Low Leaves Yellow & Droopy Post-Transplanting

I've got 4 plants, just out of seedling stage (a little over 2 weeks old) in an indoor, soil, grow box with CFLs. They're all in 16oz plastic cups. I was (naively) using miracle grow soil up until today.

Recently (two days ago) one of them started yellowing on it's bottom leaves (it's first, baby leaves), and today it's just gotten worse - they look half dead, and another one of my plants looks like it's starting the same. Is this normal?? The bottom leaves do look like they're not getting much/any light since there's a small canopy of leaves above them and I just today added in mylar. Additionally, today I noticed a yellow tip on the first one's largest leaf :/

Today I also transplanted all of them (into fox farm's ocean forest + some perlite), and all except the smallest one who sprouted late are now looking kind of droopy in their leaves. This is somewhat alarming since previously they'd been very perky looking. I thought I did a good job of not moving the soil or touching the roots much while transplanting ( except for on one of them :/). Also, I gave them a "good" watering after transplanting.

In retrospect I may have been giving them a lot of water previously. I've been trying to let the soil dry out (enough so that the cup felt very light) before watering again, but I found myself watering every to every-other day (I was thoroughly misting them with a spray bottle).

Another thing I was concerned about is that my box is somewhat hot, it's commonly around 85-89 F with full lights, and one day I forgot to turn on all the fans and it went up to around 95 for probably 3-4 hours. NOTABLY the day it got too hot was about a day before I started seeing yellowing on the bottom leaves of the first plant.


Any ideas? I'll see if I can get some pictures.

the plants baby leaves. the first roundy ones do die its ok. and put a fan on it os somthing.

i hada similar prob with the lower leaves yellowing and the rest of the plant looking droopy and dejected. my problem was that i wasnt giving them any nutrients. i started the mback on a strong nutrient diet and their MUCH better. the ystill arent 100% but theyre looking healthy, the yellow is giving way ot green and all that. maybe its the nutes

Where they rootbound when you transferred them?

SmokerE said:

Where they rootbound when you transferred them?

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I just learned what that is (last night reading articles looking for similar problems)! I haven't seen many rootbound pictures, but the larger two (the ones with yellowing leaves) DID have lots of roots all around the outside and bottom of the cup. So I would say they were at least a little rootbound. From what I've read/seen though, it seems like rootbound is generally a worse case of what mine were doing.


Update: they're looking less droopy after getting a morning of light

sounds like all around plant stress....um a lack of nutes an overwater seem to be the key..what kind of light are you useing

The only reason I ask that (depending on the size of the plant, and my personal use of the ol' cheap 16 oz cup) is that with it being in such a small container if it has alot of roots it will use up the water in it very fast.

nahbean said:

Any ideas? I'll see if I can get some pictures.

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Your problems are connected to poor soil and over-watering and/or pot drainage. Make sure your pot has adequate drainage holes and learn how to water your plants properly. You often get droop after a watering, they'll perk up after a day or so.

Aren't the effects of overwatering usually immediately? 6-12 hours or so?

Go with the pros, like babygro....I still dont' believe a 100%, 90+ degrees in a 16 oz cup I'm thinking overwatering is the least of your worries, even if it was only for a day.

sounds to me like there are two main problems.

1) root bound. plants that are root bound will commonly show yellowing, if not at the bottom leaves then throughout the entire plant. root bound plants will also be stunted.

2) sounds like underwatering. if you're waiting for the soil to dry, you're waiting too long. when you water, you should water thoroughly, so that the soil is saturated. water again when the pot feels like it has lost half of it's water weight.

pix would help, but these are my inklings.

kp

SmokerE said:

Aren't the effects of overwatering usually immediately? 6-12 hours or so?

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The drooping is yes, because that's the lack of oxygen in the rootzone, but over-watering over time leaves roots sitting in soggy soil, which basically rots them and therefore affects the way the plant intakes water and nutrients over a period of time.

kindprincess said:

2) sounds like underwatering.

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nahbean said:

I've got 4 plants, just out of seedling stage (a little over 2 weeks old)

In retrospect I may have been giving them a lot of water previously. I've been trying to let the soil dry out (enough so that the cup felt very light) before watering again, but I found myself watering every to every-other day (I was thoroughly misting them with a spray bottle).

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Don't agree Princess, two week old plants shouldn't need watering every day or every other day if they're being watered correctly in good draining pots, even in 85-90 degree heat.

That's just the problem though, so few people actually understand how to water their plants correctly - they over-water them. Happens all the time.

