Soil quality is one of the biggest hidden causes of grow problems, and a lot of growers don’t even realize it. Here are some examples.

This grower thought their problem was not enough nutrients because the plant was pale.

But the real problem was the soil. Look closely.

• Thick & muddy – roots can’t get oxygen in soil that’s too thick
• No perlite – these little white “rocks” are key to loose, fluffy soil
• Holds too much water – The soil stays too wet for too long.

Bad cannabis soil can take many forms.

This grower thought he was under-watering the seedlings because the soil looked dry.

But the actual problem was they were growing in low-quality dirt that can’t hold much water.

• Pale – light-colored soil often lacks nutrients and organic matter.
• Solid – this soil is so compacted it’s hard as a rock
• Poor texture – even after adding water, it looks pale and dusty

Don’t set yourself up for failure.

Soil is something you choose before planting a seed, so make sure to set up your grow for success.

Choosing cannabis-friendly soil produces more weed with less effort, because Mother Nature works with you instead of against you. You just need to know what to look for.

Note: Seeds like Purple Haze, Northern Lights #10, Do-Si-Dos germinate strong in any grow medium.

What’s the Best Soil for Weed?

There are many brands that work great. My favorite cannabis soil is Fox Farm Coco Loco soil, which pairs well with Fox Farm soil nutrients.

That’s what I used for this grow journal.

When it comes to growing cannabis in soil, you have 3 main choices to ensure great weed.

1. Buy a proven soil – Use a brand known for great cannabis soil. Two great cannabis soil options are Coco Loco potting mix (a coco-fiber-heavy soil mix makes seedlings less prone to overwatering, but needs nutrients earlier) and Ocean Forest soil (true soil that is ”hot” enough you don’t need to add nutrients for several weeks).
2. Use locally available soil – Go to a local gardening store and find “organic potting mix” that looks like the soil examples below. Cannabis soil should be brown, rich, fluffy, and ideally already contains little white rocks called perlite. Make sure to give nutrients after just a few weeks, as cannabis plants quickly use up nutrients in regular soil.
3. Mix your own soil – If you’re looking to make your own soil, here’s an awesome tutorial by Subcool on making cannabis-friendly soil.

Example of great cannabis soil (this is Coco Loco) – click for closeup

Note about soil & nutrients: Cannabis plants are exceptionally nutrient-hungry as they enter the flowering stage. Bigger plants often use up nutrients in the soil, and need nutrient supplementation right as buds are forming, unless you grow in a big pot with a lot of soil.

You can’t go wrong with the Fox Farm trio for soil. Just follow the instructions on the label at half-strength for cannabis plants. Learn everything about cannabis nutrients & supplements for soil.

Fox Farm trio grows great cannabis in soil.

In addition to Nitrogen, cannabis specifically needs plenty of Phosphorus, Potassium, and micronutrients (a “bloom” nutrient formula) to grow big, dense, potent, and strong-smelling buds.

Give extra “bloom” nutrients as buds form to increase potency, density, and smell.

Weed grown in Coco Loco soil with Fox Farm soil trio nutrients (Candy Games #38 strain).

What should you look for in good cannabis soil?

Weed growers consistently find the best cannabis soil has these characteristics:

• dark and rich
• loose texture
• holds water
• drains well

The following video shows the soil texture you want (this is Coco Loco soil, my personal favorite soil for growing cannabis).

Click here to choose the right soil and learn how to water cannabis plants so they thrive.

When Should I Start Adding Cannabis Nutrients in Soil?

Soil is so simple. So close to nature. Add seeds, remember to water your plants, and wait for an awesome harvest, right?

But cannabis plants typically use up the nutrients in the soil. If you don’t start adding nutrients, the start running into nutrient deficiencies (see what that looks like below).

Once plants get hungry, you can’t go wrong with the Fox Farm trio for soil. For cannabis plants, follow the instructions on the label at half-strength. Get the best cannabis nutrients & supplements for soil.

Fox Farm trio grows great cannabis in soil.

Here’s what you need to watch out for as a soil cannabis grower, so you start adding nutrients before it causes issues.

Pale, lime green cannabis plants in soil = you need to add more nutrients.

If many lower leaves turn yellow and fall off, especially while buds are forming, it’s a sign the plant is “stealing” nutrients from the bottom of the plant to give to the hard-working leaves at the top.

That means if many lower leaves are turning yellow and falling off on their own, you need to add more nutrients.

Add more nutrients if bottom leaves are turning yellow and falling off.

If the bottom of your pot looks like this, the cannabis plant needs more nutrients.

When the Nutrient Problem is Caused by PH

If you see these different symptoms, the cause is likely a pH problem, not needing more nutrients. See pictures of deficiencies caused by pH.

If you see brown spots, or yellow leaves are “stuck” on the plant, it’s likely actually a pH problem.

Another example of a nutrient deficiency caused by incorrect pH.

Healthy Plants Produce Better Harvests

You can still get a great harvest even if you have some nutrient problems. But you get the best cannabis yields and bud quality when plants avoid nutrient deficiencies and get plenty of nutrients while buds are forming.

Fox Farm Coco Loco soil with Fox Farm soil nutrients works well for weed.

Vic’s cannabis plants thriving in Coco Loco soil with Fox Farm soil nutrients.

Which cannabis seeds perform in soil?

You commonly hear soil growers say “soil produces more terpenes”.

So we put it to the test, In our side-by-side grow experiment using super soil vs coco, we found the super soil buds (at least for that grow) had 17% higher terpenes at the lab on average. See the full grow journal.

When terpene production increases, it helps strains express their unique “smell personality”. That means growing strains with strong flavor/smell profiles can help you maximize your soil benefits.

Strains that produce excellent smells in soil

• Sour Diesel –  Recently released by Seedsman, this strain has a faster outdoor finish than most Sativa strains. Buds are dense and sticky growing in traditional diesel-smelling “colas” (big baseball bat buds).
• Purple Oreoz F1 – Get the power of an early finishing F1 strain and the smell of fruity dessert. Excellent bud quality and yields. Suitable for commercial grows.
• Guava Root GMO – This indica that thrives indoors or outdoors. Compact grow pattern, high yielding, “rootbeer” smell hints, beginner friendly. Great for extracts (4.7% hash by weight vis ice water extraction).

Bonus: Grease Gun Autoflower is a high-smell strain for autoflower growers.

Purple Oreoz F1 bud basking in the sun last summer.

Grease Gun Autoflower by SkunkSquatch is easy-to-grow with huge smells.

Learn how to HARVEST at the perfect time. Then process your buds to increase density and smell great.

The post Your soil might be ruining your cannabis grow appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Hey cannabis growers! We all know how annoying nutrient problems can be. And obviously, the best thing to do for your cannabis plant to prevent growing problems is give them the conditions they need to thrive. But did you know some strains are naturally more resilient than others? Certain genetics are less likely to experience problems. Yes, some special strains can experience sub-optimal conditions and still thrive.

Some cannabis strains make amazing buds even if you make some mistakes.

But which ones? These strains typically share some features…

• Fast-Flowering Strains – Perhaps it’s because they just don’t get enough time to get sick, but fast-flowering plants are often ready to harvest before you start running into significant problems even in sub-optimal conditions.
• Buds Grow as Nuggets, Not “Colas” – “Cola” is Spanish for tail, some growers use the word cola do describe a long fat bud. Sometimes these types of buds are called “baseball bats” (or in less polite company, “donkey d**ks”). These strains are high-yielding, but also prone to bud rot because they focus energy on producing long, fat colas. And for the purposes of today’s subject, tend to take out literally everything they can from the plant to their own detriment. These strains happily kill themselves to make buds. Which is kind of cool in its own way, but if you’re just looking to get a solid harvest with high bud quality, you’ll find the strains that tend to grow buds as small nuggets tend to thrive and stay healthy while their cola-wielding friends are sucking out every last nutrient as the plant slowly dies around the buds.
• Stable, Established Strains – Strains that are well-bred to be predictable tend to be more resistant to problems than raw crosses or experimental strains. That’s because breeders often refine their best strains for years to ensure that every batch of seeds grows exactly the same – fast and healthy!
• Legendary Strains – Some strains become legendary for a reason. Often, it’s because they just have something special to offer. Strains like Blue Dream, Girl Scout Cookies, Bruce Banner, and others were developed over years by home growers and commercial growers together. They’ve stuck around because they are all around great strains, and that’s also why you see they are some prominent in the history of so many new strains. Although not all versions of these legendary strains are great, I’ve found when you get them from a good breeder, they’re more likely to perform above-average than when you’re growing a strain you’ve never heard the name of. I love a strain name like “Candy Pegasus” as much as the next person, but you need to be more wary of brand new strains.
• Direct-to-Grower Breeders – Strains from breeders that sell directly to customers are often a great choice. I think it’s because they’re also the ones answering questions when growers run into plant problems. The further removed the breeder is from the grower, the less they may be thinking about how plants grow, since breeders are usually growing in ideal conditions. These growers breed only for what the buds are like, and may not “stress test” their plants, unlike breeders who also consider growth patterns. Direct-to-growers breeders pay extra attention to ensure their strains tends to germinate quickly, efficiently use nutrients, grow fast, and never herm. For example, I have found the homegrown strains from Seed Supreme, Seedsman, and MSNL tend to be easy to germinate, fast-growing, and overall resistant to problems.

Looking for some specific recommendations? Let’s explore some hardy cannabis strains that can handle a challenge!

Blue Dream by DNA Genetics

Why It’s Resilient

• Fast-Flowering – Ready to harvest with a 8-10 week flowering stage.
• Stable, Established Strain – This version has been stabilized from the original clone-only strain over several years.
• Legendary Strain – Blue Dream is the gift that keeps on giving. Every year there’s a new, even better Blue Dream. It has that special something that can only be accomplished by growers all over the world working together to develop a strain for years.
• Direct-to-grower – Get is straight from DNA Genetics off their website.

