Problem with droopy plants

[TerpKing]

Hey everyone! Just wondering if anyone can help me figure out whats up with my droopy girls?

My babies were doing great on Monday before I watered them. The 1l fabirc pots were feeling light so I decided to up their daily feed from 100ml to 150ml. When I checked them Tuesday morning they were all droopy and haven't picked back up since.

I thought they may be unhappy because they got to much feed in one go, and assumed it was over watering. I left them to dry out till Tuesday evening and the pots were feeling light again. I decided I would just feed with 100ml this time to see if that changed things. Still nothing changed and the plants didn't pick up. On Wednesday I decided I would see if they would rather have 2 or 3 50ml feeds a day whilst lights were on instead of one big feed. I tried this on Wednesday and Thursday. By Friday it had still made no difference.

I've been letting the pots dry out till they are light before watering again and I have been watering once a day since Friday and it's still made no difference. I've also tried moving the lights up higher away from the plants. I've tried mixing up a fresh batch of nutrients to see if it there was something wrong with the nutrients, this has all made no change either. I'm starting to think it's definitely not over watering but not sure what else to try. Would be awesome if anybody has any ideas?

Here's some info on my plants and environment.

Strain - holy grail kush
No of plants - 12
Grow type and medium - coco smart pots
Grow stage - early veg 2 weeks or so after first transplant. Rapid rooters straight into coco. 1l fabric pots with clay pebbles at the bottom.
Lights - 600w MH dimmed to 400w & a 315w D-Papillon
Grow tent - 240cm x 120cm x 200cm
Day time temperatures - 24c / 26.5c
Night time temperatures - 19c / 22c
Relative humidity - between 49% / 60%
Pests - haven't seen any

Feeding with nutrients as follows.

12 litres R/O water 0ppm

Bio Green X-Force Silica - 1.5ml
Plant Magic Magne/Cal - 8ml 0.3 EC
Advanced Nutrients PH perfect Micro, Grow & Bloom - 18 ml each 1.0 EC
Advanced Nutrients Voodoo Juice - 2ml litre
House & Garden Roots Excelurator - 0.3ml litre
Hesi Super Vit - 1 drop per 4 litres

Final PH 5.8 EC 1.0

Here's some photos of how they were looking just before lights off today. Lights come on in half an hour and they will be due to be fed half hour after they come on. I'm wondering if maybe they could be under watered and the coco needs a big feed? I haven't watered to any run off at all yet I was just keeping it to small feeds whilst roots grow.

Many thanks
TK

Here's a link to my journal if that helps.

TerpKing - Third Grow - Holy Grail Kush DNA Genetics - Coco Smart Pots - 600W MH/HPS

 

[Imhigh85]

Have you tried foliage feeding them?

 

[TerpKing]

Have you tried foliage feeding them?

I do have a foliar feed actually. It's Plant Magic Evolution. I started feeding them with it once a week on a Monday morning just as the lights go off. I've been using it for two weeks now. I Haven't tried spraying them with it again since last Monday. It says to use it once a week. I would be due to mist them with it tomorrow morning.

 

[SBrewCrew]

Is the air moving well around the room? The plants have great color and size for 2-3 weeks. I read that you haven't had any water run off so that make me think that you need a strong flush. Plus, if you're not getting good air circulation, your humidity my be keeping them overly saturated and they will droop with water weight.

Keep us posted.

 

[TerpKing]

Is the air moving well around the room? The plants have great color and size for 2-3 weeks. I read that you haven't had any water run off so that make me think that you need a strong flush. Plus, if you're not getting good air circulation, your humidity my be keeping them overly saturated and they will droop with water weight.

Keep us posted.

Yeah I have good air movement I would say. Tent has negative pressure. I have two fans inside the tent, one on the floor and one on the side of the tent.

I haven't watered to any run off no. I was watering the same way I did last time. A little bit once a day so that the pots will be light and need feeding again the same time the next day. I didn't want to flood them with nutrients as I wanted the roots to go looking for moisture.

They're exactly 3 weeks old today from popping their heads above ground. I know, the colour is great, this is what bugs me. The stems have gotten much thicker this week. Just the plants are growing slowly and unhappily and I can't seem to figure out why. Humidity is usually around 50%/55% when lights are on.

 

[SBrewCrew]

The tent looks well maintained and clean. Humidity is good. I am concerned about the discoloration of the tips of a few leaves. Looks like they might need a little CalMag. I'd like other opinions as well. Since I grow in RDWC and have been soilless for quite some time, I am worried that the bottom 1/3 of the roots are not getting enough H2O and the proper nutrients. If it were me, I'd at least saturate with water and have some run off. Also, this may or may not be a component of RO water. I do not use RO, I just use filtered water for my girls. I've heard differing opinions in regards to RO water. I'd look there as well and always listen to opinions of the other growers. I've been growing for 35 years and still love it.

Keep us posted.

 

[TerpKing]

The tent looks well maintained and clean. Humidity is good. I am concerned about the discoloration of the tips of a few leaves. Looks like they might need a little CalMag. I'd like other opinions as well. Since I grow in RDWC and have been soilless for quite some time, I am worried that the bottom 1/3 of the roots are not getting enough H2O and the proper nutrients. If it were me, I'd at least saturate with water and have some run off. Also, this may or may not be a component of RO water. I do not use RO, I just use filtered water for my girls. I've heard differing opinions in regards to RO water. I'd look there as well and always listen to opinions of the other growers. I've been growing for 35 years and still love it.

