Seedling Appears Healthy But Leaves Bending Downwards

HighQualityTHC

HighQualityTHC

New Member
Good afternoon fellow farmers! I'm a new grower and I had a question so I can hopefully rectify my situation (if necessary) before it potentially becomes a bigger problem. There's so much conflicting information online about humidity, temperature, VPD, pH, ventilation, light type/intensity etc and was hoping to get some advice from some experienced indoor growers.

Upon inspecting my seedling this morning, I noticed its leaves are curled downward slightly. The plant itself still looks very healthy, I'm just unsure if this is a normal amount of bending in the leaves or if it's the beginning of a problem in need of correction. Here is some information on the seedling:

Strain: Purple Punch Feminized from Seed Supreme
Grow Space: 2'x4' Indoor Grow Tent (AC Infinity Cloudlab 642)
Grow Light: AC Infinity IONFRAME EVO3 - 18" above seedling on setting 4 on an 18on/6off cycle (as per manufacturer spec)
Ventilation: AC Infinity 4" Air Filtration PRO Kit w/ carbon filter - Currently have this set to run at setting 3 on a 24/7 basis, only going up as needed to correct temperature
Intake: RAXIAL S4 4" Booster Duct Fan - This is installed but not running, I seem to be getting enough passive intake with the exhaust fan to create negative pressure and draw air in on its own
Oscillating Fan: AC Infinity CLOUDRAY S6 - Currently running at setting 2 on a 24/7 basis (not directly blowing on seedling)
Custom Soil Mix: (1) 40QT bag Kellogg Organic Plus Potting Mix, (1) 1.4lb Coco Coir brick rehydrated with 1gal warm water for 15 minutes, mixed until soil like consistency, 2.5 cups Uncle Jim's Worm Castings, 4 Quarts Perlite, 1 Quart Vermiculite - soil is currently sitting at a pH of 7.0
Average Temperature: 75°F
Average Humidity: 75%
Average VPD: 0.7
Time In Tent: As of this posting, the seedling as been in the tent for 6 days. Before planting in soil and placing in the tent, the seedling had about a 1.5cm taproot and fully emerged from the soil the morning after placing it in the grow tent (Not sure if this info is necessary)
Watering: So far, I watered this seedling with 6.3pH RO water the day I transplanted it into the soil and haven't watered it since. The humidity seems to be keeping the soil moist while still allowing it to dry slightly (the top inch or so of soil is dry - not bone dry but doesn't feel too moist either) As you can see from the catch tray under the cup in the provided photos, the soil is able to drain excess moisture. I read an article the other day that I cannot seem to find again at the moment that said this is okay for a seedling as long as you have proper air circulation and ventilation, although I feel like this might potentially be the root of the problem

Hopefully this is a healthy plant, and I'm just being an overprotective plant dad.

If you guys need any more information to be able to give me an accurate and reliable diagnosis, let me know and I'll be more than happy to provide it!

Thank you in advance for taking a look at my post and providing any feedback.
 

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tstick

tstick

Well-Known Member
It looks fine. Just be patient and allow Nature to do its thing. Keep the soil damp but not wet. At this point, the plant is using the food in the cotyledon leaves until it establishes a root system, so don't feed it anything except nice, clean water. If you ever see a time-lapse video of plants growing, they often "wave" their leaves up and down over the course of 24 hours. In fact, they move a lot....but it's on a time scale that we can't really perceive.
 
HighQualityTHC

HighQualityTHC

New Member
Cboat38 said:
In soil you shouldn’t have to water after transplant for at least 10 days if your environment is in check. And get your temp up to at least 82.
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This sounds similar to what I was reading in the article I mentioned but couldn't find again which gives me some reassurance. It's on day 6 since its last watering and definitely seems to be getting a little lighter each day, so it looks like it's on track for needing water around the 10 day mark. The 75°F is just an average, it typically fluctuates between 74°F - 82°F. Are you suggesting keeping the average closer to 82? Currently, I've been keeping the temperature and humidity at the same settings whether the lights are on or off.

tstick said:
It looks fine. Just be patient and allow Nature to do its thing. Keep the soil damp but not wet. At this point, the plant is using the food in the cotyledon leaves until it establishes a root system, so don't feed it anything except nice, clean water. If you ever see a time-lapse video of plants growing, they often "wave" their leaves up and down over the course of 24 hours. In fact, they move a lot....but it's on a time scale that we can't really perceive.
Click to expand...
Thank you, makes sense! Just looking to eliminate any potential problems before they get big enough to effect my grow, especially since I'm only starting with one plant.
 