Ideal For: Growers looking for a balanced high (strong yet extremely relaxing) with a forgiving growth cycle.

Get Blue Dream – Buds get tinges of purple with strong enough light

Growing Blue Dream Tips 

Ready to harvest with a 8-10 week flowering stage, this version is exceedingly easy to grow. Plants are just not picky. Responds well to training and can handle relatively higher levels of nutrients. Does well outdoors but really thrives indoors.

Girl Scout Cookies (GSC) by Seed Supreme

Why It’s Resilient

• Fast-Flowering – Ready to harvest with a 8-10 week flowering stage. These buds won’t “go long” on you.
• Stable, Established Strain – This version has been stabilized from the original clone-only strain over several years.
• Legendary Strain – Anyone who’s been watching cannabis cups or visits dispensaries has probably seen this strain many times. There are sooooo many “Cookies” strains that have been developed from this strain as well. It’s legendary for a reason, and this refined version may have even better bud effects and sweet “cookies” smell than the original clone.

Ideal For: Those seeking a strong, euphoric effect, sweet-smelling buds, and a resilient growth profile.

Get Girl Scout Cookies – Famous for a reason!

Growing Girl Scout Cookies Tips

Easy to grow, easy to train. Can handle warmer temperatures than some other strains, which makes it a good choice if you’re struggling to control the heat in your grow room, or live in a very warm climate. Great yields even if you make some mistakes.

Honorable Mention: Platinum Cookies is a Cookies cross that has that special something. Check out my full Platinum Cookies strain review.

Purple Ghost Candy by Seedsman

Why It’s Resilient

• Buds Grow as Nuggets – Chunky, dense nugs galore. Often grows with purple tinges all over the buds as long as you provide high levels of light.
• Stable, Established Strain – This strain was a banger from the beginning, but has been refined over the last few years into a gold standard stabilized strain.
• Direct-to-grower – Seedsman runs a full seed bank full of strains from many different breeders, but I’ve consistently found their in-house strains are just all around easy to grow with great germination rates and lower chances of problems.

Ideal For: Growers looking for a potent high and a sturdy plant with big yields. Best for growers with a bigger grow space. This plant needs room to stretch (either tall or wide). Performs great as a single plant as it tends to completely fill up the grow space available.

Get Purple Ghost Candy – One of my favorite strains lately!

Growing Purple Ghost Candy Tips

I’ve found this strains tends to grow big plants with huge yields, yet grows buds as nuggets so you don’t run into the same problems as other high-yield strains. Grows lots of side branches and responds very well to pruning, bending branches, and defoliation.

One of the reasons I chose this strain over the others I’ve grown from Seedsman is the outstanding bud quality. Buds tend to grow dense, beautiful, and POTENT. Make sure to wait until buds are totally mature before harvesting for the best bud quality. Not for the faint of heart or casual smokers!

Dirty Unicorn by Dirty Bird Genetics

Why It’s Resilient

• Fast-Flowering – Typically ready to harvest in about 9 weeks from 12/12.
• Buds Grow as Nuggets – Buds are dense and sparkly, and produce tight nugs.
• Stable, Established Strain – Dirty Bird Genetics took a famous Thug Pug strain (Unicorn Poop – a non-feminized strain that is always sold out) and worked with it for over two years to make an amazingly consistent strain that gives you the wonders of the original genetics but in feminized, stabilized form.
• Direct-to-grower – Get it straight from the breeders.

Ideal For: Those who want a clear-headed, energetic high with top-of-the-line bud appearance and smell.

Get Dirty Unicorn – Unusual name, memorable buds!

Growing Unicorn Poop Tips

Plants tend to grow on the taller side, with extra space between nodes, but that actually makes it really easy to train this plant to grow into whatever shape you want. Vigorous, fast growth. The seeds germinate fast and seedlings tend to start strong.

Bruce Banner by Seed Supreme

Why It’s Resilient

• Buds Grow as Nuggets – Dense, tight nugs galore!
• Stable, Established Strain – Developed over years
• Direct-to-grower – Get it straight from the source.

Ideal For: New growers, low-maintenance gardens, and those prone to minor nutrient mishaps. Offers a powerful, uplifting high.

Get Bruce Banner – Named after the Incredible Hulk for the sheet potency of buds

Growing Bruce Banner Tips

A robust strain that can take extra nutrients and warmer temperatures. Great yields, easy to grow, and overall just a pleasure of a plant.

Choosing the right cannabis strain can make a big difference. Hardy strains are known for their ability to thrive in less-than-perfect conditions, which makes them perfect if you’re looking for a consistent harvest with minimal issues. It can help when you opt for fast-flowering strains, those that grow buds as nuggets, stable and established genetics, legendary strains, and those from direct-to-grower breeders. Remember, the best cannabis strains are the ones that give you what you want, how you want it!

Happy growing!
Nebula Haze

The post Which Strains Get Fewer Nutrient Problems or Deficiencies? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

I recently received this email about a stunted, tiny autoflowering cannabis plant. Why does this happen? Stunted autos are a common problem, especially for auto-flowering strains with a very short vegetative stage. Keep reading to learn what causes autos to stay too small, and how to prevent it!

“This picture was taken last Fall. This my Purple Kush CBD Auto plant, quite pretty…

…until you see the actual size of it!

This came from an auto-flowering feminized cannabis seed that I dutifully planted outside in the Spring. Maturity was supposed to be 63 days but when I saw how little it had grown, I left it in as an experiment to see how tall it would end up. It didn’t grow even another cm taller. I ended up harvesting it at 113 days.

Any idea of what’s happened? Why did this autoflowering plant stay so small and stunted?

~Carmen

Why did this autoflowering plant stay so small and stunted?

Auto-flowering cannabis plants are on a tight schedule. Once they germinate, it’s essentially a “race” to the end of their life. That’s because their ancestors (“Ruderalis” wild cannabis  plants) originated in Siberia where summers are just 2-3 months long. As a result, most auto-flowering strains start making buds at around 1 month from germination, and are ready to harvest when they’re just 2-3 months old.

What does this have to do with an auto-flowering plant staying small?

An autoflowering plant stops getting taller when it’s about 6 weeks old for most strains, and even earlier for faster-flowering auto cannabis strains like Purple Kush CBD Auto (which can be ready just 9 weeks from germination). That means that if your auto-flowering plant has a slow start for whatever reason (overwatered, cold, not enough light, other stress, etc.), it might not get very big before it stops growing taller.

• Short vegetative stage – Most autoflowering strains automatically start making buds (they start “flowering”) around 4-5 weeks old.
• Plants stop growing in the flowering stage – Auto-flowering plants typically stop getting bigger not long after they start flowering.
• Small plants that start flowering stay small – If an auto-flowering plant is still small when it starts flowering, it won’t get any bigger.

This Purple Kush CBD Auto must have had a slow start, and started flowering before it had a chance to get very big. As a result, the final size was really small.

Here’s another example from our reader Hypermx, who experienced the same thing with his autoflowering plant.

I’ve had it happen as well. This auto-flowering plant went through stress at the beginning of its life (a person fell on it… okay it was me), and as a result never got big before it started flowering.

Just to give you an idea of how much an effect stunting can have, these are both the same autoflowering strain. You can see how much smaller the plant was that got stressed at a young age compared to the auto-flowering plant that was given good conditions from the beginning.

You want to avoid stunting to get the best yields from auto-flowering strains. Small plants can’t make big buds.

Unlike autoflowering strains, photoperiod plants have the luxury of being able to stay in the vegetative stage for as long as you want. That means you can recover from stress or problems and still get plants big enough to produce good yields. But with auto-flowering strains, you need to think about your grow as if you’re in a race to the finish line, and start strong.

I hope that helps reveal the mystery of why an auto-flowering plant can stay so small. Whenever growing autos (or any cannabis plants, really), I highly recommend germinated an extra seed or two, just in case something happens when they’re young or some plants grow better than others.

Bonus: Recommended Autos to Prevent Stunting

These auto-flowering cannabis strains were chosen because they are extra stress-resistant and easy to grow, yet produce good yields and outstanding bud quality.

• GG 4 Autoflower – This version of Gorilla Glue #4 is easy to grow and tends to grow fast. It is a forgiving strain that can handle a bit of stress and is ready to harvest at 70 days from germination.
• Cinderella Jack Auto – When I grew this strain, it produced the densest and most potent buds of that entire auto-flowering grow. It responded well to plant training, and produced good yields even though it was in a crowded tent with 7 other autoflowering plants. Harvest at 80 days from germination.
• Planet of the Grapes Auto – Delicious grapes smell, high potency, medium height, and super easy to grow. This strain is something special! Harvest at 80 days from germination.

The GG 4 Autoflower I grew in the very front (right behind the green bar) thrived in a tiny grow tent (copy this setup).

The Cinderella Jack Auto I grew produced ultra-dense buds.

Planet of the Grapes Auto produced outstanding bud quality.

About the Author: Nebula Haze

I started growing weed in 2008. To be honest, in the beginning, I struggled. There just wasn’t great information available for cannabis cultivation. I had to find my own way through trial and error. After I had figured out how easy it could be, I decided to create GrowWeedEasy.com in 2010 with my partner Sirius to make cannabis-growing information easily available to everyone who wants to grow at home.

Weed companies charge way too much for subpar weed, and we want home growers to learn how easy it is to grow higher-quality buds than most weed you can buy. The secret doesn’t take a ton of money or require you to learn special tricks. You just need good genetics and the right information so you get the best results for the least amount of effort.

That’s why we’ve made all the tutorials on the website easy and straightforward to follow. If you follow our instructions like a recipe, your cupboards will soon be overflowing with weed. I hope you enjoyed this article about how to prevent stunted autoflowering plants. Don’t hesitate to contact us to share your experience or let us know your favorite auto-flowering strains. Also, we’d love to see your plant pictures so we can feature them in our weekly newsletter!

