Yet another series of sick plants

[MasterKayin]

This is my first time post on this forum, and I'm runnin outta ideas. I usually hate asking for help, and can typically figure problems out on my own, but I'm running out of ideas.

I currently have ten small plants, still in Veg. About five weeks old with VERY stunted growth. Their leaves just keep turning pale yellow and dying. I figured, after some forum reading, that I was starving their roots of Oxygen, so I started replanting them in a 2 part potting soil, 1 part perlite mixture, starting with the sickest plants first and moving on up as new containers become available (started them in red dixie cups, moving them to half gallon orange juice containers.

I potted them in Hyponex potting soil, from Wal-Mart, which I think is without added nutrients. I also was feeding them some soluable Miracle-Gro 20-20-20 fertilizer, very watered down. I think I took the typical feeding, which was full strength every two weeks, and kept cutting it in half until I had a daily dose, and used that every other or every three waterings. They're in a cabinet chamber with four 18-in flouro's, one in each corner, and two more above hanging from chains. 18-hour light cycle.

As I said, they started working well at first, then I noted they were stunted, and the soil had become very dense. I remixed the soil, cleaned off as much as I could, and replanted them. A few days later, there was noted changes. They were doing better. I trimmed off the dead leaves, and now (about a week later), the leaves are dying again. I'm fairly confident that the issue is not enough nutrients, but I figure'd I'd check with the pros before I drown them.

Sorry for the drawn out description, I'm just trying to provide as much info as I can.

[Ganja Guerrilla]

lockout

your soil sucks, hyponex, scotts or miracle grow its all the same shit from the same company & it has a perfect record for burning or locking out weed plants....dont believe me, do a search here for yourself, just use keyword miracle grow

also check the PH of your water ..optimum range is 6.5-6.8

transplant to better soil & switch ferts to this one

Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food (they make several fertilizers be sure its this one)
http://www.miraclegro.com/index.cfm/...c0236933b0a7a4
Fertilizer Analysis: 24-8-16 with micronutrients
2 level "Teaspoons" per gallon of water, (reduce this by 50% first time application) feed every other watering till flowering

Budding ferts I recommend Fertilome, Root Stimulator and plant starter....
the NPK is perfect: 4-10-6
2 teaspoons per gallon of water every other watering........ use this as your water ...discontinue use 3 weeks prior to harvest...flush last 2 weeks...thats it no water .....

[virginharvester]

Hyponex is like tar. It's clumpy and, well dirty. A soil like Happy Frog will sort of bubble when you water it because it's light and airy. Put a thin layer of hyponex on top of that same pot and the soil becomes like a paved road.

You want something that has fox farm type recipe

http://homeharvest.com/pottingmixprefertilized.htm

If you can make your own at a better price, great.

Here's another recipe to consider:

40% peat + 1 cubic ft. of Organic composted peat for the micros
30% perlite(add until I plunge my hand in easy)
20% Mushroom compost
10% worm castings

I would probably go as high as 25% worm castings and shave everything else down.

http://www.happydranch.com/articles/reference.html

[MasterKayin]

Sorry for the long time without response. I really appreciate your guys' help. I took your advice and am glad to say that growth has picked up significantly.

I washed out every bit of that nasty soil from each plant's roots, and repotted them all with a new potting mixture. I used some natural potting soil from a local production center, mixed with perlite and about half a bag of peat that I just had lying around. I also remixed my fert., and use that every other watering (just about once a week). I have a habit of watering them pretty heavily, until I see seepage out the bottom holes, but then waiting until the top half half inch or so of soil has dried out before re-watering. I also buried all the plants up to just about their lower leaves for various reasons.

Anyway, while I've witnessed a significant growth increase, a few of my plants are still stricken with some discoloration and dying leaves. I've looked at the charts, and all of these signs seem to point to various causes, almost every one contradicting the last. So, once again, here's some pics. Any help would be appreciated.

[Ganja Guerrilla]

potassium def

start slowly stepping up the strength of the nutes

glad to hear they are doing better