Curling leaves, not sure how to pinpoint the problem

[pseudostelariae]

currently running a variety of strains in the same soil mix with the same watering/feeding schedule. 1.5 cup of worm castings in 5 gallons of pH'd RO water with a little 'organic' cal-mag and additional micronutrients. all strains in basement soil mix amended with worm castings, mycorizzae, bokashi, humates and micro nutrients. seems to be a very solid veg mix as long as i don't over water.

problem is, certain strains are beginning to have droopy leaves with newer growth folding into a taco shaped leaf with some discoloration surrounding veins. under HPS light it looks terrible but under blue light it looks green and more or less healthy.



this is the best picture we could get of the unhappiest female. they are about to go into flowering so i would love to have the problem identified and remedied within a week or so.

any input is appreciated!

 

[dank.frank]

leaves taco because of too much heat...curl downwards at the tips, ie claw, because of too much nitrogen. Another factor, if not heat, that can make leaves curl and cringe a bit is having your humidity too low...



dank.Frank

 

[pseudostelariae]

leaves taco because of too much heat...curl downwards at the tips, ie claw, because of too much nitrogen. Another factor, if not heat, that can make leaves curl and cringe a bit is having your humidity too low...



dank.Frank

thank for the help! sounds like it might be heat and too much nitrogen. i can be pretty liberal with my worm casting teas. my temp generally stays around 78f-80f but my RH is usually 30% at best. might have to look into a humidifier, clean these reflectors really well and raise the lights a bit just to make sure nothing is getting too uncomfortable.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

I just had a similar problem. it was caused by too much feeding which caused a ph lock out in my soil. it was combined with too much heat. I find going over 76 Fahrenheit is never really good. 80 can be handled. you never want your root zone over 68 though.

Good luck getting your ladies back on track, and may your harvest be fat.

 

[GreenDream]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There is a root cause to plant leaves "taco-ing" which is the plant not being able to draw up enough water to properly transpire.

This can, however, be due to 5 different problems, and any sort of combination of them to make it more severe. (IOW you may have three of them happening at a low level but they add up.)

Those problems are:

1> Too much heat. Plant can't transpire quickly enough to cool itself off.
2> Incorrect humidity. Plant can't transpire properly.
3> Too much nutrient. The osmotic balance in the root zone is off, preventing the plant from transpiring.
4> Too much light. Leads to problems 1 and 2
5> Nutrient deficiency. Mg def looks like this; (praying for magnesium), and Potassium deficiency directly affects the plants' ability to move water and transpire.
(Nutrient deficiency can be due to either incorrect pH or a simple lack of nutrients.)

Again, these are cumulative. For example, if you have a hot, dry room, and are feeding heavily, you will see the "taco" effect much sooner.
Conversely, you can see this happen in a cool, wet room because the plant is suffering a nutrient deficiency due to it not transpiring enough.
... This is what makes the taco effect such a b!tch to figure out sometimes.... it can happen in such a wide range of conditions.

Hope this helps!

[/FONT]

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

^ this is very informative. You just have to figure out what in your environment or medium is not in proper range.

 

[pseudostelariae]

i've corrected the heat issue and today i'm going to look into a small, affordable humidifier.

the soil is an organic blend of coco, worm castings, humates, various composts and some micro nutrients/mycorizzae. always water with pH between 6.3 and 6.5.

i'm starting to think HPS light just makes plants look unhealthier than they really are. might switch to metal halide for my next grow, wait a few days at 75-78deg and have a blue flowering room.

 

[RonSmooth]

What is your water source?

 

[pseudostelariae]

What is your water source?

i go to one of those bulk water dispensers at some grocery stores that pump water that's been purified with carbon multiple times before going through an RO filter. even UV to kill bacteria. seems good, the machine is serviced weekly.

seems to be working well but the RO pHs at like 5 and after i brew a bucket of tea, the pH is well above 8 so i use a little pH down to bring it back to around 6.5.

i think the main problem is over watering so from now on i'm going to just water, give the plants 3-4 days to dry out and then feed with 1/2 strength nutrients. might even top off the pots with a soil mix a little heavier in fertilizer.

next grow i'm just going to stay true to my near foolproof veg soil mix and transplant into soil that has everything it needs for harvest. just water every so often

 

[stihgnobevoli]

that's a little tiny ass picture, what did you take that with a potato camera?

eh my eyes are bad, can't read either. lol

if it's not heat like frank said i would look and see how wet/cold the roots at the bottom of the pot are. as above so below.

 

[pseudostelariae]

that's a little tiny ass picture, what did you take that with a potato camera?

eh my eyes are bad, can't read either. lol

if it's not heat like frank said i would look and see how wet/cold the roots at the bottom of the pot are. as above so below.

i have a tech roommate so maybe i can post a larger picture. didn't realize how small that was lol.

that's been another concern. at the canopy it sits between 75f and 80f but the roots sit at about 60...not sure if that's a huge problem or not but if necessary i can supplement some seed starter mats or something to keep the pots warm. a less expensive idea would be appreciated, short of running a space heater during the dark period.

 

[pseudostelariae]

here is an updated picture. not sure if the size is any better. temperature of the tent sits around 78 at the canopy, humidity at 30% and i haven't fed with nutrients since the problem started. they are looking very droopy so i might go ahead and do a light watering without nutrients.

i'd prefer to deal with a nutrient deficiency than with nutrient burn and the yellow tips seem to indicate too much nitrogen but i only feed with worm castings and some humates/micronutrients

 

[catbuds]

that's a little tiny ass picture, what did you take that with a potato camera?

eh my eyes are bad, can't read either. lol

if it's not heat like frank said i would look and see how wet/cold the roots at the bottom of the pot are. as above so below.

Blessed Be!

 

[OvergrowDaWorld]

1 - Too dry. Humidity should be 50%-60% in veg.
2 - Overwatered. Let the bucket get lite before watering. Pick it up, check it with your finger, and see how dry the soil is mid-knuckle deep.
3 - Overfed. Water them only until the leaves get a lighter green, then feed them.
The plant will let you know when its time to feed.

 

[WelderDan]

I know you are using PH'd water, but what is the PH in your root zone? Most times nutrient lockout is due to the PH being off.

Just another suggestion...

 

[Granger2]

http://www.grainger.com/product/ESSICK-AIR-PRODUCTS-Portable-Humidifier-2PYG2?s_pp=false
I've had good luck with this one. $63.75 up to 800 sq. ft., accurate. Like a micro swamp cooler. W.W. Grainger has many others too. Good luck. -granger

 

[pseudostelariae]

i just thought of another aspect of the grow that might be causing a problem.

i already mentioned i pH the water and teas i use to 6.3-6.5 but i neglected to mention that before i pH the teas for feeding, they sit at over 8 pH.

could it be that the pH adjustment is buffered out and in reality i'm feeding with tea that reads at pH 8? the only thing i can think to do aside from install the humidifier is to wait for the pots to completely dry out, water them until i have some runoff and check the pH of that.

 

[GET MO]

can cold weather cause tacoing? Soon as i saw it i thought "Noooo! broads are back!" but then after scoping all good, but my room been getting down in the high 40s at night...