spraying fert water on the leaves. it helps with def but can burn your plants if you do it with lights on. do it right before lights out. as for zinc? galvanized nails have zinc. maybe shake them in distilled water. or soak em. then spray yo plants. but get your ph, with a digi meter, which will run you bout 75 bucks, but is a must in dwc and any hydro. ( sorry for the comma splices, sooo muuuch haaash) get it stable at 5.6-5.8. i wouldnt doubt it if your ph was like 6.2 or something. that liquid ph test is only good for pools to see if they need buffer or acid to keep it neutral. if you do this, it will make your grow go along with so much more ease. make sure you have all of your minerals you need covered. esp cal mag.