Plant Moisture Stress - Symptoms and Solutions

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roachfinder

Well-Known Member
Michiganjesse said:
Question I'm in hydro super soil. It's similar to deep water culture system but in super soil. I have modularhydro buckets that have air lines directly in the soil. I'm wondering if my plants are getting to many nutrients. From the soil always being wet. The roots are healthy but they are still showing signs of issues as you know. What is your thought on this. Should i go back to normal watering letting the soil dry out before watering again? This system is supposed to let you always have wet soil. But I'm starting to wonder.
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I've never grew in that type. But if there are limited options I would let it dry a lil bit. Just keep a close eye on it
 
Michiganjesse

Michiganjesse

Well-Known Member
420producer said:
i see it looks like its changing for the better .mine changed to purp similar to your. imo let it dry out for sure , weed dont like to be wet
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Thank you i will start watering add in a normal soil grow. Hope all my air lines in my soil are still going to help such a waste on this system I have a few hundred dollars invested in it.
 
Michiganjesse

Michiganjesse

Well-Known Member
Just through a strawberry banana into flower last week going to run her dry in this system and see what it does. Cross my fingers
 
haight

haight

Well-Known Member
Michiganjesse said:
Question I'm in hydro super soil. It's similar to deep water culture system but in super soil. I have modularhydro buckets that have air lines directly in the soil. I'm wondering if my plants are getting to many nutrients. From the soil always being wet. The roots are healthy but they are still showing signs of issues as you know. What is your thought on this. Should i go back to normal watering letting the soil dry out before watering again? This system is supposed to let you always have wet soil. But I'm starting to wonder.
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I do much better wet then "letting" the soil dry out. Just seems to slow down growth and size
 
W

Wt Stevie´s

Member
OneHit said:
UB, What do you think is wrong with this plant? I had sprayed neem oil the day before, and after I woke up and the lights turn on, they were like this. I thought it would go away in a day, buit it didnt.
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had the same problem with the neem oil.I did apply lights on though and I think that was the problem,and I think I overwatered as well,so I transplanted and problem solved
 
S

slownickel

Well-Known Member
haight said:
I do much better wet then "letting" the soil dry out. Just seems to slow down growth and size
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Haight,

This may mean that you have your conductivity too high or in general, too high K and Na compared to Ca. It is critical in soils and mediums to not overwater, otherwise you are guaranteeing yourself calcium deficiency. If you don't like what you see when holding back water, you may have too much K and even N in your soil/medium. Do you have a soil analysis?
 
haight

haight

Well-Known Member
slownickel said:
Haight,

This may mean that you have your conductivity too high or in general, too high K and Na compared to Ca. It is critical in soils and mediums to not overwater, otherwise you are guaranteeing yourself calcium deficiency. If you don't like what you see when holding back water, you may have too much K and even N in your soil/medium. Do you have a soil analysis?
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Nah, I use Ocean Forrest and fertilize with Tiger Bloom very sparingly. The hard water around here comes out of the spigot at 7.2 to 7.4. I think you need three things: Water, light and nutrients. My flower room tends to run hot when the lights are on 80-84f. I water from the bottom so the soil at the top tends to stay dry but at the bottom it's wet. I do not let the pots sit in water. I water every other day for the most part.
 
haight

haight

Well-Known Member
Michiganjesse said:
I seem to be having issues they look over watered turning purple and black like signs of over watering do you use modularhydro buckets
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Three gallon pots in a saucer. I water from the bottom. Anyone with fungus gnat issues should consider watering from the bottom.
 
Knotty Head

Knotty Head

New Member
I reall need help. I am more than a month in on my candyland grow. The girls are stunted and showing this burning that wont go away. 600w mh, 640 cfm exhaust fan, 600 inline fan, 2 mini fans for circulation. Temps reach high 80's and go as low as 75ish, i am in a hot area. I was watering with bottled spring water and thought thats where the problem was coming from, so i just began using my filtered tap. Plants looking better but still not sure. New seedlings look totally healthy and have only gotten tap.
 

