Young plant leaves are getting deformed and dark green!

[monkeywrench]

Hi! I'm a new grower but i have already read a lot about growing, and i thought i was doing everything fine, but recently the leaves in the young plants began to deform and get this really dark green tone. I'm using Plagron Light-Mix soil which is ok for young plants, i have only been using bottled mineral water with a pH of 5.83. The lamps aren't too close to the plants (i use fluor and HPS) and i've been watering them every 2-3 days, avoiding to have any run-off. Sometimes the soil surface gets very dry from the HPS but i checked underneath and it isn't dry.

Here's a picture: bayimg - image: DSC00001.JPG - free uncensored image hosting
and another: bayimg - image: DSC00009.JPG - free uncensored image hosting

What do you think it is? I don't wanna lose my plants :S

Cheers!!


Report:

How long has this problem been going on?
4-5 days

What STRAIN are you growing?
Nebula, Euforia and others

What was the establishing technique? (seed or clone?)
Seed germinated in soil

What is the age of your plants?
2 weeks tops

How Tall are the plants?
3 inches

What substrate/medium are you using? What brand of soil mixture are you
using?(percentage of perlite, vermiculite...etc?)
Plagron Light-Mix

What Nutrient's are you using?How much of each with how much water? How Often? *Knowing the brand is very helpful*
None, just water

What is the pH of the "RUN-OFF"?
Can't test, but i've been watering with 5.83 pH mineral water.

How often are you watering?
A little bit every two-three days

What size bulb are you using?
HPS 400

What is the distance to the canopy?

What is your RH Factor? (Relative Humidity)
It isn't stable, it goes from very low to 45%

What is the canopy temperature?

What is the Day/Night Temp? (Include fluctuation range)
19.8C to 29C

What is the current Air Flow? (cfm etc.)
open door, with a regular domestic fan pointed inwards

Is the fan blowing directly at plants?
Yes, in the lowest speed

Is the grow substrate constantly wet or moist?
It's not totally dry

What water are you using? Reverse Osmosis (RO)? Tap? Bottled? Well water? Distilled? Mineral Water?
Bottled mineral water

Has plant been recently pruned, cloned or pinched?
No

Have any pest chemicals been used? If so what and when?
No

Are plant's infected with pest's?
No

monkeywrench Reviewed by monkeywrench on 03-21-2008. Young plant leaves are getting deformed and dark green! Hi! I'm a new grower but i have already read a lot about growing, and i thought i was doing everything fine, but recently the leaves in the young plants began to deform and get this really dark green tone. I'm using Plagron Light-Mix soil which is ok for young plants, i have only been using bottled mineral water with a pH of 5.83. The lamps aren't too close to the plants (i use fluor and HPS) and i've been watering them every 2-3 days, avoiding to have any run-off. Sometimes the soil surface Rating: 5

[Mr. Clandestine]

You'll want to get an accurate reading on your soil pH. You can get a fairly decent idea by using a liquid test kit and using it to test the runoff. The pH of your mineral water is way too low. You want your soil pH to be between 6.6-6.8, and if your soil mix contains a good bit of peat (which many seedling starter soils do), then your soil pH is probably also too low. If you're wanting to use purified water, I'd recommend getting some distilled water or water purified through reverse osmosis, but you'll also need to add CalMag Plus to supplement the calcium and magnesium that purified water doesn't include. There are circumstances when tap water shouldn't be used, but 98% of the time, it's perfectly fine. Tap water usually has enough calcium and magnesium that you wouldn't need to worry about adding any CalMag. You can let it stand for 24 hours before using if you're really worried about chlorine, but I never do and don't suffer any ill effects from it.

There's also a pretty big temperature variation between lights on and lights off, which can stunt plants and cause them to stretch. Ideally, temperatures shouldn't rise much about 80F, or 26.6 Celsius. To keep the temps from dropping too drastically, you might think about vegging under a 24/0 photoperiod, which will help you to keep the temperatures consistent.

Next time you plant seedlings, you may also want to consider adding more soil to each pot. It's difficult for air to flow around the plants when they're so deep inside the pots.

[daihashi]

well you seem to have a number of problems.

1. You are using mineral water. While mineral water does contain calcium and magnesium (I believe) I am not sure if it contains it in high enough amounts that the plant needs.

2. The PH of your water is very low. This may be fine if your soil has a buffering agent in it but without knowing the ph of your soil you want to try to water with something at ph 6.3-6.8 since you're in soil.

3. Your temperatures are on the border of being a little warm for the plants (29C in the daytime). Combine this with your fluxuating humidity and it's sure to give you problems. If you are going to keep it at 29C you should really try to raise the humidity a little. Try misting the plants a few times a day.

Do you have any pictures? Pictures really help alot when diagnosing problems.

Also you really need to be able to test the soil run off PH. This is VERY VERY important.

Good luck :thumbsup: