Dark spots on young plant, can't figure out what's causing it.

[Cocho]

Hey everyone!

Been a while since I last grew anything, so a few weeks ago I decided to start a new project.

I've been kind of preoccupied with other stuff, so the little plant have been 3rd of 4th in line, and so far I've only watered it now and then, and done some topping and defoliation to make it a little bushier.

But lately it has been giving me nothing but trouble. I have to mention that it was looking fragile and just like crap from the first pair of leaves though. Almost crusty and one side of the plant has been growing slower then to other side. I've seen patterns all over the leaves since the beginning, and it looks a lot like Mosaic Virus. So I believe the soil I'm using now has been "polluted" or something like that.

But the thing that has been bothering me lately is dark spots, burnt tips and slow growth.

I've been known to water them too frequently in the past, so I've been trying to prevent that this time, but I believe I might have done the same thing this round too.

But this time I've used a smaller pot, making it easier for me 250W CFL to dry out the soil. And I've been checking the soil with my finger to determine when to water again (poking my finger down to the second knuckle to see if the soil was still moist or not), and I've always waited until it was dry enough for the soil not to feel moist anymore.

The soil I'm using is a local brand. Organic light mix, made to serve the plant for the first 2 weeks, but then have you mix nutes into the feeding water.
But when I did add nutes to the water the tips got burned and the plant just took a turn for the worse. And I didn't even use that much nutrients. I added 0,5ml to 2 liters of water.
So I did a small "flush" by giving the plant fresh water, until I had a proper amount of run off.

And I've checked the run off, and it has been between 6-7 pH all the time.

But the growth has been slow, and the plant has just gotten worse and worse. And now I'm just thinking I might throw the whole thing in the trash. Because I don't really feel like fighting all kinds of crap if the plant is just weak and going to die anyway. But I wanted to give it one more try, and decided to post on here this time for someone else to give me some input.

So here's a few pictures.







(They're far from the best pictures, I just took them really fast with my phone).

You can't see really well, but there's all these spots across the leaves of new growth. It kind of looks like dirty water dried up on the leaves, but I know 100% it's not.
It might be phosphorus deficiency or boron deficiency? I can try and take some better photos after posting this, just so you can see the spots better.
But I have no idea how to fix this, since when I gave the plant nutrients everything just got worse, and only watering it seams to do nothing.

So every advice is appreciated! And I know I might have over watered this time too, even tho my goal was not to.

- C

[Cocho]

Here's a couple more pics. Hard to see the spots on a photo, so I had to make it darker just to make them visible.
If I had a better camera this would be easier, but I'm not that into photographing, so I'm not going to buy one :P





As you can see, there's these brown-ish areas on the younger leaves, and they're all over the place. So I need to figure out what is causing this and find a remedy if I want to keep this one.

- C

[Joker]

I'm not a soil guy but I did find this...could be a possibility. https://www.growweedeasy.com/mangane...iency-cannabis

[Redwasp]

Can you take a pic of the underside of the leaves? Have you seen any gnats or bugs?

[Redwasp]

Also can we see the whole plant? What strain is it? Just throwing a guess out there that it's a white widow. Lmao wouldnt that be odd if I was correct. Anyways no dont throw it away.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Cocho ,How are you checking your ph ?Are you sure your meter is calibrated?

[Cocho]

Hey again guys!

I will answer all your question in one post here;

I'm not a soil guy but I did find this...could be a possibility. https://www.growweedeasy.com/mangane...iency-cannabis

It might be Joker I really can't tell for sure. I'm not that skilled, so it can be anything. But manganese deficiency would be a good guess. Thanks!

Can you take a pic of the underside of the leaves? Have you seen any gnats or bugs?

There's nothing showing from the underside of the leaves. And I don't believe it to be bugs, since we don't really have them where I live. Well.. we do have bugs, but spider mites, gnats and the like is more common over in the States I believe. But to answer your question, no I haven't seen any around. The grow space was cleaned 2 times before I started this grow, just to make sure that I didn't start off in an already dirty space.

Here's a few pictures I took when I woke up this morning. They're getting worse, and it has only been 10-12 hours since I first posted about this. So by this rate the plant will take some major damage for sure.

Also can we see the whole plant? What strain is it? Just throwing a guess out there that it's a white widow. Lmao wouldnt that be odd if I was correct. Anyways no dont throw it away.

Here's some pictures of the whole plant.









And here's some pictures showing the strange growth that has been going on since day 1.

Cocho ,How are you checking your ph ?Are you sure your meter is calibrated?

