Cursed with Nitrogen Deficiency

no, i have no pics to post. lets say i've followed all the guides to plant problems and i'm certain that i have a nitrogen deficiency. i have been patching the problem by watering with fish fertilizer. this problem has occured with FFOF/Light Warrior mix as well as straight happy frog.

quick summary: cfl grow using distilled water and solo cups until transplanting, all standard, all of which you've seen a million times before, and done successfully for about 4 years.

my old bag of FFOF was used straight with a bit of perlite and i had perfect plants. i didnt even add nutrients. just watered it and let it do its own thing. now its a fucking science project. now, ALL OF THE SUDDEN its like the great god of horticulture has decided to fistfuck me repeatedly, using rock salt as a lubricant.

"so...wtf is your question?"

ok its in 2 parts.

1-has anyone else recently ran into these problems with foxfarms, having already known success with the exact same product.

2-what is the least pain-in-the-ass way of solving the problem (assuming i havent found it already with fish fertilizer). i dont want to be hovering over these things with a ph tester every 2 days.

if anyone has experience with this headache or the knowledge to work around it, please share your thoughts.

I use blood meal for N deficiency!

bblzs said:

I use blood meal for N deficiency!

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I second that suggestion. Just top feed lightly and see how your plant reacts in a few days.

are you growing the same strains as before? i've been growing a particular strain for a year and i can't get the thing as dark as my other plants no matter what i do. it's always a bright lime color. it gets to be a pain in the ass but the smoke is worth it.

if it's the same strain, is your water the same as before? if you use tap water do you ever check the ph of your water out of the tap to see if it fluxuates? maybe you used to let the water sit out or you got a new watering can? could it be something you used to clean your pots between grows or a container you used to store water in? i once got ph issues by using an old orange juice container to store water in. i washed the shit out of it but it leached something into the water anyway.

if the water is the same, are you certain that it's an n deficiency and not some kind of lockout from ph trouble, or perhaps a mag def?

fox farm hasn't made any changes to their soil recently that i'm aware of. a couple years ago they opened an east coast facility to make the soil and they use a different bark than the west coast formula. that shouldn't effect your plants if you've been using that soil right along, though.

thanks for the replies.

TH, same strain as before. the irony is that at the old place i would use straight tap water as it wasnt hard and the PH was fine. no problems at all.

now as this place has hard water, i buy distilled water, straight from the gallon jug. water PH is fine. so is the soil's.

the yellowing starts from the tip of the leaves so i think its N.

this shit has been driving me crazy.



@bb & guy: thanks also for your replies. i've ordered some blood meal and will see how that works out.

Not hittinn on ya but without pics most repies wil be pissing in the wind and high possibility of being wrong.

canna mono nitrogen........ ebay £12 for 1 litre, will last a life time.

Since you are using distilled water, you may have a calcium def. Without the proper cal & mag the plant has a hard time up taking the N. Try a little cal mag in your next watering. If you don't have any, maybe try 50/50 distilled and your hard water, if it leaves a crust on the faucet it has calcium in it.

I agree with Wattsaver. Tap water has a lot of micros that distilled doesn't. Could be that easy. Hopefully. Good luck.

HG Magic Green spray. N can be absorbed through the leaves.

dannyboy602 said:

HG Magic Green spray. N can be absorbed through the leaves.

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yo danny, that shit really works? u just spray it on the yellowing leaves and it turns back? no way

Mix according to directions and yes it works. If you're only missing N then it's a simple fix. You seemed pretty sure.

dannyboy602 said:

Mix according to directions and yes it works. If you're only missing N then it's a simple fix. You seemed pretty sure.

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How long to see results? I just did a foliar feeding for the same issue and with pure N mixed at the recommended dosage. I'm thinking I might need to up it. Lots of yellow leaves have me thinkin it's very deprived!

It sure does. Treat twice a week (MG's back label)
It is possible your plants aren't getting enough light? That's the only other thing I can think of by looking at your pix.

Edit: results should be evident in a week

dannyboy602 said:

It sure does. Treat twice a week (MG's back label)
It is possible your plants aren't getting enough light? That's the only other thing I can think of by looking at your pix.

Edit: results should be evident in a week

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1,000 watt HPS with only 4 x 8 ft of area. They stopped growing vertically after going from veg. The flowers are very crystally and lush green. Luckily my plants are EXTREMELY bushy. I've seen some plants where is they lost the amount of leaves I did, they would be in trouble.


I bought my light used and have 2 new bulbs. I'm not sure how long the current bulb has been ran. They did excellent in Veg tho. I could swap em out for one of the new ones and see if that helps?

WattSaver said:

Since you are using distilled water, you may have a calcium def. Without the proper cal & mag the plant has a hard time up taking the N. Try a little cal mag in your next watering. If you don't have any, maybe try 50/50 distilled and your hard water, if it leaves a crust on the faucet it has calcium in it.

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ordered cal mag as well. thanks!

I like blood and bone meal and Epsom salts, pretty well covers it all instead of Cal Mag... Plus it is organic... I just sprinkle a littl around the soil and let it water in over time. Not too much though it is strong.

WattSaver said:

Since you are using distilled water, you may have a calcium def. Without the proper cal & mag the plant has a hard time up taking the N. Try a little cal mag in your next watering. If you don't have any, maybe try 50/50 distilled and your hard water, if it leaves a crust on the faucet it has calcium in it.

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Watt, i wish i could give you 10,000 likes but one will have to suffice. you've won the thread. thanks for the advice, worked like a charm.

I use n-cal-mag by grow more and Azos by extreme gardening. No more N prob. And sence I use RO water I need cal mag to so it's a easy fix 1 bottle and a powder mix for a boost.

what powder are you referring to?

Azos is a N booster and is a powder