hindu skunks with curling brittle leaves, yellowing leaves, purple stems

Hi fellow gardeners: First-timer here, having problems with my 2 hindu skunk plants. Here's the form and pics will follow.

What is your experience level? first timer

Your Equipment:
.1) Type and wattage of lights. 1 x 1000watt HPS bloom light
.2) Distance from tops? 12 inches
.3) Reflector type? enclosed reflector
.4) Is there a consistent fresh air supply? yes
.5) Do you have an exhaust fan and a circulation fan? 1 fan cooling the light and 1 fan supplying fresh air
.6) What are the bulb wattages, kelvin ratings, and schedule? 1 x 1000watt, 12/12

Your medium:
.7) Specific brand and type of soil, and anything you've added to it. FoxFarms ocean forest soil, plus Hydroton at the bottom
.8) Size of container. 5-gal pots
.9) Did you use peat pucks (or similar) to root clones or germinate seedlings? No, the clones were in stonewool blocks which i planted in the soil

Your nutrients and water:
10) Source of water? Tap What's it's ph before adjusting? Don't know
11) Method of checking water ph. haven't been testing water
12) Method of adjusting water ph. haven't been adjusting pH
13) Specific brand and N-P-K ratio for each bottle. List dosages (quantity per gallon) and current feeding schedule. Earth Juice Bloom Food, 1 Tbsp per gallon, once a week
14) How often are you watering between feedings, and how much per watering? once between feedings, until I see water coming out the bottom, which is about half a gallon for each plant
15) Any additives or tea's? no
16) Are your ph levels stable, or do they fluctuate? Don't know
17) What is your ingoing water's ph? ...your runoff ph? [COLOR=""DeepSkyBlue"]ooh, don't know that either[/COLOR]
18) Do you foliar feed? If so, with what, how often, and at what time do you spray? no foliar feeding, but have been spraying with 10% milk solution to combat powdery mildew which originated on the querkles that are sitting next to the hindus skunks in the grow hut

Your growroom:
19) Indoors or outdoors? indoors
20) What size of closet, room or hut? hut size: 4' wide x 2' deep x 7' tall
21) What are the temps and humidity levels while lights are on? ...With lights off? lights on 70-75; lights off 65-70; don't know humidity
22) Have you seen signs of insects in the growroom? no insects! :thumbsup:

Your strain:
23) What strain are you growing? Hindu Skunk, Indica dominant
24) From seeds or clones? from clones
25) Is this an autoflower strain? don't know what that means, but both plants have great buds, at 4.5 weeks into flowering

I have a theory that this is nutrient lockout from hard water, so yesterday I watered with distilled water and a teaspoon of Earth Juice bloom nutes per gallon. I currently water twice a week, once with food and once with straight tap water. The tap water doesn't seem to affect my querkles or casey jones plants. (Yes i am one of those beginners who has 3 varieties , 2 plants each, growing in one hut!)

Thanks in advance for your feedback. Looking forward to reading the responses!

--DreamTender

first off, good job on filling out the form! i mean it, no sarcasm. and it was your first post to boot.

secondly, you need to get a way to test you pH. pH is paramount in nutrient uptake. it sounds like you have a nice setup, but running it without a pH pen is like giving your Ferrari a drop of gas. you can get a cheap one off of ebay for ~$25, or a nicer one that reads other stuff too (that cost more obviously). you should be able to find them at your local hydro shop as well.

did you presoak the hydroton? hydroton has issues with rising pH i believe (even when properly flushed). this could be a problem.

your light might be a little close to your ladies. put your hand under your light, at the top of your canopy. move the lamp until you can just keep your hand under it for 5 seconds and then back it off just a bit more.

is the 70-75F at the canopy?

you have a fan pulling air into the tent? and an oscillating/regular fan? can you elaborate a little more on your cooling setup please.


-shake

did you presoak the hydroton? no, i didn't know about presoaking hydroton, I just put it in the bottom of the pots. Does everyone soak it?


is the 70-75F at the canopy? yes, that is where I hang the thermometer, as well as the remote temperature sensor that talks to the AC

you have a fan pulling air into the tent? and an oscillating/regular fan? can you elaborate a little more on your cooling setup please. Yes there is a low-power fan blowing air into the tent, and then there is a high-power fan taking air off the light and there is an AC blowing cool air into the tent. All are always on.

How often is your a/c running? Your a/c will cause the humidity level in the room to drop, combined with the close 1000w could be causing some burn issues. Really need to get a hygrometer of some sort, you want your humidity in flowering around 40-50%.

Are your other strains as tall as this one? Is it only the top colas on the plant that are affected?

Is it hot to you at the top of the canopy?

Thanks for your response! Some answers:

How often is your a/c running? It is on 24-7, and it always blows air even if it is not cooling. I have a shield on the AC so it doesn't blow directly on the plants. Also, I just raised the light to 14 inches above the top colas. I measured and it was really only about 10 inches before.

Are your other strains as tall as this one? Is it only the top colas on the plant that are affected? This is the middle height variety, placed right under the light; see pic. It is not only the top colas. Other leaves around smaller colas lower down are showing the same symptoms, and there are also leaves that are not around colas that are turning yellow.

Is it hot to you at the top of the canopy? I could feel some warmth so I raised the light as I mentioned above.

In the pic of the whole setup: the querkles are on the left, then the hindus in the middle and the caseys on the right.

The yellow leaf pics are showing what's happening with leaves not associated with colas. This is happening all around the plant, a lot of the yellow leaves are lower down.

Thank You,
DreamTender