• Sign up for the weekly growing newsletter – delivered every Sunday at 4:20 am Eastern time
• 10-Minute Cannabis Grow Guide – 10 minutes from now you could be a weed-growing expert!
• Plant Doctor (to diagnose your sick plants) – Find the plant problem and get the solution

Nebula Haze says, “Thanks for reading, and happy growing!”

The post Why did my autoflowering plant stay so small? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Cannabis nutrient deficiencies are the worst. Well, maybe not the worst, but I feel a twinge of pain when I check on my plants (all hopeful and excited) only to see yellowing, brown spots, unhealthy leaves, or other plant problems. Talk about a bummer way to start a day.

Certain strains are resistant to deficiencies, like Blue Dream, Wedding Cake, and Wedding Cheesecake Autoflower, but this tutorial teaches you how to keep any cannabis plant happy and green.

This cannabis plant was pristine just a few days before this picture. What caused the nutrient deficiency?

Discolored cannabis leaves can be the results of watering problems, environmental problems, bugs, and more, but today’s article is going to address the most common and the most misunderstood cannabis problem: the nutrient deficiency caused by pH.

There are many reasons cannabis leaves get what appear to be nutrient deficiencies:

1. Not enough nutrients – The plant used up all the nutrients in the soil or just isn’t getting enough. This is a nutrient deficiency in the purest sense.
2. Too many nutrients or supplements – It may seem counterintuitive but nutrient overload causes burnt tips and dark green leaves that are sometimes mistaken for a deficiency.
3. Mixing non-compatible nutrients or supplements – Always try to get all nutrients and supplements from the same company to reduce the chance of interactions
4. Watering problems – Most commonly overwatering but sometimes underwatering. Seedlings are especially prone.
5. Heat or cold – Extreme heat or cold can cause symptoms that look just like nutrient deficiencies (learn more about temperature and cannabis)
6. Too much light – When a grow light is too close, it causes light stress, which is often mistaken for a nutrient deficiency.
7. High or low pH (acidity) at the roots <– Today’s article! 

High or Low PH is the Cause of Most Nutrient Deficiencies

Cannabis plants need a slightly acidic root environment in order to absorb nutrients properly. PH measures acidity, and pH being too high or low is the most common cause of mystery cannabis nutrient deficiencies.

What is root acidity and how does it affect nutrient deficiencies? The “acidity” of your soil is determined by the “pH”, which measures the concentration of hydrogen ions. You measure pH by testing the water with pH drops from a kit or using a digital pH pen. The pH (level of hydrogen ions) physically changes the chemical structure of your nutrients, and some forms are more available to plant roots than others.

Growers have learned through experimentation that cannabis plants grow green and healthy when the roots get a slightly acidic pH that’s a bit under 7 pH. Pure water has a pH of about 7 and is considered neutral.

When giving nutrients to your cannabis plants, measuring and adjusting the pH prevents nutrient deficiencies (full instructions below).

Incorrect pH is the #1 cause of cannabis nutrient deficiencies. These symptoms were the result of too-low pH at the roots.

If you see a nutrient deficiency, the first thing to check is pH.

What pH do cannabis roots like? Cannabis plant roots in soil absorb nutrients best within the 6-7 pH range while plants grown in soilless setups like hydroponics or in coco coir prefer it a bit lower to between 5.5-6.5 pH. In soil, I’ve found 6.3-6.8 pH seems to work best to prevent nutrient deficiencies. In coco/hydro I tend to see the fewest deficiencies when I aim keep the pH between 6.0-6.3. In general, aim for the middle of the range for the best results.

• Soil: 6-7 pH (aim for the middle)
• Coco or Hydro: 5.5-6.5 pH (aim for the middle)

I’m going to give you some examples of plants that are known to have suffered from either high or low pH. Note that the designation of “high” or “low” pH is just a general rule of thumb. Any of these symptoms can also be caused by other issues such as watering or drainage problems.

Also, deficiencies can affect each other in weird ways within the plant. A high pH root environment that causes a phosphorus deficiency can cascade into other deficiencies including a calcium deficiency, even though that is typically the result of low pH.

If you ignore pH issues for too long, multiple nutrient deficiencies can join forces and cause a wild variety of leaf symptoms, including curling, full leaves dying, various spots or burnt patches, and more.

PH deficiencies often start causing strange symptoms if you ignore them too long.

In general, if you see any of these issues, you should check the pH before making any adjustments. You don’t want to adjust the pH if you don’t know what you’re starting with! These are just general guidelines.

Low pH Examples

Most Common Symptoms

• Brown splotches on leaves, especially leaves in direct light (Calcium deficiency)
• Red, purple, or pink coloring on leaves and stems (especially if you also see spots or yellowing)
• Random leaves that become brownish-yellow (sometimes with a red-brown tint). These leaves won’t fall off on their own and feel “stuck” if you try to pull them off.

Note: This is different from a nitrogen deficiency which means your plant needs higher levels of nutrients overall and is almost never caused by pH. A nitrogen deficiency causes lower leaves to turn yellow and fall off on their own (if you pull yellow nitrogen-deficient leaves they fall right off). More info on that with pictures in the next section.

These upper yellow leaves with brown spots were caused by too-low pH. When leaves are this yellow but still “stuck on”, the cause is likely incorrect pH.

Another picture from the same plant. Luckily, as long as nutrient deficiencies don’t get too bad, your plant will still make excellent buds (though the yields, bud appearance, and bud density may be affected). Notice the bright red coloring of the leaf stems on the right. Red, pink, and purple coloring are often associated with low pH.

Leaves may get brown splotches and start drying up.

Brown markings are a common symptom of low pH, often appearing on the leaves in direct light.

Another example of brown splotches on upper leaves due to low pH.

These plants in super soil started showing these symptoms when the pH at the roots got too low. The grower went overboard with natural PH Down (citric crystals), which can build up in the soil over time.

Here is another leaf in that same tent on a different plant. Low pH can cause a variety of similar symptoms, but not every plant reacts the same even in identical conditions. Notice the bright red-purple coloring on the leaf stem.

The symptoms progressed quickly and the low pH caused widespread yellowing, red stems, and brown spots. Once the grower started giving these plants properly pH’ed water, the symptoms stopped spreading (though very deficient leaves never turn green again).

Notice how most of the yellowing is at the top where the leaves are getting direct light. If you try to pull off the leaves, they don’t come off easily. The location of the yellowing and them being “stuck on” are major clues that the cause is a pH problem as opposed to something else.

Occasionally you may get similar symptoms from light burn from a too-close grow light, but if the grow light is the recommended distance away, you are most likely looking at a nutrient deficiency caused by pH. It just shows under the lights because those are the hardest-working leaves.

This grower had cannabis plants that looked like this. He also went through the common experience where plants looks great in the vegetative stage, but deficiencies appear after buds start forming.

When nutrient deficiencies appear partway through the flowering stage, often the root cause is pH. For most other causes, you would have seen symptoms earlier.

The grower thought these top yellow leaves came from light stress. The real cause was low pH.

Just remember not to be too hard on yourself if you see symptoms like this. Cannabis plants are more sensitive in the flowering stage. And the fact that you’re on GrowWeedEasy.com reading this means you care about your plants. That’s the sign of a great grower.

Now onto the other side of the nutrient deficiency coin.

Too high pH

Most Common Symptoms

• Yellow spots or stripes in the margins
• Brown spots (especially on lower leaves)
• Yellow edges of leaves
• Yellow or brown tips (leaf tips may wilt)
• Bluish coloring on leaves
• Purple stems (sometimes reddish)

These symptoms were caused by high pH at the plant roots. Brown splotches that look like a phosphorus deficiency are common when the pH is too high.

The brown spots from high pH most commonly appear on the lower leaves of the plant.

If allowed to progress, the splotches will take over the whole leaf and cause it to die

Although red stems are often associated with low pH, it can occasionally be a symptom of high pH, especially if it has more of a purple tone

High pH can cause plants to take on a dark coloring that has a blue tint. This is typically accompanied by yellow leaf edges.

Sometimes the yellowing between the margins looks like spots at first

These spots can develop into yellow stripes that look like a magnesium deficiency

Or sometimes the spots turn brown

When you see brown leaf tips, it’s common to assume you’re definitely looking at nutrient burn (too many nutrients at once can cause burnt brown tips). However, some nutrient deficiencies look a bit like nutrient burn. It’s important to know the difference because if it’s nutrient burn you need to reduce nutrients, but if it’s a nutrient deficiency you likely need to adjust the pH.

This is a nutrient deficiency caused by too-high pH. This is not nutrient burn. A key difference is the yellowing in the margins indicates this is likely a deficiency.

Here another picture of the same plant to help you get an idea of how this deficiency looks on different leaves.

These brown tips are also the result of a nutrient deficiency. Not only is the pH too high, but the thick soil also made it harder for plant roots to get access to nutrients.

This looks like a potassium deficiency, which is often caused by too-high pH.

This cannabis plant is hydroponics suffered from too-high pH.

One last high-pH example.

You have now seen a wide array of different nutrient deficiencies that are almost always caused by the pH at the roots being too high or too low.

But what do you do if you believe pH is causing problems in your garden? Luckily, testing and adjusting the pH is easy once you get the tools.

Solution: How to Correct the PH

Tools needed

• Nutrients & Supplements (if any) – learn about cannabis nutrients as well as how to grow without nutrients
• Measuring spoons (most people have these at home already)
• PH Test kit (includes pH test drops plus liquids that can adjust the pH)
  • A pH test kit helps you find the pH of your water, using special drops and color matching. I recommend every grower get a pH test kit, as it comes with small bottles of pH adjustment fluid (PH Up and PH Down) for cheap.
  • [Optional] A digital pH pen. It’s much more convenient to see the pH number on a screen. Note: Don’t accidentally get a “TDS meter”. It may look the same but doesn’t measure pH.

This video shows the whole process of adding nutrients and adjusting pH to help you make perfect nutrient water every time.

Think of pH Testing as the ultimate plant supplement. Sometimes just a few drops of PH Up or PH Down in your water makes the difference between a bad grow and a legendary harvest.

