Hey Blitz. Thanks for the response. You caught me as I was going to sleep so pardon me if I don't answer your questions fully. I watered them with a one-to-one ratio of 3% HP and pH'd bottled spring water which equals, I suppose, 1.5%
pH solution. I was hoping to introduce some oxygen to the roots to see how they responded. 24 hours later, there was no response. Could I have waited longer? yes. But that's irrelevant at this point
So, At that point, I took one of my more established seedlings and watered it with straight spring water, and let it drain off into another clean container. I tested that, and it was reading 4.7.
The water going in was 8.2. I just calibrated my PH pen too. I continued to flush that sucker until I had ran through a gallon of spring water, testing every 6 ounces of run off I suppose. Eventually the run off was mostly clear and registering wouldn't rise any further than 5.4 on the Richter scale
At this point, i came on here, and I was hoping someone would suggest a transplant. That soil I had, I just didn't like it. So if they die, I'll have someone else to blame
In any case, I added 50-60% perlite to this new mix, and the PH on the first run off test (no transplants yet) came out at a much more acceptable 6.5. Dolomite lime is listed as an ingredient in this mix. I don't know if it's at the quantity that it should be, though. It should be fine the next 2 weeks. In a week or so, I'll know if I should be purchasing my FFOF or upgrading to a bigger carbon filter/fan combo and getting new seeds instead. I looked for mychorrizae. Found some online. I can't afford the prices i was seeing at the moment. Wife is starting to clamp down. Said I needed to wait until next paycheck (thursday) to buy more stuff. I told her, this kinda thing doesn't work on our clock babe. It does its own thing on its own time
Regarding your assessment with the overwatering/lack of oxygen. I thought that was it too! I was convinced. I broke out the pH pen though and the numbers don't lie. I have read that PH issues can often mimic overwatering and/or nutrient deficiency symptoms, which causes a lot of inexperienced folks to make it worse by adding fertilizer. So, it's being properly watered now, in much better soil. If they can just hang out before they decide to die on me, I think we will know in 2-3 days if this was the medicine that needed to be prescribed. Thanks so much for your time in stopping by. Keep an eye out, I'll post before and after pics. in 2-3 days. Hope I managed to answer all of your questions! I'll be getting back to you about your thoughts on FFOF amendments, but I think that is out of the scope of this conversation at this particular juncture.