Drooping Fan Leaves

Hi all,

First off, some details from this thread.

E-Outdoor veg for 3months, indoor 4 days
E-soil
E-pot
CSL-john inness compost
SCL-Perlite.
SCLR-N/A
E-Water butt, collects rain runoff.
E-7
E-3months
E-BioBizz Grow & BioBizz Bloom.
E-Water every 2 days, feed every other 2 days.
E-250W HPS, was about 6-8 inches from plant, now about 15-18 (moved just before photos taken)
E-30-32C, ~19-20C at night
E-30-40%
E-On 12/12 for 4 days.
E-Two internal 6" fans, one external extractor connected to duct/carbon filter.


Some background:
I am a total newbie who germinated some Early Skunk seeds for the fun of it. Over the last 3 months I have had two plants veg into monsters (approx 1.5m tall) outdoors (despite our terrible terrible weather). It was at this point I decided to stop ignoring them and bring one indoors.

As you can see, I have bended it, topped it and strung up some of it to promote some side growth. Today is day 4 of their 12/12 on a 250HPS bulb. I got home today to some disturbing "drooping", where all the fans leaves look like dead weights.

Last night I misted it for the first time, and it is due its water today. Does it look like under-watering? Maybe heat stress? My planned schedule is 1Litre of water every 2 days (and they get fed every other water). So far they get 1ml/Litre of BioBizz Grow and Bloom.

Any comments on what this might be, or in general on my setup are greatly appreicated (such as temps, air flow etc. 32C seems hot but the bulb was quite close - ive since moved it further away). I don't want to understate that I am a complete noobie!

Thanks!

That definitely looks like underwatering. Plants use osmosis to transport water, kinda a spongelike effect, and if you have no water in the plant material, it can't keep itself rigid. Water asap and you should see the situation clear up before your eyes. Within 20-30 minutes.

How large are your containers? Does 1 litre of H2O allow for some runoff out the bottom of the container? I use 5 gallon containers and use approx 2L/watering and water every third day. Tiny amount of runoff. The day before I water the soil is usually dry and shrinking from the side of the container just a bit, but the plants never exhibit signs of thirst like in your picture.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by irydyum

That definitely looks like underwatering. Plants use osmosis to transport water, kinda a spongelike effect, and if you have no water in the plant material, it can't keep itself rigid. Water asap and you should see the situation clear up before your eyes. Within 20-30 minutes.

How large are your containers? Does 1 litre of H2O allow for some runoff out the bottom of the container? I use 5 gallon containers and use approx 2L/watering and water every third day. Tiny amount of runoff. The day before I water the soil is usually dry and shrinking from the side of the container just a bit, but the plants never exhibit signs of thirst like in your picture.

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yup, water water water

Quote:

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Originally Posted by irydyum

That definitely looks like underwatering. Plants use osmosis to transport water, kinda a spongelike effect, and if you have no water in the plant material, it can't keep itself rigid. Water asap and you should see the situation clear up before your eyes. Within 20-30 minutes.

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Thanks! I gave them a litre with some biobizz just before lights out and misted it again. Is it ok to water the plant (soil) with the light on? I have been waiting til 5 mins before the light goes out on the timer. Today I replaced my 250HPS with a 400HPS bulb and it gives off a good bit of heat.

Quote:

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How large are your containers? Does 1 litre of H2O allow for some runoff out the bottom of the container? I use 5 gallon containers and use approx 2L/watering and water every third day. Tiny amount of runoff. The day before I water the soil is usually dry and shrinking from the side of the container just a bit, but the plants never exhibit signs of thirst like in your picture.

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I think my pot is 20litre or about 5 gallon too. There is a good bit of run off from the 1 litre of water. It's sitting in a plate which doesnt overrun. With 2 litres it might. I hope the solution here isnt to repot it as its been under a good bit of stress from the bending and it's kind of tied in there pretty good :)

Cheers!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Joonei

Thanks! I gave them a litre with some biobizz just before lights out and misted it again. Is it ok to water the plant (soil) with the light on? I have been waiting til 5 mins before the light goes out on the timer. Today I replaced my 250HPS with a 400HPS bulb and it gives off a good bit of heat.

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Why are you misting? Just curious.

You should water the soil when the lights first come on. Soil is better served at night time by being oxygen rich and watering at lights out will displace all the air in the soil and replace it with water.

Well, it seems to of made a nice recovery after getting that watering. Some of the lower branches are still a bit droopy, but I guess they will be dying off anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by irydyum

Why are you misting? Just curious.

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No particular reason. I've heard its good for repelling some pests, and figure it helps by raising the humidity (which is around 30%). That being said I've only misted after the bulb has gone off so it might be pointless.

Quote:

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You should water the soil when the lights first come on. Soil is better served at night time by being oxygen rich and watering at lights out will displace all the air in the soil and replace it with water.

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Wow, I had that totally backwards (thinking the heat from the bulb would cause the water to evaporate), thanks a lot for clearing that up. I'll be sure to water first thing in the morning from now on :)

My plant has been under 12/12 for around 11days now, and I can see her pistils :)

I last watered her yesterday morning when the light came on with 1.5L of rain water (PH7) over around 15mins. Today when I got home (about 9hours in) the leaves were back droopy again (not as bad as above, but noticeable). The temps were around 32C (89F) and the soil was quite dry. Is this too hot? Can I compensate by watering every morning (back down to 1Litre) instead of every 2 days?

I've also noticed that on most of the main stems going up, the top two fan leaf stems are starting to turn red. It looks like a fine shade at the moment (lots of red dots changing its colour). There is no red on the main stem, or any of the leaves, just theses top fan leaf stems. Is this normal? I've searched around and I have seen a lot of people say its normal late into flowering, or depending on genetics. But I've also seen charts like this which seem to point to a deficiency. Any ideas?

Thanks!