Water/Soil Problem

So im about a month into flowering, and i noticed the leaves are yellowing, then browning, then dying from the bottom up. At this point it is about halfway through flowering, so i figure about half the leaves look like that. So at first it didnt worry me because a few posts on here said its the natural progression of things in the life cycle.

Ive always been super careful about watering because that is most noobs mistake. So i figured maybe i was being too cautious and not watering enough. So this morning, i kind of dug my fingers down a couple inches, and yep, absolutely bone dry. At this point i mustve walked back to my filling station about 10 times this morning as i thought my girls were dying of thirst. What is strange to me however is that the leaves arent really droopy like they are drying out, just yellow and dying like some sort of deficiency. Reading a bunch of posts seems like it pointing to N defeiciency, but heck i dont know...

But it seemed like i would water, dig my fingers down, still dry. Im talking about i gave these plants a ton of water, i had a ridiculous amount of runoff, but the soil still seemed dry inside.

1. I have 4 plants, i dont think the strains matter as they are all expereincing the same thing

2. Im using those cloth walmart bags for pots, i heard the work great.

3. Im growing indoors under a 1000watt hps (i know these can dry out the soil)

4. The soil is a combination of organic potting soil from the local neighborhood Armstrong garden store, and nice, dark, rich compost from the local community organic garden.

5. Running the GO BOX giving them full strength organic nutes once a week

6. I only water when the top starts to look dry. Which ends up being like 2-3 times a week.


So im wondering is it my girls are drinking that much at this point? Do i need to step up the watering? Have i been too cautious and made the soil hydrophobic? Or am i worrying too much?

Thanx for the advice. I will gladly go out and take pictures if needed for a diagnosis

Pretty normal for leaves to yellow and die in flowering since there is little to no nitrogen in flowering nutes. If the buds looks good dont worry about it. Pics are helpful as well.

intenseneal said:

Pretty normal for leaves to yellow and die in flowering since there is little to no nitrogen in flowering nutes. If the buds looks good dont worry about it. Pics are helpful as well.

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Yeah the buds, especially the indica i have growing in there (bag seed, friend told me it was xj-13) has super dense buds growing, with lots of white hairs. When i say dense, i mean DENSE. Im just afraid im not going to have any fan leaves left by harvest time. The Sativa isnt so dense, but it has waaaaaaaaaaaay more budsites growing. I gt tired of counting after 20.

SOMEBEECH said:

Id add 1tsp per gallon of Epson salt use hot water to dissolve let cool before using.
Yellowing is somewhat normal during late flower as is Cal-Mag deff,Try the salt and
a pic would help also.
Guide to Nutrient Deficiency or Toxicity

BEECH

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Ok, ill take pics when my light comes on. How does salt help a hydrophobic problem?

lemme see.....................

Let me clarify, as i read my first post and i said something wrong. I am NOT using full strength nutes. I figured because the compost had was so black and rich, and i shouldnt have to use so many liquid nutes. So i have this 3.5 gallon bucket that i use for all my watering. The Go Box said that the concentration measurements i add to the water is for ONE gallon, but i just use the same amount for that 3.5 gallons. Does that make sense? Should i be using more nutes?

compost drains poorly. do you have lots of perlite?

need pics...................

scroglodyte said:

compost drains poorly. do you have lots of perlite?

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No not just perlite by itself, however, i did add a bag of cactus soil because it drains well. And just looking at it in general, it is lighter, fluffier, and it does have some perlite in it. I did it to offset the major water holding properties of this compost. I mean this stuff is dark and rich, this community garden can get rich if they sold this stuff.

scroglodyte said:

need pics...................

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Yeah soon as i get home from class i will. It is in the middle of its night cycle, but im sure a minute or two in the light wont hurt

I would wait until the light cycle... as that is the most important time... though I have heard up to 15 minutes light is alright during night cycle...but not something I want to try myself.

LeafGnosis said:

I would wait until the light cycle... as that is the most important time... though I have heard up to 15 minutes light is alright during night cycle...but not something I want to try myself.

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You know im relatively new to cultivating marijuana. However, i am a graduating college senior taking up Environmental Science, and i know there is no terrestrial plant that receives absolute darkness. There is always moonlight, so why do people say that you need complete darkness for 12 hours to grow weed?

no you are correct, MJ does grow under full moon and does not herm. Now you just have to keep any light that comes in during night cycle around or below full moon lux: Full moon (clear) = 0.27 lux (June time frame, where as I am not sure if that is the greatest lux....)

