Got some issues I could use some help with please. Stressed plants and stunted seedlings.

Hey everybody. I FIM'd the plant pictured below 2 days ago and it seemed at first to handle it ok, even started new growth already in that time, but now its beginning to droop and the leaves are getting crispy. This happened with another plant after I topped it and it recovered great, though the leaves that were affected never did fully recover. Has anyone encountered this issue with topping/FIM-related stress before, or do you think it's something else? I went into the soil after seeing a gnat or two and DID notice a lot of salt-like grains in there. Watched them really close and they aren't moving, I don't think they're larvae. When there is a salt buildup can you actually see salt in the soil?? I'm not adding nutes yet but there are micronutrients in the soil I used. It's not the greatest. something like .07,.09,.06(not the actual nute levels, just an example of the quantity, we're talking MICRO.) Anyway this is my first grow and my box is like 3 1/2 feet high, which is the reason for the FIM.

Second issue: I have three seedlings that look like total shit. They are at least a week and a half old and the cotyledons are totally yellow and the leaves are heading that way too. They also have purple stems and are super stunted. I just got a better thermometer/hygrometer and realized the temps were too high. like around 88-90 degrees so today is day one of better temp control and its been in range of 79-82 all day today. Does this seem like the likely cause of these seedlings? Could the sudden change in temp be the cause of my other plants malady? I wouldn't think so because the temps get that low at night already so I would think it could handle it.

I know this sounds totally wrong but these plants seem to hate a breeze. When I oscillate a fan so they get the gentlest breeze you can't even feel with a wet hand the leaves seem to dry up. Humidity NEVER gets below 40, but for the extra temp control I've been putting frozen water bottles in two places in the growbox. It's a pain in the ass changing them but it seems to help the temp a lot. And I check on them all the time anyway. I wonder if the cold air is bad for them.. These are all things I can't really find an answer to anywhere, and before everyone jumps up my ass for using frozen h20 bottles, there are two exhaust fans and one intake fan plus the I've been leaving the front of the box 25% open for temp control. You wouldn't think 5 cfls would put out so much heat but in my case they certainly are.

I really hope to get some feedback on this one, it kills me to see these plants unhealthy. BTW the reason for the wet pattern soil in pic#2 is from spray. I'm trying not to overwater. Third pic is another plant in the same growing conditions and same strain as photo #1. That's the one that I mentioned has the same kind of effects from topping, but recovered.

Too me it looks like you might be over watering.

Remember when you are watering your plants to water
until you see a little run off.Then wait until the first inch or so
of the soil is dry before watering again.

Do not water in little amounts every day or every other day
give your plants a good watering then let it dry out and repeat.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply. I really only water every three days, I let it dry out okay but maybe I do jump the gun a little bit. Just took this pic and this plant hasn't seen water in 2 days, but this shit soil retains water like pregnant woman.

I'm going to be direct...............dump out all three pots, throw that trash medium away, and get a good grow guide.
that's a lazy start to cultivation, there. shit medium, that looks like someone had a tree cut down in front of their house, and that's what remained. I see zero perlite. you are watering on a time-schedule. plants, like Tommy, don't know what day it is.

I'm not watering on a time schedule(never said I was either), it just usually takes about 3 days for the soil to dry out. in the second pic you can see the perlite in the thumbnail. you obviously didn't even look at my post before you replied. I started some seeds before really planning on making a big go of it and I already had a bag of this soil, shitty as it may be, but I've got some coco coir/perlite for the next one. Just trying to see these through as best I can. I don't think I'd have much success if I quit at the first sign of a drooping leaf! Look at the third photo. Same medium without the perlite. You're advice is for me to throw that plant out? I don't think so man. If anyone has any real help I'd certainly appreciate it.

It may be that your soil is just lacking some perilite and/or vermiculite. It's usually best if you can avoid potting soil mixes that have time released fertilizers and mix your soil from scratch with 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 perilite, and 1/3 vermiculite and then add organic nutes to the soil or chemical nutes to the watering can every 2-3 waterings. The peat moss retains water while the other two keep the peat moss from compacting, holding too much water, and blocking out air. This creates a great balance for what the roots need to grow fast and strong.

Don is being unreasonably harsh and should offer his info as guidance instead of criticism. You may consider replacing most or all of the soil, but this will create stress for the plant and slow growth for a short period.

I found a video that will help with anyone who is new or needs a brush-up on growing. I hope it can answer some of your questions!

GreenShmith said:

It may be that your soil is just lacking some perilite and/or vermiculite. It's usually best if you can avoid potting soil mixes that have time released fertilizers and mix your soil from scratch with 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 perilite, and 1/3 vermiculite and then add organic nutes to the soil or chemical nutes to the watering can every 2-3 waterings. The peat moss retains water while the other two keep the peat moss from compacting, holding too much water, and blocking out air. This creates a great balance for what the roots need to grow fast and strong.

Don is being unreasonably harsh and should offer his info as guidance instead of criticism. You may consider replacing most or all of the soil, but this will create stress for the plant and slow growth for a short period.

I found a video that will help with anyone who is new or needs a brush-up on growing. I hope it can answer some of your questions!

Click to expand...

hey thanks for the reply. as this thread is a little old in terms of a growing cycle, things are a little different now. new successes, new failures. I transplanted the affected plants into bigger pots but with perlite. I kept the same medium, just added the perlite in the transplant. They seemed to have liked that. They're all growing well. Now I'm dealing with a minor pest infestation. But my lighting and airflow are the best they've ever been, and Im treating the insect issue tomorrow, so everything seems to have worked itself out. that, I find, is the hardest thing about growing. letting time do what it does because time seems to be the plants best friend.

Royal Blue said:

Too me it looks like you might be over watering.

Remember when you are watering your plants to water
until you see a little run off.Then wait until the first inch or so
of the soil is dry before watering again.

Do not water in little amounts every day or every other day
give your plants a good watering then let it dry out and repeat.

Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

yep 100% i just pulled 8 back from near on death that looked just like them and u no what it was fucken water not N deff not ph water im running 2 600 watt hps temps sit on between 28 -30 got let em dry right out bro even more then finger deep wen there that small i say to the finger test when there big and in flower

get a spray bottle man fill with water when they look thristie spray the soil until there about 10cm - 15 cm tall then start to water get some rizo from canna or nice kelp mix put a little drop to 1 ltr they should live like that for at least 2-3 weeks from seed my are now 12cm and im still useing spray bottle

you know what though, what this actually turned out to be wasn't overwatering. if anything it was under watering, but what it was was that the 18/6 light cycle was just a little too much for them with the amount of heat that was going on at the time. I tuned the cycle down to 15/9 and got my airflow and temps dialed in perfect now. Highs 77-81 with lows at like 73 at night. With the light being shorter they never get tired and droop like that anymore. I might be able to go back to 18/6 now but I don't want to keep changing it up. If anything dropping it to 15 hrs of light for a few weeks before flowering will just mimic the days getting shorter a little more realistically than just an abrupt change, though im sure it doesn't matter much.

As mentioned earlier you used a bad medium for dope growing. they are hungry and need hydro veg nutes asap, first 1/2 str then full.

well I got the foxfarm trio yesterday in the mail. this morning I did a real good flush, because there are premixed nutes in the soil i'm using and I want to dull those down to minimize the guesswork as best I can. Funny thing is they've already got some burnt tips. Not real bad but its enough to wonder if they're being overfed as it is by those micro amounts of nutes in the soil. I think I'm going to start with a quarter strength at first. Here's some updated pics. Notice this is BEFORE I've added any nutes.