plant diagnosis? new growth stunted and crinkly

[sinensis]

some plants in my garden don't look right. they're in pro-mix media in root pouches. this season has been kind of whack. lots of rain but also many oppressively hot days.
 
i've been fertilizing with megacrop (a soluble fert with complete nutrient profile i think).
 
on some of them, the new growth looks small/curly/crinkly/pointy. the main leaf vein on some of them is squiggly.
 
i've looked for pests on the bad looking plants and didn't see any. after working in the garden for a while though i've noticed an aphid on my fingers a couple of times. and i've seen a couple of brown marmorated stink bugs. aside from that idk about pests.
 
i'm not sure if all of these have the same issue or not.
 
here's my garden:
 
 

 
 
Garden Layout:
5 rows of 5 (25 total plants in grey root pouches):
 
back of garden
 
SB MOA | p. dreadie SB | chocolate SB | scotch brains [4] | fatalii [5]
 
west indres red | galapagos isabella hab | paper lantern hab [1] | habanada | biquinho [5]
 
bishop's crown [2] | sugar rush peach [2] | aji lemon drop [3] | aji fantasy yellow [1] | sri lanka kandy red
 
aleppo [1] | pasilla [1] | thunder mountain longhorn [1] | turkish cayenne | fish
 
aleppo [4] | pimiento cristal | numex 6-4 [1] | numex big jim | numex sandia
 
front of garden
 
 
next to affected plants, i have a number 1-5 in brackets indicating severity:
 
1 -- possible issue (maybe not)
2
3 -- has issue, moderately affected
4
5 -- obvious issue, strongly affected
 
 
 
the plants i've underlined in the above layout i share pics of here:
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
1)
aleppo [4]
(front left)
 

 

 
 
no clue what's up with the foliage
 
the other aleppo right behind it doesn't look like that.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
2)
aji lemon drop [3]
(center of garden)
 
 

 

 
the new leaves just look weird and crinkly. unless that's normal?
 
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
3)
scotch brains [4]
(back right)
 

 
see how the new growth at the top looks stunted and weird? here's a closeup:
 

 
it's only that topmost cluster though. here's new growth a bit lower down on the same plant:
 

 
 
what the hell is going on with this one, herbicide drift?
 
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
4)
biquinho [5]
(back right)
 

 

 
similar to the last one
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
5)
fatalii [5]
(back right)
 

 

 
similar to the last 2 plants. note that this and the last two are all right next to each other clustered at the back right corner of the garden. 
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
what do you guys think about any of these five plants? thanks!

 

[sirex]

I'm no expert by any means. But that looks like mites.

Maybe solid7 it one of the more knowledge guys could chime in.

 

[luvmesump3pp3rz]

you supply excellent photos so you should get some good answers quickly. i have never grown them so i can`t say if that is abnormal. the lower leaves and flowers/buds look healthy and normal. i`ll be following to see the outcome. good luck with these plants. 

 

[solid7]

Hmm...  something odd about this.  Now my plants aren't usually so green, because our weather and alkalinity don't favor the same growth habit.  BUT... I don't see any bronzing, or brown buds. Which is a telltale sign of broadmites.
.
Let's talk about your feeding schedule.  Nutrient profile, and frequency, please...
.
Fatalii[5] in particular shows me a history of early vigorous growth, followed by a gradual decline in vigor, then a subtle change in successive leaf shape, eventually arriving at those mangled gnarled terminal ends.  And, the old growth has started showing signs of deficiency.
.
I'll wait for you to come back with a reply, but I have a hunch.

