Outdoors in raised bed. Started in peat pots.
Every 3 days, feed with Fox Farms Grow Big & Big Bloom at half strength. Before feeding, I adjust the pH of the water to about 6.
In case this is a potassium deficiency, I added Fox Farms Kelp Me Kelp You at half strength.
I think your problem is ph, that is why you have a potassium deficiency. Your Ph should be closer to 6.5, not 6.0, so you are experiencing nute lockout. Get your Ph up between 6.3 and 6.8 and you’ll be good. Feeding without proper ph will only make it worse.
Problems with Potassium being locked out by PH troubles
Soils with excessive Leeching and High P H soil’s and or water. Soil’s that are
potassium fixated. An excess of kitchen salts (sodium) in the root system / enviorment
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 aids 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 to little of Potassium in your plants causes the plants leaves to show
retarded growth and show a scorched tip and edges around the leaves.
Problems with Potassium being locked out by PH troubles
Soils with excessive Leeching and High P H soil’s and or water. Soil’s that are
potassium fixated. An excess of kitchen salts (sodium) in the root system / enviorment Plants may stretch and your branches can be easily broken or weak. Don’t get this deficiency
confused with iron, because it almost acts like iron but to tell the difference
in the two is: for potassium the tips of the leaves curl and the edges burn and die.
Older leaves may show a red color and leaves could curl upwards. Dead patches (Necrosis)
can happen on the margins of larger fan leaves thus, the leaves will eventually die
off and turn brown. The Older leaves will show different patches of color (mottle)
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.
To 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 bet your going to soon
get a potassium deficiency from 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.
SO keep those in mind… 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 big troubles, like
salt damage and acid fixation of the root system, as well as too much potassium
can cause a calcium deficiency. Your fan leaves will show like a light to a dark
yellow to whitish color 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 to not be absorbed properly
leading to lots of other deficiency such as: magnesium, manganese, zinc and iron and
can cause problems with calcium as well.
Thanks everyone!
So by keeping the pH of the water w/nutes at the proper level, and with regular feeding, will my plants recover?
Will feeding with a higher potassium nute help?
Yes, I read through it. Very good explanation regarding potassium’s role. The only “fix” I read was fixing pH lockout. If that is my issue, then I’m good to go. If there is something else besides pH issues, then please let me know.