help confirming overwatering

[rave420]

SOIL:

How long has this problem been going on?
Since 24 hours
What STRAIN are you growing?
Unknown Indica Dominant Bagseed from outdoor
What was the establishing technique? (seed or clone?)
Seed
What is the age of your plants?
Planted on Feb 28, on 12/12 for about 20 days, shown sex for 8 days
How long have they been in the soil mixture they are in now?
Since the 21st of Mar when i flipped the switch
How Tall are the plants?
Tallest is a Foot or so.
What PHASE (seedling, vegetative or flower) are the plants in?
beginning of flower
What Technique are you using? (SOG, SCROG etc)
Plain old soil grow under 320W 2700k CFL
What size pots are you using? (Include how many subjects to pot)
1/2 gal pots
What substrate/medium are you using? What brand of soil mixture are you using?(percentage of perlite, vermiculite...etc?)
I am using 60% Original Sea Soil 30% All Purpose container mix (containg Peat moss, Sand, Perlite, Mulch Sphagnum Moss) and 10% Dutch Perlite
What Nutrient's are you using?
I am using AACT's that i make with Wormcastings, Bone Meal or High P Guano, Molasses and Seaweed, as well as Power Grow wich contains some more nutrients, B1 and Yucca Extract. I also top-dress with guano and EWC
How much of each nutrient are you using with how much water? *Knowing the brand is very helpful*
Geesh, all these questions I feed my plants when i have the feeling that they are hungry. I use very lean teas that i use every 2nd to 3rd watering. I also foilar spray with Thrive Alive, Liquid Seaweed extract and Power grow (B1 and Yucca extract). I yet have to see a sign of overfeeding, as a matter of fact i think they can use a stronger diet.

• High P guano - Rubicon Organics
• Powergrow- Rubicon Organics
• Fish 3-3-2 - Rubicon Organics
• Wormcastings - Rubicon Organics
• Thrive Alive - Technaflora Inc.
• Molasses - Wholesome Organics
• Liquid Bone Meal - Rain Grow Organics

How often are you feeding?
Whenever i feel my plants need it, so about every 2nd to 3rd watering. I water whenever the pots feel light to me.
If flowering, when did you switch over to using Bloom nutrients?
I fed Fish AACT once after transplanting in bigger pots, and continued to feed High P guano as a tea as soon as i saw flowers forming.
What order are you mixing your nutrients? (example: veg nutes 1st, bloom 2nd ect)
I add water to the jug, then pour wormcastings, guano in there, and then i add the molasses and seaweed, cap it, shake it and then bubble for 24 - 48 hours. What is the TDS/EC/PPM of your nutrients used?
I have no idea.
What is the pH of the "RUN-OFF"?
Last time i checked it was quite acidic at like 6.1 - 6.3
What method of pH test was administered? Using Strips? pH pen?
Drops and Strips, both the same results.
How often are you watering?
Whenever the pots feel light to me, and when the soil can freely be poured out of the bucket
When was your last feeding and how often are you feeding?
24 hours before the problem occured.
What size bulb are you using?
9 x 40W CFL's
What is the distance to the canopy?
3 - 4 inch
What is your RH Factor? (Relative Humidity)
20 - 30%
What is the canopy temperature?
75 - 82 F Day 65 F Night
What is the Day/Night Temp? (Include fluctuation range)75 - 82 F Day 65 F Night
What is the current Air Flow? (cfm etc.)
Box is 3*2*4ft, there is one fan circulating air inside the box, and there is one 50CFM Bathroom fan pulling air out of the top, passive intake is a long 2 inch wide slit at the bottom.
Is the fan blowing directly at plants?
Some of them are in the direct wind, yeah. The fan however is really gentle
Is the grow substrate constantly wet or moist?
Pretty much moist all the time, but i allow it to dry between waterings
Is your water HARD or SOFT?
R/O
What water are you using? Reverse Osmosis (RO)? Tap? Bottled? Well water? Distilled? Mineral Water?
R/O
Are you using water from a water softener?
No
Has plant been recently pruned, cloned or pinched?
topped after switch to 12/12
Have any pest chemicals been used? If so what and when?
No
Are plant's infected with pest's?
No

The stem of the leaves is very floppy and is easy to bend, the leaves itself are rather droopy and wrapped down. I believe this is overwatering, but i am not sure because the symptoms only show on the bottom part of the plant. Maybe someone can help. Thanks!

