Am I overwatering?

[Huey69]

SOIL:

How long has this problem been going on? Most of it's life
What STRAIN are you growing? Pine Mist (it was a seed from a free gram my dad got from a dispensary)
What was the establishing technique? (seed or clone?) Seed
What is the age of your plants? 5-6 weeks
How long have they been in the soil mixture they are in now? Once roots were established, into a 16oz cup with soil mix with no amendments, then a few weeks after, into same soil with amendments.
How Tall are the plants? This one is around 8-9" I believe
What PHASE (seedling, vegetative or flower) are the plants in? Veg
What Technique are you using? (SOG, SCROG etc) None yet
What size pots are you using? (Include how many subjects to pot) one plant per 1 gal pot
What substrate/medium are you using? What brand of soil mixture are you using?(percentage of perlite, vermiculite...etc?) These are rough numbers, but: 25% vermiculite, 25% top soil, 25% peat moss, 15-20% EWC, 5-10% amendments (we did measure everything out, but again, just rough estimates)
What Nutrient's are you using? Mixed in organic amendments, followed recipe #1 in the Organics for Beginners thread.
How much of each nutrient are you using with how much water? *Knowing the brand is very helpful* For each watering, I am bubbling 1 tbl molasses and 1/4 cup EWC per 1 gal water for 24-48 hours again as followed by the Organics for Beginners thread
How often are you feeding? Every watering gets the molasses and EWC.
If flowering, when did you switch over to using Bloom nutrients? n/a
What order are you mixing your nutrients? (example: veg nutes 1st, bloom 2nd ect) n/a
What is the TDS/EC/PPM of your nutrients used? n/a
What is the pH of the "RUN-OFF"? ~6.5-6.8
What method of pH test was administered? Using Strips? pH pen? Electronic PH meter (I don't think its the most accurate though)
How often are you watering? Every 4-5 days
When was your last feeding and how often are you feeding? 5 days from this pic
What size bulb are you using? None, Outdoors
What is the distance to the canopy? However many miles from the sun....
What is your RH Factor? (Relative Humidity) n/a
What is the canopy temperature? n/a
What is the Day/Night Temp? (Include fluctuation range)The temp outdoors is 55-65 nighttime, 65-80
What is the current Air Flow? (cfm etc.) Outdoors..
Tell us about your ventilation, intake exhaust and when its running and not running ? n/a
Is the fan blowing directly at plants? the wind is
Is the grow substrate constantly wet or moist? It's definitely not kept wet, but moist. I let the top layer dry out before watering..
Is your water HARD or SOFT? From the hose, so I believe hard (ran through the sun light, and left in a container for atleast 24 hours to kill chlorine)
What water are you using? Reverse Osmosis (RO)? Tap? Bottled? Well water? Distilled? Mineral Water? Hose.
Are you using water from a water softener? No.
Has plant been recently pruned, cloned or pinched? No.
Have any pest chemicals been used? If so what and when? Neem oil, couple days ago and then probably 3-4 weeks prior
Are plant's infected with pest's? No. There are a few white flies here and there, but Im outdoors, can't keep everything off.

All the other plants (different strains) are in the same medium, but are perky and happy.
The Pine Mist is actually growing the fastest, and is the tallest, it's just droopy. This is 5 days from the last watering, when it was watered before I gave it a bit less then a quarter of a galloon of water (didn't have a ton of runoff or anything).
Am I overwatering? Or perhaps I need more vermiculite/perlite to my mix for that particular plant?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Weedninja]

I like my soil mix to have at least 20% perlite with all my mj plants. I've tried it with less and the results are always better with more. It creates air pockets and keeps the soil from clumping up.

In the future, you may want to get some dolomite lime to balance out the 25% peat you have. But right now, I would put that in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" category.

 

[rabid]

Am I overwatering?

YES.

 

[MynameStitch]

That does not look over watered to me, but rather a bit under watered.... over watered plants tend to droop like you see, but there leaves have like an arch effect like a part round about way and it droops. Your plants leaves are drooping more straight down and if your watering with only slight run off, your plants may not be getting even amounts of water, plants that size have rooted some of that pot by now, in your situation you want to water them until a bit of run off comes out.... not a lot, but enough to where it starts to seep out, you should lift the pot before and after watering.....

lift the pots of the ones that are perky, then lift the ones that are droopy to get a feeling of when to water and when not too.

10k has an excellent thread about when to water and when not to.....
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=47761

So ime that plant looks under watered to me. Not to mention since your watering every 4 to 5 days if your plants were over watered, they would not be drooping by now, they would have a chance to absorb most of the water with the way you are watering your plants, they are not showing signs of issues with there roots, it would show it in the leaves, that is another sign that it is under watering.... so you are not over watering but underwatering them!

