Another Yellow Spots/Tips Diagnosis Thread

[smartboyalex]

Hi all, I am a first time grower (sorta) and am having a few issues. I have tried to do my research but it's not as easy as I thought it would be to diagnose, so I thought I would just ask. Here is the info on my grow:

Closet grow with a pretty well controlled environment as far as temps, light and circulation go.

6 Plants consisting of 5 clones (i am assuming these are sativas judging by the characteristics but the original grower didn't know what the exact strain was) cloned in rockwool, these were almost dead when I got them but patience, water and some rooting gel brought them back to life.1 from seed (not sure of this strain either but I am thinking it is a indica) started in peat moss cubes (once again not sure of the exact brand) all of which were planted/cut around 5 weeks ago. They were all kinda held back until I had money for a timer and soil to plant them. I planted all of them in dixie cups, with good size drain holes, about 2 weeks ago.

I am using a basic compost, peat moss, perlite mix. I wet about 60 quarts of soil with a gallon of full strength nutrients ("Cuttings Rooted" Recipe) and let it sit for a few days before using.

I am using Cutting Edge Solutions nutrients and following there directions.

I just changed all of them from 24hr 4500k Fluros to 16/8 400w HPS over the weekend.

I started with plain water since I had already added some nutes to the soil mix. Sadly I went against my better judgement and gave them full strength nutes on about the 3rd watering after I planted them and burnt them pretty good. I didnt flush them but rather watered them with plain water for about 4 waterings, they dry out pretty quick so it was about a weeks worth of watering until the leaves flattened out again. I then introduced nutrients again at a pretty diluted mix, probably less then a 1/4 of what is called for.

Aside from some of the nute burnt leaves, the tips of the healthier leaves are starting to yellow and I am getting lots of little yellow spots (each about the size of the tip of a pen) on the lower leaves, slowly making there way up to the upper leaves. None of the spots go through the leaves, so I am going to rule out bugs. The clones are pretty pale and the one from seed is starting to lose some green. I don't want to lose my plants that I spent a lot of time nursing back to life, could someone please give me some ideas as to what is wrong. I was thinking a nutrient deficiency. Sorry about the pics, I don't have a macro lens for my camera but you can, for the most part, see what I am talking about.

Thanks.

 

[asaph]

you probably still have too much salt in the medium from overfeeding in those tiny cups. what you need to do is give them a good flush, and more important, transplant them into a larger pot. This will help much. Also keep your pH adjusted. If you flush them into a medium with compost (which is good), go easy on the nutes, compost is very rich in nutrients and you don't need to give them anything but water in the first few weeks after transplant, depending on the size of the new pot (until they eat everything in there).

 

[smartboyalex]

Cool, should I wait a little after flushing them to transplant, or at least until they are dry again? I will be transplanting them into 5 gal buckets. After transplanting, should I just wait until they start to show a little deficiency before adding nutes or should I just assume 2 weeks is a good time frame?

Thanks a bunch, I would have never thought of that.

 

[asaph]

Cool, should I wait a little after flushing them to transplant, or at least until they are dry again? I will be transplanting them into 5 gal buckets. After transplanting, should I just wait until they start to show a little deficiency before adding nutes or should I just assume 2 weeks is a good time frame?

Thanks a bunch, I would have never thought of that.

it's easiest to transplant when the soil is still wet but not drenched, so it doesn't crumble.

5 gl is a whole lot, it sounds to me like you wouldn't need food for maybe a month, but I can't really tell for sure, try to find out somehow. How long are you going to veg? in a month there you will have monsters I bet, and 5gl in 400w is enough even for more than a month of growing (in terms of root space, not necessarily food, but could be also). On the other hand, no point in letting them grow tall, would be a waste of time and space as the light won't reach far below, try to keep the canopy as low and even as possible, I recommend a 3 sq foot scrog, or even 4'.

 

[smartboyalex]

Yeah, after some research I found out that 5 gal buckets are huge and 2 gal is usually the largest needed, I just have access to as many 5 gal buckets as I want, but I will see if I can locate some smaller buckets. I was thinking, before i started, of doing a scrog since it is a closet grow and it would be easy to set up. I will look into that.

Out of curiosity, last night I popped a couple plants out of there cups, surprisingly the one from seed is major root bound all over and the clones are starting to be root bound at the bottom, I totally under estimated my root growth. This is probably causing some of there health issues. From what I've read, I should cut the bottoms of the root balls in a few places in order to stop the root bounding, right?

Thanks for the pointers, I feel much better now about this. I will be flushing them after I get off work and transplanting them sometime after that.

Thanks asaph, you're a life saver (well, plant life saver i guess.)