Please help after several failed attempts

[stinkyattic]

Okey dokey bear with me as I go through and answer 1001 questions!

we don't have a timer for our hydro system so the water continues to feed to the rocks without stopping. I'm not sure where to get a affordable timer that will allow water to be transferred only ever so often..

Oh come ON timers cost $8 at wal-mart.

In addition the nutrients we have are what came with the system, and may not be ideal..

That probably wasn't your problem... those nutes are cheap but solid, fine for nOObs.

For some reason the first time with soil the plants got to be around 6 inches tall and were still so skinny that they couldn't hold themselves up, and then they flopped over and pretty much died. It was probably because at that time we didn't have a real light, .

Well yes that's true... they stretched... no light.

and we were using $0.60 Walmart soil ....... I bought Scotts soil, and it says it has added phosporous for the root system..

Good upgrade.

We use a San Agro 430 lamp ......the light about 15 inches above the plants that are growing slowly, and about 24 inches above the newly planted plant .

Go back to walmart and get a bunch of cheap work lights and a bunch of cool white cfls... get them RIGHT UP CLOSE to the plants

I usually water about once per day, as needed. Sometimes I have to wait longer if it's not needed..

water by if the soil feels dry when you stick your finger in it, not by the timing

Some of the leaves have turned yellow and I've taken them off. .... Other more healthier leaves look light green, as if they will eventually be yellow. .

that's classic nitrogen deficiency. Don't even need to see a pic. You can't grow cannabis indoors without fertilizer. That fish stuff at walmart is good to quickly correct N def but you NEED real nutes.

The newly planted that is doing so great is more of a darker green than the rest..

that's because really young plants don't need nutes until they are at 4-5 nodes.

The temperature remains around 80 degrees, however the humidity is only around 20% .

that is not your main problem. 20% rh prevents mold. I'd up it to 30 by putting a tray of water in there. 30 won't mold things and your plants will be better off.

I grow this in my closet and don't want to add humidity because we have things like sleeping bags and board games in the same closet. .

if you get a pest problem you're screwed with all that other stuff in there

We are not using any type of fertilizer, could this be one of the problems?.

yes... it is a HUGE problem

Also I have not tested the PH of our water previously. I just used a ph test strip and it looks like it falls between 6.5 - 6.75 although it's hard to tell if it falls in the range lower than this one. .

use tap water because city water is usually adjusted to be neutral and is fine for a noobie dirt grow... I still use it in my grows too.

The stalks on my two older plants that are about 5 - 6 weeks old and only 12 inches tall are very thick and hard. Comparable with a #2 pencil..

good

The flower pots that I chose are 6" pots I believe..

pots a bit big for young plants result in more root growth below ground and less leafy growth up top, making it seem that your plants are not doing anything. better to start in small cups and transplant.

After 5 or 6 weeks, shouldn't my 2 oldest plants be ready for flowering soon?
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they should but your light sucks.

You should REALLY get going on your reading... check out everyones grow logs in the log section and in indoor... see what people are doing, what works, what doesn't, go get REAL lights and ferts.