I'm confused about how to use Maxigrow/Maxibloom in a roughly 1 gallon dwc growbox I purchased (waste of money but it's all I've got now, and realistically I'm only able to fit a bit over a half gallon of water into the reservoir without coming over top the net pods.) The instructions given with the box say to make a side mixture of 1 tsp to a gallon mixture of water and pour about a 1/4 cup into the reservoir every 5 to 7 days, but recently I've been doubting the accuracy of this information because the instructions are poorly worded. I'm wondering if I'm not supposed to be adding the tsp of nutes directly into the reservoir instead of making a side mixture. I'm pretty new at this, and I honestly have no idea what I'm doing.
The reason I'm unsure is I've had a lot of issues with these girls. Particularly with the third one. She just refuses to grow no matter what I do. The first one experienced rapid yellowing/spotting on lower fan leaves but I foolishly removed these leaves before I thought to take a picture. All 3 are autos and I'm about halfway into Week 5 at this point.
Not enough info, but my quick guess is pH lockout, not enough oxygen at the root level, and lack of biocontrols. I recommend you take a picture of the roots and post it. Also need to tell us what the pH (and TDS) of the solution is. You should be monitoring these values each day until dialed in. I've not used maxigrow, just maxibloom from start to finish, and not for hydroponics, Here is a link to the feeding schedules. To make a gallon of nutrient solution, add UP TO 1 tsp / gallon of maxiGROW only; that's a maximum value. Looks like you should be feeding ~1/4-1/2 of that. Therefore, if your reservoir is 4 gallons, then you should have 1 tsp in the solution. You should adjust the pH using pH up or pH down to a pH of ~ 5.6. Keep an eye on it each day by turning off the pump, use pH pen or drops, and adjust to 5.6. Don't bother adjusting the pH if its in the range of 5.5-6.0.
I pH daily to the 5.5 to 6.0 range. I use drop so I can't give exacts. I don't have a way to check TDS (yet). I've taken some close-ups of the spotting as well as the roots. I treat with hydroguard and roots look healthy to me. I've also begun treating with calimagic since I thought this could be a Ca deficiency as I use distilled water. Temps stay about 70 degrees. Any advice would be much appreciated.