Potassium Deficiency?

Hi all,

This is my first grow and I have been trying to tough it out and figure out my answer before asking for help.

I transplanted to FFOF soil on 7/31 and have only hit her with water since. Prior to the transplant she was showing a Nitrogen deficiency and had very slow growth.

I noticed what appears to be a possible potassium deficiency on the lower/middle leaves. Would just adding the Grow Big be the ticket to get me back on track? Or should I not worry about it?

Strain: AK47 from seed. Germ'd on 7/9
Soil: FFOF (w/ perlite and earthworm castings)
Waterings: pH 7 water
Nutes: Haven't added yet to this soil but I do have the Fox Farms Trio lineup (Big Bloom, Grow Big and Tiger Bloom)

I have had some heat issues in my tent, it's very small and hovers around 80 now. The humidity is in the 40's. Still working on bringing the temp down and humidity up.

Thank you in advance for the help.

The problem was some time ago. The leaves affected are older and the plant has recovered and moved on...

IF that increases or spreads to more leaves.....I might be inclined to worry about pH problems and the lockouts from it....Don't think it will - looks good now.

While not a fan (at all) of FF nutrients.....The plant says to feed it more - across the board, nutrient wise.. It wants more N for sure...
Feeding a light ratio of a veg. nutrient would help...

Awesome! I appreciate the help. I will give them a feeding for sure.

I will be switching up my nutes once these are gone. I bought them before I knew better but figured why not waste them at this point.

Thank you so much again and have a great week!

dr who has it right

exactly what he said

im guessing you've recently up potted and that corrected your issue

watch for a couple things using the fox farm nutes (I don't like them either)

theyre low in calcium and magnesium so plan to add calmag and Epsom salt and the directions on the bottle or in the feed chart are too strong so go half what it says

id go ahead and start them on it now... 1/4 tsp Epsom salt 1x per week top dress every week and 3 to 5 mls calmag every other watering

and maybe only feed them the ff trio nutes 1x every 3rd or 4th watering for now at half dose and increase frequency as needed

im4satori said:

dr who has it right

exactly what he said

im guessing you've recently up potted and that corrected your issue

watch for a couple things using the fox farm nutes (I don't like them either)

theyre low in calcium and magnesium so plan to add calmag and Epsom salt and the directions on the bottle or in the feed chart are too strong so go half what it says

id go ahead and start them on it now... 1/4 tsp Epsom salt 1x per week top dress every week and 3 to 5 mls calmag every other watering

and maybe only feed them the ff trio nutes 1x every 3rd or 4th watering for now at half dose and increase frequency as needed

Click to expand...

Thanks for that all that info!

I will have to grab some Cal-Mag and Epsom salt as well.

im4satori said:

dr who has it right

exactly what he said

im guessing you've recently up potted and that corrected your issue

watch for a couple things using the fox farm nutes (I don't like them either)

theyre low in calcium and magnesium so plan to add calmag and Epsom salt and the directions on the bottle or in the feed chart are too strong so go half what it says

id go ahead and start them on it now... 1/4 tsp Epsom salt 1x per week top dress every week and 3 to 5 mls calmag every other watering

and maybe only feed them the ff trio nutes 1x every 3rd or 4th watering for now at half dose and increase frequency as needed

Click to expand...

Top dress with the Epsom? It is only a 1/4 tsp but, that (direct soil contact) has been a no-no for me. The BIG no-no would be mixing it in soil at a build...
(looked at pics again) I might just use the Ca/Mg and do a foliar of Epsom once a week for a cpl of weeks......What do you think? OR, I would always suggest adding it to the feed mix.......Quite the diverse ideals on here....."If it works for you"..AND.."We all learned from different teachers too...eh?"

Dr. Who said:

Top dress with the Epsom? It is only a 1/4 tsp but, that (direct soil contact) has been a no-no for me. The BIG no-no would be mixing it in soil at a build...
(looked at pics again) I might just use the Ca/Mg and do a foliar of Epsom once a week for a cpl of weeks......What do you think? OR, I would always suggest adding it to the feed mix.......Quite the diverse ideals on here....."If it works for you"..AND.."We all learned from different teachers too...eh?"

Click to expand...

ya

if your concerned about your microbes it would be better to pre-dissolve the Epsom in 1 gallon water

I have found that im always running out of magnesium in my soil builds by the time I get to bloom and I dont want to spray them while in bloom, likelihood is he will need more down the road, but a foliar feed would do well for me in veg or early bloom

hes using salt fertilizers to start so I didn't worry too much about top dressing it but if it was organic I wouldn't have said top dress

Dr. Who said:

Top dress with the Epsom? It is only a 1/4 tsp but, that (direct soil contact) has been a no-no for me. The BIG no-no would be mixing it in soil at a build...
(looked at pics again) I might just use the Ca/Mg and do a foliar of Epsom once a week for a cpl of weeks......What do you think? OR, I would always suggest adding it to the feed mix.......Quite the diverse ideals on here....."If it works for you"..AND.."We all learned from different teachers too...eh?"

Click to expand...

Great info above Ares2389

In my 1st soil mix I added 1/4 cup of Epsom to a mix that was about 25 gallons of amended soil.
I'm going to make some adjustments next mix. Should I leave the Epsom out?
https://www.rollitup.org/t/plants-in-my-1st-soil-recipe-are-still-alive-after-5-days.945380/

I wouldn't top dress or add Epsom to the soil. I definitely wouldn't add it to the soil. Its water soluble. It will release at one time.

