1st time grower

Since you asked again, I will describe what I am seeing a little better. I think they clearly look overwatered and soon the big bottom leaves will start to yellow if you dont get a handle on this. Already they are starting to look thin and limp, pointing downward and resting on the side of the container, and at this point they should be splayed out flat and horizontal, putting as much surface area as they can toward the light. Let them dry out, and you will see the difference as they start getting the lift they need to reach up to the light.
 
OK, thanks. Its a little bit of an optical illusion..the leaves are actually about 3 inches above the rim of the pot and arent touching it at all but i can see your point. :)
 
PLant_1_leaves.JPG

Heres a better view.
 
ah... much better view.... that is what I am talking about. Now you want those big fan leaves to stop pointing downward and have every part of them reaching up. They will thicken up a bit too. It's not as bad as I was first thinking though, and consider my advice above what to do to avoid getting to that point. Mostly right now, your plants look pretty happy... just a few signs of overwatering at this point... I have definitely seen much worse.
 
I could fill another pot with dry soil to compare moisture..? That would give me a good idea when they're dry enough to water again. At this point I think itd take a week to dry up, maybe longer as I just gave 9oz of water just this am. I dont have any feelings in my fingers due to MS so going by weight would be better for me to gauge. What do I do I they yellow? Just wait it out?
 
Jamesnns said:
I could fill another pot with dry soil to compare moisture..? That would give me a good idea when they're dry enough to water again. At this point I think itd take a week to dry up, maybe longer as I just gave 9oz of water just this am. I dont have any feelings in my fingers due to MS so going by weight would be better for me to gauge. What do I do I they yellow? Just wait it out?
Click to expand...
yes, that is the definition of the lift method... filling a similar container with fresh dry soil and feeling its weight, and then compare that with your active plant.
It may take a week to dry out the bottom of your container at this point in the development of the root ball. There is always an upper and a lower root system. You never want to let the top system die waiting for the lower to dry out, so if it is still not feather light after 4 days or so, I would do just as you did this morning, and give a small amount spread out all over the top to keep the upper system alive while you wait on the lower roots to drain the bottom. Soon, the root system will become more robust and able to handle this just fine, and you wont have to do the small watering in between any more. You should see your wet/dry cycle go from a week, to 5 days... to 3... and eventually you will see her drain all that water in nearly a 24 hour period. This is when you know that you have exceeded the ability of your system to hold water, and it will be time to up-pot to the next bigger sized container and restart the process. Growing these weeds is all about growing the roots... make the roots robust, and you will be rewarded with larger buds at the end.
 
Thats great info..tyvm for the advice.
Another thing or two if you have time...heres my little grow area. Its about 3 feet x 1.5-1.75 feet and has a max height of 5 feet. Right now i have 3/4 of the top covered. I have a little fan running. Do I really need this at this point?
My other question is..as you can see, the bottom leaves on the far left and middle plant have reached the edge of the pot and also the edge of the reflector. I was using two bulbs each plant angled at about 45 degrees but I wasnt getting the growth I was expecting. I then went to one bulb each straight down and bam..growth. What should I do about the lights? My understanding is the CFL has to be about 2 inches away from the plant. I can raise the lights so all the leaves are getting light, but itll be less light. Or I can go back to double bulbs using the 45 degree splitters.
 
5 feet is not a lot of vertical height to play with... you are going to need to go to flower as early as you can and investigate training methods designed to keep your plants short. And yes, fans and air exchange are extremely important, almost as important as the light... to a point, the more the better. I totally replace the air in my tent about once a minute if not a little more, and have oscillating fans blowing on the plants inside.

And lastly, your lighting... splitters would be fine, but you are most likely going to have heat issues as you increase the amount of light too. You goal is to strike a balance, and keep it about 79° in there. The growth spurt you saw may have been other factors than just the light... be careful with assumptions. I would bet that with those hot reflectors and the nearness of your lights, you will see some heat problems soon. I would back off with your lights just a bit and give a bigger footprint and try to reduce the heat that the leaves are having to deal with.
 
the color looks a lot better, but there is always a price for mistakes. You will probably eventually lose those lower leaves because of the overwatering.. nothing you can do about it now. What you didn't show us was the new growth... the growth that tells us what is happening now... not two weeks ago. Let's see a picture from the top before we all go to freak out land.
 
I 'think' I know what I did wrong(ish)
When I transplanted them I didnt water them. Then after 3-4 days I gave them 9oz of water instead of soaking them until they drain from the bottom...I did this two times. I think I should have started with a full water THEN waited until dry using lift method..then water full again..
I was giving them tid bits at a time too often?
Maybe?
 
definitely. glad you will be correcting this... all you did is raise that water table each time, keeping those lower roots wet, not fixing the problem. Keep doing this and the lower roots will rot and your plant will be suffering big time.
 
TYVM...

Since the leafs are drying out and yellow spotting..should I give them a full watering now...because I think If I dont they'll die...as the top roots app need it...hence the dry crackling yellow spotted leafs. Do this and let them do what they gotta do to get back on track?
 
Jamesnns said:
TYVM...

Since the leafs are drying out and yellow spotting..should I give them a full watering now...because I think If I dont they'll die...as the top roots app need it...hence the dry crackling yellow spotted leafs. Do this and let them do what they gotta do to get back on track?
Click to expand...

They are drying out and yellow spotting because of all the water. Those lower leaves are gonners... resign yourself to it. The crinkling of your new growth shows me that your plants have plenty of water... they are not going to die. Let them dry out... when you do water several days from now because they are feather light, do it correctly.

Also, didnt mention it before, but every time you transplant, soak the soil... this is called merging the soils... and it is a necessary and vital part of transplanting.
 
TYVM..again.
Its nice to have a lifeline....

I'll do as you suggest.
Its odd, very odd...that this is kind of a 'trial' run for me. But for some odd reason i care about these little weeds more than I thought I would...Odd...very odd for me.
Thank you so much for your advice.
 
Glad to help James... we do get attached to our babies. :)
 
Jamesnns said:
TYVM..again.
Its nice to have a lifeline....

I'll do as you suggest.
Its odd, very odd...that this is kind of a 'trial' run for me. But for some odd reason i care about these little weeds more than I thought I would...Odd...very odd for me.
Thank you so much for your advice.
Click to expand...

Lol, I know exactly what you mean. I've killed dozens of houseplants, lawns, flowerbeds, etc, over the years and couldn't care less. My babies in the basement had cold feet for a couple weeks which caused a plethora of problems, and I could barely sleep from worry about them.
 

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