Question about hydro plant behavior

Before I get started, I'm a bit apprehensive because I know this forum is filled with 'pro-growers' just waiting to rip into a newbie because no one can be cooler than them...so if you're not going to be constructive, then ignore my post and don't reply. I've had bad experiences here and haven't posted for over a year because of it.

But to those who want to give me some advice, that will be appreciated.

I've been growing in soil with some great results. This time around I decided to grow a plant in a 20 liter hydroponic container. I've got my nutes dialed in using General Hydroponics Trio, I'm using a sufficient LED Panel, and I've spared no expense on pump and airstones, and have a dual air pump and a 140mm circular airstone. I'm carefully recording pH, PPM, and water temperature. I've got a contact at General Hydroponics and we've talked about the nutrients schedule. I'm using purified RO water, and my water temps never go above 70 degrees Fahrenheit, room temps never above 73 F.

When I was growing in soil, I'd check on my plants every 2-3 hours to see what was happening. I had leaves that were pointing up always and the plants never had any troubles, and I ended up pulling out almost 200 grams from two plants. Was an awesome grow. But I wanted to give hydro a go.

I am growing the same strain; Blueberry, which is one of my favorites, which is an auto-feminized strain.

I noticed this time on my grow at about the 11th hour of my 18-6 light schedule that the leaves are drooping. This alarmed me because I couldn't figure out what was happening and I know that if you see this in soil its usually an overwatering/underwatering problem. However, around the time the light is about to shut down, the plants leaves start coming back up, and by the morning they are normal again.

What I am trying to figure out is if my light schedule is too long. I'm gonna post two days of photos. Yesterday morning and afternoon, and this morning and afternoon so you can see what the plant is doing. I'm certain this is normal respiration, but I am wondering if my light schedule is too long and maybe I should cut it back.

I don't know...maybe some of you can tell me what you think. Maybe I should just leave it alone. Its going on the third week from a sprout in rockwool.

Thanks in advance.

It's pretty common for drooping and rebounding.

Thank you for the reply. I didn't experience this with my soil grows and only noticed it when the lights went off. Do you think that I should stay on the 18 on 6 off light schedule for entire grow?

I don't grow auto plants but I'm pretty sure that 18/6 is optimal.

Re: plant behavior; from the pics, the plant looks great. I don't think the leaf behavior is indicative of any problem - they'd look more limp if it were say from over-watering. Good luck and sorry about your bad experiences here, there are some bad apples but don't let that deter you, plenty of good apples too.

If your roots look good, check your RH, and CO, a closed or sealed room will eat up your CO, my plants always do better when Im cooking and baking in the house. (aka winter)

It's been raining/snowing here for 12 hrs, rh in my room it's 52% @ 76 F. Still not humid enough for this temp.

Your environment sounds perfectly fine. That is pretty weird behavior. My plants love to droop before hour 17; I figure they can't wait to go to sleep. Drooping at hour 11 is pretty weird. I would blame it on being autos but you say it never happens in soil. Too bad you didn't have a few plants in soil to compare side by side. You would really be loving hydro then.

70's natureboy said:

Your environment sounds perfectly fine. That is pretty weird behavior. My plants love to droop before hour 17; I figure they can't wait to go to sleep. Drooping at hour 11 is pretty weird. I would blame it on being autos but you say it never happens in soil. Too bad you didn't have a few plants in soil to compare side by side. You would really be loving hydro then.

Click to expand...

Hello and thanks you for your response. I thought exactly what you did about the behavior being attributed to it being an auto-feminized strain.

By the way, my first grow solo was 2 15-liter buckets with soil and they turned out really nice. One was a White Widow and the other Blueberry. I made my own grow journal with those two plants. I didn't use any nutrients and instead prepared a mixture of this stuff we have here that's called Kalifornia Biogumus (red earthworm stuff) and palm soil with 1.5 liter of perlite. I'll throw up a couple of right before harvest shots.

For the record, I am a junior chemist, which I am sure helped with my first growing experience. I'm a perfectionist and was checking these plants way too many times a day and watching response That's why I was surprised to see the drooping. Both the White Widow and Blueberry had giant fan leaves. My harvest was 81 grams cured from the White Widow and 55 grams from the Blueberry. Well I'll throw some photos...because who doesn't like to look at some beautiful buds?

Grandpapy said:

If your roots look good, check your RH, and CO, a closed or sealed room will eat up your CO, my plants always do better when Im cooking and baking in the house. (aka winter)

It's been raining/snowing here for 12 hrs, rh in my room it's 52% @ 76 F. Still not humid enough for this temp.

View attachment 4260555

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! I'm opening my windows daily and swapping out air in here. Plant is doing great. I guess I'm just not used to seeing a plant dropping but its been doing this for days and every morning its leaves are pointing slightly upward. Well....can't wait to finish this one and see what I can get out of her.

