Plant Problems With Reasons And Solutions.

Hello everyone

I have always seen the 'Sick Plant' section a weak area on the forum.

(That was a joke by the way)

Down to business...

I have seen many similar posts like this spread all over the net.

Many copies with no alterations (I suggest the people who copy and paste should read what they are pasting), I have extensively changed and altered the incorrect info posted by some to give us here at MP a basic factual insight into the causes of sick plants.

You have to remember that growing MJ is not a science, by that I mean that the info here given is a pointer to where you need to look if your problems are shown.

Nitrogen (N) Mobile Element and Macro Element

Benefit :-

Nitrogen plays a very big role in your plants, this one element is directly responsible for production of chlorophyll, photosynthesis, Amino Acids, which are the building block of Proteins - the myriad of enzymes which help the plants growth in leaves stems and the how well the vigour of your plants is.

Nitrogen is the biggest mobile element meaning it can travel anywhere on the plant, usually the deficiency will start on the lower to middle part of the plant, and then will usually show in older leaves first.

Then the deficiency will work its way up the plant.

Your plant can be green on top, then yellowing on the lower leaves when the deficiency is starting out.

Yield will be greatly reduced without good amounts of nitrogen in your plants.

Sometimes in bad cases the leaves will turn a purplish colour along with the yellowing.

Unlike a Magnesium deficiency, Nitrogen deficiency will start from the tips and work its way back to the leaf node.

Nitrogen and Magnesium sometimes get confused.

The best way to tell them apart is Nitrogen deficiency starts around the tips and works its way to the back of the leaves, where a Magnesium deficiency will cover the entire outer part of the leaf and make the entire leaf yellow leaving the veins staying green.

If your plants are having a slow growth rate and have yellowing of the leaves, then likely it's a Nitrogen deficiency.

Towards the middle to end of flowering stages, the plant will show a Nitrogen deficiency almost always.

This process is completely normal and just let the plant naturally yellow out as it uses it's stored nutrients.

This actually helps you by getting ready for final flushing and then harvesting.

At this point do not use nitrogen to fix the problem.

The yellowing leaves will then eventually drop off after the plant is done with them.

Parts affected by a Nitrogen deficiency are older foliage, going to whole plant, Petioles (rare) cases.

Having too much nitrogen in your growing mediums or soil.

The plant will have like an overall dark green look and have delayed maturity.

Due to Nitrogen being involved in vegetative growth, too much Nitrogen will result in tall plants with weak stems.

New growth will be very lively and plant transpiration may be high, but not always.

Nitrogen toxicity can be seen when there are very dry conditions almost as if there was a drought, which may show a burning effect.

If you give your plants ammonium based nutrients they may show NH4+ toxicity, which will show smaller plant growth and lesions that occur on stems and roots, leaf margins that will roll downward.

Also the big fan leaves will have “the claw” look.

The tips will point down but the leaves will stay up as if when you bend your fingers downwards.

Leaves can be twisted when growing, mainly new growths.

Roots will be under developed along with the slowing of flowering.

Yields will be decreased, because too much Nitrogen in early stages of flowering slows down bud growth.

Water uptake is slowed down due to the vascular breakdown of the plants as well.

Too much Potassium and Nitrogen will lock out Calcium.

Nitrogen can be locked out by incorrect PH, water logged soil and soil with low organic matter.

Nitrogen is a very important element in the plant, all elements are, but some are more important than others.

For soil the best PH to have is 6.5.

Why?

Because at 6.5 that's the best number for ALL available nutrients to be absorbed into the plant without any of them being locked out.

For hydro and soil less mediums best ph to have is around 5.8.

Try not to keep your plants too cold, because the cold temps will cause the Nitrogen to become harder for the plant to absorb.

PH levels for Nitrogen:

Soil levels.

Nitrogen gets locked out of soil growing at PH levels of 5.5 and below and 8 and above.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Nitrogen gets locked out of Hydro, Soil less mediums at the levels of 5.25 and below and 8.25 and above.

Solution to fixing a Nitrogen deficiency :-

Avoid excessive Ammonium Nitrogen, which can interfere with other nutrients.

Too much N delays flowering.

Plants should be allowed to become N deficient late in flowering for best flavour.

A solid N-P-K ratio will fix any Nitrogen deficiency.

Any chemical or organic fertilizers that have Nitrogen in them will fix a Nitrogen deficiency.

Peters all purpose plant food 20-20-20 is a good marker to aim for.

If you need to give your plants a quick solution of Nitrogen and you want to use blood meal, it is suggested making it into a tea for faster use, because blood meal is slow acting, but when made into a tea it works quicker.

Other sources of Nitrogen are dried blood, Cotton seed meal which is slow acting, insect eating bat guano which is fast acting.

Bone meal which is a gradual absorption when not made into a tea (also excellent source of Phosphorus).

Fish Meal or Fish Emulsion is a good source of Nitrogen and is medium acting.

Worm castings, which is gradual absorption.

