Overwatered or nitrogen toxicity

Hi people,

I watered two plants and noticed an instant change in their appearance. So it would make you think over watering right? Well they are both in coco and one with perlite. Also they was watered previously at different times, hours apart. So the weight of them both was different. In fact I would have watered the one with perlite a little sooner to be honest.

I had noticed a little slight clawing on the leaves the past few days. Truth is I ignored it and kept the nutes at 0.8ec simply because I didn’t think it was much. I know I should read the plants and care less about numbers.

Apart from that when I have checked the roots previously I started to notice I’d have no roots the top half of the pot. It made me think I was letting the pots get too light. Plenty of roots at the bottom where the coco was staying moist. Course the top dries sooner because of the light. So I started watering slightly sooner. I am sure I have watered with the pots feeling heavier than this. And since this I checked the roots and I have to say I notice now the top half of the pot also has plenty of roots and best I’ve seen in a while.

So I am really just hoping this is nitrogen toxicity. Didn’t think could over water coco easy and is decent roots there. As these roots are looking good now the top half of the pot has plenty. I would be much happier if this was nitrogen toxicity as it means then I’ve least solved my roots in the top half issue. Also if it was overwatering I thought all the leaves would go droopy?

A few hours later and here is the plant in pure coco. Leaves are looking up again but now have the curl at the ends.


Think it’s clearly suffering with N tox because of the clawing. Could it have been over watered as well or will the n tox cause it to look how it did?
Only ask because like I say I have only just started to see the improvement with roots in the top half of the pot. Don’t wanna go back to watering them when lighter and seeing no roots in the top half of the pot. I am sure I have watered heavier pots and the perlite mix was 100% lighter than this one by quite a bit.

Were they drooping before/after or the whole time? That can help rule some possible issues out.

Take this with a grain of salt but I read this as Nitrogen toxicity. I mean they look pretty healthy none the less

You can't overwater in hydroponic coco as long as your root zone is fully established. If