LeafGnosis said:

no you are correct, MJ does grow under full moon and does not herm. Now you just have to keep any light that comes in during night cycle around or below full moon lux: Full moon (clear) = 0.27 lux

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Ahh, that is still pretty low though, might as well call it darkness. If im not mistaken i remember from one particular class that the average lux of a room is about 400?

jcurtis912 said:

Ahh, that is still pretty low though, might as well call it darkness. If im not mistaken i remember from one particular class that the average lux of a room is about 400?

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hrm... good question.. I would agree since yahoo had a good answer about room/hall lighting etc: (taken from yahoo answers)
"
This is an average illumination, which should be measured on the working plane.
The working plane is that height above the ground where the major tasks in that room are undertaken.
i.e. in a workshop, probably at 900mm Above finished floor level.
in an Office at say 750mm AFFL,
In a corridor this would be at floor level.
To measure the average illumination, one should take a number of measurements, with a luxmeter, on a measured grid, across the entire width and length of the working plane. An average should be obtained from these readings.
Remember to adjust the readings if necessary to suit the types of lamps.
It is usually applied with Uniformity which is expressed as a percentage i.e 70 %.
Uniformity is the ratio of minimum illumination to average illumination, such that the intent is to provide an even level across the working plane. There is usually a 'buffer' zone to a 500mm or so strip around the room, which is an area usually considered very difficult to uniformly illuminate, and also outside the working plane.
If you were trying to light a room to 500 lux with Uniformity of 70 %, then the lowest level of illumination should only be 350 lux minimum (Or as a percentage of the actual average measured.)
You mention that you are trying to light a room with chandeliers and downlights to 750 lux, and I would question this. Typical rooms which use these type of luminaires do not normally require such high levels of illumination.
Typically a dining hall / conference room would only be about 300 lux.
Offices are typically 350 - 500 lux.
Corridors are 100 - 150 lux.
Entrance halls may be about 200 lux.
Hope this helps.
Source(s):

I've been an Electrical Consulting Engineer for nearly 30 years, but check this site, and it may provide some answers...
http://www.cibse.org/index.cfm?go=home.s…
"
man, the things we can learn, with good judgement of course

LeafGnosis said:

hrm... good question.. I would agree since yahoo had a good answer about room/hall lighting etc: (taken from yahoo answers)
"
This is an average illumination, which should be measured on the working plane.
The working plane is that height above the ground where the major tasks in that room are undertaken.
i.e. in a workshop, probably at 900mm Above finished floor level.
in an Office at say 750mm AFFL,
In a corridor this would be at floor level.
To measure the average illumination, one should take a number of measurements, with a luxmeter, on a measured grid, across the entire width and length of the working plane. An average should be obtained from these readings.
Remember to adjust the readings if necessary to suit the types of lamps.
It is usually applied with Uniformity which is expressed as a percentage i.e 70 %.
Uniformity is the ratio of minimum illumination to average illumination, such that the intent is to provide an even level across the working plane. There is usually a 'buffer' zone to a 500mm or so strip around the room, which is an area usually considered very difficult to uniformly illuminate, and also outside the working plane.
If you were trying to light a room to 500 lux with Uniformity of 70 %, then the lowest level of illumination should only be 350 lux minimum (Or as a percentage of the actual average measured.)
You mention that you are trying to light a room with chandeliers and downlights to 750 lux, and I would question this. Typical rooms which use these type of luminaires do not normally require such high levels of illumination.
Typically a dining hall / conference room would only be about 300 lux.
Offices are typically 350 - 500 lux.
Corridors are 100 - 150 lux.
Entrance halls may be about 200 lux.
Hope this helps.
Source(s):

I've been an Electrical Consulting Engineer for nearly 30 years, but check this site, and it may provide some answers...
http://www.cibse.org/index.cfm?go=home.s…
"
man, the things we can learn, with good judgement of course

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VERY interesting. Im wondering why you have to take it around 900mm from the floor in a corridor because that is the correct average angle that the light bounces off the wall surfaces? Or is it something that scientist have just agreed that is a good number ( for instance how pi is generally accepted to be 3.14)? Just thinking logically, because like that yahoo excerpt you copied over, the position of your light source will undoubtedly determine where you take your readings from. Basically im just curious about those numbers they use.

That link, has a link on the page, but its dead. You got another one? I would love to fire one up and go through it.