Every water my leaves droops, they pray the next day... So should I dim the lights?

Hello! So everytime I water my plants growing in coots mix, the leaves get quite droopy. 2l in a 12gallon pot so it shouldn't be too much water. I figure its ok as within 24 hours they perk up and look great!

However I am wondering since the drooping is the roots struggling to breath after the initial watering, is it a bright idea to dim the lights a bit to slow photosynthesis while they suck up the water and get more oxygen? Long term I guess I should add a little more aeration to the next batch of soil?

Pics?

How often are you watering? Age of the plants? Do the plants recover a day or two afterwards?

Distance between plant and light?

If the plants state seems to be varying then its hard to tell exactly what the issues are. If the leaves are only drooping after watering then that is a problem on it own. If the plants are praying (leaves pointing upwards) then that is a seperate problem.

I'm not really concerned about the droop, its just the leaves droop a bit after each water for a few hours, then stand up and pray again. I think it's quite normal; my main question is more a theory I'm wondering if anyone else has experimented with.

As the droop is likely caused by temporary flooding of the roots, is this a good time to dim the lights slightly until the roots soak up the water and the plant can breath properly again?

Don't dim the lights. Probably better to change your watering habits, like try giving a smaller volume of water at a time, but more frequently. That way the soil moisture will be more consistent.

Using LED or DE lights? Praying leaves is a magnesium issue, they're praying for more magnesium and not more light. Mg deficiencies are common for growers that switch to LED or DE lights with improved light spectrum. This is because the improved light spectrum results in improved photosynthesis rates and, by proxy, more magnesium consumption. Foliar with Epsom Salts and consider looking into Langbeinite as a top dress.

Regards.

gubblebum said:

I'm not really concerned about the droop, its just the leaves droop a bit after each water for a few hours, then stand up and pray again. I think it's quite normal; my main question is more a theory I'm wondering if anyone else has experimented with.

As the droop is likely caused by temporary flooding of the roots, is this a good time to dim the lights slightly until the roots soak up the water and the plant can breath properly again?

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This just happened to me this morning, and there are only two diffrent variables from todays watering than from those from prior waterings. One is the soil was still moist, I usually wait till it borders between dry and moist on the moisture meter. The other notable difference was I accidently dropped the pH way below 6..the low end recomendati0on for soil growth. I didn't want to throw 5 gallons of water away so I used some silica to pH up the water, got it to 5.5pH, figured the soil could buffer it to a respectable level. Right after the watering the leaves dropped as if in shock, I was not worried, I knew they'd be perked by lunch time and they were. After I'm done with this current batch of water (5 gallon bucket) I'm not gonna mess with the pH adjustments and see how the ladies react, if at all.

@gubblebum I know this is a late response but just watering half your pot would/could have helped. The water should slowly pass on to the second half and negate any of that "suffocation". These plants do need that oxygen.

The answer is, the plants change their leaf angle to the light, basically absorbing less (by the droop), to reduce the possibility of stress. As the water passes by the roots, it pulls oxygen down with it. When the root environment improves (less water, more oxygen), the leaves crave the light and bend back up to catch more photons.

Honestly whenever my plants get droopy it usually means they need more room in the bottom. Pot up to the next size container with fresh mix and I bet they look better in a few days.

Richard Drysift said:

Honestly whenever my plants get droopy it usually means they need more room in the bottom. Pot up to the next size container with fresh mix and I bet they look better in a few days.

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Probably, you'd think 12 gallon pots would be good enough (I personally never heard of 12 gallon pots but that's what the OP said)