You can certainly get rootbound in a 5 gallon pail. A rootbound plant is hard to keep watered and happy. Also, if you do not have drain holes in the SIDES of the pail, you do not have enough drainage. Drill some! That will at least buy you time, because one of the big things that harms rootbound plants is unavailabilty of oxgen to the roots.
They should have been on a steady diet of bloom ferts... get on it!
Also, if you are in a peat-based soil and have been in it 6 weeks, you may actually want to keep feeding with high pH water- you tested the RUNOFF and you get 6.8- that is CORRECT!!!! So don't change anything, but add your ferts and drainage. If you have space to re-pot, go for it.
I'd also do a good flush according to the 2nd link in my sig, adding a light feeding at the end, to get rid of any excess mineral buildup from your tap water.
stinkyattic Reviewed by stinkyattic on . Is this a problem or normal? Plants are almost 5 weeks into flowering. Leaves are dying at the bottom of the plant (which I expected) but the top of a couple of plants are starting to wilt a little. I am still getting water drainage and my PH levels haven't changed so I don't think it is the water. Not using any nutrients other than what was in the potting soil. The plants have developed trichromes and they are still very clear and have not started to sit up on the "tee" I have read about. My main worry is that Rating: 5