Orange spots and cupping under LED 1st grow

I am asking in this post about the 3 feminized Indica-dominant seedlings and their issue(s).
Apologies for all the details, im still working on getting a grow log up.

SYMPTOMS:
Orange and pale yellowish spots, and cupping.

My setup:

2x4x8 tent
FFOF cut with perlite, about 6 to 1, soil to perl
300w LED Mars Hydro SP3000. 21-31 inches above canopy, at about 60% power; 24/0 in veg.
6” AC inf. duct fan (exhaust) w/ carbon filter
8” passive intake, filtered
6-inch oscillating fan [above canopy while they’re small; will add fan below later]

4 total plants (for now):
3x fem’d indica dom. from Twenty20: Avenue of the Giants [labeled “A”, “B”, and “E”]
1 mystery bagseed (Sativa dom hybrid?) [labeled “D”]

pics follow Below...
if interested, here are details:

(The bagseed seedling is doing very badly and may be pulled anyway. Ignore it.)

Watering was inconsistent the first week or so; OVERWATERING may be an issue early.
They got from 15 to 30 ml of water each of the first 5 days (from sprout); then up to 60 to 90 ml, until out of solo cups, every other day;
then gradually up from 120 ml (1/2 cup) to 500 ml in 1-gal fabric pot, at around 2 weeks; and now just every 3rd day.

Watering with tap water that has evaporated for 2+ days. Starts out with a pH of 7 to 7.1, and TDS around 100.
I pH‘d it down to 6.4 for the first 8 or 9 days until advised i didn’t need to with FFOF. So no pHing this past week. Also, I used vinegar to ph down for 4 or 5 waterings before being advised not to make a habit of it.

Light distance and intensity also varied in first 2 weeks. Suspect possible LIGHT BURN;
Maybe more likely, High temps could have caused HEAT STRESS: Temperature and Relative Humidity slid out of optimal VPD range: Temps hit 87 in the tent one day for a few hours (while RH ), and subsequently showed more extreme yellow/orange spotting and cupping.
Maybe 24 hours of this light is too much for them?

Up-potted early: From solo cups with seed mix, to one-gallon fabric pots with FFOF, at just 6 days old. Suspect NUTE BURN could be affecting the fem’d indicas particularly. It could possibly account for all these issues. It could be what stunted the bagseed’s growth too, I guess.

Possible deficiencies suspected in the bagseed (or maybe a lockout?), which my totally untrained eye believes to be a sativa-dominant hybrid (the seed was 3 times the size of the little indica seeds, the sprout shot out of the ground fast and tall--before practically shutting down completely], and its responses to conditions and watering seem to be opposite those of its fem’d indy sisters).

And my biggest worry now is that they may have a fungus like rust or something sketchy like that.

I am a first-timer, so i’m sure i’m making lots of mistakes. I think over-watering and up-potting early and into hot soil may be my most obvious mistakes. At 13 days old I forgot to refill the humidifier and RH dipped below 40% briefly. At 16 days old I messed up the heater cycle and it hit 87 degrees (F) for probably a few hours. Folks suggested LEDs can require slightly higher temps--into the low to mid 80s many say--but I think this light--at least at this stage of growth, and with this strain, prefers high 70s maybe to 80-81?

I’ve been reading a lot, maybe too much, and I made the mistake of not choosing a strict course from the start and sticking to it. I let too many contradictory theories/styles confuse me.
I have been trying to resist feeding to treat these early problems, but I did break down and add CalMag a couple waterings in the second week, and after 2 weeks, top dressed with some Kelp meal. The suspected sativa bagseed seedling also got half a tablespoon of Crab meal mixed into its topdress--I didn’t want to add any Nitrogen to the 3 girls since I suspected nute burn from the early transplant into “hot” FF Ocean Forest soil. They all had some Earthworm castings and myco mixed into the soil too.

I am not experienced enough (at all) to diagnose issues I see. 2 of the 4 plants showed some stretching which leads me to think they want the light intensity turned up or the distance shortened; but 2 other plants show signs that I could interpret as Heat/light stress. Of course both could be true, or neither.

I suspect Heat/Light stress AND nute burn from the early FFOF transplant.
I would appreciate any kind suggestions, advice, questions or encouragement.
thanks everyone, stay healthy and free.

Pics
A50E8ACB-C27E-45B3-A314-DA48A5C75A96.jpeg
28FD01BA-012C-45E8-A2C1-D5BAF5702F08.jpeg20726D9A-8B16-41E7-A2B0-B741DB96FE49.jpegDBC13DF5-B795-4067-AB7F-C5A2A5D69D02.jpeg2235532D-A9D0-425A-B379-900EB0620657.jpeg
 
Last edited:

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
When you rub the spots between thumb and finger does anything come off? If not suspect calcium deficiency. Probably close to deficient in magnesium as well.
 
