Noob needs help.

Hey All. This might be a bit of a long post but I thought I would share all the details.
To start, this is my first grow (obviously) and I am really struggling on what to do, if anything.
My situation: I have been disabled since 2010 and was prescribed Cannabis in 2016 after not
having much success with traditional medications. Being disabled, you can only imagine that I am
financially challenged as well. Most of my medication has been paid for by family and friends as it is rather
a big expense, especially buying from LP's. I decide to grow my own medication so that I wouldn't be so dependent on others for my meds. Most of my growing setup was donated or purchased by others to get me started. You can therefore see how important it is for me to make this a success, but I am struggling to figure out whats wrong so I am turning here for help. This is my second post, with more details, on this problem.
In week 4 of my grow the lower leaves of all the plants started to yellow, I am now just finishing week 6 and the plants continue to yellow.
Here are the details.:
Strain is Northernberry, by Peak Seeds. The seeds are regulars, so I am growing 5 plants right now in order to get 2 or 3 females out of the lot. My tent is 3x3 but only 5 feet tall, so I need to keep the plants short, but can let them spread out a little. I intend to scrog net them before flower.
My grow medium is soil and I am using Promix HP with some earthworm castings mixed in. Seedlings where started in grow cubes and then transplanted into 6" pots after 10 days under CFL lighting. Seedlings seem to do very well and grew well into week 4 when they started to yellow.
I know this sounds weird but I started out watering them with a mix of 75% distilled water and 25% tap water. The reason for this was that the calcium in the water where I live is very high, as well as other minerals and I didn't want this to effect the plants. My mixing of the water was not super accurate, I used a large measuring cup and just metered out the amounts. I have since switched to strictly tap water, ph'd to 6-6.5 going in and the run off is measured at 6.. I wasn't ph'ing the water at first but am checking ph in and ph out now.
I am using the General Organics "GO" box for nutrients. The plants have had 1 dose of 1/2 strength nutes in week 5. Perhaps 1/2 strength was too much, I'm not sure, but it didn't help with the yellowing.
I was watering the plants about every 3 or 4 days, depending on how the soil looked, but have since slowed the watering after some posts about over watering. The plants where watered a little bit yesterday, but where not watered for 6 days before that. I wanted to make sure the pots where dried out completly. They where light as air before watering them yesterday. I used tap water that was ph'd to 6 and the tiny bit of run off I got measured at PH 6.
So today, the plants look worse than ever. The yellowing of the leaves continues. I am desperate for help, I don't want to lose these plants, but I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

They look underwatered and hungry

Wow man ... I dunno.
Are they still under the CFL's?
I wanna say they're starving based on your feeding sched.
In 5 weeks you've given them 1/2 strength feeding once?
I don't use ProMix but I dont think any bagged soil charge can go that long.
I agree though, they look sickly.

Ol’ @leather lungs and I are in agreement.
Pro mix has no nutes in it. Some castings is not enough. You’re ph’ing your water going in, I wouldn’t bother checking the ph out. Let’s simplify. Check the feeding chart and give them a full feed. Alternate feedings with plain water.
I can’t tell if your pots are plastic or clay. Don’t use clay.
I think watering is one of the hardest things to get comfortable with. You can’t just look at the soil top and know. You need to pick up the pots and tell by weight. Let them completely dry out and then water/feed them with 10% run off. Don’t let them sit in water. Tip out the runoff. Cannabis doesn’t like wet feet.
In your picture the yellowing from the bottom up is nute deficiency. The drooping of the leaves is lack of moisture. Lift your pots.

The bag of promix you are using does not contain any food in it, and you should also know, it's not 'soil', it is comprised entirely of sphagnum peat moss and should be considered soiless. Make sure when you do water with nutes, that you keep the ph in the low 6's! 5.8-6.3 is ideal. For the sake of knowing, how much calcium is in your tap water, you say too much, how do you know? Are you still using just cfl's as the main light? How many watts total for the 3x3 space? If you have only fed the plants one time with the GO line, then that is telling as well, the plants are starving, and in your case, they cant eat if there is no food and not enough water. The pots seem overly dry, and seeing your gauge showing 31% humidity, that's too low during veg..should be above 50% ideally. First thing to do is get on a regular watering cycle. In proper conditions, with average lighting and temps, those size plants in those containers should get about 2.5 litres say every 4th day. Dont water little bits at a time, keep it regular, always water to full saturation and dont wait until the pots are light as air! If its dry about an inch or so down from the top, it's time to water. If they are hungry, and you give just plain water, it will keep diluting and leeching out whatever little bit of food may be present and its why they look worse after the watering. Up the feed gradually, and develop a better watering habit...try raising your humidity as well..if its that dry..the plant will be forced to take up more water, and the water is void of food, so she will keep starving and stressing.

