Odd plant growth and color

[Evanguy]

hi, ive been growing outdoors for about 15 years now, but only indoors 3 other times. this is the first time i have seen this going on with my plants.

they are all in the exact same dirt, plated at the same time, the same light on them all. rotated every 2 days to make sure the stay straight and get light to all sides if them, they are under a 400w MH right now, once they get some more leaves ill be putting them under a 1000w MH and 400 hps for veg and then for flowering 1000w hps and 400w hps and 400 MH giving about 10,500 lumins per sqft for budding

so of the four plants two are growing just fine and one is almost white and the other has deformed leaves
the white one was that color since the first set of leaves it always looked the same as it does now, its not light bleaching.
the deformed one has odd shaped leaves from the very beginning, it always looked the same

The light is on 16 hours off for 8.

they are all blueberry seeds from cropking seeds same package only 4 grew.
im using tap water from a well, untreated as it comes. i have a lot of gypsum in the ground here and known for hard water.

this is the first time using this soil mix, but the plants were grown to 2 sets of real leaves in a potting soil mix made for cuttings and seedlings, so they had these issues before going into the new soil mix..

the mix of soil is
20L coco coir
20L Perlite
20L worm castings
15L peatmoss
15L potting soil
10L Vermiculite
1/2 cup -Blood meal
1 tbs Epsom salts

so im wondering why is one plant white, one plant deformed and 2 just fine

ill post pics in a minute

 

[NamTran]

I'm not an expert when it comes to nutrient but you could refer to this chart to somehow diagnose the issue.

May I ask if you have a soil ph for your medium?

Also, I found out that under the same growing condition, each plant behaves differently. Some plants still thrive (temporarily). Nevertheless the issue should be fixed asap else it WILL cause trouble later on.

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi Evanguy, welcome to the forum!
I believe the problem on all of your plants is related to pH. Typically well water, especially hard water, is way out of the usable range to grow container plants and has to be adjust to the 6.3-6.8 range. I have no explanation as to why one plant is white and the others are showing other problems other than individual plants can be as different as children in a human family and some are going to be more sensitive than others. I will note that NONE of your plants look fine... just two of them are not in as bad of shape as the others. I don't think there is anything fundamentally wrong with your soil mix, and I think that if you get that pH in check, you will find much happier plants as a result.
And, since I know you are thinking it... when you used this same water to water outside plants in the ground, the soil out there buffered your hard water for you... in container grows, it is much more critical to be in the proper range.

 

[Evanguy]

Thanks for the pic. And i do not have the PH yet ive been meaning to get a tester. Also i plan to switch to RO water aswell once get my small system setup

Emily, thanks for the reply. Ill get the PH sorted out asap and get off the well water.

Also i clipped the top of the plants off last week so the tops kind of look deformed aswell. But its just the new little branches starting growing

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Water and light are the two most important aspects of growing

Both can kill or make a grow fantastic

Get the pH pen ASAP before yer babies die

 

[Evanguy]

well seems I'm lucky these plants even started growing, i only have the crappy pool 6 in 1 test strips
they are all i could find locally and they give me a rough idea

my new plan is to just use rain water, we already collect it in 50 gallon barrels to give to our sheep and other animals so ill just use that to water my plants from now on and thinking back that is what i used in all my out door grows as well, not sure why i gapped out on that.

so i tested my water then also test a bottle of "spring water" that was a local grocery stores brand

my well water
PH-8.4
total hardness- 450
ALK- off the chart 240++

the "spring water"
PH- 7.2
total hardness- 100
ALK- 80

ill test the soil next, i have a soil test kit but i need to add water to it, im assuming it should be distilled water?
then with the water and soil numbers figured out i can get the PH in order

Thanks guys!!

 

[Emilya Green]

Trying to adjust your soil pH after the mix is not something for the amateur gardener. Just looking at your ingredients, I can tell you that your soil mix is going to be somewhere in the upper 7's, which is exactly where it needs to be. You don't need to be doing anything else to adjust it, that was the purpose of the dolomite that you added to the mix, to offset the acidic peat moss and to provide a strong upward drift.
So, to use this soil correctly, just make sure that every fluid that you apply to it is adjusted to 6.3 pH. That is all you have to do. There is nothing else to get in order. If you water at the correct pH every time, the soil will do what it has to do. Doing the slurry test with distilled water will give you an idea what the base pH of your soil mix is, but now that it is mixed up, there is nothing you can do to change it, other than flushing out the dolomite... and that would be silly.
Regarding your water... that well water in a container grow would be death... outside in the ground it will work fine. Rain water is fine, but it still needs to be pH adjusted before use in a container grow with synthetic nutes.

 

[Evanguy]

Thank you very much for the reply, most helpful as I've noticed you seem to always be. im just going to do what you say and follow the steps below,

for nutes i was planing on using an organic mix, i forget the company name now but Ive used them in the past and really like them, they are in 1 liter bottles and have a psychedelic look to the bottle with just "nitrogen 10-0-0" "potassium 0-0-10" "phosphorus 0-10-0" on the front of the bottle they also have a trace elements as well

i cant find it online with out more info or time, but i buy them at sweet leaf in Halifax

Trying to adjust your soil pH after the mix is not something for the amateur gardener.

soil mix is going to be somewhere in the upper 7's, which is exactly where it needs to be.

to use this soil correctly, just make sure that every fluid that you apply to it is adjusted to 6.3 pH.

That is all you have to do. There is nothing else to get in order. If you water at the correct pH every time, the soil will do what it has to do.

now that it is mixed up, there is nothing you can do to change it,

that well water in a container grow would be death... outside in the ground it will work fine.

Rain water is fine, but it still needs to be pH adjusted before use in a container grow with synthetic nutes.