HELP! Strange Brown Dots in Flowering? :(

[LPC]

Hello,

I am new to growing and starting experiencing some issues with my 4 plants. I am growing in a 4x4 tent, and the humidity and temperature is usually always within the correct range. My light is always 35 cm away from the canopy (which is the recommended height for the light I use), and I just switched these plants to 12-12 flowering a little over 3 weeks ago. For these plants, I have been growing organically in soil (fox farm ocean forest), but last week I started noticing some brown dots growing on the leaves (particularly on my gorilla zkittlez). I thought this had something to do with the plant using up all the available nutrients in the soil, so I started to give it nutrients last week too (no nutrients/supplements have been given to these plants until last week, it has only been given non-ph'd water before).

I am using the fox farm trio + calimagic + hygrozyme for nutrients (using only 1/2 the suggested dosage). I only give the nutrients every other watering (every 2 days) and on the other days I just water (pH'd water + hygrozyme).

However even though I started giving it nutrients the brown dots didn't seem to get any better (it got worse by the day). After the leaf has been "infected" with the brown dots, the tip will curl up. I still have about a month left for flowering, before I start harvesting but I feel that if I don't control this situation it may affect the quality/taste/smell/potency of the buds. The brown dots are affecting leaves from all levels (bottom, middle and top leaves are affected). Today, I just noticed the same brown dots growing on the plant beside it (bad azz kush).

When the leaves got too bushy and thick, I defoliated the plants so that no leaves are on top of each other, has better airflow to prevent hot spots and mold, and all the bud sites are revealed to the light. I also have two 6" mini fans inside the tent + dehumidifier inside the tent.

I have taken a few photos for your reference - what could this be? Nutrient problem? Root problem? I tried researching so I could diagnose my sick plant but I couldn't find much info online.

Thank you very much for your help!

[KTM690]

Looks like a phos issue. I just had a problem myself looks similar to what I saw. After looking at my records I saw that the liquid guano I started using as my phos messed up my ph bad so after a flush and just water and molasses everything was ok except for 1 plant I cut down. Not sure about your soil never used it but though it was set for a grow without adding nutes. Maybe flush them

[KTM690]

If you flush check your runoff ph. Mine was crazy low when I had my issue I flushed with high ph water till it checked out

[LPC]

Hi KTM690, thank you for your help! I will try flushing the plants + check the runoff pH! I believe I read somewhere that if you are growing organic, the pH of the water doesn't matter as much (so that was why I never pH'd the water prior to adding nutrients). But then again, the brown dots started happening prior to adding the nutrients too?

I will for sure test the pH of the runoff water and flush with adjusted pH water tomorrow to see if the flushing helps. Thank you!

[oldjarhead100]

are you using Leds it looks like Led burn to me .I know you said it was at the recommended distance but some plants are finicky, also root issues cause alot of different symtems , what are you use for grow pots

[alltatup]

OJH, I don't see how it could be a light issue cuz it's happening on lower leaves as well...???

[LPC]

Hi OJH, thank you for you help! Yes I currently have the MIGRO300 in the grow tent (full spectrum LED light). For grow pots, I am using the fabric pots from Vivosun.
Would light burn affect all the leaves too? The leaves from the bottom, middle and top are all affected

[oldjarhead100]

ATU I know it doesn't make sense but it happened in Auto room and they were not top leafs

[alltatup]

Hi LPC: I think you're bound to run into problems if you don't keep a steady eye on pH. If you have nutrient lockout due to pH problems, 1. flush the plants and check the runoff and 2. check pH in and out whenever you water.

See # 3: Monitor pH & Don’t Overdose with Nutrients: https://www.growweedeasy.com/7-flowering-stage-problems

[alltatup]

LPC You are so welcome!! We all just want to see you arrive at a slammin harvest! I guess this is the place to learn that you can grow weed easy IF you know what she needs in order to give you top shelf buds.

This is the pen I use https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ; since July 2016, I used one up and am on my second one now. I leave it soaking in clean pH 7 solution that I buy in bulk here cuz it's so freakin expensive otherwise: https://www.omega.com/pptst/PHA4_7_10.html?bt=cart

Scroll down to the PHA-7 1 gallon for 31.25. I have saved a lot of money buying from these guys.

[LPC]

Thank you for all your help guys! Going to flush the plants tomorrow and I will keep you guys updated.
Thank you alltatup for all the suggestions! I will definitely buy from them because they are so expensive!

[LPC]

UPDATE AFTER FLUSH:

Hey guys I just wanted to give you guys an update! I flushed my plants the other day (I ended up flushing all of them in case because some of the other plants started showing the same symptoms). And you guys were right - the pH runoff was way off! I pH'ed the water to 6.5 and tested all the runoffs from all 4 plants. The plant that was having the most issues with the brown spots and curling of the leaves (Gorilla Zkittlez) the pH of the runoff was around 5.2-5.5!!! I actually had to flush it with more than 2-3x the water to get the pH of the runoff back up to 6.5. The pH of the runoff from the other 3 plants were around 6.4-6.6.