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. I will try and answer a couple questions, and give more info.
Ok, the plants are under an LED light. It is the Unit Farm 120 and I have it set on the VEG side of the light.
The light is about 20" from the plant. I have 2 fans blowing across the tops of the plants and am exhausting the
air through a 4" fan and filter combo. I have 2 fresh air inlets. 1 6" flex pipe coming from another room and one 4" flex pipe
coming in from a different room.
I had no idea that the Pro Mix is just peat moss and not actual "soil". Again, this was purchased for me by someone else so I'm working with what I have, but I thought it was "soil".
The readings on the temp and humidity gauge where not accurate in the pictures. I had taken the plants outside for some natural light and I took the gauge off and it was lying on the floor for most of the day. When the plants went back in the tent, I placed it back where it was but the readings hadn't returned to give an accurate reading of the temps and humidity in the tent. The humidity is usually between 40% and 50%, and the temp is usually between 75 and 80 degrees F.
I know the tap water here is very "hard" with high levels of calcium because we had the water tested after moving here. I can't remember the PPM for the calcium, but it registered in the "very high" range according to the company that tested it. There are also other minerals that read in the "high" range, but none as high as the calcium. We have ongoing plumbing issues with such high levels. Taps and shut off valves are routinely replaced every couple years because of this problem.
So right now I've got my nutes mixed up with tap water at 1/4 strength. I have to wait another day to feed because the plants need to dry out a bit more before water. I will feed them the nutes and PH the water to 6 or so.
The pots are in a large horticulture tray right now with plenty of room to allow water out of the bottom. They are not sitting in water, but are elevated away from the catch tray.
The sex of the plants has not yet been determined, if anyone sees any traits of male or female in any of these plants, let me know. The females will be transferred to 5 gallon pots as soon as I can tell which are male and which are female.
Would you recommend a different soil when I re-plant them or is the Pro-Mix okay for now? I know a lot of people use the
Fox Farm Ocean Forest, but its really expensive and hard to get where I live and again I rely on others to help me get this stuff, but any recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks for all the help fellows. I will keep this updated.

You probably have the promix already right? If so just feed with the bottles you already have when you transplant. Follow the feed chart and maybe go on the light side. But with promix not starting with any nutrition you will want to feed immediately. I think that general organics box should have everything you need to go from start to finish. Good luck!

CoffeeBlack said:

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. I will try and answer a couple questions, and give more info.
Ok, the plants are under an LED light. It is the Unit Farm 120 and I have it set on the VEG side of the light.
The light is about 20" from the plant. I have 2 fans blowing across the tops of the plants and am exhausting the
air through a 4" fan and filter combo. I have 2 fresh air inlets. 1 6" flex pipe coming from another room and one 4" flex pipe
coming in from a different room.
I had no idea that the Pro Mix is just peat moss and not actual "soil". Again, this was purchased for me by someone else so I'm working with what I have, but I thought it was "soil".
The readings on the temp and humidity gauge where not accurate in the pictures. I had taken the plants outside for some natural light and I took the gauge off and it was lying on the floor for most of the day. When the plants went back in the tent, I placed it back where it was but the readings hadn't returned to give an accurate reading of the temps and humidity in the tent. The humidity is usually between 40% and 50%, and the temp is usually between 75 and 80 degrees F.
I know the tap water here is very "hard" with high levels of calcium because we had the water tested after moving here. I can't remember the PPM for the calcium, but it registered in the "very high" range according to the company that tested it. There are also other minerals that read in the "high" range, but none as high as the calcium. We have ongoing plumbing issues with such high levels. Taps and shut off valves are routinely replaced every couple years because of this problem.
So right now I've got my nutes mixed up with tap water at 1/4 strength. I have to wait another day to feed because the plants need to dry out a bit more before water. I will feed them the nutes and PH the water to 6 or so.
The pots are in a large horticulture tray right now with plenty of room to allow water out of the bottom. They are not sitting in water, but are elevated away from the catch tray.
The sex of the plants has not yet been determined, if anyone sees any traits of male or female in any of these plants, let me know. The females will be transferred to 5 gallon pots as soon as I can tell which are male and which are female.
Would you recommend a different soil when I re-plant them or is the Pro-Mix okay for now? I know a lot of people use the
Fox Farm Ocean Forest, but its really expensive and hard to get where I live and again I rely on others to help me get this stuff, but any recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks for all the help fellows. I will keep this updated.

