What's wrong here?

[ThurgoodJ]

Hey guys got something going on with some of my plants and I have no idea what's causing it. I'll try and cover most of the variables and hopefully get some advice on how to fix it.

Area : 4x4x7 Sunhut XL Grow Tent.
Light : 1000w HPS AC Hood, +/- 500cfm exhaust w/ passive intake vents. Exhausts out of tent and into the attic. (Ballast is switchable but I don't quite have the money for a MH bulb, so just vegging under HPS for now.
Temps : 77-79 F w/ 40-50% RH
Nutrients : General Organics
Medium : BCuzz Hyrdromix HP (70% Sphagnum Peat/ 30% Perlite) ("Contains dolomite lime & gypsum as PH adjusters")
Containers : 1 Gal. Grow Bags (Transplanted from Solo Cups a week ago)
Strain & Age : 9 out of 10 are Nirvana Bubbleicious from seed, and the other 1 is Dinafem Royal Haze. They're all about 5 weeks old from sprout.

I'm not very experienced but I've had about 4-5 successful small grows, using the tap water here. My specific company is small and only covers a few neighborhoods here, and they provide "RO Filteration" before it arrives here. It comes out at about 150 ppm, and I just aerate with an airstone for 24+ hours before using, to get rid of chlorine, and keep it oxygenated. Been watering about once a week, with just straight water, PH adjusted to 6.0. They've looked good up until last week, after I fed for the first time.

Used everything recommended in the GO Line at half strength (About 5ml per gallon) last week. (4th week from sprout) PH of tap water comes out around 8.2, after mixing everything, it was at 6.3, so I didn't adjust, fed as is. Runoff was coming out at 5.3-5.4.

Throughout the week some of them seemed to droop, and new growth was really light, so I was thinking it might be an N def.

After about a week (yesterday), I mixed a full strength solution, after all was mixed, PH was @ 6.0-6.1. So again, I didn't adjust, fed as is. Runoff was coming out at 5.1-5.2.

The low PH is really bothering me here, but friends that have used GO in the past, say that's normal, and it's not a truly accurate reading of my medium's PH. The problem here seems to me like overwatering or PH problems though. From what I've read and been told about my mix...it'd be really hard to overwater since its so airy and pourous, and I've been waiting a good 6-7 days between waters, making sure the weight is where it should be etc.

Edit : Forgot, I topped all of these about a week and a half ago too.

 

[S.V.T.]

Hey man, they look healthy but over watered to me. are you letting the pots completely dry out?

 

[ThurgoodJ]

I'm going by the weight more than anything, like I have in the past. But no, the entire pot isn't bone dry. I wait until they're lightweight, and the top 3-4 inches of medium is completely dry. At this stage of growth, about every 6-7 days. The way this mix was advertised, it made it seem like it was almost impossible to overwater. Although I didn't use all the filler and other stuff most people include in their mixes (EWC, Vermiculite, etc. etc...it's just Peat and Perlite from what I understand, with a tad of lime and gypsum.) Here's a couple more pics that I tried to get closer in on...

Maybe these grow bags suck, and I'm not getting the drainage I should be...or something along those lines...I dunno.

 

[IVIars]

I believe the gypsum will buffer your ph to a more acidic reading. I use it to lower the ph in the soil for my blueberrys. It could be why it is coming out so low.

Supplement the GO line with Earth Juice Microblast. The GO lacks micro nutes.

How much CalMag did you use? Some people will say that the last pics look like TMV (Tobaccoo Mosaic Virus) BUT, I have not heard of one person getting a positive result for TMV with tissue tests.

 

[roger v]

I would switch to 3 gal containers probley 5 gal

 

[ThurgoodJ]

I believe the gypsum will buffer your ph to a more acidic reading. I use it to lower the ph in the soil for my blueberrys. It could be why it is coming out so low.

Supplement the GO line with Earth Juice Microblast. The GO lacks micro nutes.

How much CalMag did you use? Some people will say that the last pics look like TMV (Tobaccoo Mosaic Virus) BUT, I have not heard of one person getting a positive result for TMV with tissue tests.

Yea, I'm not really sure what to think about the PH because everyone locally that I've talked to about the GO Line says not to worry about the runoff, and that the line supposedly buffers itself to where it needs to be.

I'm low on cash, and the next purchase has to be a PPM Meter, so as far as using that specific nutrient for micros, not real sure I can do it atm. I do have a full quart of GH Micro though...not too worried about using a little synthetic, as I'll give them a good flush at the end either way.

I used 5ml/gallon CalMag the first feed last week, and when I fed the other day I used 10ml/gallon.

Never heard of TMV but I do smoke cigarettes...never in or around the growroom though, and I make sure to clean myself and wash my hands thoroughly before entering. A friend of mine took a look at the plants tonight and claims my problem is a Calcium deficiency but I dunno. The tap water alone has 150ppm in Cal, plus the CalMag...

As far as transplanting up, I already have 3 gallon smart pots that I planned on stepping up to next week.

 

[dannyboy602]

I see the ph police have been here. Hahaha....they're everywhere. Like a virus.....I would like to comment on your soil mix. Peat is sterile when you get it. It's dehydrated and you mix it like you did with perlite (a volcanic rock that is super heated and pops like pop corn.) But you didn't use anything else? No organic soil amendments? Like hydrated manure or leaf compost? So your soil mix is sterile if you only used a peat/lite mix. I use peat/lite as a base, mix in composted manure, worm castings, blood and bone meal, dolomite lime and Epsom salts. Nice and rich.