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Can anyone tell me a solution to my problem...i have to much calcium in the water here in my well for my plants. i have narrowed down the problem to this.....to much calcium makes the branch to the leaves purple and the main salk also has purple in it..and the leaves are turning light purple...can someone tell me how i can treat my water to make this excess of calcium go away?
RO filter
Why do you think it's too much calcium? The purpling symptoms sound more like phosphorus deficiency. Check out the link below, but here's the excerpt on phosphorus:
"Phosphorus - P - Deficiency
Lower leaves and stems [I've seen it on middle and upper-middle leaves, too.]
"First sign of deficiency is stunted plant growth, and leaves become darker green. Then, lower leaves and stems may develop red or purple coloration. In worst cases, lower leaf chlorosis [yellowing] and necrosis [death] occurs. Slight phosphorus deficiency is used in plug production to reduce size and darken leaves. In most cases P, deficiency is not common."
When they say that P deficiency is not common, they are talking about in crop soils, not potted plants that depend on you for their P. And even in plain old dirt, you can see P deficiency fairly often, at least I have. I think that sometimes, it indicates that you've given the plant plenty of nitrogen and/or potassium, and all that rank growth makes it P-starved.
Pics would help nail it down. What grow media and fertilizer have you used?
Deficiency and Toxicity Symptoms
Extreme hardness in your tapwater IS a potential cause of nutrient lock-outs.
I'd flush your plants with a VERY weak solution of humic acid (Soil Syrup) and until you can get a better water source, check out a hard-water formula fertilizer. There are a couple out there. But you will need to deal with this if you are going to continue growing. Are you seeing calcium scale on your ceramic bathroom fixtures?
I beleive the calcium is the problem...because yes..i have scale on my faucets here, well water that has much iron and calcium. i will look at the link and put a pic of a plant from earlier in the summer, i had bout this plant as a clone and it flowered early as it went from a 24 hour growlight to regular outside light, this plants leaves if you look close are purpling, i just asumed it was normal as the tag on the plant was a purple dot. Now..my young plants are all with purple stems and pruple and yellow leaves....
the book i am using..medical marijuana bible by cervantes suggests that the deficiency is in mag. that is the only one that says anything about purple stems and leaves.
i have been using fox farms grow big, but i am thinking that the large amount of calcium in my water is preventing the uptake of the nutes.
My question is, how can i get the calcium nutralized or out of the water that i am using on these plants.
thank you so much for your input and i am adding pics below, also will be going to the link you provided. note the purple on the stems going to the leaves, also the leaves light purple color.
tcbud
if you look at the plants in thier own window you can see the purple stems and the yellowing leaves that have light purple on them.
Has it gotten down below 65 a few nights?
Purple leaves come out in cold temps if the strain has that potential trait. That's not a problem! :D
I love tht your av is the movie poster from the book that mine is... nice.
Yes it had when those pics were taken...still the ones that have been inside, and are out now, have this same problem and the nights are now about 56 coldest, more like average 60. i still think it has something to do with the amount of calcium i have in the water, i am going to try getting some of the above mentioned "syrup" and the alternative hard water type ferts. This is the first time in my life i wished i was on city water.....not...lol. I will work this out and thank you so much for your help.
inbud
What is an RO filter?
attic....
and i couldnt beleive that there were two Marijuana Girl movie posters when i saw Yours lol......
inbud...
There's 1 movie poster. Mine is from the second edition of the book. There's one more! It's also blue like yours.
Reverse-Osmosis water filter ... removes pretty much everything from the water (it's what most of your bottled water is) ... after using mine for awhile, I stopped, and started driving 40 miles roundtrip, to obtain springwater (I found water flowing from a local spring, 6.7 pH) :thumbsup: ... the RO filters remove all calcium, so it tends to turn the water acidic ... also, it removes magnesium, iron, etc., that need to be replaced ... after all that hassle, it's easier for me to make the scenic drive :jointsmile:Quote:
Originally Posted by inbud
Trust me, cold temps bring out purple colors. And those temps are ideal for some pretty canna fall foliage.Quote:
Originally Posted by inbud
yes i noticed on the plant last year that we grew, i left some very small amount of folaige on her, she all but screamed purple before she froze. oh well...i am gonna try to find the ph meter in the hardware store tomarrow, this omosis thing doesent sound like a winner either. i hate the idea of going somewhere else to find water to give these girls. i have six in flower right now and six more that should be flowering soon...that is a lot of water to haul. Thank you all for your help.
inbud
a quick note, here, i took some of te leaves to the hydro guy, and his wife told me that the pruple was normal to a plant called purps....as she said, she ad seen purple stems and leaves on plants with the word purple in thier names....so i guess that is that on the purple stem and leaf problem.
thank you all sincerly, from the bottom of my heart for your efforts to help me.
inbud
thank you again
If your grow is small just "cut" your water with distilled.
I got you inbud. Go to the fish store and get Seachem neutral regulator. It is a phosphor buffer. Quote from bottle "It softens water by precipitating calcium and magnesium". Seachem does extensive testing and is renowned in the aquatic world for its science backing its products. I use it to adjust my water in my tank and sometimes to my plant water. Warning, This is a phosphate buffer so watch the amount of fert you use with it. Its also adjustable, one tsp may not eliminate all your calcium but it will bring it down a notch. Also I'll mention that this product was constructed around a planted aquarium so it should be completely harmless to plants though I wouldn't go too far above the recommended dose.
thank you so much, i have twelve plants i can grow legal, they are in 15 gallon containers, i will look into this Seachem neutral regulator. the idea of using the distilled water would run into to much money, buying water. Last years plant did not seem to mind the extra calcium, i was just so concerned with the purple in the plants, i have been looking for an excuse for what to me was a strange color. All of the plants that are not called purps do not show signs of purple leaves and stems. Mountain from a mole hill, growing and learning, next year will be a much larger harvest. lol.
If you use a precipitating agent, you have to decant off the supernatant, leaving the precipitate behind- you DON'T want the solids in your soil!
I would not personally use that method. Go for a real RO system.
Good point Stinkyattic. :jointsmile: I never thought of that. In my aquarium calcium constantly being used(as the buffer). I use Gh & Kh liquid tests to keep and eye on my general hardness and carbonate hardness. Though I'm not afraid to admit that my research falls short in the botany dep. I started my Aquarium addiction before my cannabis. But taking care of diff. aqua-plants gave me a little exp. I already new the importance of N-P-K, Trace elements and general problem solving while simultaneously keeping the fish healthy. Now I don't touch my tank for months at a time(don't have to).
"leaving the precipitate behind" I wondered?? The solids you speak of, do you think that my aquarium filter's that out in my Canister filter?
I'll bet that the filter gets any precipitates you have.
You've got to post fish pics in the pets section- I love aquariums but have no patience to mess with twitchy fish, and have always just kept punkin'seeds and crawfish in mine, lol.
I'm having a similar problem here
http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-pro...ml#post1867319
One way to find out if you have and excess of calcium is to leave a sample of your nutrient solution out for a few days. The sulfur in your nutes will pricipitate with the calcium and form gypsum( Ca(SO4) 2(H2O) )(drywall).
The solution will be cloudy, and white dust will settle to the bottom.