D

Delps8

Well-Known Member
tstick said:
It looks fine. Just be patient and allow Nature to do its thing. Keep the soil damp but not wet. At this point, the plant is using the food in the cotyledon leaves until it establishes a root system, so don't feed it anything except nice, clean water. If you ever see a time-lapse video of plants growing, they often "wave" their leaves up and down over the course of 24 hours. In fact, they move a lot....but it's on a time scale that we can't really perceive.
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Agree — nice looking seedling.

The cotyledons provide the fertilizer that the seedling needs, its photosynthesis generates the food.

As the root system matures the plant will be able to extract the needed chemicals.

Feeding a seedling “extra” nutes can push them from the sufficiency level to the toxic level. Been there, done that, got the little headstones. :-)
 
S

SBNDB

Well-Known Member
Clear containers are no good for the roots. Take some tape or something and go around the cup so the roots can’t see light
 
HighQualityTHC

HighQualityTHC

New Member
SBNDB said:
Clear containers are no good for the roots. Take some tape or something and go around the cup so the roots can’t see light
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I threw a thick black sock around the cup yesterday. I hadn't even thought of that until someone from another forum mentioned it. Hopefully it didn't damage the taproot leading to the clawing that I'm seeing now. She started out really strong and healthy looking.
 
HighQualityTHC

HighQualityTHC

New Member
SBNDB said:
It’s overwatered. Just leave it alone for 7-10 days at least.
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I just watered it yesterday for the first time in 7 days, the soil at that point was pretty dry all the way through even though the day before it seemed like it'd need a few more days before watering. Do you think that with the humidity running between 75%-82% has anything to do with it? There's so much conflicting information online about humidity during seedling stage, I've heard anything from 60% up to 85% and am unsure what's the *most* correct.
 
Cboat38

Cboat38

Well-Known Member
Let it dry back and for a future reference water only around the edges of the cup not the middle, that’s so your making the roots grow out and look for water and less chance of overwatering again.
 
Budzbuddha

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
You are overdoing things for just a lowly seedling.
There is no reason to give it “ special water “ or special custom mixes.

You literally could cut the drama by using a solo cup ( not clear ) - add the bagged soil medium alone a little TAP water and thats it.

As long as ambient temps are good there is nothing really else to worry about.

Keep things simple. Instead of treating it like a science project.
 
tstick

tstick

Well-Known Member
Just for fun, take a few spoons of the mix you are using and mix it with some distilled water....let the muddy water settle and then draw off the clear water and do a slurry test. If it turns out your pH is waaaay off, then you can adjust the incoming water accordingly. Some of these potting mixes look like they've got a lot of wood/bark components and they can be very acidic as they break down. Seedlings do not like acidic soil.
 
HighQualityTHC

HighQualityTHC

New Member
tstick said:
Just for fun, take a few spoons of the mix you are using and mix it with some distilled water....let the muddy water settle and then draw off the clear water and do a slurry test. If it turns out your pH is waaaay off, then you can adjust the incoming water accordingly. Some of these potting mixes look like they've got a lot of wood/bark components and they can be very acidic as they break down. Seedlings do not like acidic soil.
Click to expand...

For the slurry test, am I just checking the pH of the clear water?
 
tstick

tstick

Well-Known Member
You cn also filter the "mud" through a neutral coffee filter and then test it. Just make sure the filter, itself, is neutral. It's not necessary. I prefer to put the slurry into a small container, shake it up real well and then wait for it to separate on its own. It won't matter if some of the soil mix is in the clear liquid. You're just trying to determine a ballpark pH figure and not an exact number.
 