Seabird guano, All purpose Millennia Seabird guano, Original Seabird guano, Crab shell, which is slow absorption.

Fox Farm Grow Big, which is fast acting (can bring down your PH as well).

Here are a list of things that help fix a Nitrogen Deficiency :-

Chemical Nutrients.

Advanced nutrients Grow (2-1-6)
Vita Grow (4-0-0),
BC Grow(1.2-3.2-6.5)
GH Flora Grow (2-1-6)
GH Maxi grow (10-5-14)
GH floraNova grow (7-4-10),
Dyna gro Grow (7-9-5)

Organic Nutrients.

Dr. Hornby's Iguana Juice Grow (3-1-3)
Advanced Nutrients Mother Earth Grow (1.5-.75-1.5)
Earthjuice Grow (2-1-1),
Pure Blend Pro (3-1.5-4)
Bone Meal(0-10-0)
Blood Meal(12-0-0)
Fish Emulsion (5-1-1)
Seabird Guano (11-13-3)
Crab Shells(2.5-3.0-.5)
Pure Blend Grow (0.4-.01-.5)
Marine Cuisine (10-7-7)
MaxiCrop Seaweed (1-0-3)
Super Tea (5-5-1)
Mexican Bat Guano (10-2-0)
Sea Island Jamaican Bat Guano (1-10-0)
Kelp Meal (1-0-2)
Seaweed Plus Iron
Neptune's Harvest (2-4-0.5)
Alaska Start-Up(2-1-2)
Bio-Grow (1.8-0.1-6.6)
Age old Grow (12-6-6)
AGE Old Kelp (.30-.25-.15)
Neptune's Harvest (2-4-1)
Maxicrop Seweed(.1-0-1)
METANATURALS Organic grow (3-3-3)
METANATURALS Organic nitrogen (16-0-0)

So adding any one of those above should fix your Nitrogen deficiency.

Nitrogen deficient plants usually recover in about a week, affected leaves will not recover.

If you added too much chemical nutrients and or organics, (which is hard to burn your plants when using organics) you need to flush the soil with plain water.

You need to use 3 times as much water as the size of the pot.

3 times the pot size of water to rinse out the soil good enough to get rid of excessive nutrients.

Soluble Nitrogen (especially nitrate) is the form that's the most quickly available to the roots, while insoluble N (like urea) first needs to be broken down by microbes in the soil before the roots can absorb it.

Blood Meal, Dried Blood, Guano's, Kelp Meal, Cotton Seed Meal, Peat Moss, Sulphur and Fish Meal are all acidic and can bring your PH down, so if you add these, monitor your PH.

Bone Meal, Rock Phosphate, Wood Ashes pretty much all ashes, Shellfish Compost and Crab Meal are all alkaline and can make your PH go up, so if you add any of these, monitor your PH.

Here are 2 pics of what Nitrogen def looks like.

The first one is a Nitrogen deficiency in veg growth.

The 2nd picture is Nitrogen deficiency in flowering (this is completely normal for mid to late flowering).

As you would want your plant to naturally yellow at the end.

Do not add Nitrogen supplement to fix the problem, just let the plant yellow as Cannabis does towards the end of flowering.

The last picture is one that is caused by too much Nitrogen.

Phosphorus (P) Mobile Element and Macro Element.

Benefit :-

Phosphorus does a lot of things for the plant.

One of the most important parts of Phosphorus is it aids in root growth and influences the vigour of the plant and is one of the most important elements in flowering.

Phosphorus is an essential plant nutrient and since it is needed in large amounts it is classified as a macro nutrient.

Phosphorus is an important nutrient in the plants reproductive stages.

Without this element the plants will have problems blooming without proper levels of Phosphorus.

When your plants are deficient in Phosphorus, this can overall reduce the size of your plants.

Not enough Phosphorus causes slow growth and causes the plant to become weak, to little amount of Phosphorus causes slow growths in leaves that may or may not drop off.

The edge around the leaf or half of the leaf can be brownish and work its way inwards causing that part of the leaf to curl up slightly.

Fan leaves will show dark greenish/purplish and yellowish tones along with a dullish blue colour to them.

Sometimes the stems can be red, along with red petioles that can happen when having a Phosphorus deficiency.

This isn't a sure sign of you having one though, but can be a sign.

Some strains show the red petioles and stems from its genes.

An overall dark green colour with a purple, red, or blue tint to the fan leaves is a good indication of a Phosphorus deficiency.

Having Cold weather (below 50F/10C) can make Phosphorous absorption difficult for plants.

Many people get a Phosphorus deficiency confused with a fungus problem because the ends of the leaves look like a fungus problem, but the damage occurs at the end of the leaves, side of the leaves and has a glass like feeling to it as if it had a PH problem.

Parts affected by a Phosphorus deficiency are :-

Older Leaves, Whole plant, Petioles.

Too much Phosphorus levels affect plant growth by suppressing the uptake of Iron, Potassium and Zinc, potentially causing deficiency symptoms of these nutrients to occur deficient in plants.

