Continuous spotting on new growth - what gives?

[Neophyte]

As my first grow, I threw some bag seed in an Aerogarden and sat back to see what it could do; after killing five seedlings, I have two growing - though one much faster than the other.

Strain - Bag seed
No. of Plants - 2
Grow Type - Hydro
Grow Stage - Veg
Setup - AeroGarden
Light - 200 Watt CFL
Nutrients - Dyna-Grow
Medium - Rapid Rooters
PH - 6
Room Temperature -75 to 80
Water Temperature - 73 - 78

My question is about spotting and cutting the spotted leaves -
First, I thought I diagnosed the spots as a calcium deficiency, and bought some GH CALiMAGic (the guy at the store suggested it over cal-mag?) with a pH meter to adjust to the 6.0 range. I've also since been changing ice packs out in the reservoir every couple hours to keep the temperature down - however, I'm still seeing spots in the tips of new growth:

First - any ideas of what my problem could be?
Second - should I be cutting these spotted leaves?

I can see reasons to let the leaves naturally fall off and never cut them, as well as the reasons to clear the dead foliage - without being able to find a clear answer on any forum, my curiosity led me to experiment on the little plant that's barely growing anyway.

It looked like this:

Now this:

But as you can see, there are still new spots forming on the tips of the longer leaves.
Should I be cutting just those tips off, or cut those whole stems, too since it will likely spread?

Once I get a handle on this and know what I'm doing, I can tell I will probably be one of the people who doesn't cut at all, however, I'm wondering if cutting is the only way to combat whatever is going on here? (I can also tell I will never use this AeroGarden again - thankfully it was borrowed!)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[budstud]

Re: Continuous spotting on new growth... what gives??

You have a rather serious Ca deficit, you need to check the ph of the root-zone, it's too low if I'm correct. Damage will not disappear and don't cut stems or leaks off. You can add Ca in chelated form if you correct the root-zone ph, that's the fastest way to correction.

 

[Neophyte]

Hm, exactly what I would have thought as well - I keep the pH level around 6, but I guess according to the charts I'm reading, Ca is absorbed slightly lower?

Stupid question, but should I be adding the Ca to the reservoir daily then?
Thanks for the reply!

 

[budstud]

Have you been using Cal-Mag? If no, you should. And, if your root-zone is not too low, you've not been giving her the proper nutrients.

 

[Neophyte]

Yes, CALi-MAGic from General Hydroponics, which I was told was equivalent.

I have been flushing the reservoir weekly, and topping it off every couple days from a gallon jug pre-mixed accordingly with Dyna-Grow and Cal-mag for a gallon. I'm thinking you're right, and my feeding schedule must be off. I will try to do more research on feeding for hydro grows...

 

[CronicHempHog]

does the manufacturer of the nutrient product your using have a feed chart to follow?
some of them are pretty good some are off and need some adjusting on the fly

 

[Neophyte]

The Dyna-Gro just says 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. per gallon - I worked my way up, and even added cal-mag at the first signs of spotting - but then after getting claw leaves, I knew I finally got frustrated enough and overdid it!

So yesterday I flushed the whole system, added 1/3 tsp dyna-gro + 1 tsp cal-mag. pH is right at 6.
From what I understand, I should only be replenishing the nutrients that the plants drank during the week (topping off with the leftover pre-mixed nutrients that I filled the reservoir with) and completely flushing the reservoir every week with a fresh solution?

Pretty sure I got claw leaves right after I tried to up that feeding schedule...

 

[Neophyte]

Update:

A. The smaller plant had mold on the stem, got rid of it.
B. I did find a Dyna-Gro Feeding Chart.
C. After the Calcium deficiency on the bottom leaves, I immediately got brown tips and eventually edges:

I think I was now burning the plant, so I have now flushed the entire reservoir and it has been drinking straight water for 24 hours. I woke up to these interesting things:

But overall the plant looks happier, I think -
This is a photo of the drain (24 hours ago)

And this is right now:

Still have a little burning on the tips of new growth...

I guess I will start at half-strength with the Dyna-Gro again today, and hopefully get it flowering soon; it's already a foot tall, however, after all the problems I've had, I thought it may be wise to let it recover in veg for a few more days. Please correct me if I'm wrong...

 

[CronicHempHog]

I don't worry about tip burns like the one in your last pic too much
just don't push it past that