If Epsom is needed I just add it to my water at a teaspoon per gallon and water it in.

Thank you all for the direction and guidance. I have to admit it can feel overwhelming at times being new but being able to lean on others makes me much more confident with each passing day haha.

whitebb2727 said:

I wouldn't top dress or add Epsom to the soil. I definitely wouldn't add it to the soil. Its water soluble. It will release at one time.

If Epsom is needed I just add it to my water at a teaspoon per gallon and water it in.

Click to expand...

I was just going to ask for clarification on the amount of epsom per gallon. Thank you!

I do have another question as well. Is there a "best" time to do a foliar feed? (i.e. 30 mins before lights on or off)

Epsom salt

1/4 tsp per gallon is a low dose for maintenance
1/2 tsp per gallon is medium dose for mild def

I don't usually use more than that, if its not enough id use it more frequently

as a rule foliar feeding is suggested to be best before lights on and for safety raise the lights until theyre dry, its not mandatory but its the safest approach

whitebb2727 said:

I wouldn't top dress or add Epsom to the soil. I definitely wouldn't add it to the soil. Its water soluble. It will release at one time.

If Epsom is needed I just add it to my water at a teaspoon per gallon and water it in.

Click to expand...

I don't disagree in respect to biology, don't misunderstand me

im just saying
hes already pumping salts on a daily basis with his base nutes

if your running salt base water soluble fertilizers at EC 1.5s does it really matter if you top dress 1/4 tsp Epsom and water it in with a gallon of water
(which is about 20ppm on a ppm meter and to small to read on an EC meter)... that's a whole lot less than many soil recipies call for

your adding/suggesting 1 tsp to a gallon and that's fine but its considerably hotter than 1/4 tsp...
Epsom salt dissolves so very quickly

if he was growing organic I wouldn't suggest top dressing, and be more sensitive to the biology and suggest pre-dissolve

im4satori said:

I don't disagree in respect to biology, don't misunderstand me

im just saying
hes already pumping salts on a daily basis with his base nutes

if your running salt base water soluble fertilizers at EC 1.5s does it really matter if you top dress 1/4 tsp Epsom and water it in with a gallon of water
(which is about 20ppm on a ppm meter and to small to read on an EC meter)... that's a whole lot less than many soil recipies call for

your adding/suggesting 1 tsp to a gallon and that's fine but its considerably hotter than 1/4 tsp...
Epsom salt dissolves so very quickly

if he was growing organic I wouldn't suggest top dressing, and be more sensitive to the biology and suggest pre-dissolve

Click to expand...

Not really. Top dressing a bit is fine. I just wouldn't be mixing it when the soil is mixed. 1/4 cup is a lot.

Ares2389 said:

I do have another question as well. Is there a "best" time to do a foliar feed? (i.e. 30 mins before lights on or off)

Click to expand...

Please ask questions and don't hold back. This is your thread and you can get some great answers with these guys.
Sometimes we see something that takes us to other questions and side conversations. Your questions will be respected.

If I foliar feed it is at lights on, I have the ability to move the plants away from the lights a few feet till they dry, another trick I use if I just want to get fan leaves without over spray is to hold a flat plastic lid or something under the leaf.

ive started using my dosatron injectors to add potassium and magnesium to my organic soil

low amounts of potassium sulfate and magnesium sulfate

it mixes at a ratio of 1:128

so if I add 128 grams of Epsom salt to 1 gallon water it puts 25ppm of pre-dissolved magnesium into my soil direct from the garden hose

Buba Blend said:

Please ask questions and don't hold back. This is your thread and you can get some great answers with these guys.
Sometimes we see something that takes us to other questions and side conversations. Your questions will be respected.

If I foliar feed it is at lights on, I have the ability to move the plants away from the lights a few feet till they dry, another trick I use if I just want to get fan leaves without over spray is to hold a flat plastic lid or something under the leaf.

Click to expand...

very true and nicely said

Buba Blend said:

Please ask questions and don't hold back. This is your thread and you can get some great answers with these guys.
Sometimes we see something that takes us to other questions and side conversations. Your questions will be respected.

If I foliar feed it is at lights on, I have the ability to move the plants away from the lights a few feet till they dry, another trick I use if I just want to get fan leaves without over spray is to hold a flat plastic lid or something under the leaf.

Click to expand...

I appreciate that. Getting all of this direct feedback and input is invaluable to me. I am usually more of a behind the scenes reader but I can say with my positive experiences on here that I can see myself hanging around and involving myself in discussions more often.

Another question just for my own personal knowledge base. Was I correct or incorrect about the potassium deficiceny on the past leaves? I just want to know what I am looking at/will be looking for.

I didn't see any sign of K def

im4satori said:

ya

if your concerned about your microbes it would be better to pre-dissolve the Epsom in 1 gallon water

I have found that im always running out of magnesium in my soil builds by the time I get to bloom and I dont want to spray them while in bloom, likelihood is he will need more down the road, but a foliar feed would do well for me in veg or early bloom

hes using salt fertilizers to start so I didn't worry too much about top dressing it but if it was organic I wouldn't have said top dress

Click to expand...

Mmm, you might consider using powdered Dolomite lime as a liming agent then. Dolomite is Mg heavy! I avoid it like the plague, for that reason. I get plenty of Mg in my soil builds - From other amendments (in total).

im4satori said:

I didn't see any sign of K def

Click to expand...

AGREED!