Oh shit...

Howdy, was hoping some more experienced eyes could help pinpoint what's killing these once pretty ladies.

For the last month and a half they've been absolutely thriving, but literally overnight they seemed to have gotten very sick. Yellowing fan leaves with brown spots, and worse, fan leaves browning, curling, then crumbling completely off (see pic). What's bizarre is that this is all happening to the MIDDLE leaves of the plants. This has all occurred within the span of a single day and the rot continues as I worriedly type this.

There has been no sudden change in temperature, humidity, or pH, and zero signs of insect infestation. Second week of flowering under 250w HPS (vegged and 1st week of flowering under T5 floros), well ventilated, in Happy Frog soil and using Bio Bizz organic nutes.

I've never seen degeneration this quickly in plants, and none of my knowledgeable friends (well, more knowledgeable than I) have a clue what's going on. I'd really hate to trash the entire grow, but things ain't looking too good over here.

Hope to get a little relief. Thanks.

This inquiry has been made For Information Only.

It looks like your plant is suffering from nutrient burn.

Maybe PH to high shoot for 6.0
I dont think its nutrient burn as the tips are not showing it.

i'd say you overfed them, take a pic of the top of the plant.. Might wanna get you light a little closer too

Also be careful to not over water them.

and if your gonna use tinfoil then use the dull side

nute burn the curled leafs are the defenet indicator put you light cycle back into veg, flush the soil and trim off the leafs that are over 50% yellowed. if a leaf has a yellow tip trim the tip off after your flush resume normal feeding and watering it should take about two weeks for your plants to recover. but they pry wont yeild or smoke very well. sry to drop that bit of bad news. if it were me id jus make all the buds into hash or edibals...also cut the fertalizer mix you use to half or 1/4th strenth mix veg and flower fert. up to half way threw flowering. a plant needs nitrogen in early veg..in my opinion. good luck kid.

what he said^^^

Thanks all. I really hope this isn't nute burn, as the only nutes they've gotten was a capfull of Bio Bizz Bloom about a week ago, and again this morning (believing I was dealing with a severe magnesium deficiency). The HPS is hanging approx. 2ft above the canopy, any less might burn the tops. FYI, this is my first grow with an HID lamp after having surprising success with floros.

I'll put them back into veging under the floros like $waGgEr suggested (excellent idea, and not bad news about what to expect at all... it gives me hope they might live). Only question, by "flushing" the soil am I running the risk of drowning the poor girls? Also, and this is probably a matter of personal choice, but would it be advisable to transplant them into Ocean Forest once they're flushed/trimmed? The Happy Frog seems a bit rich.

Thanks again!

If your gonna go back to veg then I would flush the soil out and refeed, and don't water again until the soil is completely dry.. A good way to tell if your lights are too close is to put your hand right at the top of your plants, if it's too hot for your hand then it's too hot for your ladies

I've NEVER seen nute burn look like that, so I think you're getting some bad advise here. Go to the plant problems sections of more than one mj forum and read/research what they have to say in the stickys about plant problems. They should even have pictures to compare your plant(s) to. Don't be lazy by posting "whats wrong with my plant" threads, as you'll get F'd up info in return.

Looks overwatered. There aren't many fan leaves to lose and it looks like your going to lose at least one plant.

Rj41 said:

I've NEVER seen nute burn look like that, so I think you're getting some bad advise here. Go to the plant problems sections of more than one mj forum and read/research what they have to say in the stickys about plant problems. They should even have pictures to compare your plant(s) to. Don't be lazy by posting "whats wrong with my plant" threads, as you'll get F'd up info in return.

Click to expand...

Trust me dude, I've done A LOT of browsing through forums, online guides, pic tutorials, speaking to other growers over the phone... but have seen nothing like this, nor has anyone I've encountered. Laziness was definitely not the driving factor here. I was genuinely hoping somebody would recognize what was going on with them.

Either way, it doesn't look like they'll make it through the night. Tomorrow I'll probably just eBay the HPS and use the money to buy a nice fat baggie. It's just less stressful that way.

Cheers.

May be a form of blight. Is it spreading? Do you smoke cigarettes?