Epic cannabis plants need full access to all nutrients!

Your next harvest will thank you.

Test if PH is Causing Your Cannabis Nutrient Deficiency

Next time you water your plants, follow these instructions to test whether pH is causing your marijuana nutrient deficiency. There are two types of water you need to test: the water going in, and the water coming out. When the root pH is off, it’s either that the water going is has the incorrect pH, or there is a buildup in the grow medium that is affecting the root pH and needs to be flushed out with good water over time.

1. Fill a container with water
2. Add all nutrients and supplements (if you’re using any)
3. Test the pH of the water using a PH Pen or the liquid drops that came with your PH Test kit
4. Compare to see if the pH is in the ideal range
   1. Soil: 6-7 pH (I aim for 6.3-6.8 pH)
   2. Coco or Hydro: 5.5-6.5 pH (I aim for 6.0-6.3 pH)
5. Adjust the pH if necessary to the proper range.
   1. Use the PH Up or PH Down liquid that came with your kit (PH Up makes the pH higher and PH Down makes it lower)
   2. Add a little at a time and re-test the pH. Note: The PH Down is especially powerful. A few drops go a long way.
6. Water the plants with your newly adjusted water
7. Collect some of the runoff water and test the pH. Ideally, it should come out at about the same pH as the water going in.
   1. If so, you’re good to go!
   2. If the runoff pH is much higher or lower, there is an issue with pH at the roots. Take a note of the pH and learn what to do below.

What to do if the runoff pH is too high or low:

1. Wait until the next time you make water for your plants.
2. Look at your note of the runoff pH from last time.
3. Adjust the pH to the opposite side of the ideal range to correct the issue.
   1. If the pH was low, give water at the upper range of pH for your grow medium
   2. If the pH was high, give water at the lower range of pH for your grow medium
4. Continue doing this every time you give water until the runoff water is about the same pH as the starting water
5. You have achieved pH Nirvana. You’re good to go!

The post Which Nutrient Deficiencies are Caused by pH? (picture guide) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

GrowWeedEasy.com teaches you the secrets of cannabis home grow.

• Start Here: How to grow weed
• Get Seeds: Safe seed sources
• Sick Plants? See the plant doctor
• When to Harvest? Harvest guide

Get cannabis seeds at Seed Supreme or see our full list of our favorite cannabis seed banks.

Growing weed is easy when you know what to do, but most “how to grow marijuana” tutorials leave you feeling like you need a degree in horticulture.

GrowWeedEasy.com only contains useful cannabis grow tips, tactics, and lessons from actual home growers with years of growing experience.

Even a total beginner can consistently produce top-shelf weed by following our step-by-step home grow tutorials. 100% written by humans who care.

Who Made GrowWeedEasy.com?

Grow Weed Easy.com was started in 2010 by home growers Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside. Together, we built a free online “encyclopedia of cannabis home grow” with 650+ expert home cannabis cultivation tutorials about every aspect of growing weed.

GrowWeedEasy.com is now the biggest and most comprehensive source of free home grow information in the world.  We show you how easy it is to grow your own marijuana at home.

The GrowWeedEasy.com Ethos

Our Goal: You grow as much top-shelf weed as possible, with as little time and effort needed to grow your desired yields and cannabis bud quality.

Whether you’re a total beginner who wants to start growing cannabis indoors for the first time, or an experienced grower who wants to upgrade your skills to Pro level, this website was built for you.

Looking for a complete harvest system?

If you want dense, beautiful, great-smelling weed, our new digital book gives you our complete harvest system. Follow the straightforward instructions and massively upgrade your next harvest. A few small changes can make a huge difference to your results.

Get our fool-proof harvest system.

FOR SERIOUS GROWERS ONLY

🌟 $200 Off Special Offer: Enroll today in Home Grow Masterclass!

If you’re reading this right now, you want to grow great cannabis at home.

Cannabis plants isn’t a regular house plant, but learning how to grow isn’t as complicated growers make it seem. We’ve spent the last 16 years breaking down the home grow process so anyone can learn it.

The key to consistent harvest results is simple: follow a proven system developed for home growers.

You could waste an entire grow learning through trial and error…

Or take the shortcut and harvest a sea of fat, dense, beautiful buds that smell great. At home!

Follow our 5-week course and get walked through each part step-by-step. Build by experienced home growers and honed with hundreds of students since 2019, we ensure you achieve great results on your very next harvest.

Learn How To Grow Top-Shelf Weed at Home!

Start Your First Class TODAY!

You may be asking yourself these common growing questions:

“How do I grow marijuana indoors?”

Read this guide on how to grow marijuana indoors. Or check out this article to learn what materials you need to get started growing your own marijuana!

Luckily, it’s really easy to get a cannabis seed to sprout!

“How much money will it cost to get started?”

If you’re considering growing weed, it costs as little as $300 to get started growing or a bit more for a semi-automatic, high-yielding bubbleponics grow system. See examples of yields to expect, electricity use & startup costs for different setups. Read this article to see even more growing styles with different price ranges.

“Where can I get marijuana seeds?”

Check out our How to Buy Marijuana Seeds Online Guide (with delivery to every state of the USA) to safely get your hands on good genetics. Starting with good seeds lets you choose the looks, smell, and effects of your buds!

Learn where it’s safe to buy cannabis seeds online (2026 update).

What do good cannabis seeds look like?

Learn about the best marijuana beginner strains and how to research and find the right strain.

Cannabis buds are generally green, but can also be pink or purple with certain strains.

“How much will electricity cost each month?”

If you’re just growing a few marijuana plants for personal use, it will cost you $20-$100+/month for electricity, depending on what grow lights (electricity) and nutrients you use. On average, I’d say a hobby-size grower might pay about $50/month to grow, but it depends greatly on your setup and local electricity costs! How much will electricity cost each month?

“How can I increase my marijuana yields?”

We have quite a few techniques to choose from or combine! See some of our most popular pages:

• Super Cropping – A simple technique to bigger yields
• Simplest Guide to Growing Short & Bushy Marijuana Plants
• LST (Low Stress Training) – Training your plants can easily double your harvest!
• Or check out our page on the controversial defoliation technique

Even More Ways to Increase Cannabis Yields

1. Increase Light Intensity (plus choose right light for desired yields & possibly add CO2)
2. Manipulate How Plants Grow (a free way to yield more bud indoors)
3. Provide Right Nutrients (low Nitrogen in the flowering stage, and remember sometimes less is more!)
4. Control Growing Environment (let the growing environment work for you)
5. Harvest Plants Properly (most importantly, don’t harvest early!)
6. Lastly, it’s important to remember that the strain has a major effect on yields!

Two small cannabis plants can yield several ounces of premium weed!

“How can I grow weed privately?”

Read guide on growing weed indoors without anyone knowing. But remember the most important factors to stealth growing: “No tell, no smell, no sell.” Never tell anyone, not even your best friend, that you’re growing. Be on top of preventing smells, and never ever sell cannabis. Breaking one of those 3 principles is how 99% of growers get found out!

“What if my plants get sick?”

The most common issue a grower runs into is a pH imbalance. Barring that, your marijuana plants likely either have a nutrient deficiency, heat or light stress, or are being attacked by some sort of marijuana mold, pest or bug. Whether you call it weed, cannabis, sinsemilla, skunk, pot, marijuana, or something else, the plant known as Cannabis Sativa is a hardy weed in the wild and can actually be easy to grow indoors at home when you know what to do.

Growing Medical Marijuana

“Medical marijuana” has become a household name. The body of evidence for medical marijuana in the treatment of cancer and other illnesses is growing every day. And for those who need medical marijuana, growing weed indoors is the perfect way to ensure a safe, regular supply of buds, for cheap.

In fact, when you grow weed indoors for personal use, you often end up with way too much. If you catch the growing bug like I did, and if you start enjoying the process of tending your cannabis garden just for the sake of gardening, you’re going to have to find a way to press, cook, freeze, and concentrate all your extra buds. 🙂

As you probably know, both medical marijuana and recreational cannabis have been decriminalized or legalized in many places around the world and weed is becoming legal in more places every day! Yet there still aren’t many simple indoor “how to grow weed” guides for beginners (even for those who legally grow, such as medical marijuana users and those who live in places where marijuana is legalized for personal use).

If so, I know how you feel. It can be hard to weed out all the bad information on the internet and find well-researched, free tips or instructions on how to grow your own cannabis. That’s why Grow Weed Easy.com aims to be a simple online resource that explains from start to finish what you need to do when growing cannabis so you can learn how to grow cannabis with great yields and potent buds, even if you only have a small grow space like a closet or even a computer case.

We’ve grown cannabis out of closets and have gotten ounces of buds and you can too. Grow Weed Easy.com covers many popular cannabis cultivation topics, including:

• A comparison between different cannabis grow lights including experience-based information about LED grow lights
• A page that teaches you the basics of how to grow weed
• Detailed how-to weed growing tutorials
• How to start growing weed tomorrow  (simplest cannabis growing guide!)
• Grow 4 oz with a 100W LED <– An Easy Way to Start Growing!
• Our famous grow guide that teaches you how to grow weed using bubbleponics (hydro).

Start Growing Weed Today!

Grow Weed Easy is run by a panel of experienced cannabis growers, including the founders Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside, who originally teamed together to bring you GrowWeedEasy.com. Due to the demand for more marijuana growing information, we’ve also started an inbox magazine all about how to grow weed, with additional tutorials, tips, and tactics sent to you each week. Simply sign up to start getting free expert growing articles delivered to you! All the information available at GrowWeedEasy.com is completely free and we regularly update the site and make new additions.

Looking for a growing book?

If you are interested in doing a bit of reading or would like to know more about the science behind marijuana hydroponics or horticulture, I strongly recommend viewing our page of Marijuana Grow Book Reviews. Read reviews of marijuana grow books. We would love to hear about your experiences with growing cannabis. Whether you are a pro grower already or are just starting your first plant, we have learned so much from our readers both beginners and masters! If you have any suggestions, comments, concerns, or just want to ask some questions about your marijuana grow, please contact us!