Keep us posted.

Yeah I do like to keep things clean and tidy. Yeah the first leaves did get a little bit of a deficiency just before I transplanted them. That was my fault, I was a couple of days slow getting round to getting them transplanted and giving nutrients. That's why some of the plants had some deficiencies on the leaves I think you're talking about? On the second true set of leaves. All the new growth since I started feeding nutrients and transplanted has looked good. They're a lovely shade of green.

I don't see why not to giving them a good long water to run off, letting them dry well hasn't solved the problem. Does anyone else think that would be a good idea? Defintley pal, I'm always ready to listen to other people. There is a wealth of knowledge to be had.

The R/O water worked well for me last time, I'm doing everything the same way I did in my second grow and journal. Everything worked great there so I'm a bit confused as to what's gone wrong. It's only in the last 7 days something has changed and they've started drooping. First 2 weeks they looked great.

I am also loving it and intend to grow for at least as long as yourself. I've fallen in love with the hobby. It's the best. It's great to see after 35 years nothings changed for you!

 

[Why Doe]

Cal mag for plants that are only a couple weeks old? What the hell lmao. Dropping is not a sign of deficiency and usually you only need calcmag in flowering. Your plants show no sign of deficiency, to me it looks like you are either over watering or underwatering both things will make a plant droop like that.

 

[Why Doe]

Other then pest like mites or gnats the only thing I can think of would be your plants dropping to 19 at night it's not cold enough to kill them by any means but it could be an issue with that strain and low temps

 

[SBrewCrew]

I guess my statement wasn't all that clear. I was merely saying that burnt tips that early is a sign of using RO water and ripping good nutrients from the water. Since they are three weeks and drooping, no water shedding from the bottom after watering may leave the lower 1/3 roots a little dry and missing primary nutes. My apologies WhyDoe. I was almost certain that this grower said there were no signs of mites or gnats. Dropping is one thing, drooping is another. The pictures don't show dropping unless something was just posted. Again, sorry for the unclear message. That obviously never happens in this forum.

 

[Why Doe]

Sorry I meant dropping. I also don't see any burnt tips and since I don't use ro water the only thing I know that causes that is nute burn.

 

[Scientific]

They look too big for their pots. When were you planning to repot?

 

[Why Doe]

They look too big for their pots. When were you planning to repot?

I didn't even think of that, but looking back when my plant got rootbound it started dropping like this.

 

[Blazin Waffle]

Those ladies want to stretch their legs out!
Up pot and I bet those ladies take off!

 

[TerpKing]

Cal mag for plants that are only a couple weeks old? What the hell lmao. Dropping is not a sign of deficiency and usually you only need calcmag in flowering. Your plants show no sign of deficiency, to me it looks like you are either over watering or underwatering both things will make a plant droop like that.

I'm using coco. When using coco you feed with nutrients every day and your supposed to add cal/mag. I'm also using R/O water, if I don't add cal/mag they won't be getting any from the water as it's all been stripped out, that's why I have to add it back. I'm following pretty much exact nutrient regiment I followed on my first two grows with great results.

I'm pretty sure it's not underwatering or over watering as I've already gone through periods of letting the pots dry between feedings and I've tried feeding slightly more. This has been constant since Tuesday morning. I also don't think they're showing signs of deficiency, the leaves are a lovely lush green. They're just drooping and I can't get rid of the droop.

 

[TerpKing]

Other then pest like mites or gnats the only thing I can think of would be your plants dropping to 19 at night it's not cold enough to kill them by any means but it could be an issue with that strain and low temps

Don't think it's the temps either, I run this strain last time and it's happy to go down to 18c at nights no problem. I have had a good look over the plants leaves on my hands and knees a few times so far and have yet to spot anything as of yet. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for bugs tho.

 

[TerpKing]

They look too big for their pots. When were you planning to repot?

Ahh really, I didn't think about this. Good shout. I repotted them from rapid rooters into these 1l fabric pots two weeks ago, the girls are 3 weeks old atmo. I honestly thought they would be OK in those pots for a little longer. I have some 20l fabric pots I used last time but I am going to order some smaller size ones as I want them to dry quicker between feedings. Either 12 or 16 litre as when they fill them out with roots I want to fees 3 or more times a day with a drip system. I'll get some pots ordered and sorted this week.

 

[TerpKing]

I didn't even think of that, but looking back when my plant got rootbound it started dropping like this.

Thanks pal, hoping this will be the cause, hadn't thought about this being a problem as hadn't planted them that long ago.

 

[TerpKing]

Those ladies want to stretch their legs out!
Up pot and I bet those ladies take off!

Thanks for the input, I'm going to get pots sorted this week and get them transplanted. Hopefully this will be the problem as I've tried numerous things so far with no luck. Apart from the droop they look healthy so it's been bugging me.

 

[maana2820]

Yeah i think it looks like rootbound the way the leafs drop and turn a little yellow.
Think the problem will be solved when you pot into a bigger pot.
But really nice setup.