Severe Nutrient Burn?

Ok jaw, I am going to go get the dolomite lime tomorrow and give it to my plants. Can I find it at any local garden store? Does it come in liquid form? Also, since I haven't given them any nutrients in over almost 2 weeks, can I add a small amount of nutrients to the water/lime mix?

^Ooops, I should've been more specific. Yep, they'll carry it at your local garden store, and it's not water soluable, so get the powdered form(it comes in pellets, too). Add 2 tbsp to your first 3 gallons of water,(2 tbsp each gallon) then switch to straight water for the rest of the flush. Then feed as you normally would, at the very end(at whatever strength you choose).

Alright cool man, thanks for the help. I've read a little bit about the lime, and I guess its pretty slow acting right? How fast should I expect the soil to become less acidic and see improvement in the leaves?

^The soil will be within spec, as soon as your done flushing, as long as you monitor the runoff until it's where you want it to be. Then, the lime will help keep it there, even if it's slow-acting.

ok so I added the lime today. Gave all my plants about 2 gallons each, tested the run off, came out at pretty much exactly 6. I noticed the plants were still getting worse today with the blackening and yellowing. Would a nutrient burn keep harming the plant if its not fully flushed? I mean I flushed 2 times with pure water, shouldn't that have stopped the burn?

^The burn has stopped, but it doesn't stop immediately. It'll get a tad worse before it stops. It takes time for plants to react, so give it time. If the flush did the trick, you'll start to see nice green growth in 3 days or so.


What PH were you pouring in? 6.0? I recommend 6.5-6.9(I keep all my fert/water at 6.7-6.9), especially in a case of low PH. No biggie, just keep everything you pour in from now on, at least 6.4, or higher.

Alright well I hope its stopped. Cause it still looks like it is progressing up the plant and hitting the newer growth. I would say that in the 12-15 gallon pot, I have only given it about 12 gals of water. Im not sure if this is enough for a good flush its just that I dont really have much more cause my resovoir is only 20 gallons and I didn't want to put chlorine water in straight from the tap.

Before I was pouring my water in at about 5.5-6 probably. Im thinking about flushing it even more, Im not sure Ive actually even done it.

Well, Im happy to report that all the plants are now standing up tall and looking happy again. I think they are growing new leaves in finally too. Im not sure if the burn is still progressing, because the tips of the upper leaves are looking like they are burning now. Hopefully that is what you were talking about it getting a tad bit worse. I hope the burning of leaves will finally come to a stop though, its been at it for over a week

Flush with 3 Gallons of water for every 1 gallon of dirt

15 gallon container so flush with LOLZ 45 gallons of water and let it run out the bottom, You may need good drainage lol

OK jaw thanks for all the help, gave you some rep++. Heres an update, the plants are looking better. They are all showing new green growth and are standing up tall. So that is definitely good. However, I'm not sure that the yellowing and browing/burning is over. It seems like it is still getting higher. Could this be still due to the ph adjusting? I mean a nutrient burn wouldn't keep doing this, especially after I diluted it with a flush right?

flush with 30gal of water. 10gallons for every 5gal

Schwag Bag said:

OK jaw thanks for all the help, gave you some rep++. Heres an update, the plants are looking better. They are all showing new green growth and are standing up tall. So that is definitely good. However, I'm not sure that the yellowing and browing/burning is over. It seems like it is still getting higher. Could this be still due to the ph adjusting? I mean a nutrient burn wouldn't keep doing this, especially after I diluted it with a flush right?

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Hmm....It sounds like the flush was successful, but maybe only partially. I should also add that if you left them dry to the point of drooping, that you'll lose a bunch of fan leaves, a few days afre it's been watered again. If that's the case, you can't stop that.

What is the PPH of your tap water? If it's less than 150, you can use it straight out of the tap. I'm lucky, in that mine is only 40 PPM. I use it without letting it sit overnight, or sit at all, and never had a problem with it. Honestly, I don't think letting water sit, actually does a whole lot. I'm sure it helps, but only a small amount, almost negligible.(spelling?) You'd be much better off going with a thoruogh flush, than quitting early because you've ran out of water to use.

For a pot that size, if you take care to make sure the flush soaks nice and evenly, you'd only need about 20-25 gallons for a good flush, not 40 gallons. The best way to 'know' when you're finished, is to monitor runoff, til it's close to the water that you're pouring in. Why pour in an extra 10+ gallons, if you don't have to, right?

At any rate, it sounds like the flush helped, which is good. You could spread a thin layer of lime on top of the soil, each time you feed or water, and that'll help too, if you don't have the time or ambition to flush again, for a few weeks. It's almost impossible to use too much lime, one the plants are that size. Little one's can get PH burn, but the big ones are pretty resisitant against it.

I dont know what the pph of my water. I dont even know what PPH is haha. I know it comes out at 8.5 ph or higher. That's why I haven't wanted to use it straight out of the hose.

I think tomorrow Im going to give my plants that are burning a thorough flush. Do you think it would be a big deal if I used the water straight out of the hose, even those its at a 8 or so PH and might have chlorine? I just think I need to give them a good flush, then at the end give them more lime. Is that a good plan?

Oh and what do you mean about the run off? Check its ph?

^Yeah, check it's PH. That'll give you an indicator of what the soil PH is, and if it's really low, or not. When it comes out close to what you're pouring it, your medium is almost clean.

PPM meters are cheap, less than $30 on Ebay, and a good tool to have. Until you know the quality of your tapwater, I wouldn't flush with it. It could create more problems than you already have.lol Also, if you can afford it, order a digital PH meter, along with the PPM meter, if you don't already have one. Then you'll be set.

P.S. Do you have "hard water"?(brown rings around your sink drains, etc...) That's basically what you're checking for with the ppm meter. If you know your water isn't extremely "hard", you could use it in an emergency, if your plants are going downhill fast. If not, wait til you get a metter, so you know for sure. Guessing/assuming, can kill plants. Trust me, I've found out the hard way, more than once.

i just skipped to the last page and breezing threw gunna put 1 thing out there idk if anyone mentioned but i heard FF soil is horrible and everyone that i see has probs is using FF soil just a thought...

Well I'm using Happy frog soil, I think it might be a subsidiary of Fox Farm? Not sure, just using the fox farm nutes

Kart0oN said:

i just skipped to the last page and breezing threw gunna put 1 thing out there idk if anyone mentioned but i heard FF soil is horrible and everyone that i see has probs is using FF soil just a thought...

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All the problems I hear with FF OF, are nuteburn, because people insist on adding fert before it's necessary. I don't feed mine at all, til week 5-6(first week of 12/12), and never have any problems with the soil, or any deficiencies. It has plenty of nutes to sustain 'em for that long, and to about 20" tall. I use Happy Frog or Light Warrior, for seedlings and freshly rooted clones, because the OF is really rich, almost enough to burn their baby roots. Then, I go to OF after the first transplant, and it's smooth sailing....

Ya Ill probably go with OF next time. I think the plants are improving for sure. One of them is having some strange curling and crisping of the entire leaf without color discoloration. Still getting some leaves burnt off the ones I nute burned before. Looks like the 1 trainwreck is starting to flower, first one of the bunch.