Plant Problems...necrosis, browning...help Please (plus rep)

Hi all. I'm having some issues with my plants. This is my 2nd soil grow. The problem visible in the pics ( brown crispy leaves, and "rotting?" necrotic leaves starting at the tips) were also present on my last grow. However they didn't show up until much later on. These plants were originally in Coco-they were being fed pbp grow and tap water, ph about 5.8-6. The plants started to show brown crisping, curling, stretching, and looked generally unhealthy. I then switched them to soil, a 60/40 mix of happy from and ocean forest. Since then new growth has appeared but it is showing the same problems. Also now present is dark "moist" brown patches of leaves, starting from the tips. It's all in the pics.

The plants are currently being vegged (some have started to flower but I'm going to re-veg them...however I'm pretty sure this unrelated to my problem since I had the same issues last grow). They are outdoor plants but I bring them in at night and put them under a light to extend the day cycle.

Soil ph: is 6.8. I should add that the soil they are sitting in is VERY fresh... It was brand new before I planted the plants in it and has only watered with plain chlorine-filtered tap water once.

Plain tap Water PPM: 342

My thoughts: I'm not very experienced when it comes to diagnosing plant problems but from my readings I think it's a phosphorous deficiency. Possibly with potassium. I'm also pretty sure I have cal/man issues due to my hard water. I just read somewhere in another thread that using water over 200 ppms tends to lock cal/mag...and that it would need to be adjusted using lime or Epsom salt. I didn't add anything to the soil before using except some hydroton. Can this be corrected with a foliar feed? I would think so. My current plan of action is to foliar feed 1tbs/ gallon epsom salt today, then foliar feed with a PBP bloom tomorrow. However...I'm aware that the soil should have all necessary nutrients (which makes me hesitant to start adding nutes) and that these issues are most likely caused by some kind of "lock-out." The problem does not seem to be correcting it self and seems to be getting worse.

Any help would be VERY much appreciated. I'll be around all day checking this thread periodically so we can have a "real-time" conversation.
I look forward to your responses and thank you in advance.

I'll be waitin'...

Here's a few pics of when they were still in coco. I forgot to mention, I'm pretty sure the problem is the water. It's the only thing I've used consistently over all my soil grows... other than the soil itself. These are even new genetics.

Ph too high try bringing it down between 6.3-6.6 a foliage spray will slow down/stop any deficiencies just flush the soil out a bit with plain water or a tsp of molasses/gal if your tap water ph is a lil too high,the reason why i say this is because you don't wont have toxicities.Make the foliage spray 1/2 strength and mist plants until dripping and let sit for 20-30 minutes Do not shake off excess DO NOT spray by lights,after letting sit for 20-30 minutes spray with spray with plain water then shake off all excess water and put under light and fans(lights should be moved away 3ft to be safe),feed your plants thru the soil the next watering making sure your PH is not over 6.7 Max since your strain seems to take a slight imbalance in PH hard.

sencinitas said:

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Here's a few pics of when they were still in coco. I forgot to mention, I'm pretty sure the problem is the water. It's the only thing I've used consistently over all my soil grows... other than the soil itself. These are even new genetics.

Click to expand...

They had calcium and magnesium deficiency.

@ Hotshot-thanks man, plus rep
So they had a cal-mag deficiency... But I was using tap water which should contain cal and mag, so I'm guessing my ppms are too high and it locks out the cal-mag. I read something about putting epsom salt and/or lime in the water to help counter act this, Any thoughts or experience with this?, but part of the reason I started using tap-water in the first place was so I could stop supplementing cal-mag.

Is the cal-mag problem resolved...or is it possible it has worsened. Should I supplement cal-mag?

I'll flush this evening with molasses. Will the molasses help lower the ph. I didn't think that was one of it's properties. If not what's the best way to lower the ph of my soil. I have ph down. should I just add some to the water I flush with? I feel like that's kind of counter-productive.

Also there are multiple strains...some are more affected than others.

Why would the ph be off in the soil? It's brand new.

And I forgot to mention the ph of the tap water is 6.5

Should I do anything with epsom salt or lime?

