more info to add.....

I water about every 3-4 days but with the bubblegum, they don't seem to need it as much. The roots just aren't soaking up water very fast. This is the same with all 3 of my bubblegums. My blue russians (ak47 x blueberry) are doing just fine. Some minor cosmetic things but I'm used to that. They are very tall and I notice that the leaves closest to the light have some tiny brown spots all over those leaves, uniformally. The ones not directly under the 250w HPS seem better. One thing I'm also seeing on all the plants are a mix of dark green and light green leaves. No idea how that's happening.

anyways, I'm thinking I need to flush the bubblegums then introduce nutes slowly after a few days to get them budding well again. They aren't budding worth a poo while the blue russians are really taking off.

This is very, very odd to me. I had the same issue with a Sugar Blossom that I had to cut down early because it wasn't absorbing any water and the buds were not dense at all compared to the others I've grown. Obviously, this is a universal thing that's happening.

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for the help.