Unhappy looking plant please advise

FatBoyVik

Active Member
In my soil grows Ive setup a cheap temu auto watering system. Throughout the grow I increase the amount of water. I typically will have it water twice a day, about 30 seconds of "spray" and when in flower that ends up being around 60 seconds. Im using vivosun 20 gal soft pots with a riser above a reservoir, my goal is no water in the tray. Ive never once had a over or under watered situation. Im historically a hydroguy so watering is more of an over-confidence. Lol.
The more I make these mistakes the more I wish I just automated the process Like that!
 

FatBoyVik

Active Member
I’m not an expert with actual “light numbers“, but I’ve done some reading recently after buying a cheap light meter and experimenting. 50,000 lux is at the upper end of what’s generally recommended for veg growth. You also said that you’re running the lights at 24 hours straight. I’d consider calculating your DLI and seeing if maybe your plants are getting too much light overall. That can stress them and make them look wilty and sad.

View attachment 5357899
Thanks fella, I have lowered the lights to 50% and its meaning I'm getting 36,000 lux.
 

FatBoyVik

Active Member
That’s why we are here. To opening and respectfully figure this hsut out. While I agree that the plants are hungry, I think it’s due to the soil stalling out of feeding the plants/ maybe rootbound. But the number one way to stall soil and the microbes responsible for making nutrition plant available, is lack of moisture in the medium. Yes another way to remedy would be treat the medium like an inert medium and start a nutrient program.

My suggestion to increase water stems from seeing ALOT of soil grows going the same route. People scared to water, waiting for dry out, or too few inches to dry. That’s completely bad advice for a soil grow. The top inches of soil
Should never dry out. As soon as it does microbes go dormant and stall the engine.

I was thinking it could be rootbound as they have been jn there a while but I was told this doesn't happen in fabric pots? Was that a myth?

I am thinking of switching and running it with a nutrient program if it makes it simpler. Even considered coco so I can just water till run off on a timer and not worry.
 

FatBoyVik

Active Member
At some point you’re going to have to figure out how to run without lights for flower( if photo). Historically my best runs are in winter where it’s normal to ge a 15f swing(mid-low80’s to mid-high 60’s) but I do keep my humidity in check especially during flower (check vpd chart). Some ideas are run your intake to your mechanical room for both heat and free co2. And vent to a different dry room so you’re not reintroducing humid air. Fan on floor of tent right in front of intake to pull dryer air in. Wrap fabric pots with plastic. Defoliate more.
Yeah once I get some time off work I'm going to move everything about (ducting and everything) and have it automated by the ac Infinity set up but dam if its not more complex then I thought.
I also had a humidifier for vpd but the water left white stuff everywhere so I had to wait to get a RO filter which came through this week. Will have it back up by start of next week hopefully!
 

HenryTheEighth

Well-Known Member
Hello,

The plan in the picture does not look happy and it's symptoms seem to be a curling down of leaves and a pale yellow color instead of deep green.

I have been watering around every 3rd day and given around 2 liters of organic fish and seaweed with some enzymes. The water has been either mineral water or filtered tap water and phd to around 6.3 or 6.5.

The lights are on 24 hours and the lux is 52,000 at the moment. Heat is around 22C.

The pot size is 11 liters and it's organic eco thrive soil. Could be too small?

I'm needing to put these babies into flower soon but I don't want them to flower stressed as I'm worried they will hermie.

What can I do to get them happy and green?

I'm not sure if it's a deficiency as it's big for it's pot and needs calmag as it's only got fish and seaweed. Or is it too much feed ect?

Very confusing stuff but if anybody can give some input it would be appreciated.
Looking thirsty and hungry to me too.
They are big plants.
Id be putting the bags inside a flexi tub and sitting them in bricks inside the tub. Maybe stab a few holes in the bag down low for drainage. Then I would give them bigger feeds less often. 2 litres for a plant that big is a joke. I’d be using your organic but add a bit of epsom salts if it were me. Feed with a 10 litre bucket for the big ones once or twice a week.
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
Your running a powerful led 24h a day and your temps are too low by far.

Basically you are battering them with light without giving them the ideal environment to be able to deal with it.

That's exactly what's wrong with them.

The best option would be at the moment to cut to 18/6
Dim your light to 25%
Then get your extraction dialed right down to counter the low temps.
You want to be hitting 80 degrees f
 
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FatBoyVik

Active Member
Your running a powerful led 24h a day and your temps are too low by far.

Basically you are battering them with light without giving them the ideal environment to be able to deal with it.

That's exactly what's wrong with them.

The best option would be at the moment to cut to 18/6
Dim your light to 25%
Then get your extraction dialed right down to counter the low temps.
You want to be hitting 80 degrees f

Timer was just added for 18/6 like suggested I will go in and check the temp but I have put the heater on also to make sure its hitting where I want.

If I lower the extractor to minimum is this a problem? Intake is till coming in.
 

FatBoyVik

Active Member
Looking thirsty and hungry to me too.
They are big plants.
Id be putting the bags inside a flexi tub and sitting them in bricks inside the tub. Maybe stab a few holes in the bag down low for drainage. Then I would give them bigger feeds less often. 2 litres for a plant that big is a joke. I’d be using your organic but add a bit of epsom salts if it were me. Feed with a 10 litre bucket for the big ones once or twice a week.

I must admit I checked on them today and they look exactly the same as yesterday. Usually when I water they look watered (droop) then next day their leaves kind of sing or stand out if that makes sense and they look like they are loving life then I wait a day or two and water again. This time it looks like they have not been watered but the pots are heavy.

