drooping plants, first time grower, no idea

Hey all

First time grower and my plants are experiencing some drooping issues. The medium is soil, CFL grow lights ~300W 18-6 schedule, our grow box is home made and I keep it outside. Im in Santiago Chile and it's summer so it gets pretty hot on the inside of my tent, about 34 C at the highest (93 F) but no signs of heat stress. Humidity is 30% during the day and 60-70% at night. I'm about 5 and a half weeks into the vegetative stage, just began low stress training and the plants are 15 and 16 cm in height.

One plant has been drooping for nearly 6 days now but still looks relatively healthy. The other just started drooping recently. I have no idea whether the plants are over or under watered. Both plants also have some yellowing lower leaves which is a sign for nitrogen deficiency. I've done a ton of research and the symptoms of over and underwatering are similar so I'm trying to be careful with my remedy. A week and a half ago I gave each plant about 500ml of water each with nutrients (tap water) PH 6.3. 3 days after watering, one of our plants started to droop. I waited a week before giving either plant any water and yesterday I gave each plant 100ml of water with veg nutrients. Soil is bone dry at the top but moist about a knuckle deep. I started low stress training yesterday as well because the main stalks still seem very strong and I wanted to get the training process started to generate some new growth.

I also looked into whether tap water could be the issue. Some cities put chloramine in their water for bacteria sanitation and I read that chloramine can cause symptoms that look like overwatering and nitrogen deficiency. Some sites suggested RO mechanisms or using distilled water. Others say to let water sit for a day uncapped and I've also read that you can boil water and let cool to room temperature. I added some pics, (a lot to digest I know) what do you guys think?

Might be chloromine

Is that fan blowing directly on your plant?

And don't try to train lst a stressed out plant. Raise your light a few inches and go easy for a few days.

Most people just bubble, air pump with airstone in the water for 24 to 48 hrs

Thanks for the reply, OK raised lights and redirected the fan to blow around the plants. Fair point about the training but i feel like what's done is done on that front. With respect to over/under watering do you have any wisdom to share on that? Maybe pots are too big for the plants?

Get a hydrometer. It will let you know how wet the soil is until you get to know how much your plants drink. The top layer of soil could be dry but half way down it could be soaked. Over and under watering show almost the same signs. The meter will let you know what is going on. The pot size shouldn't be an issue the bigger the pot the bigger the plant can grow. The roots have room to grow.

Thanks guys. I will look into Hydrometer and will give them some more time to work it out on their own.

In general, how worried should I be here? do they still look relatively healthy?

They still look heathy. Your top leaves are still perky and green. It's a learning process. I over watered my plants when I first started growing. Keep a written grow journal it will help.

Hydrometer? Do you mean a hygrometer? Or a soil moisture meter/tester?

Yeah that's it. Thanks for the correction.

.. Get a pot of your soil before you ever water it.... Pick it up.. Remember how much it weighs..


Soak your pot... Remember how much is weighs....


When your pot is feeling light. Water it.... Do this every grow and you'll just know

Update,

Turns out the issue was underwatering. After a 3 day vacation I came back to extremely droopy plants and a couple leaves had died. I gave each plant a liter of water and 5ml of veg nutrients and they are now back to their perky selves.

Project info had good advice about the pot weight and I think a good indicator of underwatering is the plants will droop days after watering whereas over watering causes the leaves to drop directly after watering.

Looks much better.

IMHO it also looked like you were starting to get a nitrogen deficiency. Generally if theyre not getting enough water, they probably aren't getting enough food either, unless they are overfed.

N deficiency usually causes yellow leaves from the bottom, up.

Also remember if you let your pots go completely dry to the point of drooping, that this can concentrate solids/salts, and if you feed/water again, it can cause burn.

Id get a cheap Moisture Meter from Lowes ect, and use it, and never let the moisture get below Low Moist, just above dry. Don't let plants droop. They need a drier/low moist period, but Not Dry.

I also agree about picking them up when dry/low moist, and then watering, and then picking up again when watered. Yep. Good Idea.

Is it possible for the already yellow leaves to restore their color?

TimelyJohn12345 said:

Is it possible for the already yellow leaves to restore their color?

Click to expand...

No. But still dont rip them off till they come off super easy.

The plant will use those damaged leaves first if the plant has any more of the same stress in the future...

If you rip em off and fuck up again your damaging new leaves