Interesting (as in disheartening) Leaf Curling

Ok, so this is my first grow and I have been purchasing supplies and building as I go along... not ideal but it is what it is.

Anyways, I've got some minor nutrient burn on one plant, I believe, but a larger concern to me is the leaf curling I have observed for the past week or so. Some leaves are just droopy and on one plant the leaves seem to be attempting to roll themselves into joints... I commend the effort but would prefer nice flat leaves like I have seen in other peoples' grows.

My assumption is an under/over watering imbalance or perhaps my temp is too high. Any opinions? Thanks!

Stats:
-Indoor Grow
-235W CFL (125W + 105W)
-24hr light
-Been watering with distilled until a recent introduction of 25% strength nutes
-Temp=80F, Humidity=50%

They may be over/under watered. From the pics the soil looks a little dry. Are you giving nutes with every watering. If so you may want to back off and feed with every other watering. Aside from a little bit of curling (nothing to really worry about as long as it doesn't get worse) they look great. Keep up the good work.

Thanks doc111,

I was concerned that I was overwatering them since I was watering every day (the soil seemed to dry that quickly... perhaps the high heat?) so I started to hold off until every other day. I've only fed them nutes one time, two waterings ago.

When I get home from work I'll feed them a little diluted food and see if they perk up. Thanks for the feedback!

its'a'secret said:

Thanks doc111,

I was concerned that I was overwatering them since I was watering every day (the soil seemed to dry that quickly... perhaps the high heat?) so I started to hold off until every other day. I've only fed them nutes one time, two waterings ago.

When I get home from work I'll feed them a little diluted food and see if they perk up. Thanks for the feedback!

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No problem. Keep me updated and good luck.

I've been having the exact same problem with my first hempy grow. I had thought it may be my rh, since it's real low (~20%), but yours rules that out. My next thought had been maybe a slight over-nute, since I have just a tiny bit of yellowing at the very tips of the leaves (couldn't really see if yours did too).

I also finally got more buffer/calibration solution for my PH meter and found it to be ~.4 points off, which might account for the slight twist in some of the leaves. Do you PH your water before watering? Do you PH the run-off? Did your soil have any nutes in it to start with?

Temps sound ok, do you measure it at the plant canopy?

I'm gonna keep my eye on this, and I'll update if I figure out anything else.

Good luck,

Don't feed them anymore food yet. They don't need it and you burned them @ 25% strength. There's no indication here that the plants are yet hungry for nutrients. Give them a week or more before you feed them again, they have lots of dark green which means they have plenty of nutrients.

What kind of soil are you using?

What is your soil mixture?

Do you have any cal/mag foliar feed spray? Distilled water often doesn't have enough calcium so your plants will love that stuff. I don't think you have a calcium defeciency here, I think it looks like a watering issue.

What kind of temps are you getting? I'm betting they are overwatered. But tell me about your watering a bit. How much water, how often, etc...

Oh and I use to veg on 24/0, but 18/6 seems to stress the plants a bit less for me. I think it's REALLY only because I turn it off and do the 6 hours off during the hottest part of the day so I don't get rising temps, but you might consider backing down your lighting a few hours if you have temp problems during the hottest hours.

Zylar said:

I've been having the exact same problem with my first hempy grow.

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If you are using small plants in a large hempy bucket than your plants will look underwatered. Are you hand watering every day to let water get to the middle? Perlite drains extremely well so until your plants roots reach the "water table" they often will look pretty weak and like they are struggling, but they will perk up again when the roots get there and then take off like nothing else I've seen. I love hempy buckets.

Just make sure to add a little water down the center every day to give them a chance at some moisture. Might also foliar spray during this time to relieve some of the stress.

It's nearly impossible to overwater a hempy bucket.

Zylar - I have my thermometer on the floor but when I get home I'll set it up more at canopy height... thanks for the suggestion. Also, I haven't pHed any of my soils, but I have a pH meter so I guess I'll stop being a negligent father and take a reading when I get home!

laserbrn - I'm using a 50/50 mix of the FoxFarm Ocean Forest potting soil and FoxFarm starter soil. When I water I actually use a spray bottle and I water until I see some drainage out the bottom of the pots. I've tried to time it so I'm watering after they have dried sufficiently but perhaps I have been overly cautious about overdrying. I have cal/mag for one part of my nutrient mix but I don't have the foliar spray that you mentioned. So you think the leaves look like they have plenty of nutrients? Ok, I'll give them some plain water next few times. They've only been in the FoxFarm for a couple of weeks so I guess that soil still has plenty of nutes left.

I'll keep updating as I collect data.

