Leaf Colour:
Edges Appear Brown or Burnt
Pale Colour Leaves
Yellow Leaves - Lower, older leaves
Yellowing Between Veins
Veins of Leaves Stay Green
Brown or Dark Spots
Mottling / Mosaic Pattern
Leaf Symptoms:
Lower Leaves / Older Growth Affected
Leaf Tips Appear Burnt
Leaf Tips Die
Yellowing Between Veins
Veins of Leaves Stay Green
Spots
Mottling / Mosaic
Old Leaves Dropping Off
Twisted Growth
Leaves Curl Under
Leaves Curl Upwards
Wilting / Drooping
Plant Symptoms:
Old Leaves Dropping Off
Twisted Growth
Leaves Curl Under
Leaves Curl Upwards
Plant Wilting / Drooping
Problem: A light green or yellow colouring will begin to show on the veins and edges of the lower & older leaves - this is one of the classic signs of cannabis magnesium deficiency.
Magnesium is a mobile nutrient, which means that the plant can move it from old leaves to new leaves. If you don't react to it promptly, a cannabis magnesium deficiency can spiral out of control and cause your plant to lose a lot of lower leaves quickly. The plant will pull magnesium out of older leaves and bring them to the newer leaves. That's why a magnesium deficiency usually appears towards the bottom of the plant and on older, less important leaves.
The edges of the leaves may become yellow or bright green and may start feeling crispy to the touch. This crispiness around the edges is different from nutrient burn, which does not lighten the margins inside the leaves.
Sometimes you will also get light brown spotting within the margins or along the edges if the problem continues to get worse, though this may be partially other deficiencies, which often happen alongside a magnesium deficiency.
Magnesium deficiencies are easy to prevent and fix once you know what to do. Read on below to learn how.
Solution For Magnesium Deficiency in Cannabis
Your cannabis plant may show signs of a magnesium deficiency if the pH at the roots is too low, especially in hydro. That is because when the pH of your root zone is not in the correct range, your cannabis cannot properly absorb magnesium through the roots.
Often with this deficiency, the magnesium is present, but the roots cannot absorb the magnesium properly due to an improper pH. Therefore it is very important to maintain the correct pH (and make sure the pH does not get too low / acidic) in order to avoid a magnesium deficiency.
Growers using Coco Coir or Reverse Osmosis (RO) water usually need to supplement their plants with extra Calcium & Magnesium in addition to regular nutrients. Treating coco coir with Cal-Mag and supplying extra throughout your grow is recommended for grower in coco coir, or those using RO water.
Adding more magnesium to a system when there is a pH lock-out will probably not help because the plant will not be able to absorb any magnesium until the pH has been corrected. If there's already enough magnesium, adding more can cause other apparent deficiencies by locking out other nutrients from the plant.
Please note: Once a Magnesium deficiency is cleared up, the problem (yellowing lower leaves) will stop spreading to other older leaves, usually within a few days. Please note that leaves which have been damaged by a magnesium deficiency will probably not recover or turn green, so you want to pay attention to other growth for signs of recovery.
In soil, magnesium is best absorbed by the roots in the 6.0 - 7.0 pH range (some growers say a 6.5 - 7.0 pH is best if you suspect a magnesium deficiency)
In hydro, magnesium is best absorbed by the roots in the 6.0 - 6.5 pH range (in hydro, it's generally recommended to keep the pH between 5.5 - 6.5, but magnesium specifically tends to be best absorbed above 6.0)
If you suspect your growing cannabis plant has a magnesium deficiency, flush your system with clean, pH'd water that contains a regular dose of cannabis-friendly nutrients that includes magnesium. This will remove any nutrient salts that may be affected the uptake of magnesium and help restore pH to the proper levels.
To supplement with extra Magnesium...
Calcium, magnesium, and iron deficiencies often appear together in cannabis. Many growers decide to purchase some sort of Calcium-Magnesium (often called Cal-Mag) supplement for their grow room in case one of these common deficiencies appear.
