Help needed!!!

[Gucci]

Hi,
My friend is having a lot of issues and needs help asap! Unfortunately she doesn't have an account here so I made this post for him. Neither of us really has much experience, only theoretical knowledge. That's why I'm turning to you guys. I am sorry for the low quality of the pictures, hope it helps!

A little bit of info

Strain is Chocolope x unkown sativa, 2 plants
week 3 into flowering
growing in soil, 50L container divided into 2
250w hps with cooltube + 20w cfl
Ph is an problem cause the ph meter broke 2 weeks ago and he is still waiting for a replacement(should get it in a week). He is using ph indicator papers but their accuracy is very bad. PH should be around 6-7 though.
Using tap water and its hard, but the ph is neutral.
Temperature goes from 24-27 C usually, when its hot outside it can get to 31C .
Humidity is 50-70 RH. Mostly around 55.
Air ventilation is good.
Using HESI chemical fertz.

So there are a couple of problems with the plants.

First of all the most serious issue is this:


Leaves are yellow and a little bit curved up. These are two of the 4 biggest branches on one of the plants. The third branch is showing a little bit of the same. Fourth one is totally ok. This area is also the hottest place in the room cause its straight under the lamp. This problem appeared 5 days ago and has only gotten worse. My friend is seriously freaking out. Also they used to be the 2 biggest buds comparing to others, now there slowing down in growth.
The second problem is the stem. There are small light brown spots on it, it doesn't appear to be any kind of problem I've seen on this forum before.

Rest of the plant looks more or less healthy, the other plant doesn't seem to have any issues at all.


Some of the leaves are a little bit curled up though and a few of the lower leaves are turning yellow and falling off.
The most confusing part is that one of the plants is looking healthy and the other one seems to have many issues. I searched the area for pests or bugs, only found 2 small flies(regular flies). Also 1,5 week ago there was an issue that the roots seemed to grow on the ground(upwards) and get yellow-brownish and unhealthy because of the direct sunlight. Overall the root system is ok cause the container has roots near the bottom(white and healthy looking).

Please help my friend identify the issues and recommend solutions. Thank you!

 

[bad gas]

How far from the light were the damaged leaves? Can you hold your hand there for 1 minute in comfort? Do you have enough fan to adequately cool the light?

If this doesn't help, I'm sure one of the gurus will.

Good luck. bg

 

[vukman]

The first two images are definitely light and heat damage. You say he's only got a 250W and a cool tube to boot!!. I'm with bad gas on this one and have to wonder how damn close the light is to the poor little girls..:-(.

Once light damage is done, it can't be undone for the leaves involved anyway. Tell your friend to raise the light until can hold the back of his hand at the height of the plants and barely feel the heat.......if at all at this stage until the girls repair themselves.

As for the rest of the stuff going on, I hope someone else chimes in ( I'm sure they will) and gives you the answers you need...

 

[Gucci]

Thanks for the replies!
Well, when the weather wasn't hot they were only 4-5 cm away from the bulb(basically touching the tube) and there was no problems. But the heatwave came unexpectedly and she didn't react fast enough. Now the hps is moved higher and the heat isn't a problem. At first I thought it was only heat but the third branch, as mentioned before, is showing a little bit of the same yellowing. Only that this one definitely isn't getting too much heat.

 

[Gucci]

Hey, so the light brown spots on stems is just a weird way of growing into wood ?

Anyways as I mentioned before there seems to be a def of some kind, think its P and/or K, due to flowering . They've been getting small amounts of fert but before the ph meter arrives I recommended she doesn't give full dosage.
Can somebody more experienced give his or her opinion, pic of the lower leaves being sucked dry:

 

[DJXXPLATINUM]

HEY GUCCI..HERE IS A LEAF CHART...MAYBE IT'LL HELP..THINK ITS HEAT THOUGH..DJ

 

[TGT]

I too think it is heat related. Where is your thermometer located? There can be a drastic temperature change between the floor and ceiling, and depending where the thermometer is located could be causing inaccurate results. Also, I believe you probably should raise the lights a few more inches regardless of temperature and see how they respond in a weeks time. You really don't have to worry about yield being effected with the light farther away as it is only a week and then you will have effectively eliminated one the variable that could be causing the problem.

One other thing, raise your nutrients as the plants will need a lot when under intense light and hot conditions. Hope this helps and let us know how things go.

TGT

 

[Gucci]

Thanks to all,
The thermometer is near the top of the plants and not under direct light, so the temperature should be more or less precise.

 

[Gucci]

Hey,

The heat problem was solved, the light was moved farther away and new growth on the buds in nice and green. I removed the old pictures cause I forgot to remove EXIF data and wasn't sure if the forum deleted that automatically, when uploaded, or not.

New problems though, some leaves seem to curl up, Is it Mg def? Or still heat? The girls received HESI bloom at the beginning of the week. Should have solved the issue but the problem seems to be getting worse:

 

[thefanfx]

the problem is HEAT !!!

you need air-flow m8 , or it will die without fresh air , basically it' can't breathe

curly edges means one thing - too much heat

what's the temperature ? how many fan's you are using ? do you have access to fresh air ?

GL

 

[Gucci]

Well the thing is they are well ventilated. Theres a big outtake vent, smaller intake one, 2 vents inside to move the air around. Its basically a micro grow with only 0.35 squaremeters of space and its fully packed with the plants. So since there is a danger of mold it is pretty windy. The temperature is normal at the top and I can hold my hand under the light without any heat.
It might be caused due to big temperature difference? Cause it is pretty cold here, so the temperature moves from 16 C to 27 C. Which is bad but kinda hard to regulate if I want fresh air.

 

[thefanfx]

strange , the temp difference will change the top colors to light green , and your leaves looks like overheated ...

but ... maybe the difference can affect some kind plants , i have no idea

are you in 12h-12h flowering ?

GL

 

[Gucci]

Hey,
Indeed, 5th week going.

TY

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I'm so glad you're not skydiving.

You're going to learn a LOT from this. I highly suggest you start spending a lot of time reading everything you can find there that pertains to your type of grow setup.

Pay attention to the advice you get (mainly judge how reliable it might be) and try to make your questions as detailed as possible.

Focus on healthy plants first, then harvesting 'clean' plants. You'll really appreciate the results.

Stay Safe!

 

[Ohmless]

definitely hot spot. I would increase ventilation, increase the distance to the arc inside the bulb, and add co2. the plants peak photosynthetic activity is at roughly 92 degrees when co2 is added so you don't really want it much hotter than that. oh yeah, don't let soil get bone dry as the evaporation helps cool the colas. when that stops things get burnt. as for it getting better, all you can do is prevent it from getting worse and let the plant heal. GL