Hi,
I’m on my first ever grow. I have 4 plants (2 x Divine Truffle, 2 x Sugar Show) in a 4x4 tent using 5 gallon DWC buckets… currently in week 4 of flower.
Over the last couple weeks, I’ve noticed these spots have appeared on both old and new growth in the 2 x Divine Truffle plants. Other than the spots, the plants appear healthy. They are drinking 1 gallon+ of water per day.
2 weeks ago, I mixed up 650ppm nutrients and noticed the EC was dropping (after a few days it was down to 300ppm), so last week I mixed up 800ppm nutrients. Since introducing the higher EC 1.5 weeks ago, pH (5.8) and EC (800ppm) have remained stable.
Doing a quick google search brought up some similar ‘yellow speckled leaves’ that were attributed to pests. I have done a thorough inspection, and found no critters… so the yellow spots must be caused by something else.
Could this be just normal leaf coloration?
Should I make an adjustment to my nutrients?
I’m using the General Hydroponics trio (grow, micro, bloom) + hydroguard, calmag, and liquid koolbloom.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
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I would get a jeweler’s loop and start checking the underside of the leaves.
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Have you checked with a scope for pests or just naked eye? Those kinda spots look like mites to me
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I’m thinking as you: spider mites … 
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Could you gently cut a couple of those leaves and take close-up photos of the undersides? Is there anything that looks like spider webbing on these plants?
The reason is that there is a possibility of spider mites which is a common pest. They are very small and difficult to discern with the naked eye. They may appears as specks like dust or dirt particles. You may see remnants of molting along with patches of webbing. This would be the first diagnostic.
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This looks like spider mites. They like dry conditions, and hide on the underside of leaves and crevices between stems and foliage, or congregate in cracks on main stem when conditions aren’t dry enough, almost invisible to a good naked eye.
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What’s more concerning are the smaller white specks, which could be eggs or mites.
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SM is the logical first thought, but look at those leaves…thinking leaves that corrupted with spider mites would show some evidence both top and bottom. That leaf looks clear of any pest evidence but for those yellow dots…no webs, no shed exoskeletons.
Occams razor says SM, still strange.
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FWIW, those look more like aphids (and bunch of other things) to me. Skin crawling seeing that.
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I know a good spidermite Hoedown when i see one and those little bastards have turned those leaves into a huge dance hall.When they get like that I usually cull and sanitize and start over from scratch.Sucks but those little fuckers are like the borg from star trek they will assimilate and fuckup anything they touch.Soaking the whole plant with a syran wrapped pot upside down in a bucket of water is your best bet to get all bugs and eggs.Eggs are what you git to worry about those are what gets everybody other than reintroducing new infected plants.dont ever bring something outside thats been out there awhile inside does it everytime thier like little asshole hitchhiker’s
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Please show us some magnified photos of those smaller white specks all over the leaves.
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I’ve lost entire crops to SM back in the day, I see those little dots in my sleep.
Beneficial bugs are the answer, started the Californicus mites 6/1 this year in the greenhouse. There will be SM present, never in great numbers and there will always be a predator bug around when you find some SM. Used them in the raised beds too, Trichogramma and lace wing larvae kept the lettuce and greens clear of pillars, tomatoes too. I have become a believer…
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Sorry to see you struggle my friend… we’ll get you on the right track. I’m having a hard time with the massive PPM drop In such a short period of time. I would definitely call it into question Your pH and PPM. What pH meter are you using? Have you had it calibrated recently? PPM pens can be an issue aswell but generally are more consistent and accurate less of a problem. Let’s see what you got on a few things list below please follow up w
Water temp in resivor?
Ph pen manufacturer and maintenance program you follow?
Ppm meter what manufacturer and maintenance program you follow ?
Nutrients mixing order can cause issues if mixed in the wrong succession or without mixing in between. Please list your mixing routine ?
If I understood correctly, these things have been slowly coming on, but no evidence of pest, etc. would suggest nutrient Issues. Some of the questions above could help us figure out If there’s any issues In your program.
Water temp in resivor? 70 degrees F
Ph pen manufacturer and maintenance program you follow? Blulab pH pen… only had it a month so haven’t recalibrated yet. Keep it stored in KCl electrode storage solution.
Ppm meter what manufacturer and maintenance program you follow ? Bluelab EC meter… same as above.
Nutrients mixing order can cause issues if mixed in the wrong succession or without mixing in between. Please list your mixing routine ? I mix in a 20 gal trash can with an aquarium circulation pump running the whole time to keep the RO water swirliing. Hydroguard > Floragrow > FloraMicro > FloraBloom > KoolBloom > CalMag > pH adjust if needed (hasn’t been needed last few weeks)
I’ll post some magnified pics later.
Would it not be odd for spider mites or aphids to only affect 2 of the 4 plants in the tent?
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Great. All diagnoses will be mere guesses without first analyzing the leaf under close magnification. Nutrient issues don’t leave white egg sac looking things, should those be what they are.
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Do a very through pest investigation. Cut off a leave take to a light zoom in with your phone maybe able to see evidence of pest. If none are found then nutrient issues.
I believe it’s your mixing Nutrients in the wrong order, possibly causing them to Clete. This is only if pest are not found. But this does sound like an issue in the mix order you suggested. Try this order in the future to avoid This problem as it will definitely cause issues.
1- cal mag
2 -micro
3- grow
4-flower
5- koolbloom
6-ph up or down not bolth. One or the other only per batch. Never add pH up and later on pH down into the same batch or vice versa. If you’re adding pH down, the only thing you can add in that batch is pH down and until you change the reservoir. Never add up and down to the same batch.
7-hydroguard make sure you add top off to res every 3 days to freshen up the good bacteria. 2 mil. Per gallon. 70 degrees is high keep your hydroguard bacteria count up.
Blue lab is definitely top quality stuff. That’s what I use. On the back of the pH pen is the instructions for calibration. There’s a sticker on the back. It’s a very quick process tells you how to do it quickly. You will need a 4.0 solution and a 7.0 solution To perform your calibration correctly. Just follow the sticker on the back of the pen. You can definitely get out of calibration in 30 days. We suggest weekly calibration if not every three days. Top quality stuff take good care of it my friend it will last.
When using RO water especially but this is true for any tap or RO water. Always add Calmag first. Primary reason to avoid clete in Nutrients. The other reason is the Calmag bonds to the RO water. Thus giving the other nutrients a chain to bond onto. When this is done in the wrong order, it cancels out the nutrients or clete the nutrients. You can see different effects across the board as all nutrients are being deficient or locked out.
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Hopefully this is the problem! I’ve been adding CalMag at the end.
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