Major Blazer said:

I don't grow auto plants but I'm pretty sure that 18/6 is optimal.

Re: plant behavior; from the pics, the plant looks great. I don't think the leaf behavior is indicative of any problem - they'd look more limp if it were say from over-watering. Good luck and sorry about your bad experiences here, there are some bad apples but don't let that deter you, plenty of good apples too.

Click to expand...

Thank you, I appreciate it and hope I can contribute some help to other growers. Can't say I'm a pro, but I've got a good start for an amateur.

why run autos at 18/6? run them 24/0 to maximize potential.

I've read about it and I have some reservations about it. For one it's certainly not natural. Picked this off of the Royal Queen Seeds blog:

"DO AUTOFLOWERING CANNABIS PLANTS NEED A DARK CYCLE?
The short answer is yes with an “if”, and no with a “but”. If you want the highest potency and maximum yield, we suggest adopting either an 18-6 or 20-4 light-dark cycle. But should you run lights 24-0 indoors, your plants and all of your equipment like fans will be pushed to the limit as well. So far, 24-0 auto crops have failed to outperform those cultivated with dark cycles of 4–6 hours. There really is power on the dark side of the force."

Discuss...

autos flower on time, not light cycle.

so the more they can grow before they flower the better and bigger the plant will be.

they don't grow in the dark.

the genetics come from latitudes where there is no darkness during the summer which is how they can flower in such a short growing season.

Serpentz said:

all of your equipment like fans will be pushed to the limit as well

Click to expand...

i'd disagree. the more a light bulb or fan or whatever cycles on and off, the shorter the lifespan. there is a bulb in Edison's lab that has been burning for decades.

rkymtnman said:

i'd disagree. the more a light bulb or fan or whatever cycles on and off, the shorter the lifespan. there is a bulb in Edison's lab that has been burning for decades.

Click to expand...

From all the research I've done, I'm deciding to stick with the 18-6 schedule as I have had decent results and can't see any hard evidence of big enough gains to warrant a 24 hours light schedule. I just don't have any desire to leave my LED panel on for 24 hours non-stop for 3 months. I can't even imagine how high my electricity bill would be for doing this. I do agree that autoflower doesn't need a dark period as I've read. The big question is what is the proven advantage? So far I have seen nothing online that says otherwise.

rkymtnman said:

i'd disagree. the more a light bulb or fan or whatever cycles on and off, the shorter the lifespan. there is a bulb in Edison's lab that has been burning for decades.

Click to expand...

Theres a bulb in a fire house that has been burning for over 110 yrs. Look up "phoebus cartel" standards.....some messed up stuff in the name of profit vs product longevity.

Serpentz said:

I just don't have any desire to leave my LED panel on for 24 hours non-stop for 3 months.

Click to expand...

bigger plant=more yield=faster ROI.

that's why i'll never do autos again. they don't yield as much as the same strain in a photoperiod.

but to each his own. carry on.

How far is the lamp from the plant?

There is literally nothing wrong with leaving your LED lights on for 24/7. I use more power to fart then they do to stay lit. I've done a lot of research on autos, from what I've come up with its going to be 24/0 with a 3 day dark period after flower. That's what I'm testing right now anyways, we'll see how that goes.

Serpentz said:

Hello and thanks you for your response. I thought exactly what you did about the behavior being attributed to it being an auto-feminized strain.

By the way, my first grow solo was 2 15-liter buckets with soil and they turned out really nice. One was a White Widow and the other Blueberry. I made my own grow journal with those two plants. I didn't use any nutrients and instead prepared a mixture of this stuff we have here that's called Kalifornia Biogumus (red earthworm stuff) and palm soil with 1.5 liter of perlite. I'll throw up a couple of right before harvest shots.

For the record, I am a junior chemist, which I am sure helped with my first growing experience. I'm a perfectionist and was checking these plants way too many times a day and watching response That's why I was surprised to see the drooping. Both the White Widow and Blueberry had giant fan leaves. My harvest was 81 grams cured from the White Widow and 55 grams from the Blueberry. Well I'll throw some photos...because who doesn't like to look at some beautiful buds?

Click to expand...

How long before harvest were these pictures taken?

I'm not anti-auto flower but I am usually curious what makes people choose to grow them over normal plants.

Thundercat said:

How long before harvest were these pictures taken?

I'm not anti-auto flower but I am usually curious what makes people choose to grow them over normal plants.

Click to expand...

I would say it was about 2 weeks before I harvested when I took those photos. I waited until Trichomes were all milky and some started to turn orange before harvesting. I also ran GE Florakleen with pure water for the last two weeks to flush them.

I grow autos because of my small grow closet in my apartment. The average size seems to be around 2-4 feet tall without scrogging, so there's the room thing. I also like the speed of course.