It was interesting to see how much lower the pH was for the Gorilla Zkittlez was, compared to the other plants because every watering or feeding I do the exact same thing to all the plants... I guess it really depends on the plant as some plants are more "finicky".

I do have another question - for the leaves that are already affected (with the spots and curling of the leave), do you suggest that I cut them off? Or should I keep them on the plant? Is it more beneficial or deadly to keep the "affected" leaves on the plant? KTM690 alltatup ?

Thank you for all your help!

[SDwy]

I've had the exact same issue with my last few grows & I read that FFOF was not what it once was. I stopped using it because of ph issues and I kept getting spider mites too, I think the soil was contaminated. I am switching to hydro with my next grow. I'd watch ph closely and use GH nuts. I am done with FF after using them for almost 5 years. Good luck!

[alltatup]

I hope hydro works out for you; I had to buy chillers for my reservoirs, but I love hydro.

[LPC]

SDwy Oh wow! Thanks for the tip! I am going to try using coco or hydro for my next grow and see if I still run into this problem. Thanks!

[SDwy]

I am a little concerned about the heat in the summer, but I just bought a 600 watt viparspectra reflector series led to replace my 400 watt hid because of both heat & gfi breaker issues. I begin using it with my dwc system. I am flowering my last dirt grown plants now, they are from bag seed that I am now on F4 or F5 clones, I call it Boom,
lol, but it's pretty good smoke.

[KTM690]

Those leaves will prolly b ok or fall off make sure new leaves are ok good job turning them around

[LPC]

Okay thank you KTM690!

[alltatup]

LPC Do you maintain the pH at 6.5 or do you let it fluctuate? I'm a hydro grower and I let my pH fluctuate in the reservoir because roots absorb different nutes better at different pH levels. I assume the same is true for soil???

[LPC]

alltatup I don't believe I have intentionally made the pH fluctuate before, since I never tested the pH of the tap water before I started added nutrients (though our tap water's pH is about 7.3-7.5 usually). But then when I started adding the nutrients, I made sure to pH the water to about 6.5 and have been giving water and nutrients at 6.5 since then. I am not sure what caused that the Gorilla Zkittlez's pH to go all the way down to around 5.0 pH?

[alltatup]

LPC Maybe this will help you. https://www.growweedeasy.com/ph From that page:

Soil ~ 6.0 – 7.0 pH
In the wild, cannabis prefers a slightly acidic soil environment. For soil an optimum root zone pH for cannabis is between 6.0 and 7.0, with the most time spent with a pH between 6.2 – 6.9. It’s a good idea to let the pH cover a range instead of always adjusting to the exact same pH number.

I grow hydro, which is different: I allow my reservoir to fluctuate between 5.5 and 6.5. I will tell you: keeping track of pH is one of the ten Cannabis commandments.

[oldjarhead100]

LPC the Plants on the far right you can just see them in pick ,on a board .Were some clones a friend gave me I used all the ones I needed then was going to toss these ,then I said WTF why not stick them in bloom ,so I did and I started feeding them nutes from my res so the same as bloom room and wouldn't you know it I got those copper spots so I would say it was to much of one nute ,Now if we could figure out wicth one lol

[Guest]

I have really been disappointed in ffof and happy frog...nothing but bad (usually low)ph and always a deficiency within 2 weeks because of it. It seemed I was always guessing with what to try ...ive had this exact same problem last grow …

And last grow I tried 1 plant in coco coir and I loved it...it outpaced my soil ones and grew as healthy as any ive ever done. I am currently finishing 3 in soil then im doing the entire swap to coco only...so much easier!!!

[KTM690]

I had black bears taking my grow bags last yr

[oldjarhead100]

I thought that with autos giving the right nute at the right time might be hard so I started with soil and just stayed with it ,but now I add nutes as well I think the next auto grow will be in coco .

That would suck ktm690 I've had porcupines dig out my holes ,I dont use pots in woods to visible if you walk by one of my plants they tent to blend in . and I've had a moose lay on a plant and lots of plants get trampled but i.ve never had a deer mess with one or bear and I have pictures of a bear walking past plants

[KTM690]

Bears are very curious. They left my soil and plants behind lol just wanted those camo bags. I'm leaning towards no more outdoor grows I'm so sick of the issues. All my outdoor spots are of the beaten trail also. Think ill stick 1 or 2 in my yard and call it a yr. I'm 8 jars ahead and have a nice perpetual auto grow going