A Zinc deficiency is most common under excessive Phosphorus conditions.

As well as causing other nutrients to have absorption problems such as Zinc and Copper.

Phosphorus fluctuates when concentrated and combined with Calcium

Phosphorus can be locked out by incorrect PH, cold wet soils, acid or very alkaline soils, compacted soil.

Soil.

Phosphorus gets locked out of soil growing at PH levels of 5.8 and below and 7 and above.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Phosphorus gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums at PH levels of 5.5 and below and 6.2 and above.

Solution to fixing a Phosphorus deficiency :-

Some deficiency during flowering is normal, but too much shouldn't be tolerated.

Any chemical or organic fertilizers that have Phosphorus in them will fix a Phosphorus deficiency.

If you have a phosphorus deficiency you should use any N-P-K ratio that is over 5.

Again Peters all purpose 20-20-20 is a good mix.

Other forms of Phosphorus supplements are :-

Bone meal, which is gradual absorption, it is suggested making it into a tea for faster use, where bone/blood meal is slow acting, but when made into a tea it works quicker.

Fruit eating bat guano, which is fast absorption, worm castings, which is gradual absorption, fish meal, which is medium absorption, soft rock phosphate, which is medium absorption, Jamaican or Indonesian Guano, which is fast absorption, Crab shell, which is slow absorption, Tiger Bloom , which is fast absorption.

Here is a list that help to fix a Phosphorus Deficiency.

Chemical :-

Advanced nutrients Bloom (0-5-4)
Vita Bloom (0-7-5)
BC Bloom (1.1-4.4-7)
GH Flora Bloom (0-5-4)
GH Maxi Bloom (5-15-14)
GH Floranova Bloom (4-8-7)
Dyna-Gro Bloom (3-12-6)
Fox Farm Tiger Bloom (2-8-4)
Awesome Blossoms

Organic :-

Dr. Hornby's Iguana Juice Bloom (4-3-6)
Advanced Nutrients Mother Earth Bloom (.5-1.5-2)
Fox Farm Big Bloom (.01-.3-.7)
Earth Juice Bloom (0-3-1)
Pure Blend Bloom (2.5-2-5)
Pure Blend Pro Bloom (2.5-2-5)
Buddswell (0-7-0)
Sea Island Jamaican Bat Guano (1-10-0)
Indonesian Bat Guano (0-13-0)
Rainbow Mix Bloom (1-9-2)
Earth Juice Bloom (0-3-1)
BIO BLOOM (2-6-3.5)
AGE OLD BLOOM (5-10-5)
ALASKA MORBLOOM (0-10-10)
METANATURALS ORGANIC BLOOM (1-5-5)

Any of the above will cure your Phosphorus deficiency.

Affected leaves will not show recovery but new growth will appear normal.

Blood Meal, Dried Blood, Guano's, Kelp Meal, Cotton Seed Meal, Peat Moss, Sulphur and fish meal are all acidic and can bring your PH down, so if you add these, monitor your PH.

Bone Meal, Rock Phosphate, Wood Ashes pretty much all ashes, Shellfish Compost and Crab Meal are all alkaline and can make your PH go up, so if you add any of these, monitor your PH.

Potassium (K) Mobile Element and Macro Element

Potassium plays a big role as well.

Having good amounts of potassium in your plants helps in having sturdy and thick stems, disease-resistance, water respiration, as well as aiding in photosynthesis.

Potassium is also found in the whole plant.

It is necessary for all activities having to do with water transportation.

Potassium is necessary for all stages of growth, especially important in the development of Buds.

Having too little Potassium in your plants causes the plants leaves to show ******** growth and show a scorched tip and edges around the leaves.

Plants may stretch and your branches can easily be broken or weak.

Do not get this deficiency confused with Iron, because it almost acts like Iron but to tell the difference in the two is that with Potassium deficiency the tips of the leaves curl and the edges burn and die.

Older leaves may show a red colour and leaves could curl upwards.

Dead patches (Necrosis) can happen on the margins of larger fan leaves, the leaves will eventually die off and turn brown.

The Older leaves will show different patches of colour (mottled) and turn yellow between the veins, following by whole leaves that turn dark yellow and die.

The plants overall growth slows down, mostly when they are in vegetative stage.

Too little amount of Potassium also slows the growth of buds during flowering stages.

Dark edges will appear around the edges of the leaf when the deficiency is starting to happen.

When your Relative humidity is low, you can almost guarantee you are going to get a Potassium deficiency caused by your plants perspiration.

Potassium can get poorly absorbed when having too much Calcium or Ammonium Nitrogen and maybe cold weather.

Having to much Sodium (Na) causes Potassium to be displaced.

Parts affected by a Potassium Deficiency are :-

Older leaves and leaf margins.

When you have too much Potassium in your soil it can lead to salt damage and acid fixation of the root system as well as a Calcium deficiency.

Your fan leaves will show a light to a dark yellow to whitish colour in between the veins.

