Noob With Leaf Issue

Hey all - Long time reader, new to growing. I'm on my 2nd attempt, with a Strawberry Diesel plant on about day 45 of 12/12. The plant has always seemed bushy and healthy, but over the last couple days I've noticed a couple of the lower leaves turning spotty and pale.

My phone camera doesn't render color very well under the LED light. The plant is actually brighter green and less yellow than it appears in the photos. I'm in 7 gallons of Happy Frog/perlite with FoxFarm nutes. Light is Mars Hydro FC3000 at about 75% power 24 inches up. Temps are about 82 with lights on and 72 with them off. RH sits around 55%. Is this something to worry about? Septoria maybe? Some kind of defficiency? Any observations welcome.

Many thanks!

Looks good in there!

I wouldn't sweat it much. Could be watering too often, maybe, could be overfert, maybe.
Unlikely deficiency imo, as you're supplementing nutrients and looks fairly healthy overall.
More likely a bit too much of something.

I would give plain water on next watering, with good runoff. Then continue on with the current/same nutrient solution the following watering.

How long left? Few weeks, a month, maybe?
Don't worry too much about changing anything this stage, what's done is done.
You won't reverse symptoms, only slow it right down.
More chance to make things worse changing anything now, chalk it up for next-time.
You want to just coast it to harvest from here imo.

I'd say something to consider is your drainage, 7 gallons is a fair sized pot.
How fast is your pot draining? How often does it need water?
Less drainage, the more water and nutrient your potting mix will hold. Much easier to overwater or overfeed when your drainage and aeration isn't up to snuff.
I would say if you added any less than 30% perlite and are watering more often than every few days, you're probably overdoing it a bit.

For perspective, I have good success using 80litre pots with 50/50 perlite to potting mix, watered every 4 days.
But that's just me, you'll be the best judge yourself, different potting mix/pot size etc.

Looking good... I wouldn't worry too much about it.

The plant is near the end of it's natural life, so it doesn't need the bigger/lower sun leafs any more - It's putting all it's effort into flowering for reproduction.

It just doesn't know it's not gonna get pollinated...

Thank you both for your replies. I water every 4-5 days, typically between 2 and three quarts. I feed every other watering. I've never really had much in the way of runoff. I probably should do a heavy watering and test what comes out. She always has looked on the verge of being overfed to me. I probably won't feed her again. I'm thinking two or three more weeks before chopping.

KISS

If that one dodgy lower sun leaf is bothering you, just chop it off.

Don't do anything drastic, stay as you are, they look realy good!

What they said. Keep doing what you're doing. Just remember to flush the soil for a few days before you harvest. The bud will taste and smoke better.

Great run! Keep up the good work!

Farmer's Hat said:

What they said. Keep doing what you're doing. Just remember to flush the soil for a few days before you harvest. The bud will taste and smoke better.

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By that do you mean water until there is a lot of runoff?

Co

Unicron said:

By that do you mean water until there is a lot of runoff?

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Thats what I always do. There are different opinions about flushing. Some growers just cut back on the amount of nutes, as the plant gets close to finishing. Some growers dont flush or cut back on the nutes.

Here is a link I found on a thread. Check it out.

Unicron said:

Hey all - Long time reader, new to growing. I'm on my 2nd attempt, with a Strawberry Diesel plant on about day 45 of 12/12. The plant has always seemed bushy and healthy, but over the last couple days I've noticed a couple of the lower leaves turning spotty and pale.

My phone camera doesn't render color very well under the LED light. The plant is actually brighter green and less yellow than it appears in the photos. I'm in 7 gallons of Happy Frog/perlite with FoxFarm nutes. Light is Mars Hydro FC3000 at about 75% power 24 inches up. Temps are about 82 with lights on and 72 with them off. RH sits around 55%. Is this something to worry about? Septoria maybe? Some kind of defficiency? Any observations welcome.

Many thanks!

