Is this UNDERWATERING or OVERWATERING?

[Guest]

These are about 1 1/2 weeks old from seed. Strain is Casey Jones. Out of 12 there are 2-3 that look like this one does. The droopiness confuses me, as this is my first grow, I am not sure if this is UNDERWATERING or OVERWATERING on my part. I usually water once a day at lights on until the entire soil surface is wet. Strangely, I have a gnat problem, so I didn't water for one day and this is when I noticed the droopiness. Seems like no matter what I do, either watering it or holding back a day or two, these don't seem to perk up that much. Now I've noticed that the new leaves on the bottom of the plant are turning yellow on these 2-3. What is going on(first grow by the way, which is why my watering habbits aren't up-to-par yet)?

 

[Cornerstone]

Let your soil dry out a little before watering...it's not about a clock it is about air in the soil...too much water=not enough air. You'd be amazed at how light a plant container can be and still the plant is very happy.

Over-watering tends to yellow from the newest growth first, yours look fine, but better pics would be nice.

When in doubt Transplant.

Yellowing from the bottom up usually indicates a lack of N. Rather than feeding I'd transplant with good soil and let it get the N there. That way you won't compound your problems by overfeeding.

Just my quick thoughts.

Cornerstone

 

[Guest]

Click on the first pic and enlarge it. It was taken with flash and is as good as can probably get a pic of. This is in Miracle Grow "Organic Choice". I am going to make a trip and get the soil for the moonshine mix. Thanks for the advice. Can anyone else add their input to Cornerstones?

 

[clay10]

Yea! first grow. been there. It’s a jungle at first. But stick with it, and you’ll reap some great benfits.

I like starting seedlings or clones with much smaller containers, they dry out a little quicker and you get a better feel for how often they will NEED water. I like getting them just to where i feel the water is barely sustainable for them.

Also, I usually don't switch to solo cup-sized containers for a good 2.5 - 3 weeks. They'll work though, but they take longer to dry out and very small/young plants won’t use much water. I start with the little black plastic containers that flowers come in at the nursery, they are about 3”x3”x3”. They are sufficient up to about 6 inches of growth or 4 or 5 nodes.

Let the container dry out until its pretty light feeling. If the top of your soil is visibly wet, its definitely doesn’t need any more water for a while. In my larger 1 gal. grow bags, i wait until the top inch or so is bone dry before i even think about watering.

You'll know if you go to long, they'll droop. But if you catch it within a day or so they'll make a good recovery. At this point, I would worry about over-watering, not underwatering. As long as your checking daily (which you will since its your first grow) you’ll catch ‘em when they finally get too thirsty. Those cups will get very light. With good temps (75-80F) temps and air flow, it takes my containers about 3 days to dry out. I can usually get by with watering twice a week. During the summer, i have to water every day because i have high temps, as my cab. is in a garage.

Also, get out of that miracle grow. Shits weak. Get you some FF ocean forest or happy frog. Never tried moonshine mix, buts its all in the neighborhood. I just use Happy Frog exclusively (with some perlite of course). I’m happy with it.

-c

 

[Cornerstone]

clay10,

Superior post, way to lay it down for the new boys in town.

Cornerstone

 

[touringfunkband]

What size drain holes and how many are cut into the bottom of your cups? Overwatering and lack of proper drainage are common issues on for new growers with plants in their infancy..

 

[Guest]

I have 3 triangle holes cut out of the bottom/sides.

 

[Growdoc]

You are overwatering and under feeding, but it is best to transplant into a "light mix" or "very airy soil". Dont transplant directly into a "hot soil". Once transplanted then, Very lightly feed with a fish mix and root stimulator, ORGANIC is best. After the plants start to grow quickly then you can put them into something like "FF ocean forest" soil or any other "Hot Soil".

GrowDoc

 

[Guest]

I just looked and alot of the plants(even the ones that arent droopey) have yellow leaves coming out at the very bottom set of nodes. Identical to the yellowing leaves in the picture above.

