Purple Stems

[jtmoney28]

I am about two weeks into the flowering stage of an unknown strain. I grow in a deep water hydroponics kit, and the stems on the fan leaves have turned to a deep purple color. Some of the fan leaves have turned yellowish and seem to be drying out. The buds however seem to be unaffected, along with the stems they are on. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.:thumbsup:

jtmoney28 Reviewed by jtmoney28 on 03-15-2010. Purple Stems I am about two weeks into the flowering stage of an unknown strain. I grow in a deep water hydroponics kit, and the stems on the fan leaves have turned to a deep purple color. Some of the fan leaves have turned yellowish and seem to be drying out. The buds however seem to be unaffected, along with the stems they are on. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.:thumbsup: Rating: 5

[caregiver99]

could be a number of things.. but without the details, it's very hard to diagnose. can you provide ph, nutes, dosage, using an air stone?, lights and distance from plants, etc.

are the leaves curling up? sounds like older leaves are affected right?

nitrogen, phosphorous, or magnesium could be your problem, and it sounds like it could be a deficiency of one or more. are the veins on the leaves the same color as the leaves, or purple as well, or staying green? do you have pictures? until you get details out and get a response back, I'd change out your water completely, fresh nutes @ ph of 5.9, and make sure your EC is not too high or too low.

[Rusty Trichome]

Old leaves are old news. What does the new growth look like?

[caregiver99]

there he is again... lol

a plant with a deficiency is going to do everything it can to keep the new growth happy... so ignoring old leaves is a huge mistake. unless you are dealing with a deficient immobile nutrient, new growth will almost always look fine... until of course the deficiency reaches the top overtaking the whole plant.

JT, here is how it works... there are mobile nutrients and immobile nutrients. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Magnesium all fall into the category of mobile nutrients. A plant considers new growth (the top) the most important, and will give new growth priority. If nutrient is mobile, then it will transport it from older leaves to newer leaves... and your deficiency will show up on older leaves.

On the flipside, if your nute deficiency is due to an immobile nutrient, then the plant cannot transport the nutrient to the new growth, and your deficiency will show on new growth.

Purple stems can be anything from over-fert (causing nute lock-out), to a lack of N, Mg, or P.

Hope this helps.

If you can provide details on your set-up and how the plants have been treated, it's very possible to diagnose the problem. Usually, in providing those details, you will divulge what you did wrong, and someone will point it out allowing you to correct the problem... and enjoy a bountiful harvest.

best of luck to you.

[Rusty Trichome]

jtmoney28: fill-out the troubleshooting form, and likely a valid response will be forthcoming.

there he is again... lol

Every day. Gotta problem with that?

a plant with a deficiency is going to do everything it can to keep the new growth happy... so ignoring old leaves is a huge mistake. unless you are dealing with a deficient immobile nutrient, new growth will almost always look fine... until of course the deficiency reaches the top overtaking the whole plant.

Or was a cold spell and all is ok without changing every fucking parameter in his growroom. It's a starting point, not an end point. Were I you, I'd pay more attention to the details, and realize not all problems require a chemical fix, schedule change or miracle additive. Normal folks diagnose a problem before jumping the gun and advising the wrong fix. Works better that way.

Old leaves will never get better, but new leaves will tell you what's going on now. Not last week, not last month...but right now. If you are only getting new growth at the growing tips, you are doing something wrong, as new growth is plant-wide.

Seems all of your posts are a 'throw everything at it, maybe something will help' approach. Which is a bullshit approach when trying to get someone else to do the same to their meds. Do what you want to your plants, but don't fuck someone else in the process.

[caregiver99]

poor Rusty...

again, read the post my friend before responding.

.... and you might want to smoke some more to calm that instablilty. :thumbsup:

[Rusty Trichome]

So far, your responses have done nothing to benefit the OP, other than trying to point-out all the variables that a newbie has to chose from. Problem is...
A) you don't have all the info regarding his growroom yet, and his troubleshooting accumen likely isn't up to your level of experience.
B) you failed to mention all possibilities when attempting to describe all the possibilities he could consider, so your response was lacking anyway.
C) this is a medical cannabis forum, and mistakes you make or recommendations you offer, can and will have a direct impact on another members meds. It's not an "oh well" moment. It's fucking with another's meds.

Do you really think your superior intellect will guide the inexperienced newbie on this journey, if you confuse them beyond comprehension? Do you feel the need to throw everything under the sun at your response(s), in the hopes that along the way, you might just hit the mark? That's what it looks like, and that's a problem. I would really have no objections were you to wait till the time is appropriate before giving an opinion. (like when the poster provides ALL the info necessary to accurately diagnose and advise)

I never said your responses were technically wrong, as in some instances, your responses would be correct and accurate. But I am saying they are inappropriate if truly wishing to help a newbie, rather than trying to establish a reputation in here.

Getting stoned prior to posting often leads to stupid and inappropriate answers. Is this what's happening here, or do you just like arguing...? :wtf:

[Faddenator]

there he is again... lol

No one appreciates your snotty remarks. And you're a horrible teacher. You don't teach a 3rd grader physics, same goes with teaching newbie growers advanced cultivation, especially when all they want to know about is purple stems.


With that said, Purple stems are caused MAINLY by low temps and phosphorus deficiency. However, the stems connecting the fan leaves to the main stem have always been reddish for me. Never had any problems because of it.

[caregiver99]

My apologies to all I offended.

[Rusty Trichome]

Once you get into a rhythm it get's easier. In the Plant Problems section, your growing knowledge can be a benefit to many if approached from the beginner's end of things rather than the expert end. It's real easy to put the horse before the cart which can confuse and frustrate the newbies. :thumbsup: