Plants wont grow

Can’t figure out why the hell my plants won’t grow. I built myself a small cabinet (4x4x2) to refine the grow “formula” before setting up anything bigger. This is what I currently have going on:

-1 600w light in a vented hood
-1 4” 180cfm fan exhausting light
-1 80 cfm fan venting grow space w/ passive intake (attached to window to pull in fresh air)
-1 cool mist humidifier
-2 small clip on fans circulating air in grow space
-hydroton as the medium
-humidity stay between 40-70%
-temps stay between 75-85 degrees F but hover close to 79-80 most of the time
-using cutting edge solutions 3 part formula

Since I started this project a couple months ago I had a really hard time dialing in the set up. I have been buying purple strains from my local club and throwing a few in the cabinet at a time. Each time they plants seem to eventually show the same signs: the leaves begin to turn yellow and flimsy, growth stunts, and most of them eventually die. Some have stayed alive and just don’t really go into vigorous growth. They look like shit and any growth they do have is very underdeveloped, they stay short and most large leaves wilt leaving only small, new, underdeveloped, stunted growth. I initially thought this was happening because of what they were being fed, but after tweaking their food many times and getting a TDS meter I came to the conclusion that it could not be. I then began monitoring my humidity and noticed that it was consistently lower than I had thought, about 30% or so. So I bought a blue dream clone and a couple days later a humidifier. This blue dream clone had a noticeably more established root system than any of the other clones I have bought, whiter roots and more showing at the bottom of the rockwool. This plant did very well as soon as I put the humidifier in and RH stayed at 50% or above. I figured since this plant had done well with addition of a humidifier that I had remedied the problem. So I went down to my local club and bought a few more purple clones. But again the purple clones showed the same signs and did not perform. The purple clones I have been buying do show roots through the medium every time I put them into my grow space and I have been starting them out on ¼ strength nutes (300 ppm’s or so). So far the blue dream clone is the only one that has done well. It has grown considerably over the last 2-3 weeks while the rest of my purple clones just wither and do not grow. What could be the problem? Are the roots just not developed enough on the purple clones to handle being moved into a veg environment yet? I have changed temp, humidity, and nutes many different times and no matter what they eventually seem to show the same symptoms. Yet through all these changes (that it has been present for) the blue dream clone has done amazingly (especially compared to these shitty stunted clones). If I am correct and the root systems on these purple clones are just not developed enough yet, what can I do to nurture the roots before putting them into my veg box? Id like to get some purple clones into vigorous vegetative growth so I can get some actual bud at some point. I feel like all the conditions are finally dialed in for a good veg environment, especially since my 1 and only blue dream clone has done so well, yet I am still unable to get these purple clones to grow. Any insights from some experienced hydro growers is greatly appreciated. Especially any with experience growing some cali purple: GDP, Urkel, Lavender, etc.

picture(s) speak 1000 words!

picture(s) speak 1000 words!

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Ya, i know. I cant get the pics i took off my phone. I will take and upload some tonight of what the clone foliage looks like as well as a couple of root shots.

Cool. Sub'd so I can try help when you get the pictures up!

my opinion lose the nutes the first few weeks after you transplant them. let them stabilize then slowly feed them... they wont die use ph'd tap water with a few drops of super thrive.

pics will tell the story but i suspect you are having nute problems. i would do a couple of soil plants to refine your grow skills in a more forgiving medium before trying hydro.

pics will tell the story but i suspect you are having nute problems. i would do a couple of soil plants to refine your grow skills in a more forgiving medium before trying hydro

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I have done a few soil grows on a larger scale. I started this small cabniet to refine the hydro process. Never ran into any issues like this in soil and i managed the micro climate way less. Jus throw the bastards in some dirt with a light on a timer and they go. However, when i did the soil grows i was getting clones from a friend not the club.

my opinion lose the nutes the first few weeks after you transplant them. let them stabilize then slowly feed them... they wont die use ph'd tap water with a few drops of super thrive.

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This is one of the few things that i havent tried. During this process i have changed the nutes many times, even lowered nutes to as low as 200 ppm's but never tried just ph'd water. My tap water is "hard", with over 400 ppm's, thus i have been using RO water to mix nutes. Should the ph'd water still be tap?

So here are a couple pics of the last clones i bought. This time I left them in the propagation cups they came in so i could easily monitor the roots rather than transplanting them and guessing wether or not the roots were doing ok. These have been in my grow area for 1.5 weeks already and havent done shit but decline. Dont have root shots yet, but the roots on these bitches look almost the same as when i bought them.

That just looks like they aren't getting what they need to grow right. You should give soil a shot. It's much more forgiving and easier to manage the plant's size. Then try experimenting later.

i don't think it's the environmental conditions. have you tried endomyco products like great white?

just looked at the pics more closely. i get that exact discoloration at the very top when they get too close to the lights with my silver haze.

i think there's too much light too early. small root mass can't keep up with photosynthesis and transpiration. higher RH will help, but i think less light during the first week or two will do the trick. once it's established and taking off, increase the light. maybe even foliar spray pH'd water on the underside of leaves to help it stay hydrated.

how close are your lights? if you put your hand directly under the hood for 10 seconds, does it get hot? maybe a circulation fan to cool that hot zone directly under the hood?

could also be some kind of deficiency. maybe add a little micro to get it going?