The way you should be determining when to water is by lifting the pots when they are completely dry. They will feel very light, then water until it comes out of the bottom, I mean a healthy amount of water, don't be afraid to overdo it a little. Then wait until the pot is completely light again and do it again.

Outside in nature it doesn't rain a little each day, it pours, then it dries out, then it pours.

When you transplant these little girls I would suggest mixing a 3 part soil of FFOF, Perlite and Vermiculite. 3 equal parts. So really only 1/3 of your potting mixture is going to be FFOF. This will provide good moisture retention (Vermiculite), good drainage (Perlite) and a good soil (FFOF) and you shouldn't have any problems.

I would also add Superthrive after the transplant to help with the shock a bit. When you say you water with a spray bottle I assume you mean without the sprayer on it.

Ohh and on the Cal/Mag in the foliar feeding, your Cal/Mag bottle should have dilutions for foliar feeding. Generally you just want a VERY weak solution to foliar feed with. Think like 1/10th the suggestion on the bottle for regular feeding. It might not be necessary, but your plants will love it alot when you use distilled water.

Thanks for the soil suggestion. Sounds like very prudent advice. I'll be sure to keep it in mind when I transplant. And yes, I take the top off the spray bottle when I water! It's the same water bottle I used to mist the plants when they were just breaking soil and until recently I was just spraying the soil in their present containers but it got a bit monotonous squeezing the trigger 100 times for each plant!

Ok, I'll be lifting some pots when I get home! Thanks again.

laserbrn said:

If you are using small plants in a large hempy (...)

Just make sure to add a little water down the center every day to give them a chance at some moisture. (...)

It's nearly impossible to overwater a hempy bucket.

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Thanks for the tips laserbrn, I appreciate it. I did hand water from the top at first, they're 3wks into flower now (6wks total). But I'm not too worried, plants look fine otherwise. The hempys are great, but they're obviously going to yield less than my DWC plants. But it's soooo much less work and hassle, that's for sure!

its'a'secret said:

Zylar - I have my thermometer on the floor but when I get home I'll set it up more at canopy height... thanks for the suggestion. (...)

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My ambient temps are ~75f, and I fight to keep the canopy ~85f. But that all depends on lights, ventilation, and setup; mine certainly isn't optimal.

Good luck,

Whew... so I have had a full, action packed several days so I apologize for not posting on here since the original day.

Anyways, I went home that day and found all the pots to be very light so I gave them a sound watering. Looks like the plants are enjoying the moisture and nutes since they seem to be growing OK, but one of them is definitely showing signs of a problem! It looks sorta like a couple pictures I saw of calcium deficiency so for the next watering I guess I should take the previous suggestion of a cal/mag foliar spray.

Sorta looks like an overwatering problem with some of the leaves though, doesn't it? If the roots have become damaged with overwatering how does one correct that issue? Should I just let them get overly dry and then water, or will adopting a more accurate watering routine eventually alleviate the problem?

It looks like some Cal/Mag would help you. Your new growth looks really good though. And it looks like there's some overwatering going on. You don't want to let them get overly dry, that stresses the plant also. A more prudent watering routine should alleviate the problem with that.

Do you have a ph meter? For some reason it seems like maybe your soil ph is already really low somehow. That can lockout MG and I always like to rule that out before adding any nutrients to resolve the problem. Especially at such a young age.

laserbrn said:

It looks like some Cal/Mag would help you. Your new growth looks really good though. And it looks like there's some overwatering going on. You don't want to let them get overly dry, that stresses the plant also. A more prudent watering routine should alleviate the problem with that.

Do you have a ph meter? For some reason it seems like maybe your soil ph is already really low somehow. That can lockout MG and I always like to rule that out before adding any nutrients to resolve the problem. Especially at such a young age.

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laserbrn, thanks man. you always have such quick and useful advice! and glad to hear that the overwatering issue can be alleviated without doing anything crazy.

about the pH meter. I had two old ones in my shop that i tried to use but neither one of them read anything but 7 no matter what i put them in. so i guess i'll make a run to the garden center tonight and get another!

Yeah, a ph meter is a crucial tool for growing.

well, I got the pH tested on the soil right after my watering this morning and it read a nice steady 6.2

it looks like they are growing past the root rot I created with the overwatering earlier in their lives and they are growing pretty fast!

i'll get some pictures up in the next day or two...

Glad to hear your girls are doing well!

I flushed mine and started back nutes at like 10%, and now the new growth looks great. I think my problems were slight over-nute and ph issues.

Thanks and good luck,

Good shit, can we get some pictures?