One of the most lethal and most common problems growers encounter when starting to grow weed is definitely nutrient lockout. There is nothing worse than having spent so much time and energy on growing your favourite strain just to wake up the next day to find that all the leaves have started to turn yellow, you may find them burnt up or curling. There are ways to treat and prevent Nutrient Lockout, as with everything, prevention is always better than cure.
So, What Is Nutrient Lockout?
Nutrient Lockout occurs because the Nutrients are not arriving at the plant in order to be able to sustain it with everything she needs. It is literally like the Nutrients are being locked out of the plant. This normally occurs because one has used too many nutrients, over time this would react negatively with the plant, the growing medium and the atmosphere and the build-up of salts would start. This build-up of salts would be what is blocking the nutrients from accessing your plant.
Nutrient Lockout & PH
The importance of PH can never be over-stated when growing, this is what determines the difference between harvests, yields, good and bad quality plants. The optimal PH range for cannabis would be anywhere between 5.8-6.3. Nutrient Lockout may easily occur when the ph Levels are out of this particular range.
What Are The Sign & Symptoms Of Nutrient Lockout?
The leaves will start turning yellow, curl up, may even experience some leaf burn, you will see the leaves on your plants become essentially lifeless
Essentially all the signs of Nutrient Lockout are just the same as when the plant is not getting enough nutrients.
This would happen because, even though you would be providing them with an ample amount of nutrients, they are unable to absorb them so they would appear to be starving.
How To Fix Nutrient Lockout
The best method to treat nutrient lockout would be to flush your plants. The most common method used by growers is to use plain water however this may at times not be the optimal option. Starving your plant in order to flush out the excess salts may be too stressful for the plant hence resulting in lower-quality harvests and less yield.
There are many nutrients which have been produced specifically for this reason. They are only for the flushing stage and will help flush any excess salts while still providing some nutrients which are able to go directly to the plant.
