YELLOWING...DRYING UP FAN LEAVES....

What is your experience level? NEW-B
Your Equipment:
.1) Type and wattage of lights. 400W HPS
.2) Distance from tops? 12-18 INCHES
.3) Reflector type? BRIGHT STAR, NO GLASS, NO COOLING
.4) Is there a consistent fresh air supply? I BELIEVE SO
.5) Do you have an exhaust fan and a circulation fan? YES
.6) What are the bulb wattages, kelvin ratings, and schedule? 12/12

Your medium:
.7) Specific brand and type of soil: FF MIXED WITH A LITTLE MG...NO AD-INS
.8) Size of container. 3 GALLON
.9) Did you use peat pucks (or similar) to root clones or germinate seedlings? THESE WERE ROOTED CLONES ALREADY IN ROCK WOOL

Your nutrients and water:
10) Source of water? TAP LEFT OUT OVER NIGHT What's it's ph before adjusting? 7.0
11) Method of checking water ph. AQUARIUM TEST KIT
12) Method of adjusting water ph. A LITTLE BAKING SODA
13) Specific brand and N-P-K ratio for each bottle. List dosages (quantity per gallon) and current feeding schedule. ALASKA MOOR BLOOM 0-10-10 FED AFTER 2 PLAIN WATERINGS, APPROX 1 TEAS. PER GALLON OF WATER
14) How often are you watering between feedings, and how much per watering? HALF GALLON OF WATER FOR EACH 3 GALLON CONTAINER...2X PLAIN WATER 1X FEED, 2X PLAIN WATER...ETC.
15) Any additives or tea's? NO
16) Are your ph levels stable, or do they fluctuate? UNSURE
17) What is your ingoing water's ph? ...your runoff ph? INGOING 6.8-7.2 RUNOFF UNSURE
18) Do you foliar feed? NO
Your growroom:
19) Indoors or outdoors? INDOORS...IN GARAGE
20) What size of closet, room or hut? 4FT X 2FT X 5 FT CABINET
21) What are the temps and humidity levels while lights are on? 72-74 DEGREES/ 20% HUMIDITY ...With lights off? 58-62 DEGREES/ 40-60% HUMIDITY
22) Have you seen signs of insects in the growroom? PREVIOUSLY NOTICED KNATS...CURRENTLY ELIMINATED WITH PEST SPRAY

Your strain:
23) What strain are you growing? SFV AND CHEM DOG 91
24) From seeds or clones? CLONES
25) Is this an autoflower strain? UNSURE

I have 4 plants that have been on a 12/12 schedule for approx 5 weeks, they are filled with beautiful buds covered with many white hairs. Every day I am noticing 2-3 large fan leaves yellowing, then drying up and turning brown, and then falling off of each plant by the end of the day. Is this normal? It seems that at the rate they are falling off....there wont be any leaves left at harvest!

i would nt worry too much. some strains get yellow leaves towards the end of flowering.i allways remove them every 5 days so as not to stress it out too much.lol

Why are you using baking soda to lower the ph of your water? You should be lower the ph by using some acid like vinager or a suitable ph down product. You are probally suffering from a nute lockout of some type because your ph is too high.

I agree. If yellowing fans are the only problem...it's not really a problem, and it's possible the usable light isn't extending down to the lower branches. How tall are they?

You mention water ph is 7.0, and that you adjust it with baking soda? Is this to adjust the water up to a 7.0? (baking soda raises ph, for those interested)
Pretty much any ph between 6.3 and 6.8 is recommended for peat-based soilless grows. What's the water out of the tap?

Molasses has calcium, magnesium, other micro's and iorn. Helps with late flowering chlorosis, and is the base ingredient of a lot of 'bulking' or 'carbo-load' formula's.

Would let the yellowing leaves fall off on their own, but don't let them accumulate as leaf litter. Bugs reproduce under them.

that happens in late flower, you could add a touch of N or leave it.

baking soda?

your fan leaves r meant to fall off during flowering stage
:thumbsup:

The plants are about 3+ feet tall. I needed to add a little baking soda to the water after I added the moor bloom. The Ph of the regular water was acceptable ( I dont remember what it was exactly), once I added the moor bloom the Ph level dropped quite a bit but once I added a teaspoon of baking soda It was back to a fairly nuetral level! I was considering getting some FF "cha-ching" for the final stages here....Will that decrease the yellowing? Does the Cha-Ching have the micro nutrients that you mentioned? At week 5 of Flowering....what are my next steps before harvest? Any info will be used and appreciated! Thanks Rusty!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SeaLevelGrower

I was considering getting some FF "cha-ching" for the final stages here....Will that decrease the yellowing? Does the Cha-Ching have the micro nutrients that you mentioned?

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cha-ching has 9% N, 50% P, 10% K, .02% B, .05% Cu, .10% Fe, .05% Mn, .05% Zn.

this might help your yellowing a bit. once again though, the fan leaves will yellow more and more during the flowering cycle. this happens as the plant pulls nutrient reserves in fan leaves and uses them for bud formation. the plant knows it's gonna die, so the food is put to use for the final push of reproduction as opposed to prolonging and inevitable death.

also, like rusty said, with 3 foot plants your light penetration is not going to be great down below. the fan leaves will yellow, wither and fall off. if they come off with a "gentle" tug there is no harm removing them, IMHO.

you need to be paying attention to new growth and/or bud formation. these are the important indicators.

you can get some molasses for ~$3. give it a shot. the cha-ching won't hurt, but it's not a must. i'd try the molasses first.

good growing!


-shake

okay....I just went through a Ph test with one of the plants. The source water is at a Ph level of 7.3 ( alkaline). I dont plan on adding any nutrients this watering. So...knowing what the Ph is of my source water, I flushed the plant until I had some run-off. I tested the soil run-off and it is very acidic, less than 6.0 if I had to guess! My little test kit only ranges from 6.2 to 7.4. The soil run-off should be between 6.3 and 6.8 correct? So should I increase the alkalinity of the water in efforts to decrease the acidity of the soil?
Also, I noticed something new today...the stems of the fan leaves that are yellowing are now a blood red!
How much Molasses should I add for 1 gallon of water? I am not familiar with the molasses method...adivce?!

Thanks sooo much!

S.L.G.

about 1 tablespoon of molasses per gallon. i've heard of people using up to 3 per gallon. as always, start low and build up as you find out what works best for you.

you want to give your plants water in the 6.3 to 6.8 range. yes your soil is too acidic. i'm by no means an expert with pH. someone will stop by shortly and let you know, i'm sure.


-shake

Do not use those numbers from the runoff. A good majority of commercial potting mixes are pre-buffered to keep near the 7.0 range. With an aquarium test kit, it's a color coded result, and results are skwewd by the tint of the run-off water. 7.3 tapwater should be fine after adding yuor additives and nutes. A few drops of vinegar or lemon juice on non-fertilizing days to bump the tapwater ph lower should help.

I'm not impressed with the Cha-Ching, but if you're careful it does no damage.
Have not really seen where it does any better than molasses, actually. I use 1 tsp unsulphered molasses:gallon of water, virtually every watering. (but none on feeding day)

i prefer beasties bloomz over cha ching

but my blackstrap works great