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Pro mix is fine to grow in, i pretty much use that exclusively...this grow i mixed the same bag you have with another one from them..the organic herb and vegetable one (has some food in it), and mixed in some worm castings compost. If all you are using is the bag you posted..there is no compost..no organic matter in that..you are feeding organically, but there is nothing in the soil that they can 'attach themselves to, you will have to feed more often or slightly higher amounts than usual. Without organic matter present, your cec capacity is very low..meaning when you do feed, the medium doesn't have a great capacity to hang onto anything like traditional soil/compost would. Again, up your feed a bit in the short term, and water properly..thoroughly water the medium and wait until it's 'evidently' dry..not light as air or bone dry..but dry enough where when you give the next watering say at 3L..only a bit would come out the bottom, say a cup.

I'm generally in agreement, with all of the above.

Two questions though, which I don't think have been asked.

It doesn't immediately look like it, but have you ruled out rot?

Also, what are the temps?
I've had plants look very, very similar to yours, when temperature has been way too cold.
What are your temps?
If it's outdoors, what's your local weather been doing?

Tim1987 said:

I'm generally in agreement, with all of the above.

Two questions though, which I don't think have been asked.

It doesn't immediately look like it, but have you ruled out rot?

Also, what are the temps?
I've had plants look very, very similar to yours, when temperature has been way too cold.
What are your temps?
If it's outdoors, what's your local weather been doing?

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His temps were posted, he's using cfl's and now led with intake fans, i dont think that would mean he's outdoors Not much chance it would be root rot..root rot needs water, he said he's waiting until pots are 'light as air' to water.

Blitz35 said:

His temps were posted, he's using cfl's and now led with intake fans, i dont think that would mean he's outdoors Not much chance it would be root rot..root rot needs water, he said he's waiting until pots are 'light as air' to water.

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Cool.
I didn't notice when I read it. Thanks for correcting me.


I noticed op, you say the temps are "usually" in those ranges. Are you regulating your temps on a thermostat?
If not, has there been a recent cold snap?
I'm probably wrong. But it honestly looks uncanny to cold damage.

Tim1987 said:

Cool.
I didn't notice when I read it. Thanks for correcting me.


I noticed op, you say the temps are "usually" in those ranges. Are you regulating your temps on a thermostat?
If not, has there been a recent cold snap?
I'm probably wrong. But it honestly looks uncanny to cold damage.

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He's using an inert soil like promix hp..zero food..plants are 5 weeks old and he fed once with an organic line of food at 1/2 strength. He's waiting until pots are light as air to water, and even then, it doesnt seem to be regular watering..little bit here..a little more a week later. It's not rocket science to me...plants use light as their energy source, to predominantly turn hydrogen, carbon and oxygen into sugars. He's not watering or feeding properly for the plants to have healthy growth.

Blitz35 said:

He's using an inert soil like promix hp..zero food..plants are 5 weeks old and he fed once with an organic line of food at 1/2 strength. He's waiting until pots are light as air to water, and even then, it doesnt seem to be regular watering..little bit here..a little more a week later. It's not rocket science to me...plants use light as their energy source, to predominantly turn hydrogen, carbon and oxygen into sugars. He's not watering or feeding properly for the plants to have healthy growth.

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Just covering all the bases blitz.
I live in a cold climate. I've had plants look exactly like this, when I've put them out too early in the spring.
If the temps aren't being regulated, and the weather has been cold it wouldn't surprise me at all.

Tim1987 said:

Just covering all the bases blitz.
I live in a cold climate. I've had plants look exactly like this, when I've put them out too early in the spring.
If the temps aren't being regulated, and the weather has been cold it wouldn't surprise me at all.