I've been checking my pH the way I've always done it. Simple and cheap. So I use this drop tester where I gather some of the run off into this tube, and I drip pH-testing solution into it and look at the color.
Been working ever since I started growing, even tho I've had some problems during the last two grows. But I'm starting to believe that it's the soil, since I've only been using this soil for the last two grows, and I had my fair share of problems during the last grow too. But yeah, that is how I test my pH. Normally the pH is not an issue, since the soil takes care of it more or less, if I only make sure my feeding water is ok before feeding.

So what do you guys think? Do I have a fighting chance?

I've already ordered new soil, just in case this goes to total shit I can start over again in some properly tested soil (Plagron Grow Mix).

- C

[Redwasp]

Let me think on that for awhile. Never had anything like that happen to MJ. But have on tomatoes. Just let me remember what I did to fix it. Uggg sometimes my mind fails me. Looks exactly like those tomatoe plants did though. And we saved them. Crap. Give me a few hours. Lol

[starramus]

From Nebula's Plant Doctor page https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabis-symptoms-pictures It looks like it might be a manganese deficiency. What do you think Cocho?

[D.A.A.S.69]

Cocho, I remember the last time you was on here you grew some nice plants didn't you ?
And your right about organic soil having buffers, and you don't have to worry about your ph, then, but when you start adding nutrients, you sure do.
Thats a nice plant, and don't know exactly what's been going on since you first started it,
But after you started adding nutrients ,if she was mine ,id flush her, bad as i hate to flush in soil too, its ruff on them.
Not saying your ph is out of whack, but it would help get it back where it's supposed to be,
and on your last water you run thru the pot, add a little nutrients in it, if your gonna keep feeding her.
Sure wish i knew what your runoff ph was.

[Cocho]

Let me think on that for awhile. Never had anything like that happen to MJ. But have on tomatoes. Just let me remember what I did to fix it. Uggg sometimes my mind fails me. Looks exactly like those tomatoe plants did though. And we saved them. Crap. Give me a few hours. Lol

You do that. Looking forward for reply. Sounds promising since you saved your tomato plants

From Nebula's Plant Doctor page https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabis-symptoms-pictures It looks like it might be a manganese deficiency. What do you think Cocho?

Yeah. I believe it is. Did a google search for manganese deficiency, and found pictures of tobacco leaves that looked just like mine does. So I think we have a "winner" here.

Cocho, I remember the last time you was on here you grew some nice plants didn't you ?
And your right about organic soil having buffers, and you don't have to worry about your ph, then, but when you start adding nutrients, you sure do.
Thats a nice plant, and don't know exactly what's been going on since you first started it,
But after you started adding nutrients ,if she was mine ,id flush her, bad as i hate to flush in soil too, its ruff on them.
Not saying your ph is out of whack, but it would help get it back where it's supposed to be,
and on your last water you run thru the pot, add a little nutrients in it, if your gonna keep feeding her.
Sure wish i knew what your runoff ph was.

I did the first watering after I noticed these issues. So I haven't been giving her nutes since then. And it has been 13 days since she got any nutes. I figured it was to soon, and that I burned the tips because of the nutes. So that is why I stopped feeding her anything but pure water. So what I did was giving her a light flush after that, and no nutes since then. My runoff last time i watered was 6-6,5 (roughly), I did measure twice just in case. It's not 100% accurate, but it's in the ball park area, and we're supposed to let the pH go up and down a little. The time before that it was 6,5-7.

But in retrospect I believe I've been watering here to frequently. I've been busy so I've not payed close enough attention to my watering scheduled, something I might want to pay a closer attention to from now on.

October 4 - watering day (with nutes).

..... problems started to show .......

October 10 - watering day (light flush).
October 14 - watering day.

I've been busy and only poked my finger in the soil now and then to feel for moisture, and watering here when it felt dry. I should have picked up the pot and felt the weight and looked closer on the soil.
I believe the possible manganese deficiencie might have come because of overwatering (again) and lockout as a result of that, maybe even iffy pH levels next time i check.

So my guess is to let it dry out good, almost to drooping, then water with some light nutes (0,1 - 0,5 ml diluted into 1-2 liters of water)? Does that sound like a plan?

I have proper pH down, new nutes and soil on the way in the mail as we speak. And I went to Wish.com and looked up a digital pH tester, but I'm not sure if I should buy one. They're china made, cheap and all, but it takes like 3-4 weeks to get them in the mail. But then again if I want to buy local I have to pay 130+ dollars for just the tester, and the price of the calibrating liquid come on top of that. So here I would have to pay something around 200 dollars for a pH tester, which is why I've been using the drop testing kit and pH strips all these years. But a 3-4 weeks wait is a lot, and the plant will be well into flowering by then.