Happy Growing!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside

Get our fool-proof harvest system.

Home Grow Masterclass – FOR SERIOUS GROWERS ONLY

The post Grow Weed Easy – Learn How to Grow Cannabis Tutorials appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Emergency Resources for Sick Seedlings!

If you’ve got unhappy cannabis seedlings, I’ve got the solutions. Sometimes the hardest part of growing cannabis is just germinating the seeds and caring for seedlings. If you’ve never gardened or planted a seed before, you may have to learn everything from scratch. And with expensive and hard-to-get marijuana seeds, there’s a lot of pressure to get things right the first time.

This tutorial will help you with some of the most common seedling problems, so you can quickly get the fix. Make it so that your first few weeks go without a hitch.

Note: At GrowWeedEasy.com, we have resources for almost every common growing problem, so check out our cannabis plant doctor or use the search bar on the side of the website if you have a specific problem.

My Seedling Problem is…

If your seedlings are sick and you’re still investigating the problem, move your grow light up and don’t attempt to train your plants or do anything new until they’re better! If you avoid stressing them out any further, they often recover much more quickly.

Germination Problems

• Soil or Coco: Fail-Proof Germination Guide
• Hydroponics or DWC: Fail-Proof Germination Guide
• Are My Seeds Good? (How to Know if Seeds Are Viable)
• Seedling Growing Upside Down with Root Up

Germination problems? We’ve got you covered!

Yellow Leaves

• Why do seedlings turn yellow? – There are many reasons you might see a yellowing leaf on young plants, but this tutorial breaks down the most common.

This yellow seedling was overwatered. Seedlings don’t like “wet feet”. Too much water is the most common reason you’ll see yellow leaves on seedlings.

Curling or Clawing Leaves

• Clawing or curling leaves – Like yellow leaves, there are actually a few different triggers for clawing or curling, including watering practices and nutrient levels.

In this case, the clawed leaves are also from too much water. Small seedlings in big pots need careful watering until they’re drinking more.

Bad soil will sabotage you! Thick muddy soil prevents seedling roots from getting enough oxygen

Seedling is Wilting or Droopy

If you notice your plant is droopy all the time (even in the mornings right after lights turn on, when plants are at their perkiest), it usually means there’s something going on at the roots. The seedling might be getting too much or too little water at a time, possibly watering too often or infrequently, or its roots could be sick/damaged. The other major cause of drooping and wilting is high or low temperatures, and occasionally really high or low humidity.

• Overwatering vs Underwatering: How do you know?
• Root problems (coco or soil)
• Root Rot (hydro)
• Heat Stress
• Temperature Tutorial
• Humidity Tutorial

This seedling was given too much water for many days. Notice the green algae growing on top of the soil.

Underwatered seedling – When there’s not enough water at the roots, leaves are dark green, possibly clawed or droopy, and growth is slow

In hydroponics, when you see a droopy seedling it usually means there’s something bad happening at the roots

Burnt Leaf Tips

• Usually caused by nutrient burn (too much nutrients)
• Sometimes caused by a deficiency such as a copper deficiency
• Also caused by incorrect pH or overwatering/underwatering

Seedling with a single burnt leaf due to slight underwatering. You can tell it’s not nutrient burn because it’s only affecting a single leaf (nutrient burn tends to affect leaves all over the plant).

Why Are Stems Purple or Red?

• Could just be the genetics
• Can be triggered by cool temperatures or too-bright light
• Sometimes it’s a sign of stress or a deficiency
• Learn whether your red or purple stems are normal

Purple stems are normal for some strains, though they also appear on plants that are cold, stressed or experiencing a nutrient deficiency. Sometimes bright light triggers purple stems, like a tan.

This seedling appears healthy. If you don’t see any other symptoms, you probably don’t need to worry about it. But keep a close eye. If a seedling with purple stems also grows slow or has markings on the leaves, it means something is wrong. Investigate!

Why is My Seedling So Tall?

• If your seedling keeps growing taller and taller without a lot of leaves, it usually means it needs more light.

Tall, “leggy” seedlings need more light. They’re doing their best to stretch towards the nearest light source! Quick aside: Avoid germinating multiple seedlings in the same pot. It can be difficult to separate them.

Why Are Leaves Curling?

• This is often caused by heat stress or overwatering
• Sometimes too much light or very dry air can trigger it, too

These wavy leaves are the result of too much heat, and possibly slight overwatering

Another example of heat damage plus overwatering (the same triggers can be expressed in multiple ways)

More heat damage

Bugs or Pests

• Learn how to avoid Fungus Gnats (most common bug for new growers)
• Other Common Cannabis Pests

Learn more about fungus gnats

Something Else?

• Diagnose Your Sick Plant!

Re-vegging (pictured below) and other plant problems can be hard to diagnose. Use our free plant doctor tool to check your symptoms.

Bonus Articles!

• Common Seedling Problems and Mistakes
• 7 Common New Grower Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
• How to Test Cannabis Seedlings for Sex and Future Potency

​What to Focus on During Your Seedling’s First Month

• Perfect Environment – humidity, temperature, airflow, CO2/fresh air, reflective walls, etc
• Enough Light – If your seedlings are growing tall it means that they want more light! Remember, in the flowering stage your yields will be directly related to how much light your buds are getting!
• Not Too Much of Light – Too much light can hurt your plants even in cool temperatures! Seedlings are more sensitive than adult plants, so be careful not to overload them with light too quickly! If you think your seedlings may be stressed from too high levels of light, move your grow light up a few inches and see if they improve.
• Watering properly (one of the hardest parts for a lot of new growers!) – How to Water Plants Perfectly Every Time. I promise it gets easier!
• Not Too Much Love – Seedlings need some breathing room! (i.e. avoid overwatering, touching/messing with plants too much, giving too high levels of nutrients or supplements, etc.). They want you to love them and watch out for them, but they also need to get work done 🙂
• Start Thinking About Plant Sex – For several weeks after germination, a plant’s sex is hidden and has little effect on how your plants grow. However, if you are not familiar with the difference between male and female plants (only female plants make buds), now is the perfect time to read up!

The post Cannabis Seedling Help Handbook appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

The following symptoms are for when your cannabis leaves are “clawing” or curling up or curling down. Sometimes known as “The Claw”. I’ll give a short explanation with pictures of each problem, plus links to the solutions! Fix this common (but hard to diagnose) marijuana problem today!

Nitrogen Toxicity

A Nitrogen toxicity is the result of the plant getting too much Nitrogen (usually from too high levels of nutrients overall, or by using a Vegetative nutrient in the flowering stage). It causes dark green leaves and curled tips (“the claw”).

One of the main symptoms of a Nitrogen toxicity is curled tips (“the claw”)

A plant with a Nitrogen toxicity tends to be dark green all over

​

Learn more about a cannabis Nitrogen Toxicity

Wind Burn

Caused by too much wind. You’ll notice that the leaves further from the fan don’t have symptoms.

Example of too much wind on your leaves

Learn more about cannabis wind burn

Bad Soil / Overwatering / Underwatering

You can help prevent over and under-watering your cannabis plants by always starting with good soil or coco coir.

Bad Soil

Bad soil is usually thick and muddy. Plants in poor soil will droop (often with unhappy curly leaves) no matter your watering practices.

Avoid thick soil that stays wet for a long time and doesn’t drain well

Overwatering

Overwatering makes leaves fat with water, and they tend to curl down and droop

Overwatering (especially when combined with heat) can also cause leaves to curl up

This plant was grown in muddy soil, and the curling, unhealthy leaves kept getting worse and worse over time!

​

Underwatering

Underwatering causes symptoms that often look like overwatering, but you’ll know it’s underwatering if the plants perk up each time after you water them.

Root Problems

Although often caused by overwatering, once the roots are sick you’ll see symptoms for a little while even after you start watering your plants properly.

Unhealthy roots can cause all sorts of problems including curling and clawing!

Unhealthy Roots in Soil/Coco

This plant’s roots were damaged from being overwatered and too hot for several days. As a result, the leaves took on a strange, blistery appearance.

This plant suffered from heat combined with overwatering for several days. This damaged the roots and gave it this odd leaf curling.

Learn more about root problem and symptoms

Root Rot

Root rot is something marijuana hydroponic growers can suffer from if pathogens attack the roots. It is often triggered by heat and/or lack of bubbles near the roots.

Root rot can cause curling leaves and brown patches as well as sometimes other nutrient deficiencies

Rootbound

If a plant stays in the same container for too long, the roots will eventually start wrapping around the edges of the pot. This is known as being “rootbound” and causes symptoms similar to other root problems.

A rootbound plant has been in the same container for too long. Roots wrap around the edges and “choke” the plant.

Rootbound plants often droop, appear yellow, get nutrient deficiencies, and stay small. Even if you’re caring for them perfectly!

If you see tons of white roots when transplanted, that means the plant was in that container too long

When this happens, the main solution is to transplant the plant into a bigger container. Another solution is to grow in fabric pots or air pots. These types of pots let air in from the sides, killing the circling roots (“air-pruning” them) and prevents the plant from getting rootbound for months.

To help a rootbound plant, transplant to a bigger container with fresh potting mix

Or start with air pots or fabric pots in order to prevent plants from getting rootbound at all

Heat Stress

If plants are experiencing a lot of heat, it can make leaves droop and/or curl. Some strains can handle a lot of heat, while other strains tend to droop when it gets warm.

Heat can cause leaves to curl up

Read more about heat and growing weed:

• Cannabis Heat Stress Guide
• Air Circulation and Exhaust Tutorial
• 5 Ways to Deal with Heat While Growing Cannabis
• 3 Proven Supplements that Help with Heat Stress

Light Burn

Plants can get light burn (sort of like a sunburn) even if the temperature is completely under control. The symptoms are usually concentrated close to the grow lights. Sometimes this can cause leaves to claw and curl downwards.

