Plant Moisture Stress - Symptoms and Solutions

jamesc8388

Member
Where is the right thread. So are they saveable or are they going to stay that small now? How do i get to uncle ben thread?
 

jack the beanstalk

Active Member
Here's a moisture stress question I have never learned the answer to. When something happens, say overfert and you see the symptoms, should you wait until the plant dries out to flush it or flush immediately. I want to say immediately but it seems like if you let it half dry in the solution before realizing your mistake you might just as well let it dry out completely before flushing to avoid drowning the roots. Or in the case of H202 application for root rot, would you wait until the pot dried or just treat it damp and let it dry afterward?
 

Ricky Williams

Active Member
PLANT MOISTURE STRESS - symptoms and solutions (revised Jan. 12, 2009)
5. Underwatering - not only is the plant now stressed due to a low supply of adequate moisture, but carbohydrate production has been greatly compromised (screwed up). Step up the watering frequency, and if need be, organic growers may need to soak the pot from the bottom up until moisture levels reach an even consistency throughout the medium especially with mixes that are heavy in peat. If severe, a little surfactant (liquid Ivory dish soap) added to the drench will help return the organics back to a normal moisture retentive state. If the pot feels light to the lift - it’s time to water. Don’t wait until the soil pulls away from the sides of the pot or leaves droop before you water.
Uncle Ben
Uncle B first let me say that I have read alot of your stuff on here including your topping method (that I found very imformative) and all of it is top notch. Myself as well as many others on here really appreciate you taking the time out to help out with the same old newbie questions day after day. You sir are the Mr. Miyagi of Marijuana Cultivation.

My Problem: My two plants are currently outdoors, extremely undersized and I'm guessing currently suffering from a nitrogen deficiency. Now I have neglected my watering duties over the last couple of weeks so I think that is the major cause of the problem. Well that and I use tap water that has been sitting at room temp for a day or two to water. Have no idea what the ph is?!?

Bottom seedling leaves are very yellow, with the top leaves a very light green. One fan leaf just above the bottom leaves on one of my plants is so yellow and wilted it's about to fall off.

Plants are 9 weeks old and and only about 4-5 inches tall and the biggest set of leaves is maybe 4 inches tip to tip!! They both have about 3 or 4 sets of leaves on them.

They are in 5 gallon pots with Miracle grow organic soil. They currently get about 12-13 hours of sunlight a day with probably 3-4 hours good direct light. Like I said I have been neglecting my watering duties and today when I went out my soil was dry as a bone. I will be watering on a more consistent basis now but I'm not sure that is going to fix my problem.

My question: Is what do I need to do to get my plants back to good health? How bad will this effect my overall yield and quality? Would I be better off to just start over? I don't know. I thought about hitting them with a small amount of nutes every other watering until I get them back up to par. I'm worried about my girls because they are very small and don't seem to be growing just adding new leaves. Now with the yellowing of the leaves and one leaf falling off I don't know what I should do. They deserved much better than what I have given them. Any advice would be appreciated. I wish I had pics but none are available at the moment. Maybe in the future.

-RW
 

Uncle Ben

Well-Known Member
Uncle B first let me say that I have read alot of your stuff on here including your topping method (that I found very imformative) and all of it is top notch. Myself as well as many others on here really appreciate you taking the time out to help out with the same old newbie questions day after day. You sir are the Mr. Miyagi of Marijuana Cultivation.
Thanks for the kind words, happy to help.

What's the NPK value of the food you're giving them and the dose?

For starts, they're are in too big a pot. Pot them down to a 1 gallon noting the health of the root system, and, don't forget to water. Pinch off the bottom leaves if they are in bad shape and bury the plant up to the first set of healthy leaves removing the ones below.

When that soil gets bone dry it's hell to get it back to a moisture retentive state. Watering 3 times with a teaspoon of a surfactant like Ivory Dish Soap in a gallon of water will help or better still, water from the bottom up.

Tap water is fine, don't worry about pH.

Good luck,
UB
 

Ricky Williams

Active Member
Thanks for the kind words, happy to help.

What's the NPK value of the food you're giving them and the dose?

For starts, they're are in too big a pot. Pot them down to a 1 gallon noting the health of the root system, and, don't forget to water. Pinch off the bottom leaves if they are in bad shape and bury the plant up to the first set of healthy leaves removing the ones below.

When that soil gets bone dry it's hell to get it back to a moisture retentive state. Watering 3 times with a teaspoon of a surfactant like Ivory Dish Soap in a gallon of water will help or better still, water from the bottom up.

Tap water is fine, don't worry about pH.

Good luck,
UB
Well I haven't given them any food yet because of there size. I was waiting on them to get bigger and they never did.:wall: Just added more leaves. There not much bigger than a seedling.

What do you recomend I give them as far as NPK values?

Anyways since you think they can rebound I will transplant into a 1 gallon pot and try the dish soap method since I have know way to water from the bottom up considering where the plants are. I will take a look at the root system when I do this. Thanks for the advice!! I will check back with a update.
 

Uncle Ben

Well-Known Member
Well I haven't given them any food yet because of there size. I was waiting on them to get bigger and they never did.:wall: Just added more leaves. There not much bigger than a seedling.