Due to a molecular imbalance Potassium toxicity can cause a reduced uptake and lead to the deficiencies of Mg and in some cases Ca.

Also leads to the other nutrients not being absorbed correctly leading to lots of other deficiency such as Magnesium, Manganese, Zinc and Iron and can cause problems with Calcium as well.

Potassium being locked out by PH.

Soil.

Potassium gets locked out of soil growing at PH levels of 5.5 and below and 8.5 and above.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Potassium gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums at PH levels of 4.5 and below and 6.5 and above.

Solution to fixing a Potassium deficiency :-

Any Chemical/Organic nutrients that have potassium in them will fix a potassium deficiency.

Again Peters All Purpose plant food 20-20-20, will cure the potassium deficiency.

Some other supplements of potassium are :-

Wood ashes, which are fast absorption, Kelp Meal, which is medium absorption, Greensand, which is slow absorption, granite dust, which is slow absorption.

Sulfate of Potash, Sulfate of Potash Magnesia, Muriate of Potash, which are medium absorption.

FOXFARM GROW BIG HYDROPONIC CONCENTRATE, which is fast absorption.
(FFGB can bring your PH down as well)

Earth Juice Meta-K, which is fast acting.
(Can bring down your ph as well)

Leaves will never recover, but the plant will show recovery after about 4 to 5 days when using a fast acting nutrient.

Wood Ashes, can make your PH go up so monitor your PH when using it.

Magnesium (Mg) - Micro nutrient and Mobile Element.


Magnesium helps supports healthy veins while keeping a healthy leaf production and its structure.

Magnesium is significant for chlorophyll production and enzyme break downs.

Magnesium must be present in relatively large quantities for the plant to survive, but yet not to much to where it will cause the plant to show a toxicity.

Magnesium is one of the easiest deficiencies to tell.

The green veins along with the yellowness of the entire surrounding leave is a giveaway, but sometimes that's not always the case.

In case you have one of those where it doesn't show the green veins, sometimes leaf tips and edges may discolour and curl upward.

The growing tips can turn lime green when the deficiency progresses to the top of the plant.

The edges will feel like dry and crispy and usually affects the lower leaves in younger plants, then will affect the middle to upper half as it gets older, but it can also happen on older leaves as well.

The deficiency will start at the tip then will take over the entire outer left and right sides of the leaves.

The inner part will be yellow and or brownish in colour followed by leaves falling without withering.

The tips can also twist and turn as well as curving upwards as if you curl your tongue.

Excessive levels of Magnesium in your plants will exhibit a buildup of toxic salts that will kill the leaves and lock out other nutrients like Calcium.

Mg can get locked out by having too much Calcium, Chlorine or ammonium in your soil/water.

A severe problem a person can have is a Magnesium def caused by a PH lockout.

By giving more Magnesium to cure the problem (you think you are doing good, but actually you are doing more harm then good).

When the plant can't take in a nutrient because of the PH being out of range for that element, the plant will not absorb it but it will be in the soil, therefore causing a buildup.

A buildup will be noticed by the outer parts of the plant becoming whitish and or a yellowish colour.

The tips and part way in on the inner leaves will die and feel like glass.

Parts affected by Magnesium deficiency are :-

Space between the veins (Interveinal) of older leaves and may begin around interior perimeter of leaf.

Problems with Magnesium being locked out by PH.

Soil.

Magnesium gets locked out of soil growing at ph levels of 6.45 and below and 7.5 and above.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Magnesium gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums at ph levels of 5.5 and below and 8 and above.

Solution to fixing a Magnesium deficiency :-

Any Chemical/Organic nutrients that have Magnesium in them will fix a Magnesium deficiency.

(Only mixing at 0.25 - 0.5 strength when using chemical nutrients or it may cause nutrient burn)

Other nutrients that have magnesium in them are :-

Epsom salts which is fast absorption.
Dolomite lime and or garden lime (same thing just called different) which is slow absorption.
Sulfate of Potash, Magnesia which is medium absorption.
Worm Castings, which is slow absorption.
Crab shell which is slow absorption.
Earth Juice Mircoblast which is fast acting.

Calcium (Ca) -Macro Nutrient and an Immobile element.

Calcium is another important element that helps the plants cell walls, cell division in making the plants stems, stalks, branches stronger, as well as contributing to root growth, mostly the newer root hairs.

Calcium also helps enhancing the uptake of K in the plants roots.

Calcium moves really slow within the plant and tends to concentrate in roots and older growth.

When plants exhibit a Calcium deficiency the younger leaves are the first to show, later the older leaves.

The Leaf tips will die back, the tips may curl, and growth of the plant is stunted.

The plant can show a weakness in the stems and branches as well as a under developed root system that can lead to bacteria problems with roots dying off.

Having slow plant transpiration rates can aggravate the uptake of Calcium.

Make sure your soil isn't acidic because Calcium gets harder to be absorbed through acidic soils.

Which leads to having a plant that is deficient in Calcium.