Light burn can cause the leaves closest to the light to turn yellow

Learn more about light burn

Bugs & Pests

Often a bug infestation caused general plant unhappiness, but these are some of the most likely to cause curling or clawing leaves.

Broad Mites

Usually, you can’t see broad mites because they live inside the plant. The main symptom of an infestation is strange leaf curling that is specific to this pest, as well as “wet” looking leaves.

Hemp Russet Mites

Hemp russet mites can also cause drooping and other strange symptoms, but the bugs are so small many growers don’t realize what they’re dealing with.

Hemp russet mites cause drooping and yellow mold-like growth on the tops of plants

A closeup of the hemp russet mites

Learn how to get rid of hemp russet mites!

Fungus Gnats

Fungus gnats look like tiny flies buzzing around your topsoil. Although a few fungus gnats won’t really hurt your plants, a big infestation can damage the roots, causing symptoms similar to other types of root problems.

Learn about other types of bugs and pests that can attack your cannabis plants!

Jump to…

7 Step Fix to 99% of Cannabis Growing Problems

Pictures of Marijuana Plant Problems

What does pH have to do with nutrient deficiencies?

10-Step Quick Start Guide to Growing

The post Why are Leaves Curling or Clawing? (“The Claw”) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Are some or all of your cannabis leaves turning yellow? Maybe your yellowing leaves also have other symptoms like spots, curling, wilting, brown patches, etc. Marijuana plants may get yellow leaves for several different reasons, which means it can be hard to figure out the true root of the problem!

Today I’ll break down the 10 most common reasons your weed leaves turn yellow, and I’ll show you how to make your plant green again.

10 Most Common Reasons for Yellow Leaves

1. High or Low Root pH
2. Poor Watering Practices
3. Nitrogen Deficiency
4. Light Burn / Light Stress
5. Heat Stress / Cold Shock
6. Magnesium Deficiency
7. Iron Deficiency
8. Not Enough Light (especially seedlings)
9. Bugs or Pests
10. Bud Rot

When Not to Worry (Pictures of Normal Yellow Leaves)

These yellow leaves with green stripes in the margins are caused by high pH at the roots.

10 Causes of Yellow Leaves (From Most to Least Common)

1.) PH is Too High or Low at the Roots

Whether you’re growing cannabis in soil, coco coir or in hydroponics, high or low pH at the roots is the most common reason to see yellowing and other nutrient deficiencies. Cannabis plants have a difficult time absorbing nutrients when the pH is in the wrong range, resulting in nutrient deficiencies even if the nutrients are actually present near the roots.

Symptoms

• Yellow or other oddly colored leaves
• Spots, stripes, or patches
• Burning around the edges of leaves
• In fact, almost any nutrient deficiency can be triggered by incorrect pH

What is the Correct PH?

Growers who don’t make sure their pH stays in the right range will often run into nutrient deficiencies, even if they’re starting with a pure source of water and good soil.

• Soil Optimum: 6-7 pH
• Coco / Hydro Optimum: 5.5-6.5 pH

How to Fix

• Use a kit or PH Pen to test the pH of the water before you give it to your plants, and adjust if necessary by adding an acid or base to your water
• Learn How to Fix Incorrect pH.

These symptoms look like nutrient deficiencies but are actually caused by incorrect pH.

Most water sources contain enough copper (which the plant needs in very small amounts) so copper deficiencies like this one are almost always caused by incorrect root pH.

Zinc deficiencies (pictured below) are the same way. They are almost always caused by incorrect pH.

Another common culprit of yellow leaves from incorrect pH is a potassium deficiency. Cannabis plants love lots of potassium, especially in the flowering stage, but nearly all cannabis-friendly nutrient systems contain plenty of potassium. If you’re adding nutrients to the water, this deficiency is almost always the symptom of a pH problem.

This is also a potassium deficiency, even though it looks a little like nutrient burn (too high levels of nutrients). The main clue is the yellow striping on the leaves, which tends to get worse over time until leaves are mostly yellow. Another clue is the brown tips go in further than typical nutrient burn.

Stripes on the leaves (click for close-up) indicates that this is not a Nitrogen deficiency, even though the symptoms are similar. In this case, the symptoms were caused by the pH being way too high, combined with a bit too much water at a time.

2.) Poor Watering Practices

It’s much more common to over-water than under-water cannabis plants, and the symptoms are very similar. In either case, the solution is to learn how to water your plants exactly the right amount at the right time!

Symptoms of Poor Watering Practices

• Droopiness (it’s normal for plants to droop a little before the lights go out, but you know the drooping is a problem if it’s already happening at the beginning of their “day”).
• Odd problems and symptoms from poor water practices including yellowing and sometimes other deficiencies.
• Droopy leaves – Droopiness is usually caused by either…
  • Overwatering – leaves seem “fat” and swollen with water. Often you’ll have a feeling you may be overwatering your plant, especially if it’s a small plant in a large container.
  • Underwatering – leaves often seem “papery” and thin because they don’t have any water inside them. Chronic underwatering leads to overall yellowing and deficiencies.

How Do Cannabis Growers Get It?

• Young plants are extra sensitive – Overwatering is most common with young plants since they still have small, weak root systems.
• Too much or too little water at a time – You can hurt plants by giving too much or too little water at a time, and you can also cause persistent droopiness by watering too often or too infrequently
• Bad soil with poor drainage can cause the symptoms of overwatering even if you’re watering the plants perfectly!
• Small plants in big containers are easily over-watered.
• Big plants in small containers are easily under-watered.
• Not checking on plants – Growers who spend long periods away from their plants and/or don’t pay attention to their watering needs are much more likely to run into problems with droopiness.

How to Water Your Plants Correctly

• Good grow medium – Start with good soil or coco coir.
• Right size container – Make sure plants are in the right size container for their size.
• Pay attention if you notice drooping.
  • If plants start drooping after you water them, you’re overwatering.
  • If drooping plants perk up after watering, you’re underwatering.
• Learn how to water your plants perfectly every time.

Overwatering

Chronic overwatering can sometimes cause unusual deficiencies even if the pH is spot on, like this plant grown in muddy soil. The biggest sign that these symptoms are caused by overwatering and not pH (or something else) is that the plant is always droopy.

Another example of a deficiency that’s actually caused by overwatering (notice how this seedling is also droopy)

Chronic Underwatering (Relatively Rare)

Most growers tend to overwater – not underwater – their plants. However, if you’re spending long periods away from your plants or the containers are drying up in less than a day or two, it may mean that your plant needs to be watered more often, or be given more water at a time. It’s also more common to under-water when plants start overgrowing their pots.

It can be difficult to diagnose chronic underwatering because problems may look like nutrient deficiencies. Your main clue is that plants perk up every time after you water.

Learn more about underwatering cannabis plants.

3.) Nitrogen Deficiency

Symptoms

• Pale leaves – Plants tend to be lime green or pale all over, even though the leaves appear healthy without stripes or spots
• Bottom leaves turn yellow – Yellow leaves tend to appear toward the bottom of the plant
• Yellow leaves fall on their own – With a nitrogen deficiency, yellow leaves feel soft and are easily pulled off (in fact they usually fall on their own). If a leaf feels very stiff or is hard to pull out, that means it is not a Nitrogen deficiency and actually something else.

How Do Growers Get It?

• Used up nutrients in soil – Affects plants that have “used up” the nutrients in the soil, which can happen after the plant has been in the same container for several weeks or months.
• Need to increase the amount of nutrients in the water – A nitrogen deficiency can happen in coco or hydro when the grower isn’t providing any extra nutrients (since there is no Nitrogen contained naturally in plain coco or water).

It is very unlikely you have a true Nitrogen deficiency if you’re providing your plants with the recommended amount of cannabis nutrients in the water.

How to Fix

• Give good nutrients – Easily remedied by giving plants a regular base plant nutrient from basically any cannabis-friendly nutrient system
• Transplant to new soil – In soil, growers can transplant their plants to a new container with fresh soil (if they don’t want to add extra nutrients to the water).
• Learn more about Nitrogen deficiencies.

A cannabis plant turns pale or lime green all over (left) when it needs more Nitrogen. A healthy plant appears medium green (right).

This plant is on the verge of a Nitrogen deficiency. This is indicated by its overall pale color, even though all the leaves look healthy without spots or stripes. Cannabis leaves should not be lime green or pale, or the plant tends to grow more slowly!

Here’s a close-up of a Nitrogen-deficient leaf near the bottom of the plant. Nitrogen-deficient leaves are soft and look/feel wilted.

If you have a Nitrogen deficiency, the yellow leaves will start falling off on their own.

Did You Know? Oddly enough, too much Nitrogen can also cause yellow leaves, though the rest of the leaves will be clawed and a deep dark green instead of pale.

Too Much Nitrogen (Nitrogen Toxicity)

4.) Light Burn

Symptoms

• Yellowing appears most on the parts of the plant closest to the light.
• Yellow leaves do not pull out easily, even if the whole leaf is dead
• Light burn often takes a few weeks to develop and is most common once the plant is past the 6th week of the flowering stage (when plants aren’t making many new leaves to replace old ones).

Cannabis light burn usually affects the top leaves closest to the grow light instead of affecting the plant evenly.

How Do Growers Get It?

• Light burn is when your leaves are working too hard for too long, causing them to die early.
• Even if the temperature is in a good range, your plant can still get light burn if the grow light is too close. It’s kind of like how skiers can get sunburned even in freezing temperatures because of all the sunlight reflecting off the snow.
• Light burn is most common with powerful lights like HPS/LED/LEC.
• It’s also common when switching to new bulbs (which are stronger than old bulbs) or when there is no glass between the bulb and your plants.
• Some plants are more sensitive than others, and you may have one plant suffering from light burn while the others are fine. That can make it harder to diagnose the problem since some of your plants are thriving in the same environment!

