16 Days Old, Fine one day, Droopy the next, see pics

I have one plant, was looking pretty perky yesterday, see pics below. I checked on it today, and to my horror, all the leaves have started drooping. See other pics. This happened over a 12 hour period. I am using Grodan cubes, 18 hrs light, 26c, ph6, lights are 4ft away, have a fan too. This is my first time growing, so any help would be greatley appreciated.

how often do you water it?

i'm only on my first grow too, but from what i have looked at on the internet it seems like overwatering seems to be an issue for new growers.

Looks like it needs water. Is the cube really light? Or if its really heavy, it's over watered, if that's the case let it dry out and it will be back.

DND said:

Looks like it needs water. Is the cube really light? Or if its really heavy, it's over watered, if that's the case let it dry out and it will be back.

Click to expand...

The cube was pretty light so i decided to water it a little. I normally water 2 x a day, morning and evening, i use a water sprayer thing, i can see some roots emmerging out of the bottom of the grocube, and was beggining to think if it was time to transfer it into the NFT tank.

another possibility could be that it is rootbound.

if the roots are sticking out of the bottom, then that is a pretty good indication i think. if you are all setup then you might want to transplant it, but i would also look for a second opinion.

ould you elaborate on rootbound please?

it is basically when the plant grows too big for the envrionment, and the roots have no where to go but to head out of the pot or wrap around themselves (which is almost like it is strangling itself)

this is my understanding of it at least. other, more experienced, people may say otherwise.

this happened to two of my plants (one unknown strain and a shwag plant), but at about 9 days i notice that the unknown strain plant's leaves were starting to droop and the shwag plant looked even worse. i looked at the bottom of the fiber-seed-starting-pot and there were little roots sticking out of the bottom. i transplanted them into their new homes and haven't had any problems since (well none that arose from transplanting)

That sounds pretty similar what may or may not be happening to my plant. are you using hydro?

no im growing in soil, but at this stage i think the problems could be pretty similar.

hey brotha, looks like either no water (rockwool looks dry) no fresh air ?

if the problem is underwatering, just add some water and it should perk up again reletively quickly.

but i would be pretty pro-active about transplanting to a new home if the roots are looking to expand

SirShi66y said:

The cube was pretty light so i decided to water it a little. I normally water 2 x a day, morning and evening, i use a water sprayer thing, i can see some roots emmerging out of the bottom of the grocube, and was beggining to think if it was time to transfer it into the NFT tank.

Click to expand...

If that's the case, it needed water and it's time for it to go into the NFT system. The roots coming out the bottom of the cube means they are searching for water and mature enough to start feeding lightly.

I know people are trying to help, but that plant is not rootbound. I understand the whole meaning of rootbound, but I don't agree. Container plants are going to fill whichever container to it's capacity in time no matter what. It's our responsibility to supply the roots with food, air and water. Food=nutrients Air=drainiage holes which after watering top or bottom brings air into medium during draining. Water- well water is water, every living thing needs it...lol.

It's that simple...there are exceptions and other ways to supply the roots with what they need, but to keep it simple, those are the basics.

Ok, i have transfered everything into the NFT system, fan included this time, getting some fresh air. I will report back tomorrow evening with any progress. Thanks for all your help, and any other theories are welcome!

SirShi66y said:

Ok, i have transfered everything into the NFT system, fan included this time, getting some fresh air. I will report back tomorrow evening with any progress. Thanks for all your help, and any other theories are welcome!

Click to expand...

Ok, So one day later, i watered the plants, and then transfered them to the NFT tank, left it over night, kept lighting, heat, etc the same as it has been since planting the seeds. The plants do not look any different, only change is the 2 largest of the leaves are pretty dry at the tips. They look a healthy colour, although the photo doesnt show that well. Just a little darker than usual. The tops of the plant look good too, just droopy! Does this clarify anything?

I think overwatered if they didn't perk up at all when you did water them.

Rockwool CANNOT get rootbound.

Glad you moved it, step in the right direction, cut your nutrient flow time down. See if it helps.