Help, new plants turning yellow, curling leaves filled out TS form

[careyfla]

Hi all,
I will try to include some pictures, but our young plants are turning yellow and curling up. We filled out the plant problems troubleshooting form below. Any ideas? If I had to guess, I'd say nute burn, but there is no mention of fertilizer on the bag anywhere (see soil description below).

Soil description: Kellog Patio Plus, All natural Outdoor Potting Soil with the following added ingredients: Worm casings, kelp meal, bat guano, organic chicken manure, composted forest products, Canadian peat moss and rice hulls. There is no other information on the potting soil bags.
Age of plant 1.5 to 2 months

Type of fertilizer whatever came in the potting soil described above

What is your experience level? novice

Your Equipment:
.1) Type and wattage of lights. (2) 1,000 watt MH over (12) plants
.2) Distance from tops? 1.5 to 1.75 feet
.3) Reflector type? Lights are in glass tubes with aluminum bat-wing reflectors
.4) Is there a consistent fresh air supply? Not really, closed room, but we go in and out a lot
.5) Do you have an exhaust fan and a circulation fan? We have a circulation fan, oscillating pedestal fan.
.6) What are the bulb wattages, 1,000 watt MH

Your medium:
.7) Specific brand and type of soil, Kellog Patio Plus, All natural Outdoor Potting Soil with the following ingredients that come already mixed in: Worm casings, kelp meal, bat guano, organic chicken manure, composted forest products, Canadian peat moss and rice hulls. There is no other information on the potting soil bags.
.8) Size of container. Three gallon plastic pots
.9) Did you use peat pucks? no, purchased nice dark green clones seated in soil cups

Your nutrients and water:
10) Source of water? Deep well
11) Method of checking water ph. No ph testing device
12) Method of adjusting water ph.
13) Specific brand and N-P-K ratio for each bottle.
14) How often are you watering between feedings, and how much per watering? Water every three days with 1/3 gal per plant (approx.)
15) Any additives or tea's? no
16) Are your ph levels stable, or do they fluctuate?
17) What is your ingoing water's ph? ...your runoff ph?
18) Do you foliar feed? no

Your growroom:
19) Indoors or outdoors? Indoors
20) What size of closet, room or hut? 10 x 10 with white reflecting screens at 6 x 4 ft
21) What are the temps and humidity levels while lights are on? lights on 24 hours, temps range from 72 to 88 average temp 77. Humidity ranges from 28 to 38 average humidity 32.
22) Have you seen signs of insects in the growroom? no

Your strain:
23) What strain are you growing? Sativa dominate
24) From seeds or clones? clones
25) Is this an autoflower strain? Beats me

[TANKJR]

If you suspect Nute burn, it probably is...the soil you describe has ALOT of N stuff in it....simply back off the nutes! Oh yea....cant do that if there already in there, now can you? Flush! Try flushing with pure properly ph'd water...maybe 3 times pot size and try a not quite so hot soil next time. The problem with hot soils (hot meaning loaded with nutes) is once it's done, it's done and there is little you can do to control the feeding. I'm a less is more kinda grower, so I would rather starve them for nutes a little and read the plants to see what they lack and add it accordingly. If there is too much already in the soil, you've got l;ittle choice but to physically remove as much as you can by diluting the soil. I know, cuz I use a hot soil,and dilute it with pure topsoil, perlite and other substances. I would try flushing well, let drain and dry somewhat and repot in something a little (alot!) cooler. They will recover if you can get the soil back under control. You are not checking PH at all and that can make the problem even worse! Go to Home DePOT or Slowes to get a 10 dollar PH meter...not the most sensitive device, but it beats guessing. And CHECK it EVERYTIME you use water! I use the moisture/light/PH unit seen in Jorge's grow bible and it's all I need. I ck soil ph, water ph and runoff ph everytime I add something to the pot. Hope this helps and good luck!

[polishpollack]

Looks like there are two things going wrong here. One is the yellowing, which could be due to an inability to uptake nitrogen. The leaf curling to probably due to a pH problem. You're using potting soil that specifically says it's for outdoor growing, but you are using it indoors. The ferts in that soil need the bacteria which is in outdoor dirt to break them down to where the roots can take the stuff up. The hot fert load is causing the pH problem and because the ferts aren't being broken down (since the bacteria are missing), flushing may or may not help. Frankly, I think that since they're that big and already in larger containers, it's probably too late to fix this problem. Next time use Happy Frog potting soil you get at hydro grow shop. What you're suppose to do with that soil you have is mix it with outdoor dirt, but you don't want that dirt in your indoor grow. Soils are specially made for indoor growing, like Happy Frog or Roots brand.

[careyfla]

Thanks for the replies. We will try flushing. I have ordered PH testers for water and soil. Next time we will use one of the indoor soils (or just grow outdoors). In the meantime, I hope the plants will grow through this problem and self adjust to all the nutes.

[polishpollack]

I'm sorry but that won't happen.

[careyfla]

What if we re-pot? Is it too late for that?

[polishpollack]

Probably, because the plants are already in large containers. You have alot of root mass woven in that soil now. I'm having to make a guess here and say that this is largely nutrient related. It looks like there is an nitrogen deficiency problem as there is quite a bit of yellowing at the lower and middle leaves, so I'm going to suggest either dynagro 7-9-5 (Grow 7-9-5 (http://www.dyna-gro.com/795.htm)) fert from the hydroponic shop or something similar like Schultz brand (Where To Buy (http://www.schultz.com/Customer-Help/Where-To-Buy.aspx)). Your temp about 80 is a little warm for an indoor grow but what you should do is put a good size fan in there to push air around; get the warm air out and cool air in. For the ferts, just get the smallest one you can and follow the directions on the back. The ferts in your soil are fine but without bacteria to break them down, they are useless. Try Happy Frog next time.