Everyone hates getting nutrient burn. But what causes it? We have all heard that nutrient burn is the result of too-high levels of nutrients, but which nutrients, in particular, are to blame?
Examples of nutrient burn
We know this these symptoms are the result of the marijuana plant uptaking too high levels of nutrients, but which nutrients?
Maybe we can figure out by the process of elimination:
This is actually a copper deficiency, which was caused by the pH being too low
These edges are actually the symptoms of a potassium deficiency
These are light burned leaves. The symptoms were caused by an LED grow light being too close.
What specific nutrient or compound do you think causes nutrient burn in cannabis plants? What have you done that resulted in tip burn on your leaves?
~~~~
Update: Based on what I've learned since I first made this post, it seems that nutrient tip burn on cannabis plants could potentially be caused by...
Examples of nutrient burn
We know this these symptoms are the result of the marijuana plant uptaking too high levels of nutrients, but which nutrients?
Maybe we can figure out by the process of elimination:
- It isn't Nitrogen - too much Nitrogen causes dark leaves and tips that curve down, but you can get very dark leaves without any tip burn.
- It probably isn't Calcium, Magnesium or Iron - If you read the label of CaliMagic, which contains Nitrogen, Calcium, Magnesium and Iron. It claims that it can be used to help prevent tip burn. That's not definitive proof, but that does seem to indicate those nutrients are probably not the main culprits causing tip burn for most growers.
- Of the major plant nutrients, it seems like the remaining culprits are Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfur, Molybdenum, Boron, Copper, Manganese, and Zinc. Could an overabundance of one of these be causing the nutrient burn symptoms seen above?
- Could nutrient burn possibly be caused by something else, or some combination of factors? (read the update at the bottom of this post for other potential factors)
This is actually a copper deficiency, which was caused by the pH being too low
These edges are actually the symptoms of a potassium deficiency
These are light burned leaves. The symptoms were caused by an LED grow light being too close.
What specific nutrient or compound do you think causes nutrient burn in cannabis plants? What have you done that resulted in tip burn on your leaves?
~~~~
Update: Based on what I've learned since I first made this post, it seems that nutrient tip burn on cannabis plants could potentially be caused by...
- Too high levels of nutrients (which is what nutrient burn is usually blamed on)
- Improper watering practices (letting growing medium dry out too much between waterings, causing root stress when the amount of water at the root zone changes too quickly)
- Big changes in the level of available nutrients at the roots (for example alternating between nutrient water and plain water in a soilless medium)
- PH being too high or low (causing nutrient deficiencies with symptoms that can appear to be tip burn)
- Environmental factors like high temperature, low humidity, and intense light levels
- Nutrient ratios - In some crops like lettuce, low Calcium levels within the leaves increased the chance of seeing tip burn, so potentially nutrient ratios could have an effect? Though I haven't seen much discussion about this with cannabis plants, and as a crop, growing cannabis very different from lettuce in a lot of ways! It does seem worth examining nutrient ratios though.
Comment