 

[its420]

go by weight
feel your plant after 4-5 days of no water, light as a feather
water it till you get 10+% run off out the bottom, lift=heavy
dont water again till its light as a feather
its really that simple
PEACE
420

 

[Huey69]

In the future, you may want to get some dolomite lime to balance out the 25% peat you have. But right now, I would put that in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" category.

I didn't mention it, but there is dolomite lime in there, thanks for looking out!

That does not look over watered to me, but rather a bit under watered.... over watered plants tend to droop like you see, but there leaves have like an arch effect like a part round about way and it droops. Your plants leaves are drooping more straight down and if your watering with only slight run off, your plants may not be getting even amounts of water, plants that size have rooted some of that pot by now, in your situation you want to water them until a bit of run off comes out.... not a lot, but enough to where it starts to seep out, you should lift the pot before and after watering.....

lift the pots of the ones that are perky, then lift the ones that are droopy to get a feeling of when to water and when not too.

10k has an excellent thread about when to water and when not to.....
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=47761

So ime that plant looks under watered to me. Not to mention since your watering every 4 to 5 days if your plants were over watered, they would not be drooping by now, they would have a chance to absorb most of the water with the way you are watering your plants, they are not showing signs of issues with there roots, it would show it in the leaves, that is another sign that it is under watering.... so you are not over watering but underwatering them!

Interesting. I actually did water them after I took those photos (I had already bubbled the molasses/ewc for 48 hrs, needed to use it), but only again until I saw a bit of run off. I try to water evenly by pouring slowly first the center of the pot near the stem, then rotate the pot slowly pouring on the sides.
I've been trying to learn the lift method, but I keep forgetting to check the pot weight before watering haha. I remember after every time.
I'll see how they're doing tomorrow and report back.
Thanks

 

[MynameStitch]

What I di when I water mine, I started at the stem and worked it's way to the outside and around the bowl, if your staying around the stem area your roots are not all getting the water they need. Like I said though, the size of those plants with how healthy they are, there root zone has extended outwards around the edge of the pot and since your only watering with just a little run off, the amount you water sounds like it does not get the entire pot wet so some roots are going without enough water.

 

[bterzz]

In the last 2 pictures the leaves look DEHYDRATED.

Pour around the edges of the pot not on the stem, as the roots will search for any water.

They look under watered in my opinion. The weight method is a great one so feel your pot before you water next time. You'll notice a noticeable difference.

By the way, under-watered is in most cases better then over-watering, specially in veg.

 

[moonymonkey]

stick your finger down a inch down in soil and see if its dry...i think thats better then just checking the weight...moon/

 

[Huey69]

What I di when I water mine, I started at the stem and worked it's way to the outside and around the bowl, if your staying around the stem area your roots are not all getting the water they need. Like I said though, the size of those plants with how healthy they are, there root zone has extended outwards around the edge of the pot and since your only watering with just a little run off, the amount you water sounds like it does not get the entire pot wet so some roots are going without enough water.

I'm watering the same way you are, start at the stem, then work around the outside of the pot to evenly water and get all roots. Last year, I would first water just a little, let that water soak up while I water other plants, then come back to each one and give it some more water, is this advisable?

stick your finger down a inch down in soil and see if its dry...i think thats better then just checking the weight...moon/

I do this from time to time, but I always end up leaving finger holes haha

 

[Miss Blunted]

That does not look over watered to me, but rather a bit under watered.... over watered plants tend to droop like you see, but there leaves have like an arch effect like a part round about way and it droops. Your plants leaves are drooping more straight down and if your watering with only slight run off, your plants may not be getting even amounts of water, plants that size have rooted some of that pot by now, in your situation you want to water them until a bit of run off comes out.... not a lot, but enough to where it starts to seep out, you should lift the pot before and after watering.....

lift the pots of the ones that are perky, then lift the ones that are droopy to get a feeling of when to water and when not too.

10k has an excellent thread about when to water and when not to.....
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=47761

So ime that plant looks under watered to me. Not to mention since your watering every 4 to 5 days if your plants were over watered, they would not be drooping by now, they would have a chance to absorb most of the water with the way you are watering your plants, they are not showing signs of issues with there roots, it would show it in the leaves, that is another sign that it is under watering.... so you are not over watering but underwatering them!

I agree with Stitch.

 

[HawaiianPunch]

I was having a similar problem. I would water my plant and see run off almost immediately from the bottom of the pot. I figured "must be watered." Turns out, the soil was so dried out and compacted the water was barely travelling through the medium, just around it. The plants was still getting enough h20 to survive, plus the roots were getting an ass load of o2, so the plant was okay. Try squeezing your containers like you're testiing for a ripe melon... or a flat basketball. That should break the medium up enough that when you water it the h20 will pass through the medium and not around it.

You could also try dunk-watering the plant. Basically make sure it gets a lot heavier after you water it.

