Help! Yellow Leaves! Noobie

Hows it goin?? I am a first time grower and am having some problems growing. I have 9 plants and using a 430W HPS. I started my trees from seeds and for the first three weeks they were growing like crazy .Over the last few weeks they have really slowed down, pretty much to a halt. The bottom leaves have turned yellow and many are developing brown spots and dieing. The top leaves arent dieing but seem very thin and lanky. The stems of the plant are also a redish/purple colour, but im not sure if that means anything or its just the strain.
I have done a little research and I initially thought it was a nitrogen deficiency, so i went out and bout a high nitrogen suppliment to help out. After I applied the suppliment it seemed to get worse. I originally started fertilizing when they were about 2.5 weeks old. The fertilizer that i am using does have any NPK numbers on it(it just says "advanced indoor nutrient"). I have fertilized them once a week. Right now i think it is an over-fertilize problem, but am not sure. There are a few pictures attached and any help would be appreciated. Thanks Alot!

pretty thick stems for those little pots. any chance theyre rootbound?

Their leaves are pretty droopy too...how often do you water? And I think its definitelly fert. problem! Sorry to say that but that was !!!SILLY!!! to use a fert with no NPK on it...its quiet important. Do you measure your ph?

Looks like nutrient lockout or deficiency of N and P.

I would say flush the soil and correct your pH problem and then foliar feed the plants a high N-P mix... Something like a 5-5-0.

Good luck!

BTW nice grow op setup!

Thanks Everyone for your response,
unforgiven1420- I never considered the plants being rootbound. Is there anyway to check this? i just transplanted into the current pots about 2 weeks ago
Nici - The reason they look kinda droopy is being for the last couple days i have held back on the watering thinking it was an over-watering problem. And your right, it was a pretty noob mistake using fertilizer not knowing the npk. I currently dont test Ph but i know its important. I have been trying to find a soil ph tester for the last week but i cant get it anywhere local.
DubB83- I would like to try flushing but the only water that i have available in big quantity is tap water. and the ph of tap water here is around 7. Is this safe to use without affecting the plants. Or should i go buy a 10gal culligan bottle and use that water for the flush.

Thanks for all your help!

if they were just transplanted 2 weeks ago i wouldn't think they'd be rootbound already. there definatly is a deficiency of some sort but its tough to say what it is because you don't really know what theyve been getting. i don't think a nitrogen deficiency would give you thinner growth on the top of the plant. the only deficiency ive know to produce the "little leaf" syndrome is a zinc deficiency. check it out in the growfaq under plant problems.

alexoos said:

Hows it goin?? I am a first time grower and am having some problems growing. I have 9 plants and using a 430W HPS. I started my trees from seeds and for the first three weeks they were growing like crazy .Over the last few weeks they have really slowed down, pretty much to a halt. The bottom leaves have turned yellow and many are developing brown spots and dieing. The top leaves arent dieing but seem very thin and lanky. The stems of the plant are also a redish/purple colour, but im not sure if that means anything or its just the strain.
I have done a little research and I initially thought it was a nitrogen deficiency, so i went out and bout a high nitrogen suppliment to help out. After I applied the suppliment it seemed to get worse. I originally started fertilizing when they were about 2.5 weeks old. The fertilizer that i am using does have any NPK numbers on it(it just says "advanced indoor nutrient"). I have fertilized them once a week. Right now i think it is an over-fertilize problem, but am not sure. There are a few pictures attached and any help would be appreciated. Thanks Alot!

Click to expand...

So if you tell us the brand name of the food and soil you are using , we can help you out better. Also what are the ingrediants and % on the label for this food? Just from looking at your pics and what you have described here, I'd say your plants are eating bloom or flower food which is too low in nitrogen and too high in p and k for vegging plants. I can see both on your plants. Uniform yellowing (lacking N) and blotches of over fert. Do you know what the ph is?

