The claw

[cwesto]

One of my plants has developed a claw problem. Almost all of here largest fan leaves have bad claw tips, and the edges of the leafs are curling under, like an upside down canoe. Some quick details - grow in dirt, 400w HPS, 3rd day in bloom, use fox farm and botanicare nutes, ummmm... use plain water every third feeding to act as multiple mini flushes. If anybody can think of any other important information i am leaving out let me know..

Does anybody know what is causing my plant these problems, maybee a solution to go along with the diagnosis.. Also I know that this can be caused by over watering, and am going to say right now that I always wait for the pot to be light enough to water. So I have basicaly ruled that one out from the start.

In the picture the plant is back row, middle. This picture doesnt really do the problem justice as you cant really see the claws too well, but it was the most recent I had.

cwesto Reviewed by cwesto on 04-02-2008. The claw One of my plants has developed a claw problem. Almost all of here largest fan leaves have bad claw tips, and the edges of the leafs are curling under, like an upside down canoe. Some quick details - grow in dirt, 400w HPS, 3rd day in bloom, use fox farm and botanicare nutes, ummmm... use plain water every third feeding to act as multiple mini flushes. If anybody can think of any other important information i am leaving out let me know.. Does anybody know what is causing my plant these Rating: 5

[daihashi]

Can't really see but if it's really clawing you may want to check PH and pull them from their pots to check for rootbound. :thumbsup:

edit: Don't know what I Was thinking, they look too small to be rootbound. Were they recently transplanted?

[Rusty Trichome]

Without up-to-date photo's of the problem, gonna be tough to say...

...use fox farm and botanicare nutes,

Which ones? How come two different brands? Not that it's a big deal, but I was always under the impression that you want to stay in the same family, if possible. Something about nute ratio's, nute sources, non-complimentary compounds and ingredients...Keep in mind...this 'fear' may still be clasified as an old wives tale, and may not be a valid point any more. Do you add micronutes?

Also, may need more perlite...you can almost see the soil. (kidding) But seriously...I know perlite floats, but is there enough organic matter in the pots?
You mentioned using dirt. What kind of dirt? Just curious, because most of us use soil via some form of potting mix.

[Weedhound]

Amongst my list causing the claw:

ph issues
rootbound
suffocating the leaves (usually with a foliar spray or heat)
Nitrogen and/or general overnute

[Weedhound]

I haven't found overwatering to cause the claw...just droopiness and yellowing.

[Rusty Trichome]

I use the FF schedule, (G-M-B) and don't usually see nute burn curl the leaves, but do see some leaf-edge burn on occation.
I kinda like the foliar overspraying or the high humidity possibility. But, you mention nothing of leaf burn...

Watering can cause a spike in humidity, too. (plant transpiration and soil moisture evaporation) Especially if in a confined area. Since no mention of mold tho, and only afflicts one plant...

Do you have adequate ventilation, and is the 'problem' plant subjected to more heat than the others? (closest to lamp, in a 'dead-zone' getting no air...)

[cwesto]

Can't really see but if it's really clawing you may want to check PH and pull them from their pots to check for rootbound. :thumbsup:

edit: Don't know what I Was thinking, they look too small to be rootbound. Were they recently transplanted?

I also dont think they are rootbound yet. Ill keep Ph in mind.

Without up-to-date photo's of the problem, gonna be tough to say...



Which ones? How come two different brands? Not that it's a big deal, but I was always under the impression that you want to stay in the same family, if possible. Something about nute ratio's, nute sources, non-complimentary compounds and ingredients...Keep in mind...this 'fear' may still be clasified as an old wives tale, and may not be a valid point any more. Do you add micronutes?

Also, may need more perlite...you can almost see the soil. (kidding) But seriously...I know perlite floats, but is there enough organic matter in the pots?
You mentioned using dirt. What kind of dirt? Just curious, because most of us use soil via some form of potting mix.

ff - GrowBig, BigBloom, TigerBloom. Botanicare - liquid karma and sweet. I use FF mainly for NPK and micronutes, the botanicare products i use are more catalyst/additive/supplement products.

I use FF Ocean Forest soil to perlite in a 3:2 ratio, so.... is 3 parts Ocean Forest soil to 2 parts perlite enough organic material? I dont know is it??

Amongst my list causing the claw:

ph issues
rootbound
suffocating the leaves (usually with a foliar spray or heat)
Nitrogen and/or general overnute

Ok, second time Ph was mention, ill make 2 tally marks by Ph.. I think they are small to be rootbound, but we will soon see as i am going to be transplanting them into 5 gal pales for the bloom cycle. As for suffocation of the leaves - there doesnt seem to be any residual film/layer or anything on the plants leaves. I only foliar'd one time, I dont really have proper equipment for it. Overnute - I guess this plant could just be gentically inclined to less rather than normal amounts of nutes. It gets fed from the exact same mixture as the rest of the plants, maybee shes jusst a wimp.

I use the FF schedule, (G-M-B) and don't usually see nute burn curl the leaves, but do see some leaf-edge burn on occation.
I kinda like the foliar overspraying or the high humidity possibility. But, you mention nothing of leaf burn...

Watering can cause a spike in humidity, too. (plant transpiration and soil moisture evaporation) Especially if in a confined area. Since no mention of mold tho, and only afflicts one plant...

Do you have adequate ventilation, and is the 'problem' plant subjected to more heat than the others? (closest to lamp, in a 'dead-zone' getting no air...)

All my other plants have showed not one sign of burn or claw, besides this one, who gets fed the same mixture as the other plnts.

I have noticed that mu humidity does spike when I water, but wouldnt that curl the rest of the plants as well?

I have a cooltube that vents out of my cab. does a great job too.. so i will rule out lack of ventilation.

Now that you mention it that plant that has the claw is almost directly under the lamp.... I may have to move her out of the sun a little bit and see if that helps.








Consensus looks mostly like a Ph problem.. I will do a flush first thing tomoro and see what the results are.. hopefully not bad. And also move the plant further from the lamp..

[daihashi]

Consensus looks mostly like a Ph problem.. I will do a flush first thing tomoro and see what the results are.. hopefully not bad. And also move the plant further from the lamp..

Be sure to just get a ph reading before you do a full on flush. There's no need to unecessarily flush a plant if it's fine.

[Weedhound]

I agree.......I would think the chances are fairly small being ph if every single plant except one is normal and they're all fed off the same plate. Even more interestingly.......said plant is directly under a lamp.

I'd move the plant first and see if that helps. Radiant heat causing suffocation/heat burn is not the same as high humidity imo.........although I guess TOO high could suffocate parts of the plant as well.

I wouldn't flush it unless you are sure it's necessary.

[cwesto]

Be sure to just get a ph reading before you do a full on flush. There's no need to unecessarily flush a plant if it's fine.

Do you think that, waterig with plain water and measuring some runoff would be called for to get an accurate Ph reading??

I agree.......I would think the chances are fairly small being ph if every single plant except one is normal and they're all fed off the same plate. Even more interestingly.......said plant is directly under a lamp.

I'd move the plant first and see if that helps. Radiant heat causing suffocation/heat burn is not the same as high humidity imo.........although I guess TOO high could suffocate parts of the plant as well.

I wouldn't flush it unless you are sure it's necessary.

Sounds good, I already moved her out further from the light, but still dont think that heat was the problem. Im telling you my cooltube SUCKS... literaly. It moves alot of air and it never gets higher than 78F in there.

Im thining it may be that she just is drinking her water too fast and is a little bit dried out, she's feeling pretty light. The only problem with that is, she seems to claw up more after I water her.