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Looks good! Looks like it should be fine. Seems like the other guy said might just be from slightly too much water or if they sit in the drain water too long but if not and you think the watering is fine, maybe it's fine and the plant is just getting near the end of it's life cycle so it's just pulling something it needs from itself. Like when you start flushing how it will start pulling the notes from itself since you cut it off, and the lower leafs start yellowing and falling off.. is it just the lower leafs?
Have you cut back or started giving it a lower dose of anything you had been giving it?

DOCTORDOOB said:

Looks good! Looks like it should be fine. Seems like the other guy said might just be from slightly too much water or if they sit in the drain water too long but if not and you think the watering is fine, maybe it's fine and the plant is just getting near the end of it's life cycle so it's just pulling something it needs from itself. Like when you start flushing how it will start pulling the notes from itself since you cut it off, and the lower leafs start yellowing and falling off.. is it just the lower leafs?
Have you cut back or started giving it a lower dose of anything you had been giving it?

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Yes, just lower leaves. I stopped feeding about ten days ago. Since then, the plant has turned very purple. I'll probably just ride it out from here. Appreciate the input!

Unicron said:

I stopped feeding about ten days ago.

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There’s your problem.

Unicron said:

Yes, just lower leaves. I stopped feeding about ten days ago. Since then, the plant has turned very purple. I'll probably just ride it out from here. Appreciate the input!

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How long does the seed company recommend to flower for?

DOCTORDOOB said:

How long does the seed company recommend to flower for?

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9-10 weeks. This is day 54.

I don’t see any problems….at this stage of the grow it’s totally normal for some of the lower fans to fade out. It also looks like she has plenty of gas in the tank to make it another 2 weeks or so. My best grows have been with plants that really fade out at the very end.
I’m not talking about your uppers and small leaves closer to the buds…..u want those to stay vibrant.
Your plant has some mighty slender leaves…..looks like a sativa trait, which would normally mean a longer flowering period. But I’m no expert on genetics (or anything else for that matter), so she may finish up as advertised.
2 solid weeks should put u in a decent window, but u won’t know until that time comes.
The original pics looked to me like a solid 3 weeks maybe 4.
I wouldn’t be concerned about a few lower leaves at all right now. At this stage I really try to keep my temps in check (at tge canopy level) and not let things get too hot…..u wanna preserve those terps and get the max aroma and effect.

Thanks for that. I think the strain is supposed to be 50/50 but you're right about the slender leaves.

Temps are tough this time of year. Maxing out at 82 right now. I'll probably have to dry around 70.

Like a wise man once said, waiting is the hardest part.

When a plant turns purple there is a ph issue.

I’m

soilgrower85 said:

When a plant turns purple there is a ph issue.

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i have to respectfully disagree. Cooler temps at night can cause certain colors…..purple being one of them. I’m not saying that a PH issue won’t cause some purpling, but it’s not the only cause. I will bring my temps down at times for the sole reason of bringing out the purple…..and I’m sure my PH is fine.

Bullmark said:

I’m

i have to respectfully disagree. Cooler temps at night can cause certain colors…..purple being one of them. I’m not saying that a PH issue won’t cause some purpling, but it’s not the only cause. I will bring my temps down at times for the sole reason of bringing out the purple…..and I’m sure my PH is fine.

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I agree with the cooler temperature absolutely. however he said it is 82degrees during the day so there cannot be such a drastic temperature change to cooler to induce color change.looking at the pictures you can tell it’s not getting all the nutrients it needs. I bet when she is harvested that the root system will be spindly and rip out without a problem. next grow use some dynazyme.

soilgrower85 said:

I agree with the cooler temperature absolutely. however he said it is 82degrees during the day so there cannot be such a drastic temperature change to cooler to induce color change.looking at the pictures you can tell it’s not getting all the nutrients it needs. I bet when she is harvested that the root system will be spindly and rip out without a problem. next grow use some dynazyme.

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Agreed. Do u prefer Dynazyme over similar products? I’ve used dynamyco and mycos…..
If there is one area that I think I can improve it’s the root system.
I do an organic grow in KokoBop amended w/ various dry components. When I end a grow and check out the roots they look pretty good but not like some I see.