Anyways. Let me know what you think.

- C

[Redwasp]

My mind is not agreeing with me today. Waiting on my brother in law to get back to me to remind me. We work together on all the food farms. I know he will remember. I do remember it was a tea we made just trying to remember what we put in it. Once I remember which tea I will be able to tell you what to use even if you dont have the ability to make teas.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Cocho, yeah, adding nutrients in a soil that's already got plenty, you get problems.
Aint nothing wrong with using drops, especially after you get used to using the drops, but having a cheap 15buck Amozon one to double check with will help you. I wouldn't buy one though, but if you are going to continue growing, I'd invest in the new cheaper one from BlueLabs, or another good brand.
Ph being out is usually always, where the problems start.
Yeah, picking up your pot is most definitely the best way to tell when to water in soil.
Overwatering is easy to do,
Sounds like you know what your doing, so yeah let her dry out ,even to almost wilting, before you start back watering with nutrients, this time water until you get good runoff, and from here on out.and keep check in your phout.
GoodLuck

[starramus]

ebay has PH testers for even less. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Ph-...93jw:rk:6:pf:0 I have two of them, and use the drops test for verification. Of course I paid quite a bit more for mine some time ago. Chinese electronics can be more than a little iffy. However using the up down drops method for substantiation all doubt is relieved in my mind.

[Cocho]

This is getting really bad guys, and the soil is still just as moist and heavy as it was yesterday.
I hope it will dry up fast enough for me to save it. I'm afraid every leaf will be affected by this before I can do anything about it.
It has even spread to the newest leaves. I bet most of the leaves will fall off eventually, but will she be able to grow new leaves if I manage to correct this?







- C

[D.A.A.S.69]

Cocho, I hear you, about the soil, doesn't look like it's got much perlite in it, for one thing.
Are you using fabric pots ? And if you are do you have them on risers ?

[Cocho]

The pots are made out of plastic. Standard circular pot made out of plastic (7,5 liters). It's standing on a tray to gather the runoff, and I've placed the whole thing on top of a box, so that I can have the fan blowing all the time without it blowing directly on the plant.

The soil came without perlite, so I had to mix it in myself. Used about 1/3 perlite in the mix. I've also put Leca (clay balls) in the bottom of the pot for drainage, which I washed beforehand so they wouldn't burn the roots.

But this soil has a good amount of peat in it, maybe even too much. Because it feels kind of spongy when it's freshly watered.

When I woke up this morning, the air inside the tent was about 56% humidity, so it's better than yesterday. But now almost every single leaf on the plant have a lot of those gray spots, and are dying. So when this is over there will be no leaves left. Even the newest ones (the crowns) have spots.

- C

[D.A.A.S.69]

@Cocho,like you said, sounds like bad soil, your plant might even have some root problems. Because its staying so wet, idk.
If it's Manganese, leaves ain't gonna get better. I don't think. You might could try to foliar feed her some with manganese in it, and see if that helps, or either you could just flush her with some nutrients with Manganese in it,

[Cocho]

Got my delivery today.

A new bag of soil (it' supposed to be good, but I don't really know. Was the only kind I could find from a known brand).
And some new nutes, including worm castings (which is supposed to be superb for root development), and some propper pH down.





So I'll germinate a new seed today, and use the new soil and all for that one. I will start it of in a lighter mix (seedling mix from the local store), and then move it over to the Growmix after a week or two.
This mix is supposed to be pre mixed with Perlite and all, so it should be better. The only thing worrying me is that it's also already fertilized, so hopefully it won't burn the little plant when I move it.
Time will show.

Does any of you have any experience with these brands? GHE is supposed to be really good right?

- C

[D.A.A.S.69]

Yeah thats good stuff, that Plagron ,I've never used it before, but it should not be to hot for seedlings, I wouldn't think, I think it will be all your seedlings need for the first 2-3weeks, then you start feeding regularly.
I always run a little water, thru my soil, if it's the first time or two I've used it, just to get an idea of what the runoff ph is.
If your ph is out to start with, it's kinda hard to grow a decent plant.
Anyway good luck
Cocho

[PRIMO]

I agree with 69. From the first pic. my thoughts were repot in 3 or 5 gal. fiber pot with fresh soil, with a bunch of added perlite. Hoist the dry pot of soil & make a mental note of the weight dry. Let her dry some before you repot to help shake off old soil. Water to runoff with ph'd water & cal-mag and give her a week.