Diagnostic Help TLDR at the bottom

[BroMontana]

Hey guys, new here and I just had a few simple questions, just to ease my mind here.

background:

I’m using coco with a good mix of perlite for aeration. Also, fabric pots for additional air flow, air pruning, all that good stuff.

I have pretty good air flow. Two 442 CFM fans, one pulling air in and the other pulling it out. Also have an oscillating fan, planning to get another.

Humidifier keeps it around 40-60 at all times. Temperature has been in the low 80s (never past 85)during the day and around 71 at night.

Two Viparspectra 1200W lights, each one covering a 4x4 area. Each light has 2 plants under it at the distance specified by manufacturer for Veg.

After a week of sitting in the plugs as seedlings, I placed them in 3 gallon fabric pots. I’ve been watering them, admittedly, probably not as frequently as they should have been watered. My rationale was you can always add water if they aren’t getting enough. Removing all that excess water is another story

I transplanted them a little earlier than I should have. The leaves were past the pot on some, or at least near the edge of the pot, so I decided to transplant them to their final pot.

According to my count, if I don’t count the week recovery for transplanting (which I don’t), they should be beginning their fourth week in Veg.

They all have around 4-5 nodes, maybe 6 inches tall. Is this normal growth for their age? Or has overly cautious watering schedule slowed them down a bit?

I did not PH the water I used to make the new coco mix for their final containers, so I’m assuming that’s had some effect on them.

I planted them in a moist medium and didn’t water them for a few days because I assumed they would go for the water already in the coco.

I just watered them with nutes yesterday (general hydroponics) and they seem a little better. Some leaves are stretching toward the light. Is that because they are happy? Or is this another signifier of some sort of stress or nute lockout?

I plan on flushing the medium next time I water them to rebalance the PH in the coco.

TLDR & QUESTIONS

There’s definitely a nutrient deficiency here. Red stems, white/yellow tips, discolored leaves.

My question is, according to the pics and in your expert opinions, how long would it take to get them back on track and happy, assuming I water them more and flush the coco for optimal PH?

And, aside from the obvious nutrient deficiency signs, do they look healthy? It’s hard to see them stretching toward the light, but they are, and it’s a noticeable difference from before feeding them nutes to now.

New growth seems a little twisted maybe (or am I overthinking it?) Also, new growth seems to be a little yellow, at least under these blue lights.

I plan on vegging them another 4 weeks (8 total) which should be good for 10 gallon pots. Roots won’t overtake the entire pot by then, but this shouldn’t be a real problem should it? Assuming I keep the PH right and water then enough, this should surely be enough time to recover from the nute deficiency and leave a minimal effect on yield, right?

These are Super Lemon Haze. I know they get tall (which is why I was asking if the height is alright at this stage) so I’m going to LST with a SCROG, nothing that adds additional recovery time.

 

[Dirtbag]

Doesn't look bad, but ill offer a couple tips. You want that coco to be saturated. You CANNOT overwater it, especially with perlite mixed in. Id water/feed them at least once a day until you get a little runoff. Assuming you have meters? I'd be feeding about 1-1.2 ec of a balanced vegetative nutrient, 5.8 ph or so.

Secondly, roll the edges of the fabric pot down so that it's only sticking up an inch or so over the coco. With high sidewalls like that you will develop a microclimate above the media that can cause issues. Especially with small plants, they will be trapped in the high humidity microclimate and not transpire properly which can lead to calcium deficiency. Which is what I think those spots on the leaves are a sign of.

 

[Dirtbag]

Also, 10g is way to big a pot for coco. You'd be fine to leave them in those pots and just water more often.

 

[BroMontana]

Doesn't look bad, but ill offer a couple tips. You want that coco to be saturated. You CANNOT overwater it, especially with perlite mixed in. Id water/feed them at least once a day until you get a little runoff. Assuming you have meters? I'd be feeding about 1-1.2 ec of a balanced vegetative nutrient, 5.8 ph or so.

Secondly, roll the edges of the fabric pot down so that it's only sticking up an inch or so over the coco. With high sidewalls like that you will develop a microclimate above the media that can cause issues. Especially with small plants, they will be trapped in the high humidity microclimate and not transpire properly which can lead to calcium deficiency. Which is what I think those spots on the leaves are a sign of.

Thank you—I honestly hadn’t even thought of that with the little microclimate. I have some rolled down, but I kept some up just to absorb the breeze from the oscillating fan so it’s not too rough on them, but that makes sense.

And for next time I’m going with 7 gallon pots—I agree the 10 gallon ones are a bit much. I was just planning for a long veg period and wanted to be prepared.