 

[Guest]

over water under fed as gro-doc says.

 

[Blackvelvet]

I just looked and alot of the plants(even the ones that arent droopey) have yellow leaves coming out at the very bottom set of nodes. Identical to the yellowing leaves in the picture above.

That's a good sign that you need to begin feeding very weakly.

You shouldn't need to water everyday.

 

[VanGrow]

the gnats and the larvae if still present will eat the roots of seedlings they will dampen off and die

 

[Guest]

LAWHATTT

Your plants are very underdeveloped for their age. It's true, something is not going right. Didn't catch what kind of lights you are using but, daylight CFL's work really well at this stage. Keep them 2-3 inches above the plants.

Do this:

Make a soil mix of 50% Fox Farms Ocean Forest and 50% organic seed germinating mix with a small handful of perlite. Sprouted seeds & small plants love this as it provides some food but is not too hot due to the added germinating mix which is very mild.
Let the plants dry out for a day or two and then transplant back into some clean plastic beer cups with the above soil mix.
Water only and do not fert. before the plants are 3 weeks old (a common rule of thumb). There is plenty of food in the above soil mix.
After the plants have been in the cups for two weeks you'll need to transplant into about 1 gal. containers using straight Ocean Forest soil.
They should be doing much better by then.

Watering newly germinated plants every day is OK but, only for the first week or so......just don't soak the crap out of them. I give mine about 1 fluid oz. a day when they first come up out of the soil for a few days then 2 oz. as they get bigger.

Good luck & keep us posted.


BH

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the posts guys. Even the ones that were looking stronger seem to be doing pretty bad right now. I watered very very little last night as they were dry way under the soil too. Today they are just getting worse. I am using 6 26 watt CFLs positioned horizontally 1-3 inches over all the plants. I haven't been able to make it to the store as its a far distance away, but I AM going tommorrow. My question is, how can I transplant these guys safetly as I am going to guess the root system is severely lacking due to their age? Also, would it be best to transplant to light warrior for a few weeks then in Moonshine mix, or ocean forest mixed like you stated above then into the mix I had planned on using. Thanks

 

[Cornerstone]

Over-watering and under-feeding....isn't that what you've been told? Do you have lots of drain holes in those cups? Have you transplanted yet? Judge your watering by the weight of the cups.

Grow Doc broke down for you the transplant and feeding issues.

Get on it, and get on it now. Don't be posting about 'Safe' transplanting and future soil mixes...feel free to watch your plants die while not implementing the Doctors orders.

Not wanting to be harsh on you bro, don't over-analyze while sitting on your hands....GitRDun.

Cornerstone

ps I don't know why people insist on those drink cups...next time try a smaller planter with real drain holes...ala Clay10's post

Hope all turns out well for you.

 

[Guest]

I am actually in the process of transplanting into MSM right now. I took new 16 oz drinking cups, cut them down by about a quarter, and drilled 4-5 holes in each for more drainage. Should work perfect. Thanks for all the help so far.

 

[Cornerstone]

sweet bro....looking forward to your healthy plant pics.

Stay High,

Cornerstone

 

[jumbo_grimes]

My Moneys on the Gnat's

My Moneys on the Gnat's

Right at the beginning you said you had fungus gnats. If so the order in which your plants have gone tits up makes sense to me . I'd say be prepared to replant.

 

[Guest]

Last night I checked on the plants, and they seem to be idle in the new soil. One good thing so far has been the lack of gnats post transplant. I made sure to clean the veg cab out and quickly dispose of the old soil before re potting in Moonshine's mix. I haven't seen any since. The small leaves at the bottom that began to yellow look like they are falling off most of the plants now.

 

[Cornerstone]

Don't worry about those little leaves yellowing and browning and falling off, that's expected. If yellowing from the bottom up continues then you are probably needing to feed......but you are fine for now with your new soil. Good job LAWHATTT, keep us in pics.

Cornerstone