Can I 'push' new plants through this or not?

Growing bagseed under 200W of LED lighting
Watering with distilled water (no, I have not checked pH of the distilled water)
10 days old in these pics
FFOF soil w/added perlite
No added nutes

I've noticed that there is a slow progression of what appears to be nute burn on some of my leaves. Did some research and some people report that FFOF soil can be hard on some seedlings due to nutrient content. In your opinion, does this warrant a soil change now when they're only 10 days old? You think I could get them through this or is there a real risk of them dying? I see healthy new growth forming. Maybe I can check/adjust pH of the distilled water I'm using? What do you all use to check pH?

Bruh.... You need some CalMag in your life

Spend $40 and get yourself a decent pH pen meter... Can find em on Amazon. Or hydro supply websites.

Also buy yourself some pH up and some pH down....

Water should be pH'ed to 5.5 - 6.5

Runagi said:

Growing bagseed under 200W of LED lighting
Watering with distilled water (no, I have not checked pH of the distilled water)
10 days old in these pics
FFOF soil w/added perlite
No added nutes

I've noticed that there is a slow progression of what appears to be nute burn on some of my leaves. Did some research and some people report that FFOF soil can be hard on some seedlings due to nutrient content. In your opinion, does this warrant a soil change now when they're only 10 days old? You think I could get them through this or is there a real risk of them dying? I see healthy new growth forming. Maybe I can check/adjust pH of the distilled water I'm using? What do you all use to check pH?

Click to expand...

And definitely get yourself some CalMag and give it about 10ml....

That's looks to be calcium magnesium deficiency

Cal/mag deficiency 10 days into growth? Is that likely? I don't want to supplement too early, and 10 days seems early. I really don't have any good experience with correcting plant issues, though.

Runagi said:

Cal/mag deficiency 10 days into growth? Is that likely? I don't want to supplement too early, and 10 days seems early. I really don't have any good experience with correcting plant issues, though.

Click to expand...

If you don't want to give it much then drop it to 2.5-5ml....

I grow in coco and after two weeks of being seedlings I begin nutrient feeds at 1/8-1/4 strength.

Doesn't the package that you're soil came in have a chat on the back showing nutrients?

I'm reading that ocean forest users... It's best to pH your water to 6.5-6.8. Am also seeing many people with CalMag deficiency using ocean forest.

Suggestions include...

Raising pH to 6.5-6.8
Add lime to the soil prior to using
Or add CalMag if signs of CalMag deficiency are present

sno capz said:

Doesn't the package that you're soil came in have a chat on the back showing nutrients?

Click to expand...

Actually FFOF soil does not identify the NPK ranking for their soil. Like at all. Not on the website or anything. I did mix with some perlite, and the perlite has a .07-.07-.07 ranking.

I'm also wondering if I'm forcing the plants to retain more water (and therefore more nutes) bc my humidity stays around 40% and temps reach the 80's during the day. It's the coolest I can get the PC box to go; I have multiple fans running too.

Appreciate it man, I'll continue to monitor them and get my hands on a pH meter asap. I knew I'd need it sooner or later. I'm also going to try to encourage higher humidity in the PC box with a cup of perlite in water or something. It's a small enough space that I hope it'll make an impact.

Runagi said:

Appreciate it man, I'll continue to monitor them and get my hands on a pH meter asap. I knew I'd need it sooner or later. I'm also going to try to encourage higher humidity in the PC box with a cup of perlite in water or something. It's a small enough space that I hope it'll make an impact.

Click to expand...

Keep humidity at 40%.... That's not the issue and either is the heat. Past 80f then I'd be worried. Just feed with CalMag and it should get better. Consider adding lime next time in your soil

Like sno capz said, PH tester. So so important, I honestly don't think i've made a better investment on anything else I bought for growing cannabis. Cal mag too, especially if you're using distilled water...distilled water does not contain cal mag so if you've been watering with that and that only that could very well be the issue. FFOF is usually not to hot from my experience, but then again I only grow good genetics so maybe they're a bit more hardy. Just to be on the safe side though, I'd pick up some happy frog soil and mix that with your OF to make it less hot. Don't move your plants out of that soil, they'll survive.

Or switch to Mother Earth Coco my girl couldn't be happier.... Oh and locally brewed worm tea!

Emerald Triangle Cherry OG
Day 3 of flower - 400w Super HPS
Vegged for 6 weeks - Blue Enhanced 400w MH
Temps 74f
Humidity 35%
Nutrients: Entire General Organics lineup

you need dolomite lime in your mix of ffof because the ph fluctuates in it. It really starts dropping as you go along and distilled water is usually on the lower end of recommended soil ph anyways. top dress your soil with some crushed DOLOMITE (not quick acting or hydrated) Lime. Dolomite lime is used at 2 tablespoons per gallon, but will take a couple weeks to kick in. You can get the pelletized lime, but make sure you crush it in a coffee grinder.

Look into ph up and down (can use baking soda or apple cider vinegar in a pinch but very light on baking soda if necessary). Buy an etekcity ph meter the .05 or .01 accuracy one, it 's on ebay and amazon for $20. Then get some solution (7.0 to test and 4.0 to store/keep your diode wet).

Check your runoff and adjust the water going in to keep the water coming out around 6.5. Once the lime kicks in you won't need to ph anymore as long as you put in water 6.5 or lower.

Hope this helps you, as you can tell i had a very similar problem "/

Thanks guys, I have a couple nursery stores around here so I'll see if I can grab a pH meter from there this Saturday. I took a closeup photo of one of the leaves; help me understand what I'm seeing here. Is this the onset of nute burn or a cal/mag deficiency? In this particular photo it doesn't look like cal/mag issue from what I've seen online. I definitely have not sprayed anything on the leaves. The leaf is stiff where it has this odd 'frosted over' appearance:

the main problem is your ph - it makes it impossible to uptake the things it needs such as cal or mag.

what kind of perlite is that? please tell me it's not miracle grow...

i'm telling you ebay is the way to go for the meter - etekcity .05 accuracy model with temperature compensation. it's $20!

do a quick search of how many people add dolomite lime to their FFOF, it's a really unforgiving soil for beginners, especially without a ph meter.

As with Miracle Grow " Perlite " ( it is infused with their nutes ) , I give it a separate wash to break up the nutes within. I rinsed it a couple times before use. I also use FFOF but since you use Distilled water , it is missing some minerals. Use CALMAG as described by others to correct problem. You MUST know what PH your water is to allow plants to uptake properly.

I use my local tap and PH down slightly to 6.3 - 6.6 , FFOF has enough beginning nutes to seedling up to week 4. It's your water that caused ( PH ) problem.

dolomite lime will also balance your cal and mag levels, budz do you ever add dolomite lime to yours? i did and runoff was 6.5-7.0 after a couple weeks (crushed pelletized topdressing at 2 tablespoons per gallon of soil).

SamsonsRiddle said:

dolomite lime will also balance your cal and mag levels, budz do you ever add dolomite lime to yours? i did and runoff was 6.5-7.0 after a couple weeks (crushed pelletized topdressing at 2 tablespoons per gallon of soil).

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I used as a top dressing ( and your looking good with those numbers ) but since I still have a few bags of perlite to burn thru , I add approx. 20-25% more to my soil mixes.
In both my PROMIX OR FFOF.

It's Miracle grow perlite
Definitely appreciate the guidance, I'm gonna get dolomite lime today from the hardware store and grab cal/mag as well as a pH meter either this eve or tomorrow morning.