I'm in desperate need of advice for my sick plants! Please help! - First Time Grow

This is my first grow so I am very new to dealing with deficiencies and need help pinpointing exactly what's wrong with my plants and how to fix them. My plants are 4-5 weeks into vegetative growth. They have been planted in FoxFarm soil. After posting this I will try to upload some good pictures of my plants.

Several things are wrong. First, the fan leaves are all dark, brittle to the touch, and wilting with the leaf tips/edges curling down. I think that this is traced back to the soil being over watered so I am going to try to hold back on how much I water them and let the soil dry out to see if that improves.

The bigger problem, and the one that I really need help diagnosing is the yellowing/rust colored splotches on my plants. It starts from the bottom, attacking and killing the lowest leaves first. I think that the sickness is starting from the leaf edges and moving inward. First rust colored spots all around the edges followed by yellow/gray spots that consume the whole leaf and take it down. I've also noticed a slight redish/purplish color on the stems of the sick leaves.

I have a few ideas of different deficiencies it may be, but I just don't know. I've tried my best to research it on my own but I really need help from somebody who knows what they are doing and can tell me how to fix this. I don't want to lose my girls. ):

What are your temps? have you been feeding them anything? What type of Fox farm are you using?

The air temp stays around 65-75, and the humidity between 60 and 70%. I used the turquoise FoxFarm "Ocean Forest" potting soil. It says that it's made from premium select earthworm castings and bat guano. I have also been fertilizing the plants with Fox Farm Grow Big liquid plant food. It has a 6-4-4 ratio.

lay off the nutes man, an abundance of N from the nutrients is fucking with what the soil is already amended with (ewc, guano) and possibly locking out other nutes (hence multiple def symptoms). The fourth week (from what I've read) is when you begin adding minute amounts of veg nutes to Ocean forest soil. Maybe give it a good leaching when the soil dries out but without pics I can't tell if the problem is detrimental to the survival of your plant.... Overwatering and lockout will give you some headaches on your first grow, good luck man.

Im going to guess its nutrient burn, but you need to show some pics and also how much of the nutrients youve been adding and for how long

The fourth week of vegetative growth specifically or just the fourth week of life?

And I'll have pics loaded in just a minute.

well thats not good but thats far from really bad. lay off the nutes and watch her closely. good luck

i would get that plant into a bigger container with more soil without nutes. then water it just enough to dampen the new soil. feel how heavy the pot is and dont water again until the pot dries and feels much lighter.

i like to wait until the soil dries some before transplanting, but i think if that was my plant i would tranplant now and the new soil will help wick some of the damp soil away that you have now.

From the first week of veg until now I've been feeding them 2 tsp with Fox Farm "Grow Big" fert every other day (in accordance withwd the package). After letting the soil dry and flushing, should I decrease the amount of fertilizer or keep the same amount and feed them less frequently?

well ya what smoke said prolly use a lil more room and i dont think your drainage is that great, might be wrong and your humidity 2 high keep under 50 if can.

smoke and coke said:

i would get that plant into a bigger container with more soil without nutes. then water it just enough to dampen the new soil. feel how heavy the pot is and dont water again until the pot dries and feels much lighter.

i like to wait until the soil dries some before transplanting, but i think if that was my plant i would tranplant now and the new soil will help wick some of the damp soil away that you have now.

Click to expand...

So is it safe to transplant while they're this sick? Also, should we consider other brands of soil for this transplant? If so, what do you recommend?

i always use a soiless mix like pro-mix or sunshine mix. comes in a 3.8 cubic foot bale.

alot of your problem may just be over watering. how often do you water?

i have never used the ocean forest soil but i use fox farm nutes. the soiless mix doesnt really have any nutes in but i dont have to feed the plant for at least 2 weeks into veg. but i may start them early with a very weak dose to get them used to the nutes.

its ok to transplant now but, the soil could fall apart where as if it was drier, the roots would hold it all together better.

whats your humidity level? how long do you think it will take to dry out? you could wait a couple days before transplanting.

here is the fox farm feeding schedule. and your only suppose to feed them every other watering. so water with plain water, let dry, then feed with small doses and work your way up. there is a newer feeding schedule with other supplements but imo i dont think you need that one yet.

http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/SoilSystems_FF_Feed.pdf

i dont think the ocean forest has much for nutes in it. so use that when you tranplant. the plant look nice and green so it shouldnt need a feeding for a couple of waterings. if the plant has a big root sytem in that container, it shouldnt take long for it to dry out.

When I replant tomorrow should I try introducing a soiless mix or should I just continue with the FoxFarm but cut back how much water/fertilizer I use.

Also, I have been feeding the plants with 2 TSP of FoxFarm Grow Big every other day mixed with a gallon of water, and giving them just water on the other days.

...so I guess I'm the only one thinking thats magnesium deficiency? hmmm