Listed below are common cannabis Calcium supplements, along below with some general information about each one. After supplementing with Cal-Mag and correcting the pH, you should expect to see new healthy growth within a week. Remember, the old leaves will probably not recover, but new growth should be green and healthy.
Cal-Mag is Well Suited For Hydro, Coco Coir, or Soil
Botanicare Cal-Mag Plus is a calcium, magnesium, and iron plant nutrient supplement. General application is to mix 1 tsp (5ml) of Cal-Mag into each gallon of water. I have used Cal-Mag Plus several times with great results.
Organic Dolomite Lime - For Soil Growers
If you're looking for a way to supplement magnesium in your organic or soil setup, I highly recommend a product called "Dolomite Lime."
Note: The finer the dolomite, the more quickly it will be available to nutrients
Dolomite is a good source of calcium and magnesium and can be mixed with your soil. The great thing about dolomite is it works slowly over the course of a few months.
Dolomite has a neutral pH of about 7.0 and will help buffer pH in soil so it's easier to maintain the correct neutral pH range which is optimum for cannabis growth, especially in acidic soils.
You can buy Dolomite Lime online, but with shipping it's almost always waaaay cheaper to pick up a bag at a home improvement or gardening store such as Lowes, Home Depot, gardening centres, etc. If possible, try to get a finer grade of dolomite compared to something that is more coarse.
How to Use Dolomite Lime for Cannabis: When growing cannabis indoors, add 6-7 teaspoons of fine dolomite lime to each gallon's worth of soil. So if you're mixing enough soil to fill a 5 gallon container, you want to add 30-35 teaspoons (about 2/3 cup) of dolomite lime to the mix. Mix the dolomite lime and the dry soil thoroughly, then lightly water it with water that has been pH'ed to 6.5. After getting the soil wet, mix the soil well and wait a day or two to let the soil settle before checking the pH and adding plants. When growing in an outdoor garden, follow the dolomite lime manufacturers instructions.
Hand-watered grow - Flush the system with properly pH'ed water that contains a full set of proper nutrients that are suitable for growing cannabis. Make sure you are using the right nutrients for the stage your plant is in. Check the pH of your run-off water to ensure that nothing in the growing medium is throwing off the root pH.
Hydro grow - Check the pH and PPM of your reservoir water to make sure that pH is on target and nutrient levels are not lower than expected. If you do this and are still not certain what is causing the magnesium deficiency, it is recommended that you drain your reservoir and refill with a newly mixed reservoir with fresh nutrients that has been pH'ed.
Should I add extra Magnesium? Some growers will add 1 tsp of Epsom salt/gallon of water and water plants with this mixture in response to a magnesium deficiency (since Epsom salt is primarily made of magnesium.)
As I mentioned, often a magnesium deficiency is actually caused by a mix of factors, such as pH being off. Even if the pH is on target, sometimes a magnesium deficiency appears when other important nutrients like iron or calcium are not present in the right quantities.
A great supplement that has all of 3 of these important nutrients is known as Cal-Mag, as this contains Magnesium and Calcium, as well as a trace amount of iron.
Adding extra magnesium is often not necessary if you are using tap water. However, you will likely want to supplement Cal-Mag if you are using filtered or reverse osmosis (RO) water, since most tap water already contains some amount of all 3 of these cannabis nutrients. Cal-Mag also has a small amount or iron, which is another trace cannabis nutrient that is often missing in filtered water.
How long until new growth looks better? If you fix the root of the problem, further yellowing and discolouration of the leaves should stop almost immediately. Some of the effected leaves may recover somewhat, but what's most important is to make sure the problem isn't continuing to spread to other leaves on the plant.
I generally don't remove any discoloured leaves until I know for sure that the problem is completely gone and is no longer spreading to new leaves (that way any possible further discolouration will happen to the leaves that have already been affected).
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