Calcium issues?

[Spazmagi]

I have two little ladies approximately 10-14 days old that have these odd spots on them. To me, it looks like calcium issues. What do you guys think?


Medium: FFOF + Sphagnum Peat Moss (to help control the PH of FFOF for seedlings) + Kelp Meal + Mykos + Azos (dusted the roots during transplant).

They are being fed a mild (IMO) nutrient solution. Without a TDS meter (ordered, not yet delivered), I can't truly know how strong of a nutrient solution they are receiving, of course.

Measurements per gal:
1tsp Azos
5ml Cal-Mag
5ml BioThrive Grow
0.5ml Mammoth P

This mix is then PHed to 6.3 before feeding. Also, this mix was done with RO water.

I'm just perplexed as to the nature of the problem and I am hesitant to add more than 5ml/gal of CaMg. I greatly appreciate all input you guys can give me. Thanks again, in advance.

-Spazmagi-

 

[Ginger Viking]

Probably lockout due to too much too soon. Less is more early in life...transplant and leave them alone for awhile except for water. Too much love will kill them quicker than anything.

 

[Antitheist]

At that stage you should still be just feeding water.

By adding peat to FFOF you are just watering it down and lowering ph. Peat moss can be pretty acidic. FFOF can be pretty hot so watering it down a little is probably a good thing. Add some ag lime for ph control.

 

[Spazmagi]

At that stage you should still be just feeding water.

By adding peat to FFOF you are just watering it down and lowering ph. Peat moss can be pretty acidic. FFOF can be pretty hot so watering it down a little is probably a good thing. Add some ag lime for ph control.
View attachment 4258164

I had read somehwere that Sphagnum Moss is PH Neutral, but upon closer inspection (and further research), I am seeing that what is labeled as Sphagnum Peat Moss is not the name thing as Sphagnum Moss (from the top layer of the peat bogs, usually exposed to sunlight, apparently). So my attempts to bringing the acidity of FFOF down were done in vain, it would seem. I have switched over to ph'ed tap water with a little added CaMg (1.5ml/gal, preventative). I was hoping not to run into these issues because of the Organic nutes and the microbial additives (Mykos, Azos, and Mammoth P), but apparently they are still too young to take anything more than water. We will see how she recovers, and I'll get some lime added to, hopefully, correct the PH issues.

 

[Spazmagi]

I went ahead and top-dressed with 1tsp of Garden Lime (container is 4x4x4, ~0.27 gal). I did not water it in yet due to the soil already being quite wet due to the peat.

I'm having serious doubts as to the benefit of pursuing such stressed plants at this time. Due to being restricted in number by medical regulation, I might just pop another 2 in case I end up culling these.

 

[promedz]

I went ahead and top-dressed with 1tsp of Garden Lime (container is 4x4x4, ~0.27 gal). I did not water it in yet due to the soil already being quite wet due to the peat.

I'm having serious doubts as to the benefit of pursuing such stressed plants at this time. Due to being restricted in number by medical regulation, I might just pop another 2 in case I end up culling these.

It’s a weed plant you barely stressed her out! I’ve never had a plant die on me ever my advice is to let the root system develop more before you give them that strong of a mix.. as babies I would of made a mix with .3ml of your grow and .3 ml of cal mag you already have great bennies... and after that I would of diluted it with half water and fed that! Next feed would be same but quarter of water! Then they should be big enough for full feeding! That looks like Nute burn to me! Also let your soil dry out more!

 

[myke]

I hope you figure it out,this is why Ive stuck too rdwc.Dirt can be real easy if you get the right mix,if its off just a bit its a long road.Good luck.

 

[Chip Green]

The absolute worst of all horticultural deficiencies is patience.

 

[Capn-Crunch]

The ProMix I use has been ph to neutral, you bag should say if it is also

 

[Spazmagi]

I hope you figure it out,this is why Ive stuck too rdwc.Dirt can be real easy if you get the right mix,if its off just a bit its a long road.Good luck.