The leaf tips, edges and new growth will or may turn a yellow/brown colour that happen in spots and often surrounded by a sharp brown outlined edge and then the leaf tips die back.

If too much Calcium is given at an early stage of growth it can stunt the growth of your plants.

Having too much Calcium will also flocculate when a concentrated form is combined with Potassium.

The parts affected by a Calcium deficiency are the roots, stem or petiole, young or old leaves.

Too much Calcium will lead to other micro nutrient deficiencies.

Calcium fixation is caused by many types of mediums such as clay soils, un buffered coco and humus.

The lime tends to bond to these soils very easily.

The stems of the plant will not be able to hold the plant up and will exhibit a white brown in between the veins of the leaves when having too much Calcium.

Also having too much Potassium and or Nitrogen will cause a Calcium lockout.

Calcium being locked out by PH.

Very acidic soils with excessive Potassium, dry and or wet soil.

Lack of Calcium in the soil may cause too acidic soil.

This may cause to Mg or Iron deficiency or very slow stunted growth

Soil.

Calcium gets locked out of soil growing at PH levels of 6.4 below and 7.75 and above.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Calcium gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums at PH levels of 4.6 and below and 5.85 and above.

Solution to fixing a Calcium deficiency.



Or Any Chemical/Organic nutrients that have Calcium in them will fix a Calcium deficiency. (Only mixing at 0.25 - 0.5 strength when using chemical nutrients or it may cause nutrient burn)

Or you can take crushed up dolomite lime or garden lime in a gallon of water and water it in the soil.

1 to 2 teaspoons per gallon of water, which will be slow acting.

Garden Gypsum, which is medium absorption.
Limestone, which is medium absorption.
Rock Phosphate and Animal wastes which are both medium/slow absorption.

Zinc (Zn) Micro Nutrient and an Immobile element.

Zinc plays a lot of roles in the plant, first off Zinc aids in the plants size and maturity as well as production of leaves, stalks, stems and branches.

Zinc is an essential component in many enzymes as well as growth hormone auxin.

Low auxin levels can be the cause of stunting of the plants leaves and the shoots.

Zinc is also important in the formation and activity of chlorophyll.

Plants that have a good level of Zinc can handle long droughts.

Zinc plays an important role how the plant absorbs moisture.

Zinc deficiencies on some plants will have the Spotting and bleached spots (chlorosis) between the veins first appears on the older leaves first and then goes on to the immature leaves.

It will then start to slowly affect tips of growing points of the plants.

When the Zinc deficiency happens so suddenly the spotting can appear to be the same symptoms to that of an Iron and Manganese, without the seeing the little leaf symptom.

Zinc is not mobile in plants so the symptoms will occur mainly in the newer growths.

Having a plant that is deficiency in Zinc can cause small crops, short shoots and have a cluster of small distorted leaves near the tips.

Between the veins (Interveinal) yellowing is often combined with overall paleness.

Pale or greyish, yellowing between the veins.

With a low level of Zinc in your plants your yields will be dramatically reduced.

Interveinal chlorosis is present in the small narrow distorted leaves at the ends of really shortened shoots and the shortening between internodes.

Leaf margins are often distorted or wrinkled.

These deficiencies will often occur together.

Parts affected by a Zinc deficiency are young leaves and petioles.

Having an excess of Zinc is very rare but when it does happen, it can cause wilting and in worse cases death.

Soil.

Zinc gets locked out of soil growing at PH levels of 4.7 and below 9.5 and above.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Zinc gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums at PH levels of 4.25 and below and 8.5 and above.

Solution to fixing a Zinc deficiency :-

Any Chemical/Organic nutrients that have potassium in them will fix a Zinc deficiency. (Only mixing at 0.25 - 0.5 strength when using chemical nutrients or it may cause nutrient burn)

And any of the following nutrients will fix a zinc deficiency :-

Zinc sulfate, Zinc chelated, or Zinc oxides are adequate fertilizer sources for Zinc.

Or you can bury galvanized nails in the soil. (Make sure you take off the sharp point at the end to prevent roots from being damaged)

Garden Manure, which is slow acting.

Greensands and Cottonseed Meal are both medium/slow absorption as well.

Manganese (Mn) Micro nutrient and Immobile Element


Manganese Helps enzymes break down for chlorophyll and photosynthesis production, as well as it works with plant enzymes to reduce nitrates before producing proteins.

Having plants that are deficient in Manganese can turn the young leaves into spotted (mottled) yellow and or brown areas on young leaves.

Dead (Necrotic) yellow spots form on top leaves, while the lower older leaves will or may have grey specks and or spots.

Symptoms can include yellowing of leaves while the leaf veins can stay green.

Can also produce a mottled effect.

As the plant gets newer growths the plant will seem to grow away from the problem, that's why the younger leaves may be unaffected.

On the top of the leaves, brown spots can appear.

While the severe areas of the leaves turn brown and wither.

Parts Affected by a Manganese deficiency are :-

Young leaves.

