Your advice needed!

Hi. First post for a first time grower! Been lurking for great info, but this problem perplexes me.

I’ve got an outdoor grow in (HD box store) organic soil. Wanted to go TOTALLY ORGANIC, so I’ve only used worm castings. Nothing else has touched this plant except water. (No extra nutes, sprays, or anything). Adjusting pH of water to 6.5. Sampled runoff and it’s at pH of 8.1. Plant is in about week 3 of flowering stage.

*Anyway.......... The tips of the larger fan leaves have burned and are curling under. The plant went from the typical olive green to a lighter spring green. (Hoping photo shows up on this post...I’m old!)

TBH, I think I underwatered her. I’d heard the biggest mistake for a noob is overwatering, so I backed off a bit too much.
Have since watered them twice with pH of 5.8, to try to bring soil pH down.
I need things to be as ‘perfect’ as I can get it.
Love the science of this process.

If it were Nitrogen burn, the leaf would be a darker green, I think.

Could the leaf symptoms be from UNDERWATERING, or is there a better explanation?

Thanks to all. Great forum.

Can you take a pic of the whole plant? maybe a side shot and one looking down from the top? Were you using tap water to water? Do you know the quality of it? (ph, alkalinity, elements). Also do you have maybe a pic or link to the bag of soil you are using, nothing comes up on google for hd box store soil.

whole plant pics would certainly be helpful.. based on those leaf pics alone it doesn't look like over fertilization or too much N... id be more inclined to think the plant needs food based only on those leaf pics

adjusting the ph of the source water or solution isnt required in a quality soil that's been amended with lime to buffer the soil ph

in hydro you don't have soil as a buffer therefore the solution requires a specific ph

in soil the solution ph wont change the soil ph.... no matter how many times you adjust your feed water its not going to have any affect on the soil ph... you can feed it ph 5.5 or ph 8.5 and its not going to affect the ph of the soil in the short term

in soil to lower ph youd add sulfuric amendment granules and to raise it youd add lime, for example dolomite or oyster shell
and then it takes 2 to 6 weeks for the amendment to have an effect on the soil ph

if your letting the medium dry out excessively that can be causing some ph changes... id try testing it again when the soil is ready to be watered but not so super dry as you've described

but don't test the drain or waste test the soil!!!

the issue might be in the soil you started with... I cant say for sure maybe its fine but there are plenty of shitty soil options on the shelf

you might also try fishing around in the organic section maybe post your issue over there... the guys who hang in the organic section are going to know best how to help you

Wow! I just doubled my knowledge of cultivating in the last five minutes! Thanks. I’ve been watering with regular tap water, after letting it stand for a day, and then pH correcting it from about 7.5 to 6.5. The ONLY thing that has touched these plants are water and worm castings. I used the tomato cages for supporting and separating stems. I’ve been pruning the sickly stuff off of them. (That’s why there’s no burnt tips on any) Thanks.

PS. I’ll post in ‘Organics’. Cheers.

Urbansherpa said:

Wow! I just doubled my knowledge of cultivating in the last five minutes! Thanks. I’ve been watering with regular tap water, after letting it stand for a day, and then pH correcting it from about 7.5 to 6.5. The ONLY thing that has touched these plants are water and worm castings. Thanks.

View attachment 4192401 View attachment 4192404 View attachment 4192405 View attachment 4192404
View attachment 4192401

Click to expand...

Those look great. So what are you going on about?

Compost tea if going organic at most I would say.

Check this for phosphorus .

https://www.grow-it-organically.com/organic-phosphorus-fertilizers.html

The photos do look decent, but the tips on many have blackened and are curling under. I’ve since pruned them. (I’ve read that the plant needs to concentrate its energy and goodness to the top of the plants, so prune the sickies. True?) I want to nip this problem before it gets bigger.......or am I just worrying?
Even if I’m over thinking this, what is causing it?

Also....anybody tell me what week I’m in? I’d guess three of four (?)

Blitz35 said:

Can you take a pic of the whole plant? maybe a side shot and one looking down from the top? Were you using tap water to water? Do you know the quality of it? (ph, alkalinity, elements). Also do you have maybe a pic or link to the bag of soil you are using, nothing comes up on google for hd box store soil.

Click to expand...

Vigoro Organics. I also amended with 25% peat.

Can anyone advise me how to switch this into the ‘Organics’ forum? ‍ Cheers.

you cant switch into the organic...youd need to repost

but after looking at the pics im not sure you need much help...they look great

maybe theyd like a little more food id say

Food suggestions welcome. Also, if you look at the first (Supercrop) photo, you can see the contrast in leaf shades. They were both the darker shade last week. Could it be from underwatering alone? Replies are much appreciated.

Urbansherpa said:

Food suggestions welcome. .

Click to expand...

what do you have? food options welcome is pretty vague... whats your goal..is it 100 organic or are you looking at just tossing some fertilizer on it?

if your looking for suggestions on fert brands

id suggest getting maxi bloom and maxi grow


per 1 gallon

veg full strength
6 to 8 grams maxi grow only


first 6 to 8 weeks of bloom
4 grams maxi grow
4 grams maxi bloom

late bloom last 2 weeks
6 grams maxi bloom

very simple
very well round and balanced fertilizer ratio
safe doses
economical

as far as organic options you could top dress some tomato tone (maybe 2 to 4 oz) but it wont be available for a while and i believe you might like to get some fast food on it

the organic food you mentioned im not familiar with so i don't know if its readily available food or if it takes time to break down as most organic options require
or you could brew some tea

id go ahead and top dress with some ewc (1 or 2 cups) either way..ewc might tide you over until the organic nutes break down if they need time idk

Need a dose of nutrients. Don't over do it.

Reposted on ‘Organic’ forum. Thanks for the help on this forum, too.

I went to my local, Canadian grow shop and got some advice. I bought a quart of Calmag Plus. He told me it would fix my micronutrient problems.

Thanks very much for the information. I’ll continue on the other forum.
Cheers!