HELP! One plant pale and leggy, the other stunted and drooping with yellow lower leaves

[sbrklinck]

Help! I am at my wit's end here and getting ready to throw a tantrum. This is my first time growing in coco, which (I thought) was supposed to make things easier and give me better results, but it has not been going well.

I have two 4-week old plants that are not doing well. The GG4 auto is pale and leggy (at least compared to the grow log photos I see here), and the Haze XL auto is stunted, drooping, and has yellowing lower leaves.

In my initial post here a week ago the consensus was that I had been overwatering, so I gave them a dry out and then resumed watering/feeding with 10% runoff and waiting for the top of the coco to dry out before watering/feeding again. After doing that the GG4 started to get leggy and pale; the Haze XL perked up a ltttle bit, but then started drooping again and the lower leaves got more yellow. I have also noticed a white powdery substance on the lower parts of the grow bags.

Reading through the Problems & Symptoms section just leaves me more confused about the way forward, as the symptoms I am seeing seem to relate to a number of issues:
- Drooping may mean still overwatering
- Yellowing and paleness may mean a nutrient deficiency (but how do I solve that when the nutriends come from the water/feed and I am possibly still overwatering? Switch to full-strength nutes?)
- White powder might be salts which could indicate nute block which means I should flush the plants. I am due to do a Sledgehammer flush, but wouldn't this compound the overwatering?
- Legginess might mean low light levels, but I don't think that this is the case as I have had successful soil grows with this setup.

Please help me before I blow a fuse and burn my tent down!!!

Details:
70/30 Coco/Pearlite in 3-gallon grow bags
Fox Farm Trio nutrients using their Hydro schedule at half strength, pH in 5.5 - 6.5
LED lighting (this was just for staring things off, and I intend to move these plants outside)

[Orggrwr]

I don't grow in coco but I've always heard it's hard to overwater it. Coco does best with nutrient water daily or more. But I'm a diehard living soil guy so wait for experienced coco growers to chime in. When you're researching make sure you're reading about coco and not soil.

[golfnrl]

I understand the frustration. If you don't have a way to measure PAR, to address the legginess increase the light's intensity or lower the light a couple of inches closer to the canopy.
The white powder on your grow bags sounds like moisture to me. I see that occasionally in my grows.
The drooping looks like overwatering and/or lockout. You may have a lockout caused by improper PH or fluctuation. Don't switch to full strength nutes.

Do you measure EC? I don't recall from the earlier posts. Do you supplement your starting water with Cal/Mag before adding the nutrients? Reason being is coco as forgiving as it is will leach the available cal/mag from your Fox Farm nutrients first, locking them away from the plant leaving your girls pale and hungry looking. If you know the starting EC of your water that helps. You want to start with an EC of .4. If you don't have a way to measure EC add 2 -5 ml of Cal/Mag to your starting water and then add your nutrients.

It sounds like to me that you and your plants need a reset. Since they are autos time is of the essence. To flush your plants use Cal/Mag supplemented water set to your preferred PH. Run 10 gallons ( 3x's pot capacity) of water through each of your 3 gallon grow bags. After 10 gallons catch some runoff and measure the PH. It should be the same as what it was going in. That will reset your plants. Let the plants drain completely.

Mix a very mild nutrient solution (1/4 strength) and water your plants to runoff. Be sure to use enough water as the root ball will hold the plain water and you need to replace that with your mild nutrient solution. Let your plants thoroughly drain.

When they go back under the lights dim the light or raise it up and watch your plants. Your plants will be in shock and the lower light intensity will help them recover faster. You should see rapid improvement. After you have watered your plants with the mild nutrient solution and before you put the girls back inside lift the pots, get a sense of the weight, let the pot dry out, lift it each day and you will feel it getting lighter. Add lift and weigh to dipping your finger into the coco. I've found it helpful.

Wait as long as you can, and then wait a little longer, before you start regular watering again. We wat to see if the reset was effective. That will take 24-72 hours.

I just did this type of flush for two plants in 5 gallon cloth pots. I ran 60 L of water through each pot.

Hang in there.

[Smallgrow]

Above is sound advice from a skilled coco grower. Not my media so I have nothing to offer in that way.

I will say in my opinion watering (over or under) is the cause of the majority of problems. It can present in every way as it causes the over or under feeding, due to lack of, or excess of water. This brings too little or too much nutrition. After 8years of growing I still look to watering first if I have a problem.

Stick with it, even if it means trying again next year. None of us have succeeded without failure. It’s going on happen you just have to keep at it.

Lastly as a new grower I would recommend photos and premixed super soil (I think you were trying to get in a fast run). I too started with coco and autos for that reason among other , and it didn’t go well.
You can grow great autos in coco but the idea is to remove as many variables as possible while you learn. If all you have to do is water correctly you can stop worrying about everything else.

https://www.growweedeasy.com/just-add-water-super-soil-grow-guide-easy-organic-weed