Attached is a picture of the nutrients i am using. It doesnt have any NPK numbers on it unfortunately. When i went to the local grow shop and told the guy my symptoms he gave me a suppliment called "Growth Plus Organic" (0.5-4-5). The soil i am useing is from Home depot and had everything premixed. It had perlite and vermiculite and was reccomended for growing in ph of between 5.5-7. I dont have the name right now but I have to get a little bit more so in a few days i can let you know. I dont have a PH meter either (like i said in the thread title kinda noob - this is my first attempt at growing) but i am on the way to the store to get one after I finish this post and will report back the PH later this evening.

Looks like a nute lock up. What is your soil's ph?

The fert that guy gave you has virtually no nitrogen indicated by the 0.5. The soil you used sounds like a Pro Mix type, mostly all sphagnum moss (peat moss) Do not overwater, as this can make this mix turn acidic. I put a dish under my buckets and water from the bottom, allowing about 5 minutes to absorb the water, then wait til the pots feel light and dry before rewatering. My plants actually droop way down before I water. Only fertilize every third watering and with a 30-10-10 or 30-15-15 like Peters Fertilizer. Not organic, but it works. Plants get rootbound in containers within a week if healthy and won't cause your problem, in my opinion. Pro Mix type mixes should only be used for starting babies and clones, then use some highly organic TRUE soil mix. Add 25% worm castings if you can't get the right soil. Peat moss type soiless mixes get acidic(low PH) after time even when you don't overwater, so they are Not the best choice for long term growth. BUY A GROWING BOOK for best mixes, to prevent all this conflicting advice from NON EXPERTS

Also ph meters you can find at any department store like home depot or walmart, and you can use household items like lemon juice to lower your ph so there's no excuse for a ph problem.

I just got back from the store and picked up a PH meter. The PH of all pots is roughly 7.2. Is this too high or would this cause any of the problems that i am having. I also picked up some iguana juice grow to help out with the nitrogen levels but I am not sure if its a good idea to use it at this stage.

7.2 is too high

Read this thread about sick plant diagnosis and treatment:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=11688

So what do I do to bring it down???

PH is too high. Use fertilizer to bring the ph down:

http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~blpprt/lowerpH.html

i am ging to say that your problem is root rot they look overwatered to me when you transplant look at the roots if there brown thats a big part of your problem with the ph around 6.5 you'll do better to, you have to use 2 inchs of perlite in the bottom of your pot. i recommend starting in 1 gallon then transplant to 2 or 3 gallon growbags just cut the old one off no shock and you can carry hundreds in the house with out raising any eyebrows. i must say the best thing u can do is buy seemorebuds he has 3 dvds and i think all of them are great, almost tripled my yield best 100 bucks i've spent

I watched the Jorge Cervantes DVD, it was ok but not the greatest. At the moment im working my way through his growers bible. Ill check out the movies you recomended and hopefully it is better then the J.C. movie. Thanks for the info

SeeMore has some good stuff

So i watched Vol 1 and 2. The big thing i learned from this is buy a hydroponic system lol

what you need to do is flush the soil, PER PLANT FLUSH IT WITH TWO-THREE TIMES THE AMOUNT OF 6.5 PH WATER, so if you have 3 gallon pots of soil flush with 6-9 gallons of water.


FLushing is simply pouring water through and letting it come out the bottom until all the water you are flushing with is used

after you are done flushing let the soil dry out, depending upon how compact your soil is it should take 1-4 days. My soil drys quick so it takes me one day.

next water your plants with a better nute solutions, i would recommend foxfarm, but whatever you have make sure its for VEG. Buy a small thing of SUPERTHRIVE. use 1/4 tsp/gal (1ml/gal) and water with that real good ONE TIME PER PLANT, then back off that and water with regular 6.5 water for the rest of the week, then feed again with nutes starting week two, but this time you should not need super thrive. REMEMBER TO GO EASY INSTEAD OF TOO MUCH

Superthrive helps with shock, it also buffers the ph. I used superthrive when my water wat 4.5 and 10ml of superthrive broght 12 gallons of water up to 6.0 ph

let me know if you are confused