Did you spray them with anything? Even water? A heavy misting of water under a bright light can cause rapid evaporation that will actually pull moisture from the leaves to the extent that they die very rapidly. Can look just like that.

Gastanker said:

Did you spray them with anything? Even water? A heavy misting of water under a bright light can cause rapid evaporation that will actually pull moisture from the leaves to the extent that they die very rapidly. Can look just like that.

Click to expand...

Bingo. The girls were misted with a spray bottle right before the crash. Total noob move on my part. Dunno if that would explain the yellowing and brown spots, but thanks, Gastanker.

I've already got them back under the floros on an 18/6 and have pulled the worst of the fan leaves to give them a chance to heal. Thanks everyone for the input, I'll update as/if needed.

Next bowl's on me.

Calcium deficiency. Or you burnt em by spraying them with the lights on...

good call Gastanker, i completely forgot about that and ive done it myself! it actually says in the back of the book 'The Godfather' that u shouldnt spray in the mid-day sun as the water can act like a prism and burn the (tomato plants) leaves, he shortly dies of a heart attack after it. Bit of completely useless info i know.

...or maybe there's something else going on. I trimmed the worst of the burnt leaves, flushed the soil, and put them under the 6.5K floros to settle in for another few weeks of vegging. Over the weekend they looked mucho, mucho better. The room even started smelling better.

Disappointingly, I awoke this morning to see the 'affliction' continuing, albeit at a much slower pace. Massive brown/purple blotching, leaves yellowing/curling... and at the tops the leaf tips are curling both up AND down. This noob can make no sense of any of it.



ismokealotofpot, I don't smoke cigarettes (anymore) and have not read about any blight that acts quite this way, but haven't ruled out that possibility. Again, no signs of insects or molds.

I'm preparing myself for the likelihood of losing the entire crop. I know the biggest factor in successful gardening is Trial and Error, but it's impossible to learn from one's mistakes if those mistakes are never identified.

Advice or even ridicule at this point would be greatly appreeshed.

NITROGEN (N) Pale plants, red stems, smaller growth. Rapid yellowing of lower leaves progressing up the plant. Add any chemical fertilizer containing N. Treated plants recover in about a week.

PHOSPHORUS (P) Slow or stunted growth, red stems. Smaller leaves that are dark green. Lower leaves yellow and die. Add chemical fertilizer containing P. Affected leaves will not show recovery but new growth will apear normal.

POTASSIUM (K) Affected plants are usually tallest and appear to be most vigorous. Necrotic spots form on lower leaves. Red stems. Leaves appear pale or yellow. Add chemical fertilizer containing K.

CALCIUM (Ca) Lack of calcium in the soil results in the soil becoming too acid. This leads to Mg or Fe deficiency or very slow stunted growth. Treat by foliar feeding with one teaspoon of dolomatic lime per quart of water until condition improves.

SULFER (S) Plants suffering from S definciencies exhibit yellowing of new growth. Mix one tablespoon of Epsom salts per gallon of water until condition improves.

MAGNESIUM (Mg) Lower leaves yellow and may even turn white while veins remain dark green. Blades die and curl upward.

IRON (Fe) Leaves on growing shoots turn pale and veins remain dark green. pH imbalances make iron insoluble. Foliar feed with chemical fertilizer containing Fe or rusty water.

MANGANESE (Mn) Necrotic and yellow spots form on top leaves. Mn deficiency occurs when large amounts of Mg are present in the soil. Foliar feed with any chemical fertilizer containing Mn.

BORON (B) Growing shoots turn grey or die. Growing shoots appear burnt. Treat with one teaspoon of Boric acid (sold as eyewash) per gallon of water.

MOLYBDENUM (Mb) Yellowing of middle leaves. Foliar feed with chemical fertilizer containing Mb.

ZINC (Zn) White areas form at leaf tips and between veins. Occurs in alkaline soils. Zn deficiency can be treated by burying galvanized nails in the soil. Chemical fertilizer containing Zn can also be used.

OVER FERTILIZATION Causes leaf tips to appear yellow or burnt. To correct soil should be flushed with three gallons of water per one gallon of soil.