I grow in a mix of recycled soil, amended after each grow with KIS Organics Nutrient Pack. Water only from veg through flower. I’ve had great success with this for a while now and it’s perfect for my lazy approach. I don’t test for pH. I just leave tap water out to de-chlorinate for a couple days before using.
Every once and a while I run into this banding issue during veg. It seems to start on the middle older fan leaves. New growth usually looks good. And it seems to grow out of it as the fans get older. Almost like the dark green vein parts slowly take over the whole leaf.
I never gave it much attention because the plants always seem healthy and vigorous, and it’s usually only a couple plants. This newest grow seems to be affecting almost all of them. You can see lots of leaves in various stages of transition. In another week or two there might not be much banding left, and the leaves will be considerably darker.
I’ve heard that if the soil mix is too rich for young plants they can react this way. I’d love to hear what others think. I’m thinking maybe that and maybe light intensity is too strong. I also am concerned that I added too much dolomite lime in the last mix, if that’s a concern.
Thanks for any ideas. FYI pictured here are 3 50State Orange Goji, 4 Eskobar Chocolate Rain, and 5 Death Stomper (Death Star x Grape Stomper OG). The Death Stompers have the condition the worst.
If it is something that goes away as the plant gets bigger, it may be the light is too bright for the younger plants. What type of lighting are you using and how far away?
agreed with the others … except no burned tips yet. Hmm.
raising the light is easy & reversible but I’d transplant just one into something else & see what happens.
toughy for sure. iron deficiency seems uncommon.
a lab test would probably reveal it & keep you from chasing your tail.
I think that’s exactly it. I just tested my tap and it was 8.5! And then my RO water was at 9.0 which just seems wrong. I guess after years of ignoring it I’ll finally have to pay a little attention to ph.
It also makes sense to me that they grow out of it as the soil acidification takes place later in the game. This is peat based soil.
The light is an HLG-260 in a 2x4, well suited me thinks. But I dialed it down a bit to be sure.
Thank you guys for lending your expertise! I’ll update this thread with my findings.
RO maintenance or replacement time & maybe look into a cheap spin-on filter or similar. Maybe pre-filter before the RO treatment? Quick-fix is using pH down and/or a kitchen type water filter pitcher.
I wish I had some experience to base it on but @Meesh seems satisfied with her people… ‘Aglabs Intl’ I think? Miss?
My RO system is in pretty good shape. I’m thinking because I have one those advanced stage filters that adds minerals back in, which likely adds more alkalinity to an already high ph tap. But we use that to drink, not for the plants.
I’m going to get some ph down and see if a few waterings at 6.5 will help. I always thought checking ph was for the hydro crowd.
From what I hear a lot of states have local ag depts that charge less for soil tests, but you don’t get the recommendations and ag labs partners with the High Brix guys who will gladly calculate and mix the particular amendments you need for your soil. Personally, I buy my amendments from them because it’s much easier than buying 10 different minerals some of which will need trace amounts and you’ll end up for example with an entire box of borax or gypsum that will sit in your garage and waste away for years. I amend my entire backyard every year through them and find the amendment guy super knowledgeable and the prices reasonable.
So of course my ph pen was out of calibration. I calibrated it yesterday and now my tap is reading a much more normal 7.2.
I also don’t think it’s an iron deficiency because that picture says it develops on the opposite end of the leaf tips and this is exactly opposite. New growth looks good coming out and then slowly gets the banding starting from the leaf tip.
It’s crazy but instead of of yellowing in between the veins, it’s like the veins get darker then the surrounding areas, and then the darkness spreads. It will be much clearer to see in a couple days but the leaves eventually even out at a much darker green.
I’m seeing the same thing on some Azaleas I recently transplanted & hose-watered(7.2) & am unsure if it’s just rapid growth & they’ll “fill in” over the next couple weeks so I’ll be dosing with some acid & veg feed & see if I’m waaay off.
In this case I think the tap-water & new soil mix has a higher pH but don’t feel like testing large landscaping containers’ runoff. Could spend all day…F-that!
At this point I’m not too concerned, just wonder what and why it’s happening. Plants are growing nicely despite it.
I hope these pics can explain the process. This is all on one plant no more than a foot tall. The symptoms usually clear up once the plant gets large enough to start preflowering.
Here you can see the middle fan leaves have about 50% banding. The newest sets above these have no banding.
I’m almost wondering if it could be a magnesium overdose. I add dolomite lime but this round had pelletized. I went on a long vacation and all these young plants were heavily watered.
I’m very familiar with the magnesium deficiency because I used to grow with ocean forest and it lacks mag. I’ve been adding to my mixes ever since and plants do much better in late flower now. But these plants don’t have any burn…yet.
Here’s my next cray-person theory. This is a brand new tent. It had a pretty strong odor when I put it up but didn’t think much of it and put the new plants right in. Any experience with off-gasing causing issues in plant growth? Seems far fetched.
but I’d transplant just one into something else & see what happens.
Could spend all day…F-that! 
