leave are pointing toward growlight

i have a grow box with 2 26 watt cfl its not a big grow box it has great air flow. I use foxfarm soil with some added perlight. my ph is 6.5 my seedling was growing great till day 4 today. I woke up and the leafs were pointing straight up toward the light. i havent watered it since day 2. i left it alone came back in an hour and it fell over. i looked at the root and it seemed dry like a piece of hay. what happened? this is my first grow. did i not give it enough water? i just watered it and the roots came back to life a little but the seedling is still tipped over. there leaves are still a nice green color also no spots or anything.

Plants with upraised hands are happy plants I always say.

maybe too much air flow? how high is the temp? i had the same problem when i had too much airflow, it just took out the humidity too quickly, and how big are your pots? mine were way too small. but im pretty sure its the added perlite... doesnt fox farm already have some mixed in? probably just drains out too quickly, i think the right balance is 20% perlite and 80%soil. could be wrong as i am also new at this.

All kidding aside, fan leaves that are pointing up towards the light is a sign of healthy plants.

As long as there is no yellowing, browning or spotting, you are doing it right.

And obviously of they are pointing up, there is no wilting going on.

its 78 degrees there little computer fans so i cant imagine it would be to much air flow. the seedlings were in solo cups 12oz i believe. i mixed in like a tablespoon of perlite. yes fox farm has a little mixed in but its very thick soil. i cant figure it out it was doing great. i feel i didnt water it enough i was so focused on not over-watering it. i mean these leafs were pointing straight up. the two embryo leafs and the 2 new leafs all pointing up. i thought it was just reaching for light so i left it and in an hour the root was all yellow looking and dry like hay.

So, you're talking about very small plants?

Sounds like they dried out.

yes it was day 4 today. they sprouted on day 1 and had 4 leafs by the 3rd on the 4th day they started to point straight up and then it fell over.

Growing in small cups can be tricky because they dry out really fast.

Well, I guess you learned something.

These kinds of mistakes are the things that make you a good grower in the long run.

Don't give up.

maybe they are stretching. i dont know how many plants you have but 2 26 watt bulbs is enough for seedlings but as they get older you need to add more lights. its possible without knowing everything that they stretched and fell over under their own weight. do you have the cfls about 3 inches from the top of the plants? do you have air movement directly on the plants? you have to strengthen the stalks. what i do is at about day five is add another half inch or so of soil to make sure they are sturdy in the beginning

yeh your right. thanks bro i appreciate it. it was bag seed anyway. i got 5 fem blue mystic on the way. mayb ill get it rite now!

i have just 1 plant bro. im just growing one at a time. everything seemed great they were about 2.5 inches from light. good air flow. i think it was lack of water.

Lil Czr said:

So, you're talking about very small plants?

Sounds like they dried out.

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Bingo. If the leaves are turning up toward the light and the edges are curled, the plant is in dire need of water. It is not happy at all.

mine all point up upraised hands mean your doing it right but sounds like she is a bit dry

the leafs were pointing up but they were not curled at all they actually looked quite healthy. but yes i proboly didnt water it enough is it to late to bring it back to life i added some water n the roots soaked it up and didnt look like hay anymore but its still on its side.

Serapis said:

Bingo. If the leaves are turning up toward the light and the edges are curled, the plant is in dire need of water. It is not happy at all.

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As has already been said, it sounds stretched. The stem is too elongated to support the weight.

Plants that need more light will not point their leaves upwards. That would have the effect of minimizing the surface of the leaves that are receiving direct light. They point their leaf tips upwards in an attempt to minimize evaporation from the leaves.

Don't mess with it. now that it has water, see if the stem will attempt to stand back up. I've seen them make u turns and start growing up again. It's bag seed, so experiment. This is how you learn.

Serapis said:

As has already been said, it sounds stretched. The stem is too elongated to support the weight.

Plants that need more light will not point their leaves upwards. That would have the effect of minimizing the surface of the leaves that are receiving direct light. They point their leaf tips upwards in an attempt to minimize evaporation from the leaves.

Don't mess with it. now that it has water, see if the stem will attempt to stand back up. I've seen them make u turns and start growing up again. It's bag seed, so experiment. This is how you learn.

Click to expand...

even if the stem was barely stretched it wasnt long at all not even half inch? thanks for your help man