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Useless89

Useless89

Member
Uncle Ben said:
PLANT MOISTURE STRESS - symptoms and solutions (revised Jan. 12, 2009)
So here is what my leaves are doing notice the bottom leaves are starting to curl at the tips it may be too early to notice anything ive noticed it over the last few days. Plant is 3 weeks old. First dose of ff gb was last night but the problem was prior to that
Quite often I hear groans from folks having leaf problems -> “Help, my leaves are cupping and the leaf edges are turning brown!”, or, “My plant's leaf tips are curling down and turning black ....what's wrong?” Unless insect damage has occurred or the plant is suffering from a severe case of calcium deficiency, the plant is trying to tell you that it is water stressed. It's hard to tell *exactly* what the culprit is, and unfortunately the “solution” the grower chooses many times is not the right one. A mis-diagnosis only serves to make matters worse by promoting further decline. I’ll try to cover some of the more common causes that can induce these common symptoms and try to offer a few simple solutions. The ultimate and correct solution is in the hands of the grower.

1. Over-fertilizing - the most common cause of leaf cupping aka leaf margin rolling, leaf margin burn, and leaf tip curl/burn is the overzealous use of too much plant food in relationship to factors such as plant size, vigor and rate of growth. The first unit of a plant to show moisture stress is the leaf at its margins and/or tips, reflected by margin rolling (cupping) or burning. Sometimes copper colored necrotic spots show in the leaf also. A hard, crispy feel to the leaf frequently occurs as well, as opposed to a soft and cool feel of a happy leaf. When you have a high concentration of salts in solution (or in the root medium) compared to lower salinity levels found in the plant’s tissue, water is actually drawn out of the plant across the root gradient in order to fix the ppm imbalance. IOW, this is a natural, osmotic response that serves to equalize salinity levels on both sides of the root’s epidermal gradient. Back off on the amount and/or frequency of plant food. Too much plant food can also burn the roots, especially the sensitive root tips and hairs, which then creates another set of problems such as nutrient deficiencies. A note for the bio folks - as soil dries, the concentration of the remaining salts rises further exacerbating the problem. Leach (flush) your pots once in a while to get rid of excess salts.

2. High Heat - the plant is losing water via it’s leaves faster than what can be replaced by the root system. The leaf responds by leaf margin cupping or rolling (up or down) in order to conserve moisture. A good example is reflected by the appearance of broad-bladed turf grass on a hot summer day, high noon, with low soil moisture levels - the leaf blade will roll in and the grass will take on a dull, greyish-green appearance. Upon sunrise when moisture levels have returned to normal, the leaf blade will be flat. Lower the heat and concentrate on developing a large, robust root system by practicing sound plant culture. An efficient and effective root system will go a long way to prevent heat induced leaf dessication and leaf margin curling by supplying sufficient moisture for good plant health. One short episode of high heat is enough to permanently destroy leaf tissue and cause a general decline in the leaves affected, which often occurs to leaves found at the top of the plant located near HID lamps. The damaged leaf (usually) does not recover, no matter what you do. Bummer in the summer. One can only look to new growth for indications that the problem has been corrected.

3. High Light - yes, it’s true, you can give our faves too much light. Cannabis does not receive full sun from sunrise to sunset in its natural state. It is shaded or given reduced light levels because of adjacent plant material, cloudy conditions, rain, debris and dust collection on the leaf surface, twilight periods of early morning and late afternoon, and light intensity changes caused by a change in the seasons. Too much light mainly serves to bleach out and destroy chlorophyll as opposed to causing leaf cupping, but it often goes hand-in-hand with high heat for indoor growers. Again, back off on the light and concentrate on developing/maintaining an efficient and robust root system. Keep in mind that all but equatorial material receive less light during flowering than during the vegetative stage.

4. Overwatering - this practice only serves to weaken the root system by depriving the roots of proper gas exchange. IOW, the roots are not getting enough oxygen which creates an anerobic condition causing root decline and root rot with the end result showing up as leaf stress, stunted growth, and in severe cases, death. <gasp!> Alot of times folks think the plant is not getting enough plant food (which it can't under such adverse conditions), they add more nutes for a "curative", and just add insult to injury.

5. Underwatering - not only is the plant now stressed due to a low supply of adequate moisture, but carbohydrate production has been greatly compromised (screwed up). Step up the watering frequency, and if need be, organic growers may need to soak the pot from the bottom up until moisture levels reach an even consistency throughout the medium especially with mixes that are heavy in peat. If severe, a little surfactant (liquid Ivory dish soap) added to the drench will help return the organics back to a normal moisture retentive state. If the pot feels light to the lift - it&#8217;s time to water. Don&#8217;t wait until the soil pulls away from the sides of the pot or leaves droop before you water.

Happy gardening,
Uncle Ben
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