What Could This Be?

I

Inthecloset68

Member
Hey guys, I am having a very difficult time diagnosing one of my seedlings. It is on week old, and is starting to develop a very strange pale yellow coloring to the two lowest leaves. Then the next set of leaves have the exact reverse coloring of the lowest set. I have included a picture that clearly shows what I am refering to.

My set up is 3sqft and is lit by 2 45 watt CFL's (each 3000 Lumens) One is 2700k and one 4100k (I will be replacing these with a 250w HPS before flowering if all goes to plan) Growing medium is sterilized potting soil with pearlite, no added nutrients. Temp is steady at about 82 degrees humidity between 40-50% with a small fan for ventilation/ keeping the plants moving slightly. I was initially watering with filtered tap water that had PH about 6.2 based on my dropper test kit. Since noticing the yellowing I have switched to watering with PH balanced distilled water and put a solid flush through yesterday but as yet have seen no improvement. Should I be at all considering hitting her with a 25% dose of nutes? or is it definitely way too early to start feeding

The plant still looks very strong and is still growing at a noticeable rate, but I would like to rectify this situation sooner rather then later. I am hoping that someone out there might take a look at my plant and easily identify the most likely cause.

Also, I am aware I am going to need a good PH tester...are there any out there that you would recommend and will one tester test both soil and water?
 

Attachments

ca$hcropper

ca$hcropper

Active Member
The first set of leaves she put out are coyteledons and they will yellow/brown and die off once she gets her first set of true leaves growing
 
I

Inthecloset68

Member
Can't tell you much more really. Had a bag of sterilized all purpous potting soil with perlite. No nutrient information at all on the bag...

Not sure of the brand off the top of my head, but can check in the morning if you think it will help. Plant started out great too, real nice and green, but this has slowly taken over over a couple of days. I thought the fact the the veins at the base of the lower leaves are still very green might be a good indicator to those in the know (unfortunately my knowledge is still rather limited). Let me know if I can provide any more info.

Thanks!
 
max316420

max316420

Well-Known Member
If its a cheap potting soil most likely there is no food in it, I would say feed them lightly with a veg food and she should shake off that yellowing and resume lush green growth
 
ca$hcropper

ca$hcropper

Active Member
Just loaded up yeah it looks like nute deficiency like max said try very light nutes and see if she starts to gain back her color
 
I

Inthecloset68

Member
max316420 said:
If its a cheap potting soil most likely there is no food in it, I would say feed them lightly with a veg food and she should shake off that yellowing and resume lush green growth
Click to expand...
Thanks Max! I have been wanting to try feeding myself, but have read that they already contain enough nutrients for the first few weeks so I was affraid to risk it...I will feed them lightly next time they need water and will keep you posted
 
Mort Fink

Mort Fink

New Member
My guess would be mg magnesium deficiency, but I definitely don't know for certain. Take a look at the 3 leafs on the right, they sorta look like the second set of leaves in one of your pictures.

 
I

Inthecloset68

Member
max316420 said:
what food are you gonna use?
Click to expand...
I have Miracle Grow 24-8-16 (which I was planning on using for veg) or Schultz 5-10-5 for "strong start"

Will either of these work? Should I be feeding something else? Also there are 2 mixing ratios on the box. One says for outdoor/flowers/fruit trees (22ml/6L). The other is mixed for houseplants and is much weaker (5ml/4L). Which one should I be using as my base amount before diluting even further? Also why would they measure powder in ml's and not grams? Strange.

Thanks again for the help
 
ca$hcropper

ca$hcropper

Active Member
For veg you want higher N for flowering higher P. And go with a weaker mix than they recomend and slowly work your way up to full strength and I would go with the mix for indoor plants, generally when they mention outdoor they usually are not talking in containers
 
Kingrow1

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
I don't really understand why someone would use sterilised soil unless they couldn't get a bag of potting soil from the shops. Sterilised soil is dead, nothing living in it whatsoever, have seen it used for clones but not really seedlings. Distilled and filtered water contain little or no salts and may actually leech these from the plant and soil, by salts i mean calcium, magnesium and sodium with calcium and magnesium being the all important ones. Both of these factors could be a problem combined with the fact that you could be in a hard water or soft water area. The plant is definatly hungry for certain nutes if you asked me but weak nutes and the right ones. Do you EC the water and nutes or find out the waters ppm after it has been filtered? Distilled water should be near 0ppm i think. Can you get hold of any normal potting soil at a shop or hardware store? I did see that the soil was all purpose potting soil, that to me would mean it has a fare share of nutes in and would think your plant would grow healthy without ferts in that pot for a lot longer than that! How long and how many waterings and flushes has it had with distilled and filtered (is this reverse osmosis or just a normal jug filter or somthing?) water? This could be the problem in itself?
 
I

Inthecloset68

Member
@Kingrow1

I only used the sterilized soil for 2 reasons. 1 it's what I happened to have in the shed, 2 lack of knowledge on my part. I read that using outdoor soil could lead to infection/infestation, so I figured what's safer then sterilized? Picked up a new bag of Shultz potting soil plus. .08-.12-.08

Also as for watering, for the first 5 days I was watering stricly carbon filtered tap water. PPM is approx 50 accordin to my test strips. PH roughl 6.2 the last watering was with distilled water that I PH balanced to 7.0 with a little baking soda. I have been letting the pots get fairly dry before rewatering.

Question remains; How long will I have to wait now before considering transplanting to a bigger pot with the new soil? As I also have a fresh seedling that still has the shell on...it is using the same sterilized soil, so I'm expecting to see something similar in it, although they are different strains.
 
Kingrow1

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
Disregard what i said i didnt see the rest of the posts but i love your chart, where did you get it from, the one with the deficient leaves????
 
Kingrow1

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
I like to repot when the roots are a little root bound, not much but enough so they hold the soil and keep together when i lift the plant out of the pot. Thats just me though, makes it easy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top