Thanks chebus for posting the plant abuse guide. It's great.
That's a magnesium deficiency.
After looking at the guide posted by chebus, I think this is most probable. The question then becomes why did the deficiency occur? And, what can be done to resolve the issue?
Lol whatever bro, that is a mag def due to lock out... But flush her all ud like, for the record, ditch the sunshine and dolomite and just use FFOF with extra perelite, wont cause any head scratchin(for some) problems, but I'm 99% sure that's no burn, guess well see
"Mg can get locked-up by too much Ca, Cl or ammonium nitrogen," stated in guide. This is somewhat verified by Cervantes book. His book says Mg is bound to the soil when excesses of potassium, ammonia(nitrogen) and/or calcium carbonate are present.
So which if not all is locking it out?
Here is site that explains lime:
http://www.kinseyag.com/Article2.htm
The fine dolomite lime which was added has sufficient levels of mg coupled with soil and nute regime, but also has an abundance of calcium carbonate which is also present in ffof in high amounts to buffer ph(i think gypsum too), but not in as high levels in the sunshine #4 mix. I have read that batches of sunshine may be very acidic. So, I added 1/2 cup of the lime per 1 cubic foot of soil mixture, which is actually less than most add. It is about 2.4 tsp / gallon. So if it is a lockout problem it is probably not an abundance of calcium. Also, i'm using tap water, which has a low ppm (~86ppm).
Ok, so how much cl (chlorine) is in my tap water? Couldn't track this down on the city water site, but our water is not filtered and no fluoride is added. I usually let the water sit out for over 24 hours. Is 24 hours sufficient for the chlorine to dissipate? Does anyone know how chlorine can lead to ammonia salt buildup (is this true)?
Might be Nitrogen excess. However, plants are not showing signs of nitrogen toxicity(e.g.stems are strong and root development is very stable). Maybe it's at a point in between mg lockout due to high ammonium nitrogen but not high enough to cause nitrogen toxicity.
so don't know what it is. might be a bad batch or could have taken bad measurements.
It is hard to solve hard science problems with purely deductive reasoning with no real way to test. I feel like i'm sherlock holmes in the case of scorched earth.
Did you know that a properly Ph'd plant usually has no Purple stems at all--- maybe a stripe or two. When Ph is off one end or the other she can not access all the available nutes even if they are in the soil. And when you do make it available --- make sure you did not flood it or she will back fire hahah!
I
don't think this is the case. I agree with veggiegardener when ze said:
"Some strains, like Trainwreck always have purple stems. It is one of the things people use to identify the strain. Most purpling of normally green plants is due to Magnesium deficiencies. pH may cause a nute lock out, but flushing, or even normal watering would correct lock out issues. Magnesium is very soluble and washes out of a pot's soil quickly. I include epsom salts in every feeding."
I'm waiting to hear back from a few vanilla kush growers about the color of their plants stems at this stage of development. Here is a link to a grow journal where the vk has purple stem:
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/328518-white-widow-pineapple-chunk-c-6.html
also, the seedlings developed with a purple stem in our grow and the snowman verified that it is genetic. While it is a Mg deficiency the telltale sign of purple stems is simply a coincidence.
actually ditch the foxfarm and just use the sunshine, you'll have a lot more control over things
I think when we repot them into 5 gallons we are going to use strait sunshine mix in order to better regulate nutes. Why use hot organic soil mixture when we are adding inorganic fertilizer?
How to Resolve?
Today we flushed and watered with 1/4tsp/gallon epson salt to halt progress of deficiency and add more available mg to plant. Epson salt is magnesium sulfate. Tonight we will foliar feed plants at 1/2tsp per quart epson salt to water and continue to do so until satisfied.
