Happening every grow

Ok so I have been posting quite a bit lately but with certain questions and stuff but this post is the one that really needs answers. Since I have started growing about 3-4 years ago, I have the same issue no matter what I do. I get the bigger fan leaves that start “dying” if you will towards the end of veg. By mid flower my plants look miserable. I have done everything that I know of.
Originally I was just growing in FF in 3 gallon buckets and using tap water. This would happen.
then I started using PH pens.Then EC pens. Then I Got a different strain, added cal mag. Changed nutes, changed soils. It doesn’t matter.
my last hypothesis was that my light (which is a HLG 550 clone that puts out 480 watts at the wall with lm301c diodes, was burning my plants. Well I have kept the light at 32” and 80%on the dimmer. And just in case these adjustments weren’t enough, I’ve added 2 exhales C02 bags so the plants can photosynthesize more if needed. The plants are growing great, but the fan leaves are once again starting to show the usual signs. My temp and humidity is perfect with temps in the mid 70s and humidity between 55-70%. I also went from tap waterto R/O water. I worried maybe my citytap At 480ppm (sucks I know) was hurting the plant especially with added chloramine. It doesn’t appear that this issue occurs from the lower leaves to top or vice versa. It appears mostly random. Of course that makes you lean toward a possible PH issue but my PH is 6.6 going in and 6.7 coming out. I would certainly say I’m not discouraged, but I’m aggravated.My plants are growing amazing and the one northern lights I’m running has taken off like no other plant I’ve grown yet and really want it to not be ravaged by whatever is happening. My ONLY current working hypothesis is I got water on the leaves somehow and burnt them. But I don’t believe that to be the case but then again if I believed I knew the cause I would not be here asking.

If you look closely it looks like some kind of tiny insect eggs. Also, the burn patterns and the way the leaf is slightly deformed would cause me to think it’s a infestation of some kind. yeah brother I think it’s bugs, I’d start spraying neem oil every three days after using insecticidal soap before you start flowering. It’s not bad tho you can totally slow those fuckers down if you hit it now. Cheers

I will look into doing some neem oil. I will say that I took a 60x microscope and spent 15 minutes looking all over the plants and didn’t find one hint of a bug. I do keep my grow fairly clean, though it could be cleaner. No eggs or bugs thought but I’m basically swinging at wind here so I’ll see if it helps

Are you using any sort of supplements for roots and silica? And does your nutrients have trace elements like iron, etc?

I use Mychorrizae at transplant and I am not sure about trace elements. I use the FF trio

I used to get this very problem. Well, it looks the same. Ph and everything was fine, ppm was fine in and out. I never did figure out exactly what it was but it stopped when I started using House and gardens aminos it also has a special silica in it and growers recharge. So what ever the problem was, it either got solved or the two supplements made the plants resistant to it. Growers recharge, house and gardens aminos, house and gardens root Excelurator and humic acid. My coco loco has so many roots that you cant stick your finger in it because it is solid root mass

OscarZulu said:

I will look into doing some neem oil. I will say that I took a 60x microscope and spent 15 minutes looking all over the plants and didn’t find one hint of a bug. I do keep my grow fairly clean, though it could be cleaner. No eggs or bugs thought but I’m basically swinging at wind here so I’ll see if it helps

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Yeah it’s worth a shot my dude I don’t know what those specks could be other then egg clusters which are right where the damage is occurring. I’m not sure, but 60x may not show really small mites. @RonnieB2 amino suggestion would definitely be a awesome way to mitigate the hard water.

Looks a little like thrips...early phase

It's not the light and probably not insects. You're doing a good job of narrowing down the suspects. What is the ppm of the nutrient solution you feed them? Your ph should be fine in soil, you could try lowering it a bit, but if your plants are otherwise healthy and you're getting good yields, I wouldn't fret too much.

Well I’m not too worried about it being insects to be honest though I did buy some neem oil and will do some spraying while in veg. The ppm is 600 once a week at this point with one water just being plain. I know a lot of people one here at done bother checking the ppm of run off but I did and it was still 1100 last I checked. So I figure some of the original organic ferts in ffof are still there too. Obviously when I switch to flower I’ll be upping the PPM. Things do seem to go good but like I said, every grow goes quite south mid flower. I do get good yields but I fear quality is not there due to these issues.

use seaweed solution for trace elements, it's also a plant tonic

This can also happen with root aphids as well might have to totally tear down your equipment wash with soap and water and wash everywhere around as well.

Wanted to give an update so other looking into similar problems will have a possible answer. My plants are finally not doing this. I did two different things. 1. Added a LOT of cal-mag and 2. I did add a seaweed extract as mentioned above. I did Check the plant over meticulously for bugs but never found any, even with scopes. My plants are big and healthy today, starting week 2 of flower ( 1 week since light flip).

good to hear, looking great

Damn those are sexy!

OscarZulu said:

Wanted to give an update so other looking into similar problems will have a possible answer. My plants are finally not doing this. I did two different things. 1. Added a LOT of cal-mag and 2. I did add a seaweed extract as mentioned above. I did Check the plant over meticulously for bugs but never found any, even with scopes. My plants are big and healthy today, starting week 2 of flower ( 1 week since light flip). View attachment 4730615

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Shhhh, don't tell anyone it's the Calcium.

curious2garden said:

Shhhh, don't tell anyone it's the Calcium.

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Love dat cal. I used to run Seaplex all the time. Lowered the ph of my water to the sweet spot all the while adding sexy seaweed extracts to the soil. They stopped making it, apparently. Loved that stuff...