yellowing and drooping in cocoa

[blahman]

This is my first time growing in cocoa, although I've done quite a few grows in the past with soil and hydro.

Feeding sensi grow
ph at 5.8

The problem isn't that bad at the moment but I want to catch it before it gets worse. The last couple weeks things have been going pretty good. But over the last couple days I've had some mild yellowing in my plants right after a watering with just plain water. They previously had 3 waterings at 600/700/750 ppm So I fed them at the normal rate i was giving them ~750ppm hanna scale. Today the day after feeding them I have some more yellowing and some clawing of the leaves.

So to me it looks like they've been overwatered and they are maybe stressing from too much food hence the claw. But I have some marbling of lighter green in the darker colored leaves telling me that they need more food. So at the moment i'm not 100% sure whats going on.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, but please only if you have had experience with cocoa yourself, not just reading.

 

[SeaMaiden]

I've grown in coco(nut coir), but not in cocoa. Those pix aren't showing much, and it would be helpful if you relayed your whole feeding regimen.

Right now they look hungry for N to me.

 

[blahman]

I've grown in coco(nut coir), but not in cocoa. Those pix aren't showing much, and it would be helpful if you relayed your whole feeding regimen.

Right now they look hungry for N to me.

They looked hungry to me as well, but they've gotten slightly worse after I fed them.

Feeding sensi grow

the last feeding was 750 ppm, so I was planning on feeding 2 times, to one watering. So a 3 to 1, they were fed 600ppm, given a couple days to dry out, then 700, etc. My last feeding was 750 ppm. I've read that at week 3 I should be between 600-900ppm depending on the plant size in cocoa, they are currently roughly 24".

It seems to me as though they aren't processing the food correctly for the amount of light I'm giving them, along with some over watering. I've turned off one light and they've greened up slightly overnight(lights are at least 3' above them). But each time I bump up the ppm I get a bit of clawing , the tips of the leaves curl down. I thought it may be too much nutrient causing the curling, but I'm not exactly sure now, ph is double checked at 5.8 before each watering. 750ppm doesn't seem too high for 24" tall plants.

Is something else causing the mild clawing? overwatering? and in fact they need more food?

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

how often do you water?

 

[SeaMaiden]

I've never used Sensi, not familiar. I have found it exceedingly difficult to overwater coco. What's the nutrient profile of the Sensi?

You could try a quick trick, it's kind of cheating and I don't see other signs that would indicate a Mg deficiency, but giving a light foliar application of Epsom salt could get them to green up quickly. If it does, you have a clue as to what's going on.

The pH you're reporting would work just fine for pretty much every line I've run in coco, too. I do like to let it drift up and down, from 5.8-6.2, just to be sure they're able to use the available nutrients, so maybe doing that will help your ladies.

 

[blahman]

how often do you water?

Every 2-3 days

 

[blahman]

I've never used Sensi, not familiar. I have found it exceedingly difficult to overwater coco. What's the nutrient profile of the Sensi?

You could try a quick trick, it's kind of cheating and I don't see other signs that would indicate a Mg deficiency, but giving a light foliar application of Epsom salt could get them to green up quickly. If it does, you have a clue as to what's going on.

The pH you're reporting would work just fine for pretty much every line I've run in coco, too. I do like to let it drift up and down, from 5.8-6.2, just to be sure they're able to use the available nutrients, so maybe doing that will help your ladies.

They seem to be greening up now, but only because I turned one 1000w light off. There's 20 2ft plants under two 1000w's and there's only one light on now. I have to get this sorted out!!!

I've fed a couple of them last night with 950ppm to see if it makes a difference.

I may give the foliar spray a go though, just to see if it helps like you say.

 

[SeaMaiden]

Light is the driver. I've had some odd experiences where reducing light or raising the light have helped greatly, suggesting that the plant either isn't getting enough food, or... light poisoning? I don't know enough about it, but if you've found something that works, then go with it. Please the plants.

Start by raising the lights or something similar when you reintroduce the thouie.

 

[Grass Lands]

Hey man, have you checked the run off to see where things stand...if not I would suggest to start by putting some ph'd water thru the pot and check the run off (PPM & PH) against what was put in...you may be surprised at what comes out...this would give you a reference point of which way to go...this is usually the route I go when little hiccups arise...

