Is this moisture stress? PH problem?

I have 10 Critical Mass plants at 18 days from seed. The soil is about 30% FF Ocean Forest 50% FF Light warrior and 20% perlite. They have been fed nothing but water every 2-3 days when soil is dry. Temps stay around 75-80, humidity 45-50%.

Problems started about a week ago, first just droopy twisting leaves then the yellowing and discoloration of the bottom leaves. I got a PH pen about a week ago because the crappy shake-up tester I was using was showing a higher PH than I believed. The PH pen confirmed it though, I used vinegar to bring the PH of my water down to 5.8 runoff was 6.85. Exact same results for the past 2 waterings. Based on that I guessing my soil PH is in the high 7's? Is that high enough to cause the probs?

Based on everything I've read it seems like N deficiency(probably caused by ph lockout) or moisture stress. I find it hard to believe it is over watering cause the soil is pretty damn dry when I water. If anything I would think under watering, but does under watering cause that much discoloration of the bottom leaves?

They are under daylight CFL's right now, will go under a 600w hps as soon as i get the kinks worked out and get them transplanted. Thanks in advance for any help and if I left any important info out about environment, etc. just ask.

ya it is nitrogen deficiency same thing happned to me

hayzed said:

ya it is nitrogen deficiency same thing happned to me

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How old were your plants when it happened? I'm just thinking maybe its too early for N deficiency, especially considering that FFOF has a good bit of it.

yea looks like pH issue to me i would just keep feeding w/ low pH water for maybe a week and bring the light closer after a week or so u may want to start mild nute feeding

Ph problem for sure. Get some proper ph down and ditch the vinegar. Those plants really aren't looking that bad. You'll be fine.

OK, so I figured I'd use one of the more badly effected plants and use it as a guinea pig. I flushed with 5.8 ph water, about twice as much water as the container size. I tested the runoff throughout and results were consistently around 6.8. Like I said earlier I've used 5.8 ph water for the last 2 waterings and this flush and still no change in the runoff. How do I get the ph down? I'm afraid if I use anything less than 5.8 that I will shock the plants.

Anybody???

6.8 is perfect for soil. its a N def

The soil is not 6.8 the runoff is. This is with 5.8 water, which means the soil is considerably higher than 6.8. I'm guessing around 7.5