NewGrower2011
Well-Known Member
So I've been using coco a few times now and went back to a simple ebb & flow setup. I'm several weeks into flower and the plant was getting heavy from the bud growth and I was tying some supports off when I noticed that on the 'inside' of the plant I could see at least one major branch where the leaves were notably different. The rest of the plant had at worse showed signs of a little nute burn since the tips were burnt and curling (down iirc)...
Now on this inner cola/branch the leaves are extremely waxy looking, dark green and 'canoe' shaped with the leaves curling so the 'canoe' is upside down (i.e. wouldn't hold water but would shed water)...
The buds themselves and major fan leaves do not appear this way though... it's as if it's started from the bottom coming up and from the inside working its way out... if that helps pin it down...
I have several different variables from prior grows so I'm not sure if it's any 1 thing of a combination of... i.e. I'm running LED and I know some claims out there about LED's demaning more Ca.. or something along those lines.
Some stats/info...
20 gal rez, setup for a small flood & drain table that hold a single plant... 2 air stones, mediocre turbulence... probably could use more ooomph but my Eco 1 air pump resonates and can be heard in other rooms... so not in use atm...
single 5 gal Smart Pot with Coco -- amended with top dressings... The coco was recycled and I have done this before... when recycling coco I leave in the smart pot and flush over & over many times... all with chlorinated tap water (intentionally killing any thing with the chlorine)... I do this many times so I have wondered about anything like a Ca build-up... I recently started using RO water for the last "final flush" before storing/re-using...
The top dressing mix is a new thing I'm trying and it was made from Kelp Meal, Ancient Forest humus, EC, Azomite, Chicken Manure Compost and some high P guano along with Mychorizzal powders from 2 vendors... I had picked up big bags of these amendments/tea components to make an AACT eventually but also intended to use them for amendments when planting/top-dressing... I may have laid them on too heavy... not sure there.
This time around I also have 450w of A51 led's going instead of T5's... so there's another variable... I had read somewhere about the LED's causing the plants to demand even more Ca...
And just to add another variable, this time I'm running Botanicare's new KIND line of nutes... Which is supposed to have the Ca/Mg levels needed for 'fast flowering annuals'... Wink Wink... There is fine print though saying to add so Ca/Mg if using RO so I have added a little bump per those application notes... Before I was using PureBlend Pro and several misc. additives... Which the supplements I'm using this time are pretty much the same (silica, kelp, root benies, aminos, Floralicious Plus, Hygrozyme, Liquid Karma)...
My PPM's have been around 1400 and my pH was kept around 5.8 to 6.1... Rez temps staying around 71 ish.... Root ball has been around 68 ish... And ambient temps around high 70's... Humidity is low though...
Now, here's my actual suspected point of failure... I kept topping off the rez with either plain old RO water or occasionally a little fresh 'mix' of new nutes... The RO water was occasionally poured across the top-dressing to help get some of those goodies down deep into the root-ball and the rez contents... i.e. micro nutes from Azomite...
My initial guess would be I have a Nitrogen toxicity since the plant might have been gobbling down PK and leaving behind N which then accumulated to a toxic level... Assuming dark-green, waxy, canoe-ing leaves is a sign of that...
Can't post pics... Sorry... But if that info can help triage - any input is appreciated!
Also - yes I've already dumped the rez and started over fresh... Now I'm just waiting to see if this addressed the issue and that particular area of the plant recovers/changes...
Now on this inner cola/branch the leaves are extremely waxy looking, dark green and 'canoe' shaped with the leaves curling so the 'canoe' is upside down (i.e. wouldn't hold water but would shed water)...
The buds themselves and major fan leaves do not appear this way though... it's as if it's started from the bottom coming up and from the inside working its way out... if that helps pin it down...
I have several different variables from prior grows so I'm not sure if it's any 1 thing of a combination of... i.e. I'm running LED and I know some claims out there about LED's demaning more Ca.. or something along those lines.
Some stats/info...
20 gal rez, setup for a small flood & drain table that hold a single plant... 2 air stones, mediocre turbulence... probably could use more ooomph but my Eco 1 air pump resonates and can be heard in other rooms... so not in use atm...
single 5 gal Smart Pot with Coco -- amended with top dressings... The coco was recycled and I have done this before... when recycling coco I leave in the smart pot and flush over & over many times... all with chlorinated tap water (intentionally killing any thing with the chlorine)... I do this many times so I have wondered about anything like a Ca build-up... I recently started using RO water for the last "final flush" before storing/re-using...
The top dressing mix is a new thing I'm trying and it was made from Kelp Meal, Ancient Forest humus, EC, Azomite, Chicken Manure Compost and some high P guano along with Mychorizzal powders from 2 vendors... I had picked up big bags of these amendments/tea components to make an AACT eventually but also intended to use them for amendments when planting/top-dressing... I may have laid them on too heavy... not sure there.
This time around I also have 450w of A51 led's going instead of T5's... so there's another variable... I had read somewhere about the LED's causing the plants to demand even more Ca...
And just to add another variable, this time I'm running Botanicare's new KIND line of nutes... Which is supposed to have the Ca/Mg levels needed for 'fast flowering annuals'... Wink Wink... There is fine print though saying to add so Ca/Mg if using RO so I have added a little bump per those application notes... Before I was using PureBlend Pro and several misc. additives... Which the supplements I'm using this time are pretty much the same (silica, kelp, root benies, aminos, Floralicious Plus, Hygrozyme, Liquid Karma)...
My PPM's have been around 1400 and my pH was kept around 5.8 to 6.1... Rez temps staying around 71 ish.... Root ball has been around 68 ish... And ambient temps around high 70's... Humidity is low though...
Now, here's my actual suspected point of failure... I kept topping off the rez with either plain old RO water or occasionally a little fresh 'mix' of new nutes... The RO water was occasionally poured across the top-dressing to help get some of those goodies down deep into the root-ball and the rez contents... i.e. micro nutes from Azomite...
My initial guess would be I have a Nitrogen toxicity since the plant might have been gobbling down PK and leaving behind N which then accumulated to a toxic level... Assuming dark-green, waxy, canoe-ing leaves is a sign of that...
Can't post pics... Sorry... But if that info can help triage - any input is appreciated!
Also - yes I've already dumped the rez and started over fresh... Now I'm just waiting to see if this addressed the issue and that particular area of the plant recovers/changes...