What kind of watering do you suggest?
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
Timer was just added for 18/6 like suggested I will go in and check the temp but I have put the heater on also to make sure its hitting where I want.

If I lower the extractor to minimum is this a problem? Intake is till coming in.
If you can turn extractor down but can't turn intake down also then just turn intake off.

You shouldn't need it anyway in that size space
 

FatBoyVik

Active Member
Your saying the intake is not important? I can do without an intake and get good results? I have made so many changes just to accommodate an intake it would definitely be easier for me to get rid.
 

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
I must admit I checked on them today and they look exactly the same as yesterday. Usually when I water they look watered (droop) then next day their leaves kind of sing or stand out if that makes sense and they look like they are loving life then I wait a day or two and water again. This time it looks like they have not been watered but the pots are heavy.

What kind of watering do you suggest?
If pots are heavy, none.
Heavy is not a constant in anyone’s garden. Heavy to you could be light to me.

For soil growing runoff is a better trick to gage correct watering practice. Water everyday no matter what first of all. If you get runoff instantly in tray then, but it wicks it up within a few hours. Then your too dry and increase % of water slightly the next day. If you get no runoff right away and water shows up in the tray the next day, then slightly over watered. If you water and no water comes out instantly , and there is no pool the next day in tray, that’s the goldlilox zone and keep on the same %. Increasing slightly as plant grows into flower
 

HenryTheEighth

Well-Known Member
I must admit I checked on them today and they look exactly the same as yesterday. Usually when I water they look watered (droop) then next day their leaves kind of sing or stand out if that makes sense and they look like they are loving life then I wait a day or two and water again. This time it looks like they have not been watered but the pots are heavy.

What kind of watering do you suggest?
No watering if pots are heavy.
I assumed your medium or soil mix would drain? Or are you saying you have water logged bags? Root death could make your plants look like that too?

The kind of watering I was suggesting was a bit of a ‘flush-through’ watering.
If you have a soil medium that gets soaked that you can’t drain then that could be your problem.
Seriously if it is looking out of control I would even consider a trial of repotting one of the struggling plants. Then you can inspect the roots.
I grow in self watering pots with coco these days and feed organic nutrients. Just a 25-30 litre’ish pot from the hardware store garden section. They have a reservoir that’s 2 inches tall in the bottom with a little overflow slot above that. I water until I hear water dripping into the res. Also you can stick your finger in the hole to see if the pot has water in the bottom so you know when they need a feed if you can’t lift the pot.

Sounds like a soil issue to me if your plants droop after feeding. My plants love life after a feed or watering as they don’t get water logged.
 

FatBoyVik

Active Member
That's not good to hear. I got the Ecothrive soil thinking it would be good draining and it should be as its expensive AF.

I may have to repot but I would have to order more of the soil and its 45 English pounds... If its poor drainage and I can expect this problem with the rest I made have to start again as I cant afford to keep the heating and the lights on for no gain.

I must admit the soil looks a lot thicker than the soil I used to get which was something called "soil supreme" which was a nice airy structure but I did use feed with it.

I have taken the intake off as suggested which should bring the heat up.

I wish I tried coco now!
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
Your saying the intake is not important? I can do without an intake and get good results? I have made so many changes just to accommodate an intake it would definitely be easier for me to get rid.
For most home grows an intake isn't necessary, unless it's a fully sealed room, which most aren't.

I have an intake, but that because my veg tent vents to my flower tent, which for me keeps temps up where I want them.

If you have a fairly big grow like 8x8ft thats full wall to wall then an intake is probably a good idea.
But passive intake is what most use.
 
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Muzzle2

Well-Known Member
I had a similar issue to this. In my room, I found that I was using Flower Nutes during Veg and it caused the plants to slow down the eating and then they became over watered.

My plan of action was delayed, but it was the following:

Flush
Wait until it dries out
Feed with right nutrients
During this process Cal Mag foliar every 2 - 3 days.
Also I lowered my lights wattage during this time.

It took me about 1.5 - 2 weeks to see progress.

Here's my post about when I reported it: https://www.rollitup.org/t/nitrogen-deficiency-veg-schedule-accidentally-gave-flower-nutes.1095525/#post-17457690
 

pegboy

Well-Known Member
Hello,

The plan in the picture does not look happy and it's symptoms seem to be a curling down of leaves and a pale yellow color instead of deep green.

I have been watering around every 3rd day and given around 2 liters of organic fish and seaweed with some enzymes. The water has been either mineral water or filtered tap water and phd to around 6.3 or 6.5.

The lights are on 24 hours and the lux is 52,000 at the moment. Heat is around 22C.

The pot size is 11 liters and it's organic eco thrive soil. Could be too small?

I'm needing to put these babies into flower soon but I don't want them to flower stressed as I'm worried they will hermie.

What can I do to get them happy and green?

I'm not sure if it's a deficiency as it's big for it's pot and needs calmag as it's only got fish and seaweed. Or is it too much feed ect?

Very confusing stuff but if anybody can give some input it would be appreciated.
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A couple of things come to mind for me.

1) 52,000 lux is actually very high (even when flowering). Unless everything is running optimally I would strongly consider turning down to around 35 or 38,000 until flip and then only up to about 45 or 48,000 after.

2) You never mentioned humidity in your space. If you're running too dry say less than 30% (if temps are over 75 or 78ish) theres a good chance your plants are shutting down and not transpiring enough.

Any idea what the temperature and humidity are in your space?
 
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