Yellow/brown leaves, reddish stems

[RubySlippers]

Hi! I was planning on switching to flower a couple weeks ago, but I'm having trouble identifying and treating this problem. I can't tell if it's nitrogen or maybe phosphorus deficiency. The problem leaves are toward the bottom, but not necessarily the oldest leaves. The tips of this particular plant are yellow, but that isn't the case on the others. Runoff Ph has been consistently low (5.8-6.1) but doesn't move much when I increase ph to 7.0 on the following water. Some of the stems are reddish. I havent noticed any thickening of the leaves. They fall off if I leave them alone, but I usually give them a tug and they release easily.

I also need clarification on nutrients. I'm still giving the FFnutes at half strength and they're 8 weeks old. I give only the Grow Big and Big Bloom. I read that Tiger Bloom is used after the switch to flower. Is this correct? If it isn't it could explain the nutrient deficiency. I am running out of room in the tent and need to flower soon. Is it best to wait until they're healthier? The new growth looks really good, but I'm afraid the problem will just worsen when I turn out the lights.

[Garcon]

Not certain, maybe magnesium or manganese. Nutrient deficiencies. Let the team have a close look first

[Sheesh]

Hello Ruby, I'm not an expert but I will give a little feedback. I'm sure you've heard it before, but most common deficiency cause is incorrect ph causing lockout. It looks like you aren't way off although I always tried for 6.5 ph when growing in soil. You are adjusting PH after adding all nutrients and supplements, correct? When I used FF nutes in the past, they really drove PH down a lot, very acidic in my experience. If PH is OK then maybe try a flush just to make sure salt buildup is not restricting nutrient uptake. Temp and humidity is OK? No sign of bugs? Hopefully others can chime in with more ideas. I've grown Papaya in FFHF with FF trio 5 times and I did not have the same issues as you are but later in flower I had trouble with yellowing early (3-4 weeks in flower). For that, I corrected the issue by adding cal-mag to my mix.

[RubySlippers]

Sheesh I have been considering that I've got ph lock-out going on. I forgot to mention that I flushed all 4 of my plants about 3 weeks ago. I used plain distilled water ph'd to 6.5. I didn't notice much change after that.
I have been adjusting the ph for every watering. Usually my runoff is 6.0-6.3. I nute every other watering. The days I don't use nutrients the plants get 1ml/liter of CaliMagic then I usually use Ph Up to get the distilled water up to 6.5-7.0. Each plant usually takes about 1.5-2.5 liters. Runoff can vary from 10% to 25%. On nutrient days they get CaliMagic, Grow Big and Big Bloom.
Temp and humidity are in range, though I had a mild mildew and fungus gnat problem a couple weeks ago. I did a heavy defoliation, changed my fans up, and used Neem oil and haven't had a problem since.
The fact that you had problems with early yellowing in flower really makes me nervous about making the switch to 12/12 before I get this sorted out. Unfortunately I am out of both horizontal and vertical space in the tent and I need to get going very soon.
Thank you so much for your input. Expert or not, you've grown Papaya 5 times! In my mind that makes you like the Dali Lama! (Or the Pope, if that suits you better

[Sheesh]

You have yellow sticky cards to make sure you don't have gnats still? The larvae eating roots may cause that. Had gnats on my Papaya too and I used gnatrol and azamax to control them.

[RubySlippers]

I have a few yellow sticky traps hanging inside and outside the tent. There's a couple gnats stuck to them, but nothing like there was before. I still spray Neem oil on the damp soil after watering. I wonder if I should be doing something else?

[Burny]

Maybe you should be giving them tiger bloom now too. I always just used those nutrients at half strength when I was growing in soil.

[berrypilot]

🌱 If you're using the FF trio, you need to be following the schedule with all three bottles. That's because they each offer different ratios of nutrients, and Fox Farm gives you the schedule so that your plant gets the right ratio of nutrients at every stage of life. You can add more or less water, but the ratio between the bottles should always be the same as what it says on the schedule. If you're skipping one of the bottles, it means that your plants aren't getting the right ratios. I feel that may definitely be contributing to the problem. 🌱

[RubySlippers]

Totally makes sense, thanks. The FF nutrient schedule is based on switching to flower at 4 weeks. Since I'm still in veg at 8 weeks I was advised to continue at week 4 levels. Tiger Bloom isn't indicated for week 4. I guess I'll go ahead and start it anyway. Thanks for all your help!

[berrypilot]

🌱 No, definitely follow the schedule! If it doesn't say to use it for a specific, then I wouldn't! If in doubt, try contacting FF and see what they recommend. If you email them they'll get back to you quick (though maybe a little longer right now because of the holiday...) How is it looking? Any better or worse? 🌱