Too much Manganese in the soil will cause an Iron deficiency.

The blotchy leaf tissue is caused by not enough chlorophyll synthesis.

Your plants will seem to have very weak vigour caused by the excessive amount of Manganese.

Soil.

Manganese gets locked out of soil with high PH.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Manganese gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums with high PH levels.

Solution to fixing a Manganese deficiency.

Foliar feed with any chemical fertilizer containing Mn or mix with water and water your plants with it.

Any Chemical/Organic nutrients that have Manganese in them will fix a Manganese deficiency.

(Only mixing at 0.25 strength when using chemical nutrients or it may cause nutrient burn)

Other nutrients that have Manganese in them are :-

Manganese chelate, Manganese carbonate, Manganese chloride, Manganese dioxide, Manganese oxide, Manganese sulfate, which are all fast absorption.

Garden Manure, Greenssand are both good sources of Manganese and are medium/ slow absorption.

Iron (Fe) Micro Nutrient and an Immobile element


Iron is an important component of the plants enzyme and is also important for the transportation of electrons while photosynthesis is happening.

Iron reacts with many of the components of nutrient solutions, which will cause a nutrient lockout to occur.

If you add to much Iron without adding enough Phosphorus you can contribute to a Phosphorus deficiency so watch out how much Iron and Phosphorus your nutrients have.

The Leaves on the plant can turn a pale yellow along the growing shoots while the veins remain dark green.

When you have PH imbalance, it can make Iron insoluble.

The tissue between the veins becomes pale or white, it mimics the Magnesium deficiency but not yellow, Iron has white where the yellow would be on the Magnesium deficiency.

The deficiency starts with the lower and middle leaves while the new leaves become completely lacking in chlorophyll but with little or no necrotic spots.

The chlorotic mottling on new leaves starts first near the bases of the leaflets, so the middle of the leaf appears to have a yellow mark.

Iron is difficult for plants to absorb and moves really slowly in the plant.

Harder for outdoor plants to absorb when in hot weather.

Parts affected by the Iron Deficiency are :-

Young leaves and Petioles.

Too much Iron can cause a problem that looks like a PH imbalance.

Brown spotting on the top leaves, mainly fan leaves.

Can affect the whole plant.

Iron Toxicity is rare.

Problems causing Iron being to be locked out :-

Over watering, pests nematodes, not enough drainage (perlite or similar drainage aids).

High PH, Soils with low Iron, High Phosphorus, Excess Zinc, Manganese or Copper.

Soil.

Iron gets locked out of soil growing at PH levels of 3.5 and below and 6.5 and above.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Iron gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums at PH levels of 3.5 and below and 6.05 and above.

Solution to fixing a Iron deficiency :-

Any Chemical/Organic nutrients that have Potassium in them will fix a Iron deficiency. (Only mixing at 0.25 - 0.5 strength when using chemical nutrients or it may cause nutrient burn)

Foliar feed with chemical fertilizer containing Fe or rusty water can work well.

Other supplements that have Iron in them are :-

Iron chelates, Ferric oxide, Ferrous oxide, Ferrous sulfate, all of these are fast absorption.

Greensand, Cottonseed Meal is slow absorption.

Garden Manure which is medium absorption.

Manure is most common organic Iron source to use.

Sulfur (S) Micro Nutrient and an Immobile element

Sulfur plays an important role in root growth, chlorophyll supply and plant proteins.

Just like Iron, Sulfur moves slowly in the plant, hotter temps will make Sulfur harder to absorb like Iron.

But unlike Iron, Sulfur is distributed evenly throughout the plant, mainly the big fan leaves.

Sulfur is also a very important element in vegetative growth.

First signs of a Sulfur deficiency are pale young leaves.

The growth of leaves will remain slow, but the leaves can also get brittle and stay narrower than normal.

Can also have small mutated leaves, along with the buds on top of flowering plants will die off.

The growth of the plant can be stunted as well as yellowing of the younger leaves and new growth.

Unlike a Magnesium deficiency where it starts from the leaves tip and around, Sulfur starts from the back of the leaf moving forward to the middle of the leaf.

The Stems become hard, thin and may be woody.

Some of the plants may show orange and red tints rather than yellowing.

The stems will increase in length but not in diameter.

Leaves will then be stiff and brittle like glass and fall off.

Parts affected by a Sulfur deficiency are :-

The whole plant can be affected as well as young leaves, leaf veins.

Too much Sulfur will cause your plants to be small along with the size of your leaves, along with your leaves being brown and dead looking at the tips.

An excess of Sulfur can also look like salt damage, restricted growth and dark colour damage.

Soil.

Sulfur gets locked out of soil growing at PH levels of 5.5 and below and 9 and above.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Sulfur gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums at PH levels of 5.5 and below and 9 and above.

Note .. I have done extensive research and I cannot confirm the above as correct eace:

Sulfur is best absorbed with a PH of 5.5 - 6 both Soil and Hydro.

