The fourth article in a 5-part series on diagnosing and fixing marijuana nutrients problems.
This is the fourth of five articles in our series on marijuana nutrients deficiencies and over-fertilization.
If you haven’t read the previous three articles, please read them first.
The first three articles contain the most comprehensive template for diagnosing and fixing marijuana nutrients problems.
This problem-solving template is based on a process of elimination– you examine one factor at a time while monitoring your plants’ health.
For example, one grower read the articles, changed his source of water, and saw his hydroponics marijuana plants’ problems go away.
When marijuana crop problems start happening, ask yourself these questions:
- Are my grow room conditions (temperature, humidity, light intensity and placement, air exchange and circulation, water quality, C02 levels, cleanliness, protection against pests and diseases) perfect?
- Am I 100% sure that my hydroponics meters are properly calibrated and functional?
- Am I using zero ppm reverse osmosis water?
- Have I checked with the manufacturer of my base nutrients to get feed schedules and other advice on how to use the hydroponics nutrients?
- Have I networked with other growers growing the same marijuana strain as me?
- Have I tried using a new water source, and changing my brand of base nutrients?
- Have I experimented with incremental pH adjustments up and down the 5.5-6.5 pH range?
- Have I experimented with decreasing and increasing marijuana nutrients dosage?
- Have I properly flushed my plants?
Here are creative concepts to keep in mind:
- If you’re in grow phase, fix your marijuana plant problems before you put your plants in bloom phase.
- If your marijuana plants have been damaged by hydroponics nutrients or deficiencies for a substantial period of time, they may never fully recover.
- Marijuana nutrients problems damage roots. Consider using Roots Excelurator, root zone beneficial microbes, root zone enzymes, and hydroponics tonics such as vitamin B formulas.
- Decrease your light intensity or duration slightly when your marijuana plants are struggling with nutrients deficiency.
- Consider cloning your plants, then changing your growing media, conditions, and nutrients, and starting over with the new clones, rather than carrying on with the damaged, struggling older plants.
- Contact the seller of the marijuana clones or marijuana seeds your plants are grown from, and ask them if they have any advice about your nutrients problems and plant problems. They might be able to advise you about nutrients problems they’ve encountered with the strains you’re growing.
- Don’t panic. Follow the template. Don’t jump past steps. Carefully analyze and adjust each parameter and watch your marijuana plants carefully to see the results of your troubleshooting. Realize you may not be able to totally eliminate your plants’ nutrients problems before it’s time to harvest them…but you’re doing what you can.
- In general, underfeeding is better than overfeeding. The same is true for watering, especially if you’re growing in soil, rockwool, or other media that holds water.
- Most pH meters, pH Up and pH Down can have problems. That’s why a lot of marijuana growers give up on meters and try the “pH Perfect” line of hydroponics base nutrients that automatically balances pH at 5.7 and holds it there.
- In some strains, and especially if you’re growing marijuana in soil or without a lot of bloom phase supplementation, your plants’ larger leaves may go yellow as the plants go into late bloom. This is “natural” and should not be a cause of too much worry.
- Even if your marijuana plants look terrible, they still can build some good THC glands and buds. In general, if you’re careful with ailing plants and carry them through their normal flowering time, you get some resin glands to make concentrates with. That’s better than nothing.
- Marijuana plants need different amounts and ratios of individual fertilizer elements at different times in their growth cycles. This means you can end up chasing nutrients problems as they change over time.
In my experience as a perfectionistic marijuana grower who used to get very angry at himself and his marijuana plants when problems developed in the grow room, I’ve spent many sleepless nights and worried days working on my plants, growing conditions, and grow materials.
I’ve given you the template for fixing marijuana nutrients problems, and I hope you have increased THC and harvest weight because of it.
In the next and final article in this series, we’ll take a look at what to do when you’re feeding only base nutrients and everything is fine…so how do you add bud-boosting supplementation to your marijuana feed program without creating nutrients problems?
