Super Sick Plants. Please help me :(

Ok, so I am new here and to cannabis cultivation in general and want to thank you for any information that you give me.

About 12 days ago I went to the club and got 10 GDP clones, about 5-6" tall, rooted (with virtually/literally none showing) in 2" rockwool cubes. I placed them in my recently built aeroponics system with a feeding cycle of 1 minute on, 4 minutes off, as was recommended by my local hydro store guy. They are being fed the recommended ratios of Advanced Nutrients Grow, Micro, Bloom nutrients for vegetative growth (2,2,0.4), but have cut the dosage to 400 ppm total (rather than 950), with the water starting with 20 ppm. I also check and adjust the ph 2-3 times a day and keep it between 5.5-6.1. Although I did have some ph problems in the first 36 hours because I was using tab water which had 550 ppm without nutes and wouldn't hold a ph to save its life. The reservoir and room are also kept between 68-72 degrees at all times.

I have them under a 1000 watt HPS light. At first I started them about 4-5 feet from the light and moved them to 14-16" away from the bulb over about 3 days. However, after looking like dog shit I thought that perhaps it was from the light so for the past 4-5 days, they have been about 2.5-3 feet away from the light.

Almost right away (48-72 hours) from the time I got them, they started looking bad. Many of the leaves were turning yellow, the tips were turning brown, and many were droopy and/or curled down. Only three of them have started to grow healthy roots out of the bottom, but 2 of the 3 look like they are on the verge of death.

Also, I was stupid and super uber squished the root area when I shoved the 2" SQUARE rockwool cubes into the 2" CIRCULAR net cups......so I'd guess that having their roots smashed into tightly packed rockwool isn't good. On the 7/10 that weren't showing good roots out of the bottom I removed the rockwool completely yesterday.

And just so you know (in case it matters) I have two clones that are a different strain and are not in any medium (just the neoprene insert) and they are doing terrific.

Anyways, thanks again for the help and let me know if I forgot any info. The pics below are fairly representative of the health of the plants. Well, actually I'm sad to say that the pics kinda make them looks better than they do in real life.

Thanks again.

 

Thank you very much for the advice. I think that it could be the lights as well, but I don't really know anything. I've read the Marijuana Bible from cover to cover, but have no real world experience with growing.

Again, I truly appreciate your taking the time to help me.



And anyone else who feels inclined to help will also get a huge thank you.

 

Yes, the light is air cooled with a 6" 430"ish" cfm inline fan.

Thank you for the advice, I have pulled the light back to 4' away.

Can I ever bring it lower again or is 4' where it should stay?


AND!!!!!!!! I thank you very much PrplHz for your advice.

 

Thanks again for the advice. I had no idea that it was supposed to be so far away. I will keep it at a safe distance from now on.