Need diagnosis after putting 3 seedlings in FFOF

[COgrow]

Precursor info:
First grow, keeping it simple. Got a xmas present consisting of half my grow. This is my first post here, but I've been lurking around for quite a while reading, reading, reading. I've searched the web and this place seems to be the best as far as good advice, nice people, and speedy responses. Hopefully I provide everything you need (besides great pictures).

I started them in water on 1/22, papertowel the next day, and put them in soil on 1/25.
6 Bonkers x Purple Wreck from Fractal Genetics freebie from friend for xmas. 1 never surfaced, and one surfaced but died probably due to roots being saturated from the bad medium. One never sprouted a root in the paper towel, so i threw it in a jiffy pellet and it sprouted under the dome. More about it's problem later.

Medium: Ocean forest. Three were transplanted 2 days ago to 3gal mixed with 20 percent perlite. 4th plant is in 1gal. For the first week the seedlings were in a crappy potting soil that didn't drain and was just overall too compact.

400w hps at about 20" above the plants 18/6. It's about 24" from the youngest seedling as it's in a smaller (shorter pot)
4'x4' tent
day temps are 75-77F. 77 at the top of the plants, 75 in the room
night temps are 65-67
RH - when plants are dry, 20%. after I water it gets up to 30%
plain tap water left out for a day to three days, never foliar fed. only thing foliar is a spider mite spray consisting of rosemary oil. Only fed during night hours, top and bottoms. It is the SRS 217 spray. Used it after seeing the small bugs on the leaves.

I have 4 plants, and when I went to transplant them to put them in a better medium (FFOF) I didn't have very good luck.

The first one lost 1/4 of it's roots because the heavy compact soil. This plant is taking to the medium better than the others, although it hasn't had explosive growth since (due to the roots i presume). But still some.

The next plant is the plant that I put in the jiffy pellet and under the dome. The dome was taken off a few days later when it outgrew it. Ever since I put it in the FFOF (I left the pellet and just opened it up a little before I put it in the new pot) it has exploded in growth. It is on the first set of leaves after the cotyledon and the leaves are yellowing consistently from the tip to about 3/4 of the way towards the base. Am I correct in thinking this is some sort of lockout/deficiency that I need to work on? Get a pH meter, check the water and the runoff, etc? Do I need to go as far as getting a TDS/EC meter for my water since I'm using tap and letting it sit?
picture of plant 2: ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

The last two plants are the same age as the first plant I mentioned that lost roots, except these two were just 'tickled' a little on the outside until the soil crumbled too much. One lost a root or two before I just placed it in the FFOF as is. The last one lost no roots but retained a little more of the original crappy medium. They have both developed the leaves after the cotyledon and are on the next set which looks to be the first 5 bladed leaf (I can see the newest growth on the inside separating into more leaves). Correct me if I'm worng.

One is twisting and cupping on the oldest set of leaves, while the newer set looks fine. Am I right that this one is fine, just recovering from overwatering? Possibly a pH problem again?
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting


This one has a weird yellow spot/line. It seems to occur on a vein running from the middle of the leaf to the outside and is mirrored in the same spot on the opposite side of the same leaf. I can see it seems to be forming a hole through the leaf. It might be hard to see. I can't get my iphone to get a good focus on it. It is on the main leaf in focus right about in the center of the plant. Doesnt look as bad in picture, but it's browning around it as well. It is predominately on the upper half of the leaf. More yellowing appears to be coming throughout this leaf only. On the tips. Also, Very Minor twisting is occuring on the set of leaves older than these.
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting
Am I correct in thinking these probelms are pH related as well? I've ruled out heat, constantly got it probed. 400cfm fan exhausting outside and a 65 cfm fan for intake from outside. Not too cold, their night is my day, stays about 65 in there.