Your tap water is fine no need to add molasses cause it will lower it,don't add anything as of now just flush it thru with tap water and foliage feed,in 2-3 days or when soil is drying(do not let it dry all the way) water with nutes,You could flush with epsom salt but only if you are going to use the foliage spray cause if its a PH lockout then its only gonna build up until corrected.

So I foliar fed with hydroplex in order to try and fix the phosphorous deficiency. Should I hit them with some cal-mag too? I'm going to flush with epsom salt tonight.
1 tbs per gallon?

One thing that's still bugging me though is that I'm pretty sure I was doing things right when all these problems started. In other words, after I correct the problem I would go about taking care of them the same I was originally, but there's apparently some problem with what was doing...so something needs to change. Should epsom salt just be part of the feeding regimen?

HotShot7414 said:

Ph too high try bringing it down between 6.3-6.6 a foliage spray will slow down/stop any deficiencies just flush the soil out a bit with plain water or a tsp of molasses/gal if your tap water ph is a lil too high,the reason why i say this is because you don't wont have toxicities.Make the foliage spray 1/2 strength and mist plants until dripping and let sit for 20-30 minutes Do not shake off excess DO NOT spray by lights,after letting sit for 20-30 minutes spray with spray with plain water then shake off all excess water and put under light and fans(lights should be moved away 3ft to be safe),feed your plants thru the soil the next watering making sure your PH is not over 6.7 Max since your strain seems to take a slight imbalance in PH hard.

Click to expand...

Hotshot is right, I have heard in coco they want hydro PH.......
That was probably the start of all your problems.View attachment 2388778View attachment 2388780

sencinitas said:

So I foliar fed with hydroplex in order to try and fix the phosphorous deficiency. Should I hit them with some cal-mag too? I'm going to flush with epsom salt tonight.
1 tbs per gallon?

One thing that's still bugging me though is that I'm pretty sure I was doing things right when all these problems started. In other words, after I correct the problem I would go about taking care of them the same I was originally, but there's apparently some problem with what was doing...so something needs to change. Should epsom salt just be part of the feeding regimen?

Click to expand...

1 Tbsp/ gal. is fine if that's what you decide to do, but spray the underside of the leaves as well as the tops, and don't expect to see an improvement right away, and remember, the leaves that are affected, will not 'heal', but affliction should stp if that is really the problem.
From your other post, if you want to lower your water PH, I use white distilled vinegar, 1 capful/ gal. to come down almost a full point.
My water starts out at a little over 8, and I use vinegar to drop it down, add molasses, and once in a while, add epsom to the water also for my Sativa, which seems to be more susceptible and need more mag than my Indica.

When the plants were in coco they were fed with a ph of 5.8. According to the chart... ideal ph for soil is 6.5. I'm at 6.8 so off a few points ...but according to the chart cal &mag should not be the issue any more. Which is definitely possible... as the crisping of the leaves seems to be slowing.

OOOPS.... I JUST REALIZED THAT THE FIRST PICS I MEANT TO POST NEVER GOT POSTED

To be clear, the first pics "smaller plants in coco" are from a 1-2 weeks ago, the pics i JUST posted were taken yesterday morning and are the pics I've been referring to (and thought you were referring to).

I'm aware that they need nitrogen, I figure that they'll pick it up from the soil they are now in. I'm like 95% sure it's a phosphorus deficiency. What I don't understand is why? I had this same problem on my recently harvested plants. T

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Sorry man, all those links are bad.
Try going to 'advanced then click the paperclip at top right of box, or scroll down and use 'manage attachments'.

In having a same issue and I'm trying to figure out how to post pic? Can u post from a smart phone? I have rust/necrosis on lower fan, and I have added calmag to my nute reg. any suggestions??

" I'm like 95% sure it's a phosphorus deficiency"


It looks like a Potassium (K) deficiency to me! Just keep foilar feeding I use Technaflora Thrive alive B1. It's 1.0 N - 1.0 K- 1.0 P then I just add a pinch of epsom salt. It will keep your plants from getting worst until you can figure this out.

This is a K deficiency