Solution to fixing a Sulfur deficiency :-

Mix 1-2 teaspoons of Epsom salts per gallon of water until condition improves.

Any Chemical/Organic nutrients that have Sulfur in them will fix a Sulfur deficiency.

(Only mixing at 0.25 strength when using chemical nutrients or it may cause nutrient burn)

Other sulfur nutrient supplements are :-

Rain water, Ammonium Thiosulfate, which are both fast absorption.

Garden Sulfur, Sulfate of Potash, Gypsum.

Boron (B) Micro nutrient and Immobile element.

Boron is important when dealing with maturation, pollen germination and seed production.

As well as keeping calcium in soluble forms and keeping the stems, stalks, branches strong.

Boron keeps good colour on the leaves and helps produce the plants structure.

Boron also aids in cell division and protein formation.

Boron deficiencies will show up first in younger leaves (they may turn yellow), then moves up the plant.

Boron deficiency can resemble Calcium deficiency.

Stunting, discolouration, possible death of the growing tips, bud abortion and development.

The Roots will show as stunted with swollen short secondary roots, leaves distorted, sometimes bronzed or scorched.

Tip of the shoot dies, stems and petioles are brittle.

Boron deficiency plants are easy to tell, because of the spotting the leaves show like a strawberry mark and or splashes of the marking.

Boron-deficiency symptoms first appear at the growing points.

They also can show signs of newer growths turning grey and or dying, bud deformed, curling of the leaves which are often spotted and discoloured.

Newer growths appear to look like they are burnt.

They can show signs of hollow stems along with yellowish to brownish colour leaves.

Dead (Necrotic) spots develop between leaf veins, as well as the leaves becoming thick.

The leaves will wilt with necrotic and chlorotic spotting.

Boron is poorly absorbed with low potassium content.

First signs of the deficiency are abnormal growth tips.

Having not enough Boron can also invite fungus problems from the internal tissues that rot away, as well as the root hairs along with them being discoloured.

To avoid having a Boron deficiency keep the PH below 7.

Too much Boron in your plant can produce a lot of problems.

The leaf tips turn yellow, progressing inwards causing the plant to die slowly along with leaves dropping off the plant.

Can also show same signs as if a Magnesium deficiency, but only happens on newer growths.

Parts affected by a boron deficiency are :-

Growing points and young leaves.

Soil.

Boron gets locked out of soil growing at PH levels of 5 and below and 7.7 and above.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Boron gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums at PH levels of 5 and below and 6 and above.

Solution to fixing a Boron deficiency :-

One of the ways you can fix a Boron deficiency is to either foliar spray or water regular.

Treat with one teaspoon of Boric acid (sold as eyewash) per gallon of water.

(Only mixing at 0.25 strength when using chemical nutrients or it may cause nutrient burn)

Other nutrients that have boron in them are :-

Borax, Boric Acid, Colemanite, Sodium pentaborate, Sodium tetraborate, which are ALL fast absorption.

Garden Manure, Bone Meal are both good boron supplements, but are slow/medium absorption.

Copper (Cu)

Copper plays a big role in producing healthy plants, stems, branches and new growths, as well as for the plants reproduction and maturity.

It also assists in carbohydrate metabolism and oxygen reduction.

Copper deficiency plants shows a lack of growth, growth tips die back, green leaves will show a bluish hue and plants may have a hard time showing maturity in vegging stages.

Copper deficient plants causes irregular growth and wilting in the newer growths.

The Leaves at top will wilt easily along with bleaching (chlorosis) and necrotic areas in the leaves.

Leaves on the top of the plant may show veinal chlorosis.(bleaching of the veins)

Growth and yield will be diminished along with spots on the leaves that are necrotic.

Too much copper in the system will cause the plant to die, as if it was a poison.

Near death the plant will induce Iron deficiencies and the root system will decay along with abnormal size of the roots, along with little side branching.

Some new growths may not open up, along with becoming thin pale green to a bluish hue.

Parts affected by copper deficiency are :-

New shoots, young leaves, and or the whole plant.

Soil.

Copper gets locked out of soil growing at ph levels of 4.5 and blow and 7.5 and above.

Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Copper gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums at ph levels of 6.5 and above.

Solution to fixing a Copper deficiency :-

One way to treat a copper deficiency is by foliar feeding with Copper Sulphate, Cu sulfate, Cu chelates (can also be added to the soil)

Any Chemical/Organic nutrients that have copper in them will fix a copper deficiency.

(Only mixing at 0.25 strength when using chemical nutrients or it may cause nutrient burn)

Other nutrients that have copper in them are :-

Granular, Garden Manure, Greensand.

Molybdenum (Mo)

Molybdenum has proteins that help the plant take Nitrogen from the air.

A Molybdenum deficiency causes leaves to have a pale, fringed and scorched look, along with weird or ******** leaf growth.

Yellowing of middle leaves can occur as well as twisted younger leaves which will eventually die.

Molybdenum deficiencies frequently resemble a Nitrogen deficiency.

