HELP! Too dry...or too wet?

[ThatGuyInTheDesert]

https://imgur.com/a/pYJjMqq

Hi All -

I'm a newb and I've hit a bump. Please have a peek at my photos. I've been struggling for about a year with this. I'm growing indoors under SpiderFarmer SF1000 lights. Prior to November 2024 I was using HPS lights and I was having same results. I get my girls to the one-month stage, and then they go wilty. I know I was over-watering earlier, but it sure doesn't seem like it now. I am using FoxFarm Ocean Forest soil, but I was having same results with FoxFarm Happy Frog soil. I am using Fox Farm Big Bloom plant food diluted to 25% of label for seedlings, and then 50% of label for vegetative.

The healthy lady in the picture is now spending the warm, sunny afternoons outdoors, and she seems to like it. (I'm in Arizona and it's 72 degrees and sunny today.) I am watering her sparingly and I have just moved her to vegetative strength Fox Farm fertilizer.

I water and ferilize with RO water that is 6.5 pH. That pH level is maintained after mixing fertilizer solution.

I don't see any signs of fungus or pests.

It seems like I'm really close to getting this right. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Most respectfully...

[Gingerbeard]

You said you have been watering sparingly. The only time I've had a plant look like that was from underwatering outdoor.

[Bluey]

It does look a tad dry.

Gently water around the soil in a circle around the outside of the canopy. No runoff.

[ThatGuyInTheDesert]

I started with that technique about six months ago. No love. Plants are still shriveling. But thanks for the input.

[ThatGuyInTheDesert]

You said you have been watering sparingly. The only time I've had a plant look like that was from underwatering outdoor.

Yeah, it doesn't matter how much or how little I water. They all shrivel at 6 weeks. Weird, huh? Does RQS sell crappy seeds, do you think?

[apocalypse619]

Take my advice with a grain of salt as ive only had 2 successful grows using Ocean forest. I usually do 1/4th happy frog on the top and 3/4 ocean forest for the rest of the pot once you transplant from sprout, I dont use any nutes since this is a hot mix until they reach flowering.

[dmpmfd]

Have you ever tried 1/2 OF & 1/2 HF (or other %s) as you have done 1/4 HF & 3/4 OF? I started with a scam that used FF nutes (veg & bloom mixes) in premade FF soil mix (possible little coco in mix). Every time I had to reuse old soil the plants suffered with poor grows. Looking for options to replicate or do better than the scam. Thanks in advance.

[homegrown]

I don't think the seeds are your problem since you do manage to get them to start and grow for six weeks. I'm strictly a coco grower indoors and soil outdoors(probalbly something you dont have a lot of if your That guy in the desert. I know seeds aren't cheap. Maybe switch up your growing medium...Grab a bag of coco and some perlite, and a different brand of nutes. Try a couple of seeds in that medium and see how it goes? Or even go El Cheapo and grab a couple bags of garden soil from hardware store and give that a try. At this point anything different may help get something to grow. The plant in pic looks healthy but very stunted. Good luck!

[Bluey]

Are they being poisoned by someone close to you or a neighbour or similar?

[Cougar672]

I am no expert, but Happy Frog and Ocean Forest are both pretty hot, but only feed your plants for about a month (OF feeds a little longer than HF). After that they need nutes.
Are you only giving Big Bloom? Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) are the 3 major nutes plants need and Big Bloom has zero N and little P, K. You need to add Grow Big and Tiger bloom by Fox Farm to get PK. Fox farm website has a schedule for how much nutes to give for each week of growth.
I'm not sure that is your current issue, but it will be if you get past this stage.
Are those auto flowers or photo periods?