Should I just wait it out as FFOF can be pretty hot, especially for younger plants?
Thanks for the help and let me know if I can try better pictures or give more info.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Welcome to

The forums has its own gallery section, top left land corner of web page which you can down load pic's etc - very easy to use... than these external sites etc

Keeping a journal is very good & often people give plenty of advice throught out the entire grow

I think we all got our prefered methods for propagation, i've found best success ratio with seeds is 24c to 27c temperature wise with a high humidity 70% to 90%. I keep mine in total darkness intill first leafs show then straight under the lights to prevent stretch.

I like CFL's 6400k (blue spectrum) for seedlings 'n' vegging phase

You may find that the 400w HPS may cause some stretch due the colour spectrum it gives off tho...


I took a gander at the seedlings & all appear fine, their is some minor yellowing but i don't think its any real problem just yet it could well be that FFOF is a tad to hot for ya lil plants - you can flush the FFOF soil with plenty of water to help reduce the heat of it.

You might find starting them of in a milder soil to be more benificial & then transplant into FFOF a few weeks later.

As for root damage thats just fine, infact i would encourage some damage whilst transplanting as it makes for better root development - A happy plant has a good root system

 

[Twinkie]

Well I can tell you have done a lot if reading. You have put im the time doing research and now you are putting that knowledge to work. One thing it seems you are a little impatient with things. With growing weed time heals most any problem if you can figure out whats weong. My first drow was a lot like yours i used ffof 400 wathps light etc... Your night temps are a little low for their taste remember grows best around equator. Your humidity is deffnately low you need to get it up. are you watering while the lights are on if so stop and start watering when you turn them off I will leave that one for the experts. It can burn your plant. I see you are using tap watewr and letting it sit to get rid of the chlorine. But there is a substance they are now putting in tap water chlormide i think its called. but it will not evaporate. At this time there is no way to get rid of it that i know of. That is a lot going on and I will leave the experts answer the rest

 

[COgrow]

Thanks for all of the help, guys. You're very right that I'm a little impatient. After reading the top 5 mistakes new growers make I saw something along the lines of "don't wait when somethings wrong, listen to your plants. if you see the leaves sagging a little one day, don'twait until the next day for it to get worse, correct it"

Anyway, I just don't want to lose my time on these. I'd like to have at least my first harvest before it gets too warm here. Can anyone else put in some input on my night temperatures? I was thinking they were supposed to be closer to the 60's, or about a 10 degree difference. I can keep the temperature at night up to the same as the days, just need to change the window vent a little.

I gave them quite a bit of water after putting them into the FFOF, not all of them drained through the bottom as i didn't want to soak the bottom soil before the roots even reached it, but when can I safely flush without overwatering? Before I flush I know I'm going to wait until they dry out, but won't flushing cause another bout of overwatering? I kind of think one is overwatered because it's first leaves after the cotyledons are twisting a little and it was droopy. But alls well, the main concern was the plant with the yellow/burn thing going through the leaf. Hopefully it corrects itself.

 

[COgrow]

Yeah, I'm just impatient. I will let them go.

Can anyone give me an answer on the night temps? I thought 65 was ideal? 73 tent temperature during the day and 78 at the canopy.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Well lets chip in another 2 cents worths of info...

BTW its always worth while doing your own research to double check such information gathered from questionable source's and you will find some very questionable source's - commen sense will previal tho.

Hopefully

Well a 10 degree change between day & night temperatures is suitable for a lot of plants, i prefer talking in celsius tho & heres a calculater to work it all out on - Fahrenheit to Celsius Converter

Lets ramble on about the strains of MJ in a nut shell.

Sativa - will put up with higher temps as they came from around the equator,
Indica - will put up with cooler climates tho.

So in theory this should suggest what you should grow with in your own regional climate & seasonal changes for optimal harvest plus human interaction with indoor climate etc.

I would settle for more a rule of the thumb situation.


Now ya got the whim whams about over watering, ye over a prolonged period of more than few weeks, will effect your plants...

Short term hardly noticeable effects.

 

[COgrow]

Very well, thanks for the responses. I'm doing a hybrid, so I'll keep em where it's at.

 

[COgrow]

Why, on the plant with the two yellow areas on the leaf veins, is there now a hole? It's about the size of a pin being pushed through it. Otherwise, everything else is okay.