A Molybdenum deficiency shows older chlorotic leaves with rolled margins and stunted growth.

Looks like a Nitrogen deficiency but with the red tips moving inwards to the middle of the leaves.

Molybdenum deficiency will usually show up in the older to middle aged leaves, then it moves to the young leaves.

Generally a Molybdenum deficiency occurs when Sulfur and Phosphorus are deficient.

Or soils that are acidic.

Soil.

Molybdenum gets locked out of soil growing at PH levels of 6.4 and below and 7.2 and above.


Hydro and Soil less Mediums.

Molybdenum gets locked out of Hydro and Soil less Mediums at PH levels of 5.5 and below and 6 and above.

Solution to fixing a Molybdenum deficiency.

One way to fix a Molybdenum deficiency is to foliar spray with Molybdenum, like Miracle Grow All Purpose plant food and Miracle Grow Tomato Plant Food.

These can also be used to mix in with water as well.

(Only mixing at 0.25 strength when using chemical nutrients, or it may cause nutrient burn)

Other nutrients that have Molybdenum in them are :-

Peters All Purpose Plant food does, as well as Greensand, Lime.

Green sand and lime is slow/medium absorption, while Peters All Purpose Plant Food is fast absorption.

This picture is caused by temperature changing from cold to warm, cold nights and warm days.

Some varieties, like equatorial Sativa's, don't take well to cold weather.

If you can keep the roots warmer, the plant will be able to take cooler temps than it otherwise could.

This picture is what light bleaching/ light burn looks like.

Only way to fix this is to Move the lights away from the plant.

Or make sure you don't go over 75 watts a sq foot, or your plant will have too much light and light bleaching can/may occur anywhere on the plant.

(Indica species seem to bleach easier than Sativa's.)

This picture is what heat stress looks like.

Only way to fix this is to move the lights away from the plant and get better ventilation, and or add more fans, or use a cooltube.

Heat - If the lights are too close to the plant, the tops may be curled, dry, and look burnt, mimicking a
nutrient problem.

Your hand should not feel hot after a minute when you hold it at the top canopy of the plants.

Nutrient burn.

This is the most common problem.

Stop this by not adding too much chemical/organic nutrients to your water.

Use 0.25 strength for first feeding and then go up to 0.5 strength from then on when using chemical nutrients.

Its very easy to overdo it.

Causes leaf tips to appear yellow or burnt.

Never give nutrients to plants that are under 2 weeks of age, at this age the soil nutrients are enough to supplement them until 2 weeks of age or more depending on how good your soil is.

Using nutrients before 2 weeks will almost certainly kill your plants.

Stem Problems.


Stem Breakage - Very common.

This is when your stem is bent or broken.

Stem breaks can come from a number of things, training, dropping something on it, animals, weather etc.

No matter how it happened the most important thing is to not panic.

Fixing this is not really a problem.

Splint it with something and tape it in place.

Marijuana has a great ability to come back even after a stem break.

Give her a week or so to recover before she will start to grow again.

Over watering

Over watering is one of the biggest mistakes new growers make, reason for this is because they feel the need to give the plant everything and will overdue a lot of things and one of them is over watering.

By over watering your plant you soak the roots so much that they can't get enough oxygen and slowly die.

The plant shows signs of over watering by :-

Wilting, droopy look, yellow and or dead leaves falling off which includes leaves that don't look dead falling off.

One of the best ways to tell how NOT to over water is by picking up the pot when it is dry and then picking up the pot after you water, you will soon learn when the soil is drying out by simple weight.

When you water, you want to water just enough to where you see a bit of water coming out of the bottom, not gushing or pouring out.

Just enough to see a little bit, then you know the plant has enough water.

After watering wait a few days before watering again.

MJ plants like a good watering and then several days to dry out in between watering.

So it’s very easy to over water.

Besides the weight of the pot, another way to test if your plant needs water is to stick your index finger a couple inches into the soil.

If the soil at the tip of your finger feels almost dry, then it's time to water again.

The top of the soil should be allowed to dry out between watering's.

If it's still moist the plant does not need water.

You can also use a moisture meter which will tell you the level of moisture down in the soil.

You can buy them at most garden supplies or hydro shops.

Under Watering

Under watering can show the exact same symptoms as over watering can, they show the droopiness along with the top soil being hard.

To avoid this make sure every other watering you give your plants a good watering, use a bit more water then you normally do, because sometimes your plants will need a good drenching once in a while.

So doing this will help the bottom roots and root hairs get enough water to produce newer growth.

For new growers they tend to do both over watering and under watering.

More over watering then anything else, they tend to be too generous, and then you have ones that are too afraid to water them too much and then they get the under watering symptom.

Under watering seems to droop more than over watering does, the fan leaves will droop closer to the stalk and won't be as yellow as over watering looks like, under watering looks like this picture below, only way to stop under watering is to water when the pot feels light.

Make sure few drips of water come out at the bottom of the holes, that way you know the plant has enough water.