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True, but he never mentioned that he put them out or plans to..he's indoors with led's and intake fans to control temps. He's just putting them in the sun during the day. i live up north where we're still getting temps in the low 40's overnight, plants are 15-20 feet from the open patio doors and they dont really care at all. One never knows i guess..but one also cant ignore that he hardly waters enough, and is not feeding an 'empty' medium after 5 weeks of growth

Hey guys, thanks again for the replies. Thank you Blitz for being so thorough.
No worries about temps. I have the temp regulated to between 75 and 80 degrees F in the tent.
I did mention putting the plants outside, this was because we have experienced some very warm sunny weather
recently and I thought I would give the electricity a break. I have the pots in a tray that I can just pick up and move easily, so when its nice out I can just move all the plants outdoors. The plants are also on a 24/7 light schedule as this is what was recommended by
the seed supplier.
And Blitz I saw the soil you mentioned (organic herb and vegetable) when my brother took me to Costco. He was going to buy a bag of it for me, but I was worried that it had time release fertilizer in it and I read that can be a problem. Do you think it would be beneficial to my grow if I can find a bag of some sort of planting mix and combine that with my Pro-Mix?

Blitz35 said:

True, but he never mentioned that he put them out or plans to..he's indoors with led's and intake fans to control temps. He's just putting them in the sun during the day. i live up north where we're still getting temps in the low 40's overnight, plants are 15-20 feet from the open patio doors and they dont really care at all. One never knows i guess..but one also cant ignore that he hardly waters enough, and is not feeding an 'empty' medium after 5 weeks of growth

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No mention of where the intake is coming from either. It's just a simple question to the op. My intake come directly from outside. Below 18'C marijuana slowly starts to die. It's just how it is.

Half strength feed at week 5. Would have expected SOME immediate improvement, if it was under fed.
The mix isn't straight soiless either. It's soil, mixed with promix hp and castings. Hence why it's been able to go 5 weeks without food.

How long has the problem been going on op?

CoffeeBlack said:

Hey guys, thanks again for the replies. Thank you Blitz for being so thorough.
No worries about temps. I have the temp regulated to between 75 and 80 degrees F in the tent.
I did mention putting the plants outside, this was because we have experienced some very warm sunny weather
recently and I thought I would give the electricity a break. I have the pots in a tray that I can just pick up and move easily, so when its nice out I can just move all the plants outdoors. The plants are also on a 24/7 light schedule as this is what was recommended by
the seed supplier.
And Blitz I saw the soil you mentioned (organic herb and vegetable) when my brother took me to Costco. He was going to buy a bag of it for me, but I was worried that it had time release fertilizer in it and I read that can be a problem. Do you think it would be beneficial to my grow if I can find a bag of some sort of planting mix and combine that with my Pro-Mix?

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COOL!!!!
So that rules out the cold.

How long has it been going on?
What week did it start?
Done a slurry test of your soil? To check ph. Your runoff won't be accurate at all.

Was there ANY improvement after you fed?

Hey Tim. I haven't fed them yet because I gave them some water on Thursday and the soil is not dried out enough quite yet.
Gonna give it another 24 hours and then feed them.
My issues started in week 5. The plants did great for the first 2 weeks which I believe is seedling stage. Then they where fine for weeks 3 and 4 and at the end of week 4, beginning of week 5 they started to yellow. Starting with the lower fan leaves and it continued up each of the plants. It would make sense that they ate up all the nutrients and then started to struggle.
I'm hoping that giving them some nutes will bring them back.

CoffeeBlack said:

Hey Tim. I haven't fed them yet because I gave them some water on Thursday and the soil is not dried out enough quite yet.
Gonna give it another 24 hours and then feed them.
My issues started in week 5. The plants did great for the first 2 weeks which I believe is seedling stage. Then they where fine for weeks 3 and 4 and at the end of week 4, beginning of week 5 they started to yellow. Starting with the lower fan leaves and it continued up each of the plants. It would make sense that they ate up all the nutrients and then started to struggle.
I'm hoping that giving them some nutes will bring them back.

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Yep. Cool. Does definitely sound under fed.
Start the feed of slow though. Don't go the full strength straight up. It'll shock them just as much.
Maybe start at 1/2, or even a 1/3. Water it right in, until good runoff. Dry.
Then if you see improvement, start slowly bumping up the feeds.
I don't know the npk on your fertz but I'd keep it fairly balanced. Because you don't know which nutrient it is. Something like a 5.5.5. Or 20.20.20.