 

[DocLeaf]

That does not look over watered to me, but rather a bit under watered....

What they said

 

[Norkali]

Besides being a little thirsty looking, it looks like it's packed too tight into the soil, suffocating the plant. Does this plant droop when the others don't, even when on the same watering 'schedule'? If so, then try not to pack the soil down too tight next time - and fill it to about 1/2 inch below the top of the pot.

 

[MynameStitch]

I'm watering the same way you are, start at the stem, then work around the outside of the pot to evenly water and get all roots. Last year, I would first water just a little, let that water soak up while I water other plants, then come back to each one and give it some more water, is this advisable?


I do this from time to time, but I always end up leaving finger holes haha

If you have to do this, then you are using cheap soil, if anyone has used cheap soil knows what I am talking about, a lot of times when soil is so cheap that when it just barely dries out it cracks and buckles leaving pockets where roots get ripped apart and or damaged from too much air and the soil not keeping it moist enough.

So if you have to do it that way, then your medium is cheap; I fully understand this is not your problem, but thought I would throw my in there to let ya know about the coming back and watering issue..... cause cheap soil will not soak up all the water even if you sit there and water the hell out of it, it takes time for the soil to absorb it then you would have to come back and water like you said.

I do not advise this for several reasons. When you water the roots start to take up water, the excess you see is obvious water coming out from watering faster than the roots can take in. Just because you water and water comes out the bottom does not always show the entire pot is saturated.

Dry medium or low on water soils will take little more time to absorb the water, the inside where the root ball is and when this happens a lot of people think when the run off comes out that the soil is properly watered, this is not always the case, the dryer the soil the longer it will take to hold a proper amount of water so when you water it will start to absorb, then it will start just running out of the bottom like a river. This is why lift the pot method is a very good thing to learn.

Above info is just future advise; now on your question about coming back to water....

When you water, the plants are taking in water, the ONLY time you should do time interval waterings is when the soil is very dry and you water at small amounts at certain time intervals.

If your plants were not do not do this and water until you see a bit of run off.... if your plants are properly moist and watered regularly, I always let at least 1/4 cup of water come out the bottom of the pots, this was ONLY done if my plant size was proper to the pot size...... if you did this with a big pot and a small plant you are going to have issues very soon

But that is not the case and now I am ranting, too much what if's in my post

Sorry about that!

Besides being a little thirsty looking, it looks like it's packed too tight into the soil, suffocating the plant. Does this plant droop when the others don't, even when on the same watering 'schedule'? If so, then try not to pack the soil down too tight next time - and fill it to about 1/2 inch below the top of the pot.

Norkail also has a very good post info here, not sure if huey's soil is like this... it does not look like it, otherwise there would be showing other signs, besides the drooping.

But if a plant is packed in there too tight your roots grow slowly and the plant slows down and has problems like showing under watered, tight soil can also sometimes cause air pockets when you just transplant too.

 

[Huey69]

Stitch: Last year I used Miracle Grow soil, and yes, it is horrible soil. The soil mix I have now is much better. It likes to absorb water.
But as Norkali stated, I wonder if it's possible packed too tight. When I transplanted, I got the pots ready the day before, put the soil in, then moistened it (I didn't pack it in though, just shoveled in then water). The next day, I transplanted in to it, and then my dad lightly packed the sides. Albeit, this plant and pot treated the same as every other.


Today when I went by, it was still droopy (lower leafs seem to be perkier though), so I went ahead and just gave it some plain water. All other plants were fine (and thus not given any water today).

 

[Miss Blunted]

I think you need more perlite...I can't see any. The soil mix I use is 6 gal promix, 2 gallon perlite, 2 gallon worm castings and 20 tbls of lime (used to use rainbow vegg./bloom, but Mr.Blunted uses micro pellets now).

Hope you get your girls healthy and happy

 

[Huey69]

I think you need more perlite...I can't see any. The soil mix I use is 6 gal promix, 2 gallon perlite, 2 gallon worm castings and 20 tbls of lime (used to use rainbow vegg./bloom, but Mr.Blunted uses micro pellets now).

Hope you get your girls healthy and happy

We used Vermiculite as opposed to perlite, which I'm now wondering if it was a bad decision...

 

[MynameStitch]

If it is packed too tight, it will take some time. Roots will have to push the soil loose when it grows, so if it's still droopy then you know the soil is packed tight, as long as you gave it a very good watering it will help loosen the soil once it's absorbed and the roots grow.... dry packed soil is hardest for the roots. I highly doubt that is what is wrong, but you never know since I was not the one who seen it and so forth.

Chances are high it's just the lack of water around where the root zone is.

 

[its420]

stick your finger down a inch down in soil and see if its dry...i think thats better then just checking the weight...moon/

this is so not true,

you may as well stick yer finger in yer nose