Thank you very much!
Nothing came off when I rubbed the spots between thumb and finger. Do you think starting liquid nutes, or maybe just some CalMag?
I really appreciate your help.
 

Rdubz

Well-Known Member
When you rub the spots between thumb and finger does anything come off? If not suspect calcium deficiency. Probably close to deficient in magnesium as well.
Do u think it's a possible PH issue being off and locking out calcium witch goes hand in hand with mg? They do have a nice color green so just wondering your thoughts.
 
I have earth juice Grow, Bloom, and Xatalyst.
haven’t given any yet. Just gave CalMag a couple times.
And the kelp meal, but now i guess i’ll stick with liquids to keep it simple for now.
thanks again. Love the WCF quote
 
Spots are more pronounced now too. Those pics are yesterday.
they are on opposite leaves like symetrical, otherwise i might suspect i splashed watering them.
 

Panaelous

Well-Known Member
I have earth juice Grow, Bloom, and Xatalyst.
haven’t given any yet. Just gave CalMag a couple times.
And the kelp meal, but now i guess i’ll stick with liquids to keep it simple for now.
thanks again. Love the WCF quote
Do you were starving them start giving them a normal feed cycle unless there in super soil and ph is debatable for some reason but I’d watch it
 
Do you were starving them start giving them a normal feed cycle unless there in super soil and ph is debatable for some reason but I’d watch it
Wow, thank you. Several people told me this soil should carry them thru at least the first 3 weeks.
i was afraid of cooking them.
 

Panaelous

Well-Known Member
Do u think it's a possible PH issue being off and locking out calcium witch goes hand in hand with mg? They do have a nice color green so just wondering your thoughts.
And like mentioned here safe to flush first if you have been not feeding alot but feeding one thing randomly that only supplies certain things prob Hungry just feed a line if you get worse or new deficiencies flush but they probably need food but if you haven’t been measuring ph it’s possible you have created a lockout nectar of the gods has a nice flush I like it makes sense in these situations because it’s not lacking food which is good if we are wondering if it’s hungry or not but it also removes any build up and extra bs I like to use the Herculean Harvest which is calcium and Aphrodite which feeds root and soil with Demeter for magnesium and hygia its a wetting agent
 

Rdubz

Well-Known Member
And like mentioned here safe to flush first if you have been not feeding slot but feeding one thing randommy that only supplies certain things prob Hungry just feed a line if you get worse or new deficiencies flush but they probably need food but if you haven’t been measuring ph it’s possible you have created a lockout nectar kf the gods has a nice flush I like it makes sense in these situations because it’s not lacking food which is good if we are wondering if it’s hungry or not but it also removes any build up and extra bs I like to use the herc which is calcium and Aphrodite feeds root and soil along with Demeter for magnesium and hygia its a wetting agent
Makes sense thanks I was asking because OP mentioned he was PH down for 6 or so feeds and then stopped was just wondering if it could of been some kind of contributor...
 

Panaelous

Well-Known Member
Spots are more pronounced now too. Those pics are yesterday.
they are on opposite leaves like symetrical, otherwise i might suspect i splashed watering them.
That’s possible to young plants can get ugly there are a lot of things working against them but once toy get them going BOOM you get better over time but stuff happens
 

Panaelous

Well-Known Member
And like mentioned here safe to flush first if you have been not feeding alot but feeding one thing randomly that only supplies certain things prob Hungry just feed a line if you get worse or new deficiencies flush but they probably need food but if you haven’t been measuring ph it’s possible you have created a lockout nectar of the gods has a nice flush I like it makes sense in these situations because it’s not lacking food which is good if we are wondering if it’s hungry or not but it also removes any build up and extra bs I like to use the Herculean Harvest which is calcium and Aphrodite which feeds root and soil with Demeter for magnesium and hygia its a wetting agent
Wow, thank you. Several people told me this soil should carry them thru at least the first 3 weeks.
i was afraid of cooking them.
 
UPDATE:
(I am not tech-savy so please bear with my slow learning...)
Just a quick update:
First thank you to everyone who commented. All of your input proved valuable.

The advice to start feeding at about 2.5 weeks was right. They improved quickly.
I had dialed the light up too fast, neglected to pH several waterings, and didn't feed them in the first 2 weeks.
I believe the pH swings made them more vulnerable to the bright LEDs and lack of nutes early.
I ran into a little nute burn, but otherwise veg went well.
I want to add pics, but I can't access them right now... But here is one from just after 4 weeks old (about 2 weeks ago)..
32daysold.jpg
Thanks again hotrodharley, Rdubz, and Panaelous!
 
Top