Good news everyone!!
[Insert Farnsworth meme]
I believe that I have identified the root of the issue and it is two-fold. Firstly, I definitely started them a little early with nutes. Lesson learned. My last grow was Autos and I just set them up with a water-only soil (self-amended) and they ended up with nutrient deficiencies, but only minor and mostly late in flower. Switching this grow to Photos, I really wanted to see how well they would perform, but I was definitely overzealous. Secondly, I believe the soil PH (slurry tested at 7.8 ) caused extreme nutrient issues. I took all of the AG Lime off the top and will top-dress later in the grow if needed. I would love to hear your suggestions on correcting this issue (soil alkalinity). I have read a few suggestions, but I'm curious what you guys would recommend.

The absolute worst of all horticultural deficiencies is patience.

This is absolutely amazing and is going up in my grow area immediately.

Edit: Fixed emoticon hijacking my PH measurement in parentheses.

 

[hotrodharley]

Are these under an LED light?

 

[Spazmagi]

Are these under an LED light?

They were to begin with (50w 5000k), HOWEVER, I noticed some burning early early on and examined the light closely to find ~90* reflector inside with a single 1/2"x1/2" COB-type led. The light was definitely TOO intense. I promptly went out and replaced that germ light with a regular 2ft, 4-lamp T5, which I keep adjusted to 2-3" above the tops.

 

[hotrodharley]

They were to begin with (50w 5000k), HOWEVER, I noticed some burning early early on and examined the light closely to find ~90* reflector inside with a single 1/2"x1/2" COB-type led. The light was definitely TOO intense. I promptly went out and replaced that germ light with a regular 2ft, 4-lamp T5, which I keep adjusted to 2-3" above the tops.

Suggest staying the course. The spotting is seen with LED lights being too close. It's not temperature.

 

[Spazmagi]

I appreciate all of the input from everyone and the ladies are definitely recovering. One of the stunted ones even has new leaves! Though they have developed a "new" issue, this one seems to be easily managed.

As you can see, there is some clawing from N toxicity, but I am going to chalk that up to the FFOF, as I transplanted them into FFOF cut 20% with Perlite. I suspect calcium issues (for real this time).


This lady has hardly any spots and didn't show any signs of N toxicity during transplant (despite identical medium), so it's either leftover nutes in the soil (the first one is the one I tested giving 1/2 strength nutes to back at the beginning of this thread), or it's just genetic susceptibility. Either way, it's not something I am going to worry about currently because I don't want to stress them further by flushing.

Regardless, to the issue at hand, I suspect Calcium deficiency and I'm hoping to get some feedback from you guys. If it is indeed a Calcium (or micro, Ca/Mg/Fe) deficiency, would it be better to add a liquid Calcium supplement or to use Dolomite Lime and let it break down naturally?

Currently I am only watering as the soil needs with straight tap (ppm 200) with Great White added to help develop mycorrhizal colonization.

I reviewed the most recent water quality test available (2017) and it showed a tested TDS range of 140-233, so I'm guessing it still has a decent bit of accuracy.
However, I am concerned about the amounts of Ca/Mg present in the water. The values seem low to me, but I wanted to get your input.

My water test at the tap shows 200 ppm, values listed below are the maximum values for the 233 value from the EPA water test I reviewed earlier.
Calcium - 60
Magnesium - 24
Iron - 4.7
Manganese - 0.09
Sodium - 9
Chlorine - 19
Potassium - 1.7
Sulfate - 24

I have a bottle of Bloom City Cal-Mag supplement, but not an actual micro supplement, so my quandary is in deciding how to rectify this issue. I have thought of a few options, but I want to know what you guys think.

1 - Continue Tap water only
2 - Tap + Cal-Mag (1-2ml/gal?)
3 - Topdress Dolomite Lime, water with Tap
4 - RO + Cal-Mag (5ml/gal?)

Regardless of options listed above or any others suggested by you guys, I still plan on adding Great White to the mix for the Mycorrhizae. Thank you again for all your time and assistance with these issues.