What do you recomend I give them as far as NPK values?

Anyways since you think they can rebound I will transplant into a 1 gallon pot and try the dish soap method since I have know way to water from the bottom up considering where the plants are. I will take a look at the root system when I do this. Thanks for the advice!! I will check back with a update.
Take a potted plant, put it in a tub, run water into the tub (not the pot) and when you see water rising in the pot, you're done - there will be no more dry channels or spots. Moot point if you pot into fresh, moist soil.

Try a 20-20-20, or a 9-3-6, or a 30-10-10. Amount/frequency depends on light, temps, plant needs (size), nutrient charge of the soil, etc. If your new growth is the same size or smaller than the previous growth, you got problems.

UB
 

Uncle Ben

Well-Known Member
I forgot to ask why a smaller pot? I thought the bigger the pot the better.
Should be obvious. Too big and you'll invite root rot. You need to learn some basic plant culture by getting off the cannabis websites and going to an indoor gardening site, or checking out a book or two from your local library.
 

Ricky Williams

Active Member
Should be obvious. Too big and you'll invite root rot. You need to learn some basic plant culture by getting off the cannabis websites and going to an indoor gardening site, or checking out a book or two from your local library.
OK thanks. I got about 8 books on hold at the library so maybe I can up my IQ a little bit. I'm gonna get where I need to be I just need to respect the plants more than I have been and do some homework. I didn't relize how much of a lame I was until I started having problems. Thanks for all your help UB.
 

i81two

Well-Known Member
Hey UB,
While were on the subject of nutes and watering, I have been fine tuning my atmosphere in my flower room and it doesnt seem that i can give one of my strains (Papaya, which is an indica) enough nutes. Or thats what im thinking.

temp 78-85 day 65-72 night
rh 40-50%
good venalation
co2 1500 ppm
h2o temp 65-72 tap that sits out for 3 days min
2 1000w hps per 8' tray
70 gallon rez's at 1 tray 40 gall at the other
GH Flora nutes at 2/3 strength minimum
ppm in veg 1200-1500 with not one single sign of over fert
ppm in flower 1800- higher than meter will read

It seems as though i have multiple deficecies with the papaya but another indica im growing doesnt even blink at this heavy regiment of nutes.

I calibrate my Oakten TDS meter every month so i know its a good reading.

I put any where from 20 to 32 plants in a tray at a time. Im thinking that they are using up the nutes as they need them in different amounts making the rez get unbalanced quickly. So i change rez religously every week. While topping off with correctly nuted water in between.

I still have good yeild but think that if i can keep these things greener they will do even better.

Then there is a sativa that i threw a couple into the tray and these things look like they are fake, they are so green/blue and wavey still growing and budding though. I think to much N maybe.

Check out pics. You will see which plants go with each scenerio. I will post more as needed.
 

Uncle Ben

Well-Known Member
Hey UB,
While were on the subject of nutes and watering, I have been fine tuning my atmosphere in my flower room and it doesnt seem that i can give one of my strains (Papaya, which is an indica) enough nutes. Or thats what im thinking.

temp 78-85 day 65-72 night
rh 40-50%
good venalation
co2 1500 ppm
h2o temp 65-72 tap that sits out for 3 days min
2 1000w hps per 8' tray
70 gallon rez's at 1 tray 40 gall at the other
GH Flora nutes at 2/3 strength minimum
ppm in veg 1200-1500 with not one single sign of over fert
ppm in flower 1800- higher than meter will read

It seems as though i have multiple deficecies with the papaya but another indica im growing doesnt even blink at this heavy regiment of nutes.

I calibrate my Oakten TDS meter every month so i know its a good reading.

I put any where from 20 to 32 plants in a tray at a time. Im thinking that they are using up the nutes as they need them in different amounts making the rez get unbalanced quickly. So i change rez religously every week. While topping off with correctly nuted water in between.

I still have good yeild but think that if i can keep these things greener they will do even better.

Then there is a sativa that i threw a couple into the tray and these things look like they are fake, they are so green/blue and wavey still growing and budding though. I think to much N maybe.

Check out pics. You will see which plants go with each scenerio. I will post more as needed.
Sorry, but you're asking the wrong guy, I don't do hydro but I'll comment. Couldn't open up your photos thanks to the new forum's issues. If you need them greener, then add more N in the form of UAN if you can get it, or ammonium sulfate or nitrate. GH Flora nutes aint gonna cut it considering they value K over N.
 

i81two

Well-Known Member
Thanks UB, I will reseach where to get the good stuff. Thanks.

Anyone else want to chime in (and can open the pics) Im all ears.
 

jjfoo

Active Member
when you say ppm what is your conversion factor? I assume you are really measuring EC. If not are you measuring the nutes and calculating the ppm?

EC is not PPM, it is an estimation and there are several common conversions.
 

i81two

Well-Known Member
If i had an EC meter i would say what my EC is. Im measuring a ppm of total dissolved solids.

I dont know the conversion i guess. how can a ppm be converted ?

There should be only one amount for a parts per million.
 
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