Newbie Problem - Need Help Diagnosis

Here are the details: Plants are just over two weeks old under a 400W HPS light that is about 18-20" from the top of the plants. Temp stays around 72-28 and humidity for first two weeks was around 28% but after purchasing humidifier it has been at around 45-50%. Until last night I had been Ph'ing my nutrient solution to about 6.5-6.8, but I read here that it should be around 5.5-6.0 for hydro so I changed last night. Using Triflex Grow, Base & Bloom. First two weeks used what was recommended on the bottle for seedlings but after seeing symptoms I flushed and used water (still ph at around 6.5) for about three days (until last night). Last night used half strength recommended nutrients and ph'd my water to 5.4 and will let it drift up to around 6.0 before adjusting or changing nutrients. CO2 regulator was busted upon receiving it so I am still waiting for the replacement.

Here are the symptoms:

4 Skunk x NL & 1 Big Bud, symptoms pretty much only appearing on the Skunk x NL:

• Fan leaves started to curl and twist a little bit as well as seeming to droop and slightly curl downward at the tips. No discoloration noticed.
• One fan leave actually tore and is currenty dying but the rest of the plant is still green.
• Leaves curling up around the edges and still kind of twisting - hard to describe
• A couple of small brown spots on the top of a couple of leaves on a few plants

2 week old Skunk x NL - Leaf edges curling up, one torn fan leaf (lower left covered mostly by tubing)


Another shot of a different 2 week old Skunk x NL with leaf edges curling upward.


2 week old Skunk x NL with small brown spots on leaves in addition to leaf edges curling upward.


Another shot of a 2 week old Skunk x NL with a few small brown spots on the leaves and leaves edges curling upward.


2 week old Big Bud in same conditions seems to be doing just fine.


My thoughts at first was that I used too much nutrients at first after reading that many people use no nutrients at all for the first few weeks. Then after reading that hydro PH should be lower I am thinking that it could be the opposite and was nutrient lockout due to the PH. Does anyone know what is going on with these plants? There were also some fluctuations in heat because my furnace has been on the fritz so in the beginning the room fluctuated between 65 and about 85. I am pretty sure it is not overwatering because of the Rockwool medium which is supposed to retain 18% oxygen at all times. Did I do the right thing by cutting nutrient solution to half the recommended level and adjusting my PH down to 5.4%? Please help!! It will be greatly appreciated.

looking good.. your plants look fine. you seem to be doing just fine.
welcome to the site. nice fat and stocky plants.

Hey thanks! The Big Bud is really taking off but the Skunk x NL must be a little more finicky or something. I've still got some concerns about one of the Skunk x NL ones, some small yellow spotting on one fan leaf and another has little browish/silverish?? spots on it. I'll try to get a some good pics. I hope everything is OK...

Thanks again

Adjust the nutes for sure... yellow spotting can mean over or under feeding so keep that in mind.

those babies are kinda young still start by feeing 1/4 strength then bump it up 1/4 a week till full strength. but ya like hillbilly said could be over/under feeding. try just water for a couple days and see how the new growth looks. other than that your setup sounds fine, looking good.

Ok, replaced reservoir with only water and adjusted down to 5.4 pH. I'll keep an eye on the new growth. Thanks for the advice guys.

Big Bud is still doing great and the two sprouts are doing well so far. The others (Skunk x NL) are still looking like there is a problem. There are small yellow spots with brown rings around them on two of the fan leaves on one plant. This is the same plant where there were smaller yellow spots before, they have just grown a little bigger, gotten the brown circles around them, and there is more. Those plants also seem to be growing very slowly and seem wilted and droopy. New growth is still occurring, nice and green but tips on the new leaves are curling down quite a bit. Most leaves edges are curling up. All of the plants are still pretty short, stems only about 3-4 inches but are bushy. The Big Bud has sprouted branches from all the nodes and has like 5 or 6 sets of full leaves from the top, it's crazy that they are just growing all bushy like that and not growing up more. Makes me think the Big Buds are going to be awesome. The others are the same way but since they are all droopy they look quite a bit smaller. They also only have like 2 or 3 sets of full leaves but are showing new sprouts on the nodes. I just wish I knew what was going on with those plants. Since I just replaced my reservoir with 5.4 pH water a couple one day ago I think I should continue flushing with water for at least a full week before I start messing with things again. The yellow spots really sound like K deficiency or something and the droopiness/wilting sounds like overwatering but I'm pretty sure that's impossible with Rockwool. Just don't know what to do, I want my babies to be healthy and look healthy. Bummer.

When I started my DWC, I used 1/16 nutes in the res. Went up to 1/8 after 3 weeks and waited until they looked hungry to up it to 1/4. The leafs that were damaged will not get better. Always go by how the new growth looks. The twisting and curling of the leafs is from the high PH and they will straighten out after awhile.

Hey Papajock, thanks a ton! That is all really good info. Any idea what would be causing the droopiness of the plants and brown spots? Is that related to the high pH too? I like your idea of taking it really slow on the nutes. I just got some new stuff from Advanced Nutrients, Sensi Grow & Bloom with voodoo juice, carbo load & big bud. I'm wondering if anyone else has any experience with the Advanced Nutrients lines. I believe they were specifically created for some of the grow programs in Canada and I'm wondering if that menas I can actually follow the labels more closely. In any case, this has been a huge learning experience. Next time I will start with just water and then slowly work up the nutes making sure to keep good notes so I can adjust the next time until I get it right. The Advanced Nutrients products look pretty promising, I think I will start at about 1/4 strength because I am already in week four. That should give me a pretty good indication of what to start out with next time. Anyhow, I'd love to hear some feedback/advice on the Advanced Nutrients products I am using if anyone has tried them.

Thanks again to everyone for helping me out, I have learned a lot so far already.

Earth Juice is incredibly effective nutes, a favorite among hydro growers. I am a soil grower. I overfertilized on my first crop. I used A soil compost with an artificial slow release, cow manure, ground kelp, and the diluted urine of yours truly, using gypsum to adjust for pH. Urine should be diluted to one cup- one gallon water. It's an excellent source of immediately available nitrogen, but don't make it too strong. Anyways, let me tell you that you did overfertilize. I saw the exact same symptoms. In fact, I killed my first crop. I cut the fertilizer in half and my next crop did very well.

Hey kief, thanks for the extra info. I agree and think that I did over fertilize at first in addition to having the pH too high but after having flushed for about a week and with the plants getting bigger I am fairly certain that they are all suffering from symptoms of lack of N-P-K now. Lower leaves are starting to fade and turn either light green or yellowish. Necrotic spots starting to appear on the lower leaves starting in-between the veins. Some stems are red/reddish brown while others are healthy and green. Stems are all very stocky though, so that is good. I'm almost 100% positive that these plants are starving for nutes now so instead of the 1/4 solution I was planning on I used 1/2 of the advanced nutrients reccommended levels for 600ppm (so does that mean my solution should be at 300ppm? I don't get that stuff just yet). After flushing with correct pH water for a week 3 of the skunk x nl plants have started to perk up a bit and one is still pretty droopy but is slightly better. Some of the wilting and twisting of the leaves has gone away also, but new growth looks much better. It was only in the last day or two before I added nutes to my solution that I noticed the symptoms of the nutrient deficiency. I am tempted to add more since they looked so starved but I will give it a week before upping them again to 3/4 the strength. I'm getting close to the point where I want to flower them too so I will be switching to my bloom soup soon. Live and learn, my next batch should go much better thanks to all the advice I have gotten here.

Thanks again!