Don't know where I'm going wrong - HIGH RES PICS!

[newbgrower]

DOUBLE CLICK THE PHOTOS FOR SUPER HIGH RES!!! All photos were taken at the same time.. some just look different cause of Photoshop/lighting.

First time grow. I have 4 lamps. 2 overhead, and 1 on each side of the plant. These are kept on 24/7.

Two overhead lamps are 1 6500k Daylight CFL each.
Two side lamps are 1 6500K Daylight CFL AND 1 2700K Soft White each (y-splitter).

I'm using Miracle Grow Liquid All Purpose Plant Food at 1/4 strength. I water when the top soil is dry or just barely damp.. usually every 2 days.. until the water comes out the bottom of the pot.

I am not aware of my PH of my soil or my water.

I have a fan blowing on the plant 24/7 and the closet sliding doors are open about 1 ft on each side, so airflow shouldn't be a problem. My room doesn't get very much fresh air though.. maybe thats a problem?

The temperature is around 75F - 85F. More often the 80's.

Plant is.. heck I dunno.. 6 weeks old? Over 1 foot tall. I've transplanted it twice now.. every time it has been INCREDIBLY rootbound. The most recent time (a few days ago) I chopped off some of the roots because it was just so bad. You couldn't even see the soil at the bottom portion! I also loosened the roots up during the transplant. But the transplants seem to be irrelivant.

Here are some photos.. I don't know if its a male or female as I haven't switched to 18/6 yet.. but maybe someone can guess? I also think the main thick stem looks really weird.. like it has deep lines running down it.

I had some spider lines (not webs) but after a quick wash of the plant and a capture of a small spider (not a spider mite), it seems to be gone. That was about 1 week ago. I sprayed the plant with "Garden Safe Fruit & Vegetable Insect Killer" from Wal-Mart a few days ago.

Any help is much appreciated! I wish I knew why the leaves at the bottom keep dying. The top looks GREAT. I've already removed 6-8 leaves from the bottom, including the first 2 special ones.. they died. Feel free to use the photos however you wish.

newbgrower Reviewed by newbgrower on 04-30-2009. Don't know where I'm going wrong - HIGH RES PICS! DOUBLE CLICK THE PHOTOS FOR SUPER HIGH RES!!! All photos were taken at the same time.. some just look different cause of Photoshop/lighting. First time grow. I have 4 lamps. 2 overhead, and 1 on each side of the plant. These are kept on 24/7. Two overhead lamps are 1 6500k Daylight CFL each. Two side lamps are 1 6500K Daylight CFL AND 1 2700K Soft White each (y-splitter). I'm using Miracle Grow Liquid All Purpose Plant Food at 1/4 strength. I water when the top soil is dry or just Rating: 5

[newbgrower]

Some more photos..

[newbgrower]

2 more photos.. (5 photo limit??).

[cigarettes42]

one of your problems you already answered and thats not knowing the ph of your water and soil. also your kinda underpowered to flower a foot plant under those cfls, and to get him/her to show sex you need to flip it to 12/12. also do you use bottled water? using distilled or ro water with out any kinda mineral supplement will cause coloring like that. have you considered reading the forums more?

[newbgrower]

I'm going to buy a ph test kit very soon. The CFL's are 100W replacements (run at 23W though). I was thinking 6 2700K CFL's would be enough? How many would you recommend? I use tap water and mix 1/4 dosage of the Liquid Miracle Grow in and water with that every 2-3 days. The bottle says use the miracle grow once every 2 weeks... I only use my mix (water + 1/4 dose of miracle grow).. should I be using normal tap water the rest of the time? I was avoiding bottled water because they add sodium and stuff which I thought was bad.

[newbgrower]

Could this be from a combination of...

Overfertilizing (liquid miracle grow bottle says once every 2 weeks, I use 1/4 dose every 2-3 DAYS)
Overwatering (some posts say to wait until the top 2-3 of soil inches are dry.. I always water when the top 1/2 inch is dry)

It appears everything on the BOTTOM is dying, and working its way up. I don't know what they mean when they say "nute lock", but maybe the bottom leaves are absorbing too much nutrients and dying? And the top are doing fine because they're farther away?

[killerweed420]

Looks like necrosis from nute lock out. And probably overwatering.
No nutes for 2 weeks. Flush with water once a week.
After 2 weeks try 1 teaspoon of Miracid per gallon of water once a week. It'll take about 2 weeks with the miracid and they should perk right up. If you use cfl's you have to back way off of nutes.