A first time grower in great need of some help!

[McWeed24]

Plant 1 - Planted on 05/03
Plant 2 - Planted on 11/03

Phytolite NX2 300 Lights

• Royal Jack Automatic
• Northern Lights Automatic

• 24hrs Light Schedule
• 23 Degrees Celcius
• 53% Humidity
• 3 Gallon Pots

Plant A - Yellow tips especially the lower leaves.
Plant B - Bigger leaves pointing down

Not sure if the leaves feel too dry

The soil on top dries but once I put my finger just a little deeper in the soil, its still slightly moist.

I added a dehumidifier in the room outside of the tent.

I'm not sure Im watering correctly

Not feeding any nutrients for now but have the full Canna range

Any help is highly appreciated

Thanks

 

[TreeFarmerCharlie]

They look over watered to me. How much are you watering and how often? Also, are you checking the pH of the water you use? If so, what is it at?

 

[mysunnyboy]

I agree with Charlie

 

[McWeed24]

They look over watered to me. How much are you watering and how often? Also, are you checking the pH of the water you use? If so, what is it at?

I agree with Charlie

First of all, I would like to thank you very much for your time and interest!

I have just purchased all the equipment and isn't fully equipped yet. I'm still missing a pH meter but for now I'm using a specific brand bottled water suggested by a friend who owns a pH meter and gets optimal results while using it.

I was watering a 2lt bottle for each plant, removing all excess water and doing it every 2 / 3 days depending how the soil felt (to me) but since the leaves were feeling thin, dry and crunchy I believed that Im underwatering so therefore I have been watering with half a litre of water each, every day.

Can you please also guide me regarding the use of a dehumidifier. While having it on, I am reading 53% humidity and with it off I had 65 - 70% humidity so I thought it should leave it on.

What is the optimal light height for my specific light?

 

[steve870]

yes leave that dehumidifier on 53% rh is perfect. The light can be hung where your hand feels comfortable at the canopy level. Depends on how much air circulation you have going on

 

[McWeed24]

yes leave that dehumidifier on 53% rh is perfect. The light can be hung where your hand feels comfortable at the canopy level. Depends on how much air circulation you have going on

This is my setup:

Grow Room Cultibox Light (120x120x200cm)

In:
Passive air intake for 2 vents in the grow tent (ceiling and bottom side)

Out: Air Extractor Vents TT 100 Dual Fan 145/187 m³/h (100mm) with Pro Active Carbon Filter Pure Factory 250mm 160 m³/h (Ø100mm) Fan / Air circulator with clip 15cm 16W Secret Jardin Not really sure what you mean.. Thanks

 

[steve870]

put your hand under the light and lower it until it feels comfortable, if its too hot for your hand its too hot for your plants

 

[McWeed24]

put your hand under the light and lower it until it feels comfortable, if its too hot for your hand its too hot for your plants

To be honest I can keep my hand barely touching the lights and it just gets warmer but not that I can't resist. I just lowered the light to 45cm height and if I place my hand touching the top of the plant, it still feels like nothing happened..room temperature. Should I lower the lights even more? Should I feel any heat when I do this or is it not an important thing to consider?

 

[Wattzzup]

I’ve done 24/0 i now do 20/4. I like sleep so I feel the plant does as well.

 

[steve870]

so yes you should lower the light, i had a 150w led which was perfectly fine at 30cm

 

[McWeed24]

I’ve done 24/0 i now do 20/4. I like sleep so I feel the plant does as well.

The only reason I went for 24/0 is that I did not have a dehumidifier before and once I switch off the light, the temperature was going low (19°C) and humidity was going straight up (70% +). Atleast with 24/0 this didn't happen but I was still on 65% humidity and temperature just above 20°C. Haven't tried 20/4 while leaving the dehumidifier on.. Should I just change the schedule at this point?

 

[McWeed24]

so yes you should lower the light, i had a 150w led which was perfectly fine at 30cm

Just lowered it to 30cm. Not really sure if what @mysunnyboy and @TreeFarmerCharlie said is true but Im not watering them for a few days. I know that over watering cause the leaves to drop too but to me they feel dry and crunchy which indicated that most probably its under watering. Having said that it now shouldn't be the case at this point as I watered them 2 days in a row before posting this threads

 

[TreeFarmerCharlie]

Overwatering will cause leaves to drop down and the leaves will look more puffy and/or bumpy (for a lack of a better word) than usual. Under watering won’t cause leaves to get dry or crispy feeling except in really neglected cases. The first big sign of under watering is when the leaves look thin and hang straight down like wet rags. The top image in the picture below is what under watering will look like. This was a test I did when I wasn’t sure if I was dealing with too much or too little water. I let them completely dry out, until the plants looked the way they do in the top picture, and then I had a known starting point. The remaining pictures show the plant rehydration after one watering.