Just my suggestion man...instead of speculating on what it could be...

GL

 

[RetroGrow]

Your lights are too close. 1000 watts @3 inches above canopy? Too close. What are your temps? Got ventilation?
Raise your lights, 3 inches is way too close.

 

[Ziggaro]

This could easily have to do with your watering situation.

I definitely found coco to lockout/burn when not watered everyday.

I had 2 coco runs, 1 watering everyday, 1 without. The one without would barely take half strength nutes, comparatively. Same strain.

I'm lazy though so I'm back to sunshine mix. I can't take the hand-watering thing everyday. If I ever get around to automating watering, though, I'm definitely going to go back because my first run watering everyday was beautiful (until I got budrot).

 

[blahman]

Your lights are too close. 1000 watts @3 inches above canopy? Too close. What are your temps? Got ventilation?
Raise your lights, 3 inches is way too close.

They are all at least 3 feet above

 

[RetroGrow]

Ah....3 FEET....sorry.
Have you checked your roots?
Pull a plant from it's pot and examine the roots closely with a loupe.

 

[Leeroy&Co:]

Overwatering can lock out N and slow feeding/growth down. PPM sounds ok, try cutting back on feeding so often or add a bit more perlite, if your seeing signs of overwatering.

Otherwise they look ok there, pics without the hps on are better to identify probs though it's hard to see the leaf colour past the hps glare. your green marbling might have been from light bleaching if it's gone away since you cut back on light. How's your exhaust situation and temps?

 

[Lowman]

I would say light shock. NOt quite enough MG to process the light. Add a little epsom to your feed regime.

Do not check your runoff to see problems. This will not tell you shit in coco. Grab some coco from the root zone and put it in a cup of premeasured (ph) water. Swish it around for a bit...even let it soak for an hour if you like. Then measure the ph in the cup. Runnoff ph is always wrong in coco.

I doubt it is overwatering. But it doesn't hurt to let younger plants dry out a bit(not completely) in coco so the roots don't become lazy. Let the young plants work a little bit to find moisture.

 

[blahman]

I would say light shock. NOt quite enough MG to process the light. Add a little epsom to your feed regime.

Do not check your runoff to see problems. This will not tell you shit in coco. Grab some coco from the root zone and put it in a cup of premeasured (ph) water. Swish it around for a bit...even let it soak for an hour if you like. Then measure the ph in the cup. Runnoff ph is always wrong in coco.

I doubt it is overwatering. But it doesn't hurt to let younger plants dry out a bit(not completely) in coco so the roots don't become lazy. Let the young plants work a little bit to find moisture.

I think your right it does seem that way. Ill grab a cal/mag supplement and see if it helps. I can't tell any other signs of a cal or mag deficiency though.

They definitely can't handle much light without yellowing and drooping.

 

[SeaMaiden]

Some of the signs of Mg deficiency are interveinal chlorosis of lower leaves, ends of leaves may turn upward (praying for magnesium), and that can progress to defoliation if it's really bad.

The main sign of Ca deficiency I look for is interveinal or leaf margin necrosis (brown or rusty spots--necrotic=dead).

 

[headees]

I think your right it does seem that way. Ill grab a cal/mag supplement and see if it helps. I can't tell any other signs of a cal or mag deficiency though.

They definitely can't handle much light without yellowing and drooping.

I had what I believe was light poisoning on my last grow. I had 3k vert bare bulb in a 8x7x8 sealed stadium. Plants looked perfect when I put them in there and within two weeks they looked like yours, and just progressed from there until totally defoliated by harvest. I was feeding a bit too much in the start of flower but I dont think that was the culprit.
Im about to do another run and am worried the same thing is going to happen, is there any way to prevent this other than scaling back the light wattage/number of bulbs?

 

[blahman]

Snapped a few pictures of what I thought was a bit of nute burn on the edges of some leaves, and what I though was some burn from spilled nutrients. Wondering if its actually beginning signs of a cal or mag deficiency.

 

[SeaMaiden]

The very last picture is showing the slightest signs of interveinal chlorosis, this would be the magnesium. The other pictures are too yellow overall for me to really be able to tell much of anything.

I forgot to ask you, did you precharge the coco before planting in it? With Ca & Mg at least, if not also with a mild vegging solution?