 

[sinensis]

do you think it could be overfeeding?
 
last year, i fed with dyangro foliage-pro (9-3-6).
that product's feeding instructions are:
 

 
 
Maintenance: Mix ¼ – ½ tsp. per gallon of water with every watering.
Production: Mix 1 tsp. per gallon of water, once a week.
Monthly Feeding: Use 2 – 3 tsp. per gallon of water.
Siphon Mixer: (1:15 ratio) Mix 2 – 4 fl. oz. per gallon of water for a concentrate feed solution.
Foliar Application: Mix ¼ – ½ tsp. per gallon of water and spray directly of leaves.

 
since i ran out of that, i've been feeding with other ferts seemingly without issue until now.
i calculated concentration of the new fertilizers by normalizing with respect to nitrogen and making something equivalent to 2 tsp per gallon of dynagrow (the lower end of 'monthly feeding' dose). i fed them more or less monthly. sometimes more on the 'less' side when i got lazy/busy.
 
for example, with this megacrop stuff which i think is 9.7 - 5.5- 14, i did the following calculation:
 
(density of dynagrow) * (2 tsp/gal) * (%N of dynagrow) / (%N of new fertilizer) = 
(1240 g / 32 fl oz) * (2 tsp/gal) * (0.09 / 0.097) =
= 12 g/gal
 
https://www.google.com/search?q=(1240+g+%2F+32+fl+oz)+*+(2+tsp%2Fgal)+*+(0.09+%2F+0.097)
 
the density information was taken off of the dyangrow packaging (says volume and net weight on there).
 
i.e. 12g/gal of megacrop is equivalent to 2 tsp/gal of dynagrow in terms of nitrogen concentration.
 
however, it is clearly more rich in other macro nutrients. could that be it?
 
also, maybe a month ago, i fed once with some fertilizer from a big box store marketed for tomatoes. i then used up the remainder just the other day and no longer have the box. can't remember the name or the NPK, but i did the same method as above. so all the plants got at least one dose of that, and some of them got two doses.
 
yup, the fatalii had some leaf yellowing (the oldest set of large leaves.. the ones that look tattered), so i may have poured with a slightly heavier hand when i fed that one.

 

[sinensis]

now you've got me thinking.
that clustering (with respect to garden layout) effect could be related to feeding. maybe i fed a few in a row too heavily.
 
also, that crap from the the big box store contained some stuff that didn't dissolve well despite it saying it's soluble plant food.
i stirred a lot and waited (and tried stirring every few plants), but it was inevitable that some plants got more of that sediment than others. especially towards the end of each bucketfull.
 
that back right corner may have corresponded to the end of a bucket. who knows.

 

[solid7]

do you think it could be overfeeding?

 
Yes, I absolutely do.  In fact, if I were you, I'd do a deep watering, catch the runoff, and check the EC.

 

[sinensis]

interesting
 
well, if that's the case, it sounds easier to fix than mites, right?
just stop feeding them and maybe flush them out some?
 
which nutrient(s) present like that at toxic levels? i will try to take readings from the worst plants

 

[solid7]

interesting
 
well, if that's the case, it sounds easier to fix than mites, right?
just stop feeding them and maybe flush them out some?
 
which nutrient(s) present like that at toxic levels? i will try to take readings from the worst plants

 
Yes, that would be miles easier to fix than mites.  You'd definitely need to stop feeding them, and try to get a better feel for your chemistry before jumping back into the routine.  For outdoor containers in a more soil-like mix, you really don't need to feed so often.  Of course, we would want to establish first that this is actually the problem...
.
Which nutrients?  Dunno, mate.  You're asking the wrong guy to get specific with combinations.  I never memorized them, for the simple reason that most garden people don't know enough to properly diagnose a plant, to begin with.  You might think you have a deficiency of one thing or another, but find out that it's something completely different that's mimicking a deficiency or excess.  I believe in a more holistic approach to both growing, and problem solving, where one ensures that all of the starting parameters are closer to ideal, so that chasing one's tail after individual symptoms, never becomes necessary.  And I literally mean this: I threw away the deficiency chart years ago.  It's absolutely useless.  If you use a complete nutrient regimen, with a well built mix, you should never have an individual nutrient discrepancy.

 

[samdizshiz]

I don't know if this could be it at all I just was reading a book today and saw this and thought of this thread but as u said above if everything your feeding is balance there should be no deficiency

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