Sick ladies - overwatered and over fed?

[CanadianPhatGuy44]

Hi there - I'm new to this board. First time grower. Here's a pic of my sick ladies.

Here's some info that might help in diagnosis:

Care/Abuse

1. Formerly on Schultz All Purpose 10-15-10 and everything was fine.
2. Switched to bloom (12 hour) cycle 10 days ago watered as usual but with Schultz Bloom Builder 5-30-5
3. Gave them a good drink around Tuesday/Wednesday July 4/5 (should've made a log) and included Bloom Builder - this made it the third consecutive use of the fertilizer (I believe).
4. 150W HPS, 1' from lights, dirt system, room temp, pH 5.9, Pro Mix, Amsterdam strain.

Symptoms

1. Some eaves yellowish in the center
2. Bad case of droopy leaves curling under
3. Lower leaves dying off

I'm suspecting I've done what most novices do and I've overwatered AND overfed them.

Question: If I've done both...overwatered and overfed...should I leach the soil? Or will that just totally drown them?

Any ideas?

 

[Hick]

Yup, she's sick. First thing I notice is you ph is waay off for dirt. Should br up in the 6.5+ range. Both of your ferts were high in P, so could be issues there too.
I'd flush/leech with fresh "PH" adjusted water, untill the runoff is clear and clean. Check the ph runoff, too. Then put a fan on them right at pot level to help dry out. Don't water again untill the soil is dry at least 3" deep.
Then you might start back with about 1/2 strength 'full spectrum' utrient.

 

[CanadianPhatGuy44]

Ok I've just flushed until I gathered up about 3" of water from each - looks off-colored. Going to flush again in an hour or two.

Whoa! The PH is like 5.5 on the Stupid Scale! Hmmm. I wonder how that happened? Maybe it was that thing I smoked...

I've put a fan such that it's oscillating the breeze against the pots and lower leaves.

Thanks!

 

[Hick]

flush, by running at least "3 times" the water, by volume, as the pots hold.//i.e. a 5 gallon pot should have at least 15 gallon of water ran through it. 3" is NOT even close to enough.
If your ph has been off for sometime, those "locked out" nutrients have probably built up to toxic levels in your soil.

 

[CanadianPhatGuy44]

Ok I flushed about 7 gallons last night - I'm flushing more now...they don't look good...hope they make it.

 

[CanadianPhatGuy44]

You know, if I fail with this crop, at least I've learned something and I did get to set up clones prior to the PH debocle.

I also think I would have benefitted greatly from having come to this site prior to changing my setup - things were working so well with untreated tap water in soil.

The rationale for my changing the PH of the water added to my soil was purely a dumb error on my part. The owner of a local hydroponics store gave me instructions on a slip of paper to get me going with rockwool for my clones. I took the hydroponics instructions from that slip of paper and, overgeneralizing my learning, I applied these instructions to the soil treatment for my ladies.

Thanks for the link. Will look at it now.

 

[CanadianPhatGuy44]

Ok I've ensured now that the PH of the water exiting each pot is 6.5...now I guess it's just a waiting game.

 

[CanadianPhatGuy44]

Looks like they're toasted.

 

[Pagan]

ya know our girls are a little yellow on the lower leaves. boyfreind says at this stage (before flowering) they need to have lots of water. i think it's too much. we're doing the dirt thing. boyfriend has grown before, say we're ready for budblaster. how much is too much water? boyfriend wants them watered everyday until the water is in the dish. i think they should dry out some. could use a clue.

 

[Mutt]

ya know our girls are a little yellow on the lower leaves. boyfreind says at this stage (before flowering) they need to have lots of water. i think it's too much. we're doing the dirt thing. boyfriend has grown before, say we're ready for budblaster. how much is too much water? boyfriend wants them watered everyday until the water is in the dish. i think they should dry out some. could use a clue.

Rule of thumb when watering. if you stick you finger 2-3 inches into the top of the soil and its dry, time for water. Even during flower I only watered mine 2 maybe 3 times a week. better to underwater than over water. Over watering can be disastorous. Root Rot, PH problems, yeild problems.
I would sometimes wait until a little droop in the leaves started (about 3-4 days sometimes) then I'd water, spring right back up. Within 20 minutes or so.

 

[Pagan]

thanks. i have had great sucess with the ol' houseplant thought i'd better have a plan of action before i told boyfriend he was wrong. didn't want to start a feud. ya know. my tomatoe plant droops everyday, it's been hot here and she's still alive

 

[Pagan]

thanks. i have had great sucess with the ol' houseplant thought i'd better have a plan of action before i told boyfriend he was wrong. didn't want to start a feud. ya know. my tomatoe plant droops everyday, it's been hot here and she's still alive

///