HighQualityTHC

HighQualityTHC

New Member
tstick said:
You cn also filter the "mud" through a neutral coffee filter and then test it. Just make sure the filter, itself, is neutral. It's not necessary. I prefer to put the slurry into a small container, shake it up real well and then wait for it to separate on its own. It won't matter if some of the soil mix is in the clear liquid. You're just trying to determine a ballpark pH figure and not an exact number.
Click to expand...

I just finished that test and the resulting pH was 6.8 which should be right around where I want it, correct?
 
techniciangrower97

techniciangrower97

Well-Known Member
HighQualityTHC said:
Good afternoon fellow farmers! I'm a new grower and I had a question so I can hopefully rectify my situation (if necessary) before it potentially becomes a bigger problem. There's so much conflicting information online about humidity, temperature, VPD, pH, ventilation, light type/intensity etc and was hoping to get some advice from some experienced indoor growers.

Upon inspecting my seedling this morning, I noticed its leaves are curled downward slightly. The plant itself still looks very healthy, I'm just unsure if this is a normal amount of bending in the leaves or if it's the beginning of a problem in need of correction. Here is some information on the seedling:

Strain: Purple Punch Feminized from Seed Supreme
Grow Space: 2'x4' Indoor Grow Tent (AC Infinity Cloudlab 642)
Grow Light: AC Infinity IONFRAME EVO3 - 18" above seedling on setting 4 on an 18on/6off cycle (as per manufacturer spec)
Ventilation: AC Infinity 4" Air Filtration PRO Kit w/ carbon filter - Currently have this set to run at setting 3 on a 24/7 basis, only going up as needed to correct temperature
Intake: RAXIAL S4 4" Booster Duct Fan - This is installed but not running, I seem to be getting enough passive intake with the exhaust fan to create negative pressure and draw air in on its own
Oscillating Fan: AC Infinity CLOUDRAY S6 - Currently running at setting 2 on a 24/7 basis (not directly blowing on seedling)
Custom Soil Mix: (1) 40QT bag Kellogg Organic Plus Potting Mix, (1) 1.4lb Coco Coir brick rehydrated with 1gal warm water for 15 minutes, mixed until soil like consistency, 2.5 cups Uncle Jim's Worm Castings, 4 Quarts Perlite, 1 Quart Vermiculite - soil is currently sitting at a pH of 7.0
Average Temperature: 75°F
Average Humidity: 75%
Average VPD: 0.7
Time In Tent: As of this posting, the seedling as been in the tent for 6 days. Before planting in soil and placing in the tent, the seedling had about a 1.5cm taproot and fully emerged from the soil the morning after placing it in the grow tent (Not sure if this info is necessary)
Watering: So far, I watered this seedling with 6.3pH RO water the day I transplanted it into the soil and haven't watered it since. The humidity seems to be keeping the soil moist while still allowing it to dry slightly (the top inch or so of soil is dry - not bone dry but doesn't feel too moist either) As you can see from the catch tray under the cup in the provided photos, the soil is able to drain excess moisture. I read an article the other day that I cannot seem to find again at the moment that said this is okay for a seedling as long as you have proper air circulation and ventilation, although I feel like this might potentially be the root of the problem

Hopefully this is a healthy plant, and I'm just being an overprotective plant dad.

If you guys need any more information to be able to give me an accurate and reliable diagnosis, let me know and I'll be more than happy to provide it!

Thank you in advance for taking a look at my post and providing any feedback.
Click to expand...
hey bro i think its that clear solo cup u have it in! slot of ppl dont know but clear stuff with the roots visible to light will shock tf out of it! learned from trial and error been doing this 13 years. looks fine just roots might be a lil wierded out. put some black tape around the cup or transplant it asap i know this is 11 days old so good luck still :). but ya may be a little shocked but itll pick up it slowed ur growth tho. imho opinion weed is often the hardest at the beginning cuz their so week after the 6 node they get beasty real quick with root space.
 
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