My 3 week old clones, which are currently at about 3 inches tall, 4 or 5 nodes and in 3 inch pots are currently getting water about once every 6 or 7 days in 80 degree heat, why are his younger plants needing water every day or every other day in slightly higher temperatures?

babygro said:

Don't agree Princess, two week old plants shouldn't need watering every day or every other day if they're being watered correctly in good draining pots, even in 85-90 degree heat.

That's just the problem though, so few people actually understand how to water their plants correctly - they over-water them. Happens all the time.

My 3 week old clones, which are currently at about 3 inches tall, 4 or 5 nodes and in 3 inch pots are currently getting water about once every 6 or 7 days in 80 degree heat, why are his younger plants needing water every day or every other day in slightly higher temperatures?

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Are your plants rootbound Babygro? I think there inlies the answer.

babygro said:

Don't agree Princess, two week old plants shouldn't need watering every day or every other day if they're being watered correctly in good draining pots, even in 85-90 degree heat.

That's just the problem though, so few people actually understand how to water their plants correctly - they over-water them. Happens all the time.

My 3 week old clones, which are currently at about 3 inches tall, 4 or 5 nodes and in 3 inch pots are currently getting water about once every 6 or 7 days in 80 degree heat, why are his younger plants needing water every day or every other day in slightly higher temperatures?

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bg, im not sure, but you may have misinterpreted my post. beanlings don't need to be watered every day (unless you have soil like mine) but it's very important that the soil never dries out on them. young plants are not hardy against drought, and will keel over much quicker than a two foot tall plant in full veg or any part of flower. the soil should always have some moisture in it, but instead of watering with minute amounts, one should water well and thorough, then wait until the pot loses half of the water weight.

i have seen many beanlings die from lack of water, even within 24 hours.

at the same time, i've seen people water their plants every day, and cause over watering issues to the point of emergency transplant.

also bg, clones are hardier than baby plants, and can (and should) be able to go longer without water, and do ok in dryer soil.



i have plans to make a faq thread, a log of clones. i'll take two and overwater them, bring one back to health and let the other die, and i'll give another two drought, and bring one back, let the other die. i'd like you to participate if you like, we can do a side by side comparison and it will help countless people in months/years to come.

kp

Why can't all debates be like this?

babygro said:

Hmmmmmmm

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hahaha!!!! i guess it's safe to say no, eh?

Don't even matter anyway, it's kind of hard to tell anything without a pictures. This plant could be imaginary for all we know.

kindprincess said:

bg, im not sure, but you may have misinterpreted my post. beanlings don't need to be watered every day (unless you have soil like mine) but it's very important that the soil never dries out on them. young plants are not hardy against drought, and will keel over much quicker than a two foot tall plant in full veg or any part of flower. the soil should always have some moisture in it, but instead of watering with minute amounts, one should water well and thorough, then wait until the pot loses half of the water weight.

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I've not misinterpretted your post.

We're talking about two week old seedlings here - not 2 day old ones which most of your post would have been applicable to.

Two week old plants are not tender - they're hardy and should already have a well established root ball. They should have a small oscillating fan on them to stiffen up their stems - how can they be considered 'delicate and tender'?

The watering method you describe is the 'wet/dry' method everyone on here sees me refer to over and over again, but you don't re-water when the pot only has 50% moisture, you re-water when the pot has 10-20% moisture as allowing the pot to dry out to this level encourages a cycle of root growth due to the roots seeking and searching out what moisture remains. If you're continually re-watering at 50%, why should the roots bother seeking out moisture?

Also, allowing the moisture level to drop to 10-20% means that the top soil surface will remain dry for a lot longer than if you allow it to dry out to 50%, that's why people over-water their plants. You don't re-water when the top soil surface is dry, you re-water when 10-20% moisture remains and that's when the pot becomes 'light'.

The ideal time to re-water plants is just before the soil starts pulling away from the sides of the pot, so as soon as you see a tiny gap appear around the pot sides, you run your finger around the inside of the pot to cover the gap and then water the plant. I'm not saying wait till a 1/4" gap appears because that will kill root hairs, I'm saying just as the soil starts pulling away - that's the time to re-water.

This watering technique is equally valid to 2 week old plants as it is to 10 week old plants, the only time it's not valid is probably in the first week of growth when I'd agree the plants only need small amounts of water.

Misunderstandings and people over-watering their plant because they don't understand the correct method in my opinon accounts for over 50% of all new grower problems I've seen on this site and this ones no different.

At 2 weeks I have something I would like to consider a little more than a seedling.