 

[McWeed24]

Overwatering will cause leaves to drop down and the leaves will look more puffy and/or bumpy (for a lack of a better word) than usual. Under watering won’t cause leaves to get dry or crispy feeling except in really neglected cases. The first big sign of under watering is when the leaves look thin and hang straight down like wet rags. The top image in the picture below is what under watering will look like. This was a test I did when I wasn’t sure if I was dealing with too much or too little water. I let them completely dry out, until the plants looked the way they do in the top picture, and then I had a known starting point. The remaining pictures show the plant rehydration after one watering.
View attachment 4516392

My soil/coco mix is definitely not dry yet this morning but as I already said, besides the leaves pointing down, especially the bottom leaves, they all feel thin and dry while turning light green to yellow. The upper leaves are having like burnt yellowish tips.. They are not hanging down straight like the first photo but definitely not puffy..

 

[TreeFarmerCharlie]

My soil/coco mix is definitely not dry yet this morning but as I already said, besides the leaves pointing down, especially the bottom leaves, they all feel thin and dry while turning light green to yellow. The upper leaves are having like burnt yellowish tips.. They are not hanging down straight like the first photo but definitely not puffy..

What are you feeding, how much, and how often? Burned tips is a sign of over feeding, but the bottom leaves yellowing and dying is also an early sign of the plant not getting enough food. You could be experiencing salt buildup/nutrient lockout.

If I were in your shoes these are the steps I would take.

Pick up a soil test kit (any home store or Amazon) and test your soil to see what the N, P, K, and pH of your soil is at.

If the pH of the soil is low then fill a bucket with slightly higher pH water (do the opposite of it is high), flush the pots until you get some runoff, and test the TDS of the water. If the PPMs are really high then just keep pouring water through the pot until the PPMs get into an acceptable range, then leave the plants alone until the pots get close to dried out before watering them again.
If your N, P, and/or K levels are too high then cut back the amount you are feeding.

 

[Wattzzup]

Just lowered it to 30cm. Not really sure if what @mysunnyboy and @TreeFarmerCharlie said is true but Im not watering them for a few days. I know that over watering cause the leaves to drop too but to me they feel dry and crunchy which indicated that most probably its under watering. Having said that it now shouldn't be the case at this point as I watered them 2 days in a row before posting this threads

Overwatering will cause leaves to drop down and the leaves will look more puffy and/or bumpy (for a lack of a better word) than usual. Under watering won’t cause leaves to get dry or crispy feeling except in really neglected cases. The first big sign of under watering is when the leaves look thin and hang straight down like wet rags. The top image in the picture below is what under watering will look like. This was a test I did when I wasn’t sure if I was dealing with too much or too little water. I let them completely dry out, until the plants looked the way they do in the top picture, and then I had a known starting point. The remaining pictures show the plant rehydration after one watering.
View attachment 4516392

Nice example.

OP I water about once every 3-4 days at this stage. Keep in mind every soil situation is different but this gives you an idea of norms.

If you watered two days in a row that could be it. It’s just as important for the soil to dry out as it is to be watered. Once it’s over watered you need to let it dry out almost like he did in the last post

 

[McWeed24]

Nice example.

OP I water about once every 3-4 days at this stage. Keep in mind every soil situation is different but this gives you an idea of norms.

If you watered two days in a row that could be it. It’s just as important for the soil to dry out as it is to be watered. Once it’s over watered you need to let it dry out almost like he did in the last post

I did this because the same symptoms started to appear when I used to water every 2 / 3 days. Then I added the dehumidifier due to too much humidity and low temperature and everything seemed ok for a day or two until it turned again for the worse. Keeping in mind my lack of experience in this, the leaves seemed dry and tbh they still do.. I'm gonna let it dry completely now. Not sure if its the actual problem

 

[Wattzzup]

Don’t take this the wrong way but you might be doing too much. Sometimes the best thing we can do is nothing.

 

[McWeed24]

What are you feeding, how much, and how often? Burned tips is a sign of over feeding, but the bottom leaves yellowing and dying is also an early sign of the plant not getting enough food. You could be experiencing salt buildup/nutrient lockout.

If I were in your shoes these are the steps I would take.

Pick up a soil test kit (any home store or Amazon) and test your soil to see what the N, P, K, and pH of your soil is at.

If the pH of the soil is low then fill a bucket with slightly higher pH water (do the opposite of it is high), flush the pots until you get some runoff, and test the TDS of the water. If the PPMs are really high then just keep pouring water through the pot until the PPMs get into an acceptable range, then leave the plants alone until the pots get close to dried out before watering them again.
If your N, P, and/or K levels are too high then cut back the amount you are feeding.

I bought the Canna Nutrients kit but haven't tried it yet as first I was kind of hoping to put my mind at rest about the setup and especially about watering correctly..

I don't own a pH meter nor a soil test kit yet. The bottled water I'm using is recommended by someone who gets great results so I'm just relying on that for now as this COVID19 thing is making much harder to buy stuff.. I originally tried to buy what seemed essential to me but I guess its not easy to manage that way..

 

[Wattzzup]

The soil on top dries but once I put my finger just a little deeper in the soil, its still slightly moist.

this was a line from your first post. If it’s moist it’s wet and not ready.