White Widow Week 3 Flower Deficiency or Excess?

I am in week 3 of flower with 2 white widow plants, in Ocean Forest, 3 gallon air pots, using FF nutes. I have been watering with 1.5 tsp Grow Big, 1.5 tsp Tiger Bloom, 2.0 tsp Cal-Mag and 2 tsp Sweet and Sticky (molasses) per two (2) gallons of water. I ph the water to 6.30, the PPM = 850. Light is HLG- 550, 18 inches above the tallest cola, night temps 72 degrees F, daytime temps 80 F.

I believe this is a phosphorus deficiency, I am posting to see what others think. One plant on the left in the photos is worse than the other, but the other one is showing early signs of the same issue, with brown spots and slight yellowing on the older leaves. The other plant seems to be getting worse. I did give plain water this morning ph = 6.50 and PPH = 150, the runoff was ph = 6.0 and PPM = 425 so that seemed to me to confirm lack of sufficient nutes, although it could be a ph issue. I am not sure.



Any feedback is appreciated, thank you!

More pictures out of the tent:

Plant 1 (worse)


Plant 2 (better)

Everything under the strong lights is fading a little. I would agree that at this stage that are a little underfed.

Also the ph numbers are of interest. You put in 6.5 and got back 6.0, that tells you the medium is currently under the optimal 6.5ish range. Likely under 6.0.at the moment.

I would ph to a slightly higher number, say 6.75 or even 7 and see what comes back in the next round.

I would increase feed level a bit, but with the several nutes you are using I cant say what exactly should be increased. Bloom nutes are likely what is lacking a bit.

Hey, thanks for your feedback. The ph has me puzzled, I never feed or water with ph less than 6.3, I shoot for 6.4 - 6.60.

Do you have any experience with fungus gnats? I think I have a more serious fungus gnat problem than I thought, and apparently the issues can look similar to (or cause) a deficiency, due to feeding on the roots. I am taking care of the gnat problem, so we'll see if that helps.

Thank you!

The soil has a ph that is around 6 or less, possibly 5.5. That is why you feed it higher ph and it comes out lower than you put in. Ideally the soil is around 6.5. So I am suggesting you try increasing your input ph, so you can see if 6.75 or 7 will get you a better runoff ph.

Fungus gnats...there is a mosquito dunk, you can water it in and it naturally kills them off fast. A gentler way is to spray neem oil spray on the surface of the pots and then use the yellow sticky cards to catch them and keep track how many you have. Spray every 3 days for a few weeks and they will diminish, and go away if watering is done right. Dunk will end it almost instantly and is safe.

But the gnats tells you no matter how good you think you are doing, you need to do a better job letting the top of the pots dry out before watering again.