Problems with my plants, lightely colored

So i only have a few plants that look healthy, and im not sure what is going on with the others. I want to suspect either lack of potasium (K) or the ph level isnt right, but i use distilled water only. Im not sure what the problem is, so if any of you guys know what could be the problem, any advise is greatly appreciated. PLZ help my babies, there very sick.

Further info:
its day 25
were running 1 400w metal halide
Using Foxfarm "Ocean forest" organic poting soil.
we water every third day with distiled water.



EVERYBODY LOVES TO BLAZE

They look kinda wet... sure you're not overwatering?

is watering every 3rd day with distilled water watering too much? and we mist once in that time period. i dont know what is going on. anything else? if you look at the pictures the top leaves are ok, but the bottom/midle leaves are yellow of have brown spots.... plz help

are you adjusting you ph correctly?

It can be too much, it depends on how much you give them and whether they need it or not.

Basically the rule is you water them when they feel fairly dry (some stick their fingers down and inch or so, but you can tell by how heavy they feel too.)

I have heard that distilled water doesn't contain all the minerals that tap water does... I used to just let my tap water sit out over night and then use a PH adustment kit to correct it.

I belive you want a PH somewhere between 6 and 6.5... you can get a PH test kit (and the PH up and down concentrate) for your water at a hydro shop or perhaps a nursery.

Will set you you back $10-20.

They look wet to me tho.

i heard that that sometimes happens to the first leaves...

I would check to make sure you are giving the right PH. Also, search the net (or the FAQ on this site) for sick plant diagnosis pictures. To me, that looks like a PH problem. Have you been Phing your water? If not, that is certainly your problem and they will need to be flushed out WITH PH'ED WATER.

Wtf kinda tiny ass pots are those, the plants eating itself it needs room to grow

Let them dry out,never use only distilled water unless you have all the other relevant testing equipment for ph levels etc.
After they have dried out flush them through with 2 tabs of alka seltzer and try to give them more frequent but small waterings,what i call sips instead of soaking the medium.
I would say that you have drowned your plants and caused lockout with your distilled water,oxygen is very important

alright thanks, man. we did the alka-selser and flushed them out a lot, the plants are looking pretty droopy but i asume thats is just because the soil is saturated? i going to go buy an PH meter today, i should have one for the soil and the water? ...or are they one in the same?

growinweedWW said:

alright thanks, man. we did the alka-selser and flushed them out a lot, the plants are looking pretty droopy but i asume thats is just because the soil is saturated? i going to go buy an PH meter today, i should have one for the soil and the water? ...or are they one in the same?

Click to expand...

Soil and water Ph instruments are different. If you are using decent soil mix (FF Ocean Forest or Light Warrior?) then your soil Ph would have been fine at the start. Water is the kicker, and you need to be sure it is reasonably within a decent range of 6.2 to 6.8

You can buy a tester that uses a color chart for comparison, or you can spend (easily) $60 for a decent digital Ph meter. I started with the drops/colorchart method and switched to the digital after about 3 weeks as it was too much a pain-in-the-ass to do the color comparison thing.

IFD

ya i just bought a meter and hp isnt our problem im definatly ruling that out because the meter read between 6-6.8 for all 10 plants, healthy and not. so.... seens how we flushed it, i think that it is just over watering? because they are extremly droopy now, so im just going to let them dry out.

any other reasons as to why this could be happening?

does it really matter what size pot they are in at this stage? should we transplant them to bigger pots?

<here is what they look like now>
..

if u need more pictures to help let me know

thanks guys i appreciate it

growinweedWW said:

ya i just bought a meter and hp isnt our problem im definatly ruling that out because the meter read between 6-6.8 for all 10 plants, healthy and not. so.... seens how we flushed it, i think that it is just over watering? because they are extremly droopy now, so im just going to let them dry out.

any other reasons as to why this could be happening?

does it really matter what size pot they are in at this stage? should we transplant them to bigger pots?

<here is what they look like now>
..

if u need more pictures to help let me know

thanks guys i appreciate it

Click to expand...

I only flood my plants twice a week and thats only because my rooms quite hot and i have no ventilations and 2 tubes and a 400watt hps in a small area if i could keep them cooler i would only flood once a week,one flood is with the nutes and one with molasses all the other days once i can see they are dry i just give them sips of water and never spray them.

From your pics they look like they are getting better to me the pots seem fine for another 2 weeks if you want them short and fat anyway,if you want them taller then repot them to bigger pots.

I would say the main reason is that youve watered a bit to often with a fairly strong nute that was meant for an adult plant not for new plants.
Just let them dry out and feed them a bit more conservatively until they are bigger and theyll be fine

Id say a few issues for sure. The pots are way to small so your gonna get roots bound then you watre kinda often and they can uptake that and since they are root bound they cant take in nutes as they should sho you see the yellowing from nitrogen deficiency.Keep the water phed and use lower nutes after transpalnting even plain water for a week

Just for comparison.These plants are 15 days old in 3 gallon pots 14 days veg 1 day 12/12 water once a week no nutes in miracle grow under 1 400 watt light

FilthyFletch said:

Id say a few issues for sure. The pots are way to small so your gonna get roots bound then you watre kinda often and they can uptake that and since they are root bound they cant take in nutes as they should sho you see the yellowing from nitrogen deficiency.Keep the water phed and use lower nutes after transpalnting even plain water for a week

Click to expand...

anyway to prevent root bound, i am not using the biggest pot ever either

hey thanks guys, i have repoted and purchased a PH meter for the soil and water. i did not water them when i transplanted in hopes that the water will disapate. i think things are lookin on the up and up, ill will post pictures soon, with hopefully better results!!!!
Thanks again!

alright, so we have changed pots and flushed em out with water. and now we water less.

I have to change the location of the plants for a coupple of weeks. we will be putting the plants under a 430w HPS lamp, and there currently under a 400w Metal Halide. I was wondering if this will have any neggative effects on the plants?

Here are some update pictures, i think they're getting better.

Let us know what you think

EVERYBODY LOVES TO BLAZE

MH is better for vegging anyway.

could it have been calcium magnesium deficiency like mine? although mines hydro

1) Rootbound, 2) overwatering, 3) pH imbalance.

Primary problem is rootbound (pots too small for size of plants). Easy fix: get bigger pots.

Overwatering: wait for signs of wilting before watering the next couple times. Then try to time future watering just before the signs appear. Don't be afraid to let the roots dry out a little (weeds are adapted to handle dry spells).

pH imbalance: from now on use specifically "reverse osmosis filtered water" (right next to in the store but slightly different than plain distilled water, may have to read labels carefully). Also you can add 1/2 teaspoon of epsom salts to a squirt bottle and use that as a pH flush.

The new growth looks great so your genetics, light, temps, must all be great. Just fix these three problems, don't overfeed, and watch them take off!