First Grow, Plants Look Sad

Recently I started a first grow attempt. I'm about two weeks in using a 600W HPS set up with soil composed of a mixture of pete moss, vermiculite, perlite, and worm castings.

Even though I am cautious to ensure they are well watered (but not over watered) it seems they are a little droopy with the leaves feeling dry. Also some leaves are curling under or have odd patches on the top (as in pic eight).

Pictures are attached, sage advice is appreciated.

back off the watering some more. how often are you watering? and you need a veg light ... you should veg with a 600 w mh or a large watt t5 fixture. The hps is a light i would ONLY use for flower

I was doing it about every 2 days. THe soil seemed pretty dry to the touch... I will back off some more though.

Is using a HPS light really that bad for vegging my plants? I guess I could order a MH bulb (got a digital ballast) since they are not too exspensive.

Get a cheap moisture meter at home depot 8 bucks and never guess again about watering. You are over watering it may look dry but use the meter. It never fails me.

Assuming you have the basic things adjusted, it could be the leafs are having to transpire water faster than the roots can replace it.

Read the post about plant moisture stress. Ensure your lights are not too close, and you have plenty of air flow but not blowing heat down from the light. Maintain a cool grow room and be sure the humidity is acceptable for vegging. Try adding an air stone to your solution before you water the soil, or simply shake it up real good. You want it to be oxygenated.

Heisenberg said:

Assuming you have the basic things adjusted, it could be the leafs are having to transpire water faster than the roots can replace it.

Read the post about plant moisture stress. Ensure your lights are not too close, and you have plenty of air flow but not blowing heat down from the light. Maintain a cool grow room and be sure the humidity is acceptable for vegging. Try adding an air stone to your solution before you water the soil, or simply shake it up real good. You want it to be oxygenated.

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The grow room is a storage area in the basement, temp is about 78 degrees with 30% humidity. The light is a good couple feet away from the plants (see attached pic). In terms of air flow I just have the one fan in the corner that blows air up at the tray there.

I will try the air stones in the water. Would spraying the leaves with water be a good way to retain moisture? I will also hold off on watering and see if they perk up.

the only thing you have in the soil mix to feed them is worm castings?are you spraying them with water or nutes it looks like the leafs have some light burn on them were it was watered with lights on. if you are not feeding your plant in the soil mix they will starve to death .

transplant them into something larger with some soil they can feed from. DO NOT FORGET TO ADD GARDEN LIME TO ALL OF YOUR SOIL. id do it straight away.

max420thc said:

transplant them into something larger with some soil they can feed from. DO NOT FORGET TO ADD GARDEN LIME TO ALL OF YOUR SOIL. id do it straight away.

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I transplanted them today into some bigger pots, and will post some more pictures later.

I am not spraying them with water or nutes. I had been giving them some 2-1-1 'quick grow' organic solution about once a week. I was using half the recommended amount. I had also given them a single dose (quarter recommended strength) of 'super thrive' B-vitamin supplement about a week ago.

Unfortunately I did not add lime to my soil, I have a pH kit coming in the mail so hopefully that will help things too. I also purchased a moisture meter as someone recommended.

Ok quick update for everyone.

I transplanted my plants into 3 gallon pots a few days ago. They seem to be taking to their next pots well, as I have seen considerable growth in the last few days.

However some plants are experiencing a significant amount of burning in the leaves. Since transplanting I have not added any nutes since I added more worm castings and some bat guano to the soil. Can organic nutes cause the plants to burn too? Is it possible that I have a nitrogen deficiency, some leaves have turned completely yellow and fallen off.