Leaf tips curling/twisting & discolouring - First Grow

Hi this is my first grow, I had 3 plants, 2 of which died from a similar problem and 1 surviving. The tips and sides of the leaves seem to curl and discolour, sometimes twisting in a wierd way then eventually die and fall off. I tried using Epsom salts on one of the other plants but it didn't seem to work as the plant died.
I am growing indoors using a mix of various potting compost and some bonemeal, fertilizing with Miracle-Gro all purpose. My lights arn't too good, i'm running CFL lights and a red lightbulb for flowering, I think it is about a week and a half into the flowering stage. I water every few days once the top soil feels dry and the pot is lighter. pH is around 7.5.
Any Ideas as to what the problem could be?
Thanks

I had a similar looking reaction when I was using Miracle Grow's peat moss. After a few waterings, the PH had dropped to toxic levels in the 4.0 range. The leaves looked very similar. Have you checked the PH of your soil?

Ripp3rCrust said:

Hi this is my first grow, I had 3 plants, 2 of which died from a similar problem and 1 surviving. The tips and sides of the leaves seem to curl and discolour, sometimes twisting in a wierd way then eventually die and fall off. I tried using Epsom salts on one of the other plants but it didn't seem to work as the plant died.
I am growing indoors using a mix of various potting compost and some bonemeal, fertilizing with Miracle-Gro all purpose. My lights arn't too good, i'm running CFL lights and a red lightbulb for flowering, I think it is about a week and a half into the flowering stage. I water every few days once the top soil feels dry and the pot is lighter. pH is around 7.5.
Any Ideas as to what the problem could be?
Thanks

Click to expand...

Ok you can not use organic and non organic (Chemical in your grows)

Various compost and bone meal equal an organic soil, by adding the Miracle Gro all purpose fertilizer the chemicals kill the beneficial microbes in the organic soil.

Also Miracle gro fertilizers tend to be to strong. It is always suggested to start at 1/4 strength and see how the plants react.

Now like most people availability of good soil is never easily obtained so we are stuck with whats availability. The sad part is Scholls and MG are the only products readily available, so they become first used by new growers.

My advice is either drive the distance like I did and get some FoxFarm, or equivalent organic soil. Order your organic fertilizers, and go from there

Here is a good soil recipe for a 3 gallon pot if that's what you are using

16 cups soil foxfarm Ocean forest potting soil

32 cups Premier peat moss

2 tablespoon MG bone meal

2 tablespoon MG Blood Meal

14 cups perlite

2 tablespoon dolomite lime or 1 tablespoon if you are using promix/sunshine mix #4

This mix will have all the nutrients your plant will need, except you might need some organic bloom fertilizer (Neptune's harvest or equivalent) if your plants have a long flowering period.

Invest in some HID lights, believe me it is worth it. If not get some 23 watt cfls

If you have any more questions feel free to ask

Schmarmpit said:

I had a similar looking reaction when I was using Miracle Grow's peat moss. After a few waterings, the PH had dropped to toxic levels in the 4.0 range. The leaves looked very similar. Have you checked the PH of your soil?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply. I checked the pH and the reading was around 7.5 although the meter is not digital so it is quite hard to read accurately. Are the leaves characteristic of low pH?

isn't 7.5 a little high? I was under the impression that the range was from 5.8 to 6.5 to be optimal.
someone correct me if I'm wrong

Thanks for the advice, I will keep that in mind when I am repotting.
Yeah the pH does seem a little too high, does anyone know a simple way to lower the pH of the soil slightly? I assume it would be easier to add something acidic to the water when watering to bring down the soil pH.
Thanks

Ripp3rCrust said:

Thanks for the advice, I will keep that in mind when I am repotting.
Yeah the pH does seem a little too high, does anyone know a simple way to lower the pH of the soil slightly? I assume it would be easier to add something acidic to the water when watering to bring down the soil pH.
Thanks

Click to expand...

Concentrated lemon juice acts as a PH down, and is safe for plants

Add the juice to the water and check the ph, you only need a little per gallon of water to lower ph in the water.

Once the water is ph around 6.5 then flush flush flush

What about miracle gro organic potting mix it 10-5-5 "Contains a blend of all-natural, organic ingredients: sphagnum peat moss and composted bark fines Natural fertilizers provide both quick- and slow-release feeding to get plants off to a fast start and keep them growing Delivers twice the growth of ordinary potting soil naturally" I found this soil at wal mart and Ive heard miracle gro is bad but this completely organic.. They say the soil has enough nutrients in it for 2 months. So I was planning on ordering some fox farms 3 pack liquid soil formula with big bloom, grow big, and tiger bloom and use their feeding schedule. then during the end of flowering I was gonna use "Miracle-Gro® Organic Choice® All Purpose Plant Food Concentrate" it says its "All purpose plant food concentrate is all-natural, derived from sugar and beet molasses. For indoor & outdoor plants" would this be the same as using mollases? For my next grow I was wondering if someone could help me out with a soil plan. This is what I was thinking of using MG Organic potting mix, Foxfarm Light warrior, Some kind of mix of guano, worm castings, blood or bone meal, to start off then when would i start using the fox farm nutes? Can someone come up with a precise mix for my soil if i used all these ingredients and which ones i shouldnt use? When do I use the mollases also? Thanks for the help. My plants are about 8 inches tall and super bushy and short is this cause the cfls how do i do lst? also how do i make the tops split? Thanks any advice would be helpful. Im not using CFLS the whole grow just til they get a little bigger then im gonna switch to my 600 mh/ hps light