green but i just wanted to make sure i was on the right path. Any suggestions or tips would be much appreciated!!! Thanks
 

dyepntbllr1

Active Member
idk about the purple stems, but my lower leaves were dieing on my plants and i just let them do their thing and they turned out fine so idk what it is. good luck with ur plants
 

Ownzord

Active Member
Well idk about the purple stems n such, but I read that the lower first true leaves can often die out because the bigger new growth blocks out the light. I ended up just snipping um off cause they were dying and the next day the top growth grew faster. Idk if thats whats happening to you though cause youre a few weeks ahead of me. GooD LucK:mrgreen:
 

Silky Shagsalot

Well-Known Member
the stems are purple, lower leaves are yellowing and then dieing. and they just are not growing like they should. Some are barely 12" tall others 4" but its been a over a month since sprout. The short ones are bushy but suffer same problems just not as extreme. I've been using straight water lately because i was thinking it was nute lockout. some of them stems are returning green
Sometimes the colour purple is caused by low temps. especially at night. The lower leaves do die off sometimes, but I think they may be hungry. At a month old, you should be feeding at, or close to full strength. If they're at different heights, put something under the shorter plants to bring them up to the same level as the bigger ones. This will give them all the same light and keep the lower ones from stretching. Are you ph'ing everything? This will keep the nutes flowing without worrying about lockout. You may want to consider a flush.
 

FireAm80

Active Member
They are in this setup
https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/51417-diy-4oz-minimum-yield-grow.html

And my room stays warm so i know temps arnt dropping at night. they are on a 20/4 light cycle. everythings on the timer. All of them are the same distance from the lights using spacers. The inside of mine is lined with mylar though.`I've been using just water lately and the stems are lightening up alot. I trimmed yellowed leaves but 2 of them have started yellowing still. I think continueing like i am will fix it but i want to know what im fixing? If that makes sence.
 

FireAm80

Active Member
One thing i did not think of that may be a problem... Is it possible to have too many plants in a small space like that? They range from 6" to 12" in hiegth, and there are 12 of them in there. Could this be a problem? I was trying to compensate for males by starting that many, so that when i kill them i'll still have at least 6 plants. but for now its crowded. i have 6 6500K Daylight CFL's and 2 warm 1600 CFL's. it has an adequate exhaust and intake. Should i go ahead and kill the bad ones or what should be my next move?
 

Hubert

Well-Known Member
You have a Nitrogen defficiency. Classic signs are yellowing bottom leaves, and purpling stems. You need to add nitrogen and everything will be fine :mrgreen:
 

Token

Well-Known Member
It means your plant is locked up, the roots are not take up any nutes anymore, what you can do is get dehydrated lime and or ph your water and flush.

don't forget to plus rep
 

FireAm80

Active Member
What is the easiest way for me to boost the nitrogen? Are there any organic fixs, tricks of the trade? Or certain product from Home Depot? Or Lowes? Because a couple of them CANNOT wait for it to be delivered.
 

FireAm80

Active Member
Thats what i've been using! It's the all purpose MG plant food and the numbers are 24-8-16. So maybe its not a nitrogen deficiency? I've been mixing at half strength. Could this all be being vaused by the PH of my water? I know i shouldn't but i've been using tap water. If so. Can i just get PH adjusters from pet smart or what?
 

pasadenabri

Well-Known Member
Yep go to the pet shop and get PH up, PH down, and a test kit, all for about twenty bux. Check the water before you apply it to the soil and then test the run off to see how the nutes affect it. I dip my pinky in PH up or down and stir it in a gallon of water and it changes it .5, just so u don't over do it.
 

pasadenabri

Well-Known Member
When u have a chance go on ebay and pick up a PH meter for about 25 bux and it is accurate. I just got mine today but it doesnt work so I hope they send me a new one fast. Mine is for hydro tho u need a soil one.
 

FireAm80

Active Member
Ok new question now that i have PH tester and adjusters. I have a 55 gallon fish tank with a good sized oscar in it. Would using the fish tank water to water my plants? Figured all that fish shit might come in useful for once?
 

Token

Well-Known Member
Thats what i've been using! It's the all purpose MG plant food and the numbers are 24-8-16. So maybe its not a nitrogen deficiency? I've been mixing at half strength. Could this all be being vaused by the PH of my water? I know i shouldn't but i've been using tap water. If so. Can i just get PH adjusters from pet smart or what?
OK now i know why there locked up and why there yellow is due to nitrogen deficiency but it doesn't mean throw more nutes on them (foliage feed with minor food high in Nitrogen) to get the green back, the reason there locked out is due to over feeding and making the soil toxic MG SUCKS hairy donkey nuts its load already with food and almost always ends in lock out or something wrong. You need to flush with pH water around 6.0-6.5 is the pH level that will give you best results.
 
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