Light burn symptoms can be different from plant to plant, but they always seem to happen mostly to the parts of the plant that are closest to the light

How to Fix

• The best way to fix light burn is to move your grow lights further away, or bend over the affected plants so they’re further from the light.
• When in doubt, always follow the manufacturer’s recommendations when it comes to how far away to keep your light from your plants! This is especially important for growers who utilize LEDs.
• Learn more about cannabis light burn
• How far away should I keep my grow lights?

5.) Temperature Problems (Heat Stress / Cold Shock) 

• Yellow or burnt leaves near the light
• General yellowing of upper leaves
• Leaves start “turning up” at the edges, or forming “tacos”

How Do Growers Get It?

• If you put your hand where your plants are and hold it there for 30 seconds, is it too hot to be comfortable? If it’s too hot for you it’s likely too hot for your plants.
• Although relatively rare indoors since most growers struggle with heat instead of cold, a temperature under 50°F (10°C) can also cause pale or yellow leaves. Some plants will even die if it hits freezing temperatures! Placing grow containers directly on concrete in a basement can kill them with cold overnight!

How to Fix

• You should be able to pass the “hand test” (hold your hand where your plants are and make sure it’s not too hot). If it’s too hot for you, move the light up and further away from the top of your plants.
• You should correct the temperature if it’s under 60°F at night or above 85°F during the day.
• Make sure there is good air circulation in the grow space, to prevent hot spots.
• Your plants will be more resistant to cold if you keep their roots warm, so make sure to keep your containers off the cold floor (or if outdoors, you might consider covering your plant roots at night!)!
• How do I control temperature?
• More About Heat Stress

This poor plant was decimated by a heat wave – it went through several days of 100°F+ temperatures! Luckily the buds were still great 🙂

Too much heat can cause the edges of leaves to curl upwards and make “tacos”.

Sometimes extended periods of high temperatures cause spots and other odd symptoms in addition to yellowing.

Cold Shock

This plant was exposed to temperatures under 40°F (5°C) at night, causing all the newest growth to turn so pale yellow it almost looked white!

6.) Magnesium Deficiency

Symptoms

• Yellowing in between the veins on leaves, often located lower down on the plant.

How Do Growers Get It?

• A magnesium deficiency is almost always caused by incorrect pH though if you’re using heavily purified or soft water (such as RO – reverse osmosis – water) you may need a Cal-Mag supplement to make sure your plant is getting enough magnesium.

How to Fix

• First, check the pH. It should be in the 6.0-7.0 range for soil growers and 5.5-6.5 for everyone else.
• If a Magnesium deficiency persists, consider getting a CaliMagic supplement that is made for plants (you should always add Magnesium and Calcium at the same time because these two nutrients work together in the cannabis plant).
• Learn more about Magnesium deficiencies

With a magnesium deficiency, the yellowing happens between the veins of the leaves, while the veins stay green.

Sometimes Triggered by Old Age / Natural Senescence / Light Deprivation

• It’s actually normal if you only see these symptoms on a few leaves at the bottom of the plant that are no longer getting any light. The plant eventually “gives up” on old leaves if they spend days or weeks without light, which often happens to the lowest leaves as the plant gets bigger. This may look like a magnesium deficiency.
• If this is the case, the leaves often seem droopy, limp, and tired. These leaves don’t “stick straight out” like normal leaves because the plant isn’t wasting resources by putting energy into them.
• This is most common when using relatively weak grow lights like fluorescent lighting or CFLs, since the light doesn’t easily reach the bottom of the plant.
• Therefore this symptom is only something to worry about if it’s happening on leaves that are still getting light, or if you’re seeing the symptoms on many different leaves instead of just an occasional leaf here and there.

7.) Iron Deficiency

Symptoms

• Iron deficiencies are unique because the yellowing always affects the newest growth; it does not happen to older leaves that are already green.
• New leaves usually come in completely yellow.
• Unlike most other nutrient deficiencies that cause yellowing, yellow leaves from an iron deficiency will usually turn green, starting from the outside edges and working inwards.

How Do Growers Get It?

• Unless you are using RO or very purified water, an iron deficiency is almost always caused by incorrect pH. This is because cannabis needs very little iron, and most sources of water already contain trace amounts of iron.

How to Fix

• The pH being too high or too low is the most likely cause of this problem. Bring your pH into the correct range and iron deficiencies will just go away.
• If using purified water or water that doesn’t contain much natural iron, you may need a Cal-Mag supplement that includes iron like CaliMagic. You see these three together because Iron, Calcium, and Magnesium work closely together in the plant. You never want to supplement your plant with extra iron without also adding the correct ratio of Calcium and Magnesium at the same time, or it may cause other types of deficiencies.
• Learn more about Iron deficiencies

Iron deficiencies cause the middle and newest leaves to turn yellow, but they will slowly turn green as the plant gets older

8.) Not Enough Light (Seedlings)

When a shell first cracks, the round leaves inside are actually yellow. They only turn green once the plant starts getting enough light.

Note: Adult cannabis plants without enough light won’t grow well either, but they likely won’t have yellow leaves. In fact, adult cannabis plants that are getting relatively low levels of light will actually turn dark green since they aren’t using up nutrients for photosynthesis (the extra unused nutrients get stored in the leaves, causing them to appear darker).

How Do Growers Get It?

You know your seedling needs more light when…

• Seedlings are tall with small leaves
• There is a lot of nodal spacing (stem between each set of leaves). Seedlings look “stretchy”.
• Leaves stay yellow or pale green

How to Fix

• The solution for pale, tall, stretchy seedlings is to add more light!
• Learn more about different grow lights as well as how to upgrade your light system

This seedling is yellow and “stretching” because it needs more light

9.) Bugs or Pests

Many different types of bugs or pests can stress your plants, causing them to develop yellow leaves.

Symptoms

• You can actually see bugs or eggs
• Yellowing leaves, especially when combined with spots or bite marks
• Overall lack of vigor

How Do Growers Get Pests?

• Track them in from outside
• From visiting another grower’s plants
• Getting an infected clone or plant (sometimes there are a few tiny eggs you can’t see!)
• Certain things like overwatering, lack of cleanliness, and poor air circulation make your garden a bigger target and a better home for bugs, making it easier for an infestation to take hold and stick around.

How to Fix

• Unless you 100% trust the grower and their growing practices, never ever visit another grower’s garden or adopt clones from them. It can be incredibly difficult to get rid of bugs that are already specialized at surviving on cannabis plants!
• Avoid going straight from outside to your cannabis plants, especially if you’ve spent time in a garden.
• Make sure there is a screen to stop bugs if your plants are getting fresh air from outside.
• Identify your bugs and get rid of them!

One of the most common pests that can cause yellowing without really any other symptoms is fungus gnats. These tiny winged creatures hang around your wet topsoil, and are most likely to appear if you’re overwatering your plants. Although the adults don’t attack your plants, their larvae feast on the roots, which can eventually cause yellowing, especially on small or weak plants.

A bad fungus gnat infestation can damage or even kill your plant!

Another common pest that may cause overall leaf yellowing is spider mites!

But any time a plant has an infestation, you may notice the leaves start yellowing regardless of the type of bug. You should be very concerned if you also see spots!

Click here to find out which bugs are attacking your cannabis plants!

10.) Bud Rot

If yellow leaves appear overnight on just one or a few of your main buds, inspect the areas closely! Sometimes this is caused by bud rot at the base of the leaves.

Symptoms

• Yellow leaves on select parts of the biggest buds
• Yellowing often appears overnight
• Yellow leaves usually easily fall right out
• At the base of the leaf, you can see white, gray, or brown mold growing on the inside of the cola

How Do Growers Get It?

• Humidity above 60% RH
• Lack of air circulation/breeze
• Cool temperature – bud rot thrives around 60-70°F
• Bushy plant (too many leaves) in a small space like a grow tent
• Outdoors in rainy, cool, or humid weather

How to Fix

• Keep humidity under 50% RH during flowering if possible
• Keep the temperature above 65-70°F at night if possible
• Make sure there’s lots of air circulation around all the colas and through the plant
• Defoliate a very bushy plant, especially if it’s getting close to harvest time
• Learn how to prevent and treat bud rot!

Sometimes Yellow Leaves Are Normal!

Sometimes marijuana leaves turn yellow for totally normal reasons, including…

First Leaves Turn Yellow – Normal

After your plant has grown a few sets of leaves, it’s very normal for the first few sets of leaves to turn yellow and die, especially if they’re not getting light anymore. You will almost always lose the round cotyledons, the single-finger leaves, and the three-finger leaves (the first three sets of leaves).

This vibrant young cannabis plant is healthy and growing over an inch a day

However, if you look closely at the bottom of the plant, you can see the three bottom sets of leaves have turned yellow and are dying. This is normal. The plant does not hold onto these baby leaves for long!

Single-Finger Leaves (plus the tiny round cotyledon leaves)

Three-finger leaves

When just the first 3 sets of leaves turn yellow like the example above (leaves with three fingers or less), it’s not something to worry about as long as the rest of the plant is green, healthy, and growing fast.

You don’t normally see these in pictures because most growers remove them 🙂

The Plant is Ready to Harvest – Normal

Often plants will have a few yellow leaves by harvest time. This is completely normal and nothing to worry about as long as you’ve ruled out bud rot and most leaves seem healthy.

Mutation – Cosmetic (Usually Not Harmful)

Occasionally you may see mutations or natural variation that results in parts of leaves being yellow. The general rule of thumb with any unusual leaf symptom is if the rest of the plant is green, vibrant and healthy, there’s usually nothing to worry about.

See more common cannabis mutations

Don’t See Your Plant Problem Here?

Diagnose Your Sick Plant

Check Out the 7-Step Guide to Fixing 99% of Plant Problems!

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7 Step Fix to 99% of Cannabis Growing Problems

Pictures of Cannabis Plant Problems

What does pH have to do with nutrient deficiencies?

10-Step Quick Start Guide to Growing

The post Why Are My Cannabis Leaves Turning Yellow? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

When I was first learning about how to grow cannabis, I learned about the importance of pH to prevent nutrient deficiencies. But sometimes your pH is in the recommended range and your marijuana plants leaves are still showing signs of nutrient deficiencies.