 

[TanzanianMagic]

They seem to be drooping because of very dry soil, if anything. You may also look at a slight magnesium deficiency.

 

[rave420]

48 Hours Later the problem still persists. And i don't mean the little brown burnt spots on some of the leaves. Does that look like overwatering to you?

The soil is not actually dry, the EWC on top just dried out. if i push my finger in there it is still plenty moist.

 

[molly]

Have you considered them being rootbound? 1/2 gal seems pretty small. Otherwise your plants look very healthy, so I not thinking nute problems or incorrect salinity. Looks like they are having trouble maintaining constant root humidity.

Edit:
Did you pop these seeds directly into these containers? MJ tap roots are pretty strong and will dig deep. When ever I grow by seed I grow in old 6-pack containers that I get from my nursery. When I transfer them I make sure not to go lower than 3 gal for individuals. I recently started using 10 gal tubs with 3-6 plants per piece and have had great success. I veg for about 10 days for cuts, 3-4weeks from seed, just fyi. Ppl often say that the roots will compete with each other and damage overall yield, but in some situations, like mine, I haven't seen any detrimental effects. Also, I always cut my taproot back to the fibrous roots when I transplant from the 6-packs to their next size containers. Sorry for the tangent if you already responded.

 

[rave420]

Mhh i planted in cups, transplanted and vegged in soup-bowls and then transplanted into here for flowering The roots are growing good, i am suprised they aren't already growing out the bottom. There are just a coupple of small roots that stopped at the holes. It doesn't look like they are rootbound quite yet. Here is a pic of veg

and here they were in my ghetto-cab, just before i finished my REAL cab, straight after transplanting.

I just watered them again. I believe they are starved for oxygen down there, because the last Tea i gave them was quite a drench. Essentially i put the pots into the tea and let them soak it all up. Now they used up all the oxygen in the mix, but there is still SO much more moisture in there that they have problems using all of it without oxygen.
So i fed them with a TINY bit of bubbled and oxygenated water, let's see if they are doing better.

I would LOVE to grow in bigger containers, but my space is very limited. I got 6 square foot and i need to house at least 9 plants. I was going to use even smaller containers.

 

[rave420]

wow that was a quick fix

 

[Blue Dot]

When people say overwater they really mean under-oxygenated.

The EWC you put on top of the pots "caked" forming a barrier for gas exchange. No O2 could be absorbed by the wet soil below.

Remove the EWC on top and let your plants breathe. When you repot, mix in your EWC, sparingly and evenly, so it's not just a layer on top.

 

[stanky bud]

Hey Blue Dot, I think I made that mistake with EWC. Having similar problems with the droopy, yellow, burn spots, etc.

 

[Moldy Dreads]

and here they were in my ghetto-cab, just before i finished my REAL cab, straight after transplanting.

I just watered them again. .

I was about to say, those electrical connectors on the floor scare the shit outta me with water around etc..glad you moved them...

One thing I also would suggest to the OP. Get liners for your pots. The way you have the bottom holes exposed, the roots can dry out etc. Do you use perlite? Seems like your medium is pretty dense with minimal perlite or something. I'd transplant into bigger pots with perlite, coco and good soil mix to get them back up to speed. Sucks you already are in flower, but if the medium if off, or caking like BD said, you'll run into these problems..Liners on the bottom will also ensure whatever runoff from the sides of the pots actually reabsorb evenly, and perlite etc will keep them aerated..and don't bury the stems/trunks, keep the rootball right at the top of the soil, if you bury the stems a bit they will also drown...

 

[rave420]

Oh hell, i am suprised i didn't burn my house down on my last grow
I built a new cab for my current grow, which is up to standard regarding safety. Now i can leave my house for longer than 20 minutes and not be concerned about it.

I think the EWC are NOT a problem. Yeah, i top-dressed, and yeah, they cake on, but NO, they do not take oxygen away. When i water they actually soak up the water. When i water on straight soil the water forms little puddles on the soil and runs down the side, not reaching the roots. The EWC kind of act as a wick to soak up the liquid and transport it into the soil. They are really fluffy and the layer i put on top is really thin. Just enough to hide the soil underneath. As you can see, some perlite is comming up, because it "floats" up in the soil!