What else besides incorrect pH causes nutrient deficiencies in cannabis plants?

Basically, when it comes to cannabis plants, your plant starts experiencing nutrient deficiencies if the pH is too high or too low at the roots. This is because the chemical structure of nutrients actually changes at different pH levels, and some versions are easier for the plant to absorb than others.

By giving your plants good cannabis nutrients and managing the pH, you’ll be able to prevent most nutrient deficiencies, ensuring your plant grows as fast and healthy as possible.

But what do you do if you’re using good nutrients and the pH is right but you’re still getting nutrient deficiencies?

When it comes down to it, nutrient deficiencies usually start at the roots, whether it’s pH or something else. This looks like a nutrient deficiency, but it’s actually caused by overwatering.

One of the most common reasons to see deficiencies when the pH is correct is the plant is being over or under-watered, which can also be related to the drainage of the grow medium and the container your plant is in. When the plant isn’t getting the right ratio of water and air at the roots, it will tend to start showing deficiencies even if everything else is right. Other issues with roots are also common culprits.

Causes of Most Nutrient Deficiencies

• PH is too high or too low ← Most Important!!! But if you’re on this page you’ve probably already got this covered.
• Not enough nutrients overall (here are recommended cannabis nutrients)
• Over-watering
• Under-watering
• Pot is too big for the size of the plant
• Plants are rootbound (been in the same pot too long)
• Too hot (and rarely too cold)
• Bugs or pest infestation

Note: Basically anything that makes your plant droopy is likely to cause nutrient deficiencies, too.

Although pH and watering practices are probably the most important thing to pay attention to, there’s more than just pH as far as your plant roots are concerned. The “alkalinity” of your water is also important. Alkalinity is related to pH, but it is also its own thing. In a way, alkalinity measures how much “stuff” is in the water that causes the pH to go up. And this also affects nutrient absorption.

If you’re still having trouble after going through the steps above, and your pH is in the right range…

• If you have “hard” water, you should generally aim for a slightly lower pH (aim for around 6.5 pH for soil and 6.0 pH for coco or hydro).
• If you have “soft” water, you should generally aim for a slightly higher pH (aim closer to 7 pH for soil and 6.5 pH for coco or hydro).

I hope that helps some people dial in the correct pH based on their starting water.

Jump to…

Tips to Growing Top-Shelf Buds

How to Measure & Adjust PH

Which Nutrients Should I Use?

7 Steps to Fix 99% of Growing Problems

The post Why are cannabis plants getting nutrient deficiencies when the pH is correct? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Table of Contents

Why Flush Cannabis Plants in the First Place?

• Which growers should flush?
• How to prevent the need to flush

How to Flush a Sick Marijuana Plant (without harming it)

How to Fix Incorrect pH Without Flushing – Do this if possible!

Why Should I Flush My Sick Marijuana Plants?

The main reason to flush your sick cannabis plants is to try to correct something wrong at the roots. Flushing means watering your plants with lots of plain water at once. All that extra water leaches out extra nutrients or salt buildup in soil or coco coir. Flushing can also be used to address nutrient deficiencies caused by incorrect pH near the roots. However, flushing is stressful for plants, so it should be avoided unless you have no other choice. This tutorial will teach you when to flush your plants, and when you should address your sick cannabis plants a different way.

Flushing plants with lots of water makes them droopy, and should be avoided if possible. Take good care of plants and you’ll never need to flush. But when it comes to growing, things don’t always go according to plan! If that happens, this tutorial will guide you on what to do.

The following cannabis plants were flushed due to nutrient deficiencies.

When flushing is done properly, your cannabis plants should quickly bounce back and start growing healthy without deficiencies.

Related Article: How to Flush Cannabis Plants Before Harvest to Improve Bud Taste

The most common reasons to flush sicks plants are…

• Fix pH – The pH at the roots is several points too high or too low, causing major nutrient deficiencies
• Flush Out Additives That Made Plant Sick – It’s important to flush a plant that has been watered with something that has made it sick, for example if it is losing leaves because it was recently watered with a pesticide, nutrient or supplement that was too strong.
• Leach Out Time-Release Nutrients – If transplanting isn’t an option, sometimes a grower will flush a plant that is being grown in soil with “time release” nutrients (like Miracle-Gro soil). This idea is to try to leach out extra nutrients (specifically nitrogen) before the flowering stage begins. Too much nitrogen in the flowering stage can give buds a “green” taste as well as actually prevent buds from getting as big as they normally would. Since time-release soils slowly releases nitrogen for months it’s important to flush that out before your plant starts making buds.

If your cannabis plant gets sick the day after you add a new supplement for the first time, you should probably flush your plant to “start fresh” at the roots.

Which Growers Should Flush Their Plants?

Flushing sick plants is for…

• Soil
• Coco coir
• Other soilless mediums

Flushing sick plants is NOT for…

• Hydroponic or DWC grow setups – if you have a nutrient or pH problem, just change the reservoir so it has exactly what you want

How to Prevent the Need to Flush Your Plants

• Start Nutrients at 1/2 Strength – When using a new type of nutrients for your cannabis plants, it’s a good idea to start at 1/2 strength at first. It’s also a good idea to start any pesticides or supplements at half strength until you see how your plant reacts.
• Give More Nutrients to Pale Plants – Increase nutrient dose if the overall plant is starting to look pale or lime green.
• Lower Nutrients for Dark Leaves or Nutrient Burn – If you notice plants are getting dark green in color, try lowering nutrient levels or giving plain water every other watering until their color has improved. If you notice brown crispy tips on the leaves all over the plant, that’s another sign of the plant overall getting too much “stuff” (whether nutrients or supplements) in the water. If the dark leaves or brown tips are the result of too much nutrients, usually you’ll see these symptoms all over the plant instead of just a few leaves.
• Check pH for Other Nutrient Deficiencies – If you seen nutrient deficiencies like yellow leaves, spots, or brown markings, the first step is to check and adjust the pH of the water you give your plants. Maintaining the right pH is the #1 way to prevent nutrient deficiencies. Simply do this one check when you water, and you’ll dramatically reduce the chance you’ll even need to flush (pH being too high or too low is the main reason to flush plants). Learn more about nutrient deficiencies.
• Reduce Light Levels on Sick Plants – When plants are sick, try moving the grow light up a few inches or even a foot. This will help your plant recover more effectively from many nutrient problems, whether you end up flushing the plants or not.

Try to prevent nutrients problems before they happen so you never need to flush!

How to Flush Sick Cannabis Plants

1. Make up water with low levels of nutrients (1/4 strength or seedling dose). You want to take out the bad and replace with the good.
2. Give 3x the pot size – Use enough water so that you’re giving the plant 3x as much water as the volume of the pot. It may take a little while. Remove all runoff water immediately, you don’t want your plant to suck the bad stuff back up!
3. Give regular strength nutrients at the end – Make up one last batch of nutrient water at regular strength, and give this to your plants. You are replacing what you took out with what you want to be there – fresh, pH’ed nutrient water!
4. Make sure there is a fan blowing over the top of the growing medium to help it dry out so plants don’t get as droopy from being overwatered. There should be plenty of air circulation in the grow space, with access to lots of fresh air.
5. Raise your grow lights up a few inches while your plant is recovering. Your plant definitely needs plenty of light, but you don’t want to make it work too hard during the recovery period.
6. Wait a few days for improvement – Although your plant may get droopy at first, you should start to see improvement within a few days. Try not to water it again until the top inch is starting to dry. It’s not recommended to flush a plant two times in a row. After the first flush you should have flushed out what was hurting the plant in the soil. At this point, it’s time to give your plants some TLC while you get things back on track.

How to Fix Incorrect pH Without Flushing

1.) Determine your target pH

• Soil: 6-7 pH
• Coco: 5.5-6.5 pH

2.) Collect runoff

Give your water at the correct pH, and collect runoff water out the bottom. Is the pH too high or low? If the pH is higher or lower than the correct range, don’t panic! At the very least you’re already giving your water at the correct pH from on top. That will help the plant stay healthy while you fix whatever is going on at the roots. Now, onto fixing your pH.

3.) Start fixing the pH the next time you water your plants.

If you already have major nutrient problems, you might consider flushing as stated above. But if you don’t see problems yet, or if you only see just a little bit of leaf discoloration or yellowing, there’s no need to flush. Flushing is very stressful for plants and may prevent them from recovering as fast as they could, so it should be avoided if possible.

Most of the time, if your runoff pH was too high or too low, it’s better to wait until your next watering to start correcting it.

4.) Always give water in the correct pH range, but at the opposite end.

Next time you water your plants give water in the correct range, but at the opposite end of the range to start trying to get it to move in the other direction.

If your runoff water is coming out at 4.5 pH, it means you should water your plants at the high end of your desired pH range. So for soil you would water your plants at 7.0 pH, and with coco you’d water your plants at 6.5 pH.

This ensures that your roots are getting some amount of nutrient water at the correct pH, while also starting to leach out whatever is in the growing medium that’s dragging the pH down.

5.) When pH of water going in and out mostly match, you’re good!

Eventually, your pH is going to start coming out the bottom of the plant in the right pH range, even if it takes a few weeks.

Collect the runoff water and check to make sure the pH isn’t too high or low. Proper pH stops most nutrient deficiencies!

I’ve found that correcting the pH following this process seems to stop most nutrient problems within just a few days, while preventing your plant from getting stressed from a true “flush.”

—

I wish I had known this before I started growing. I’ve done too many unnecessary flushes and unintentionally stressed out my plants. I hope this help guides you to better results in your cannabis growing journey.

Happy growing!

Nebula Haze

Jump to…​

Diagnose My Sick Plants!

How To Get To Harvest As Fast As Possible

Where to Get Marijuana Seeds Online

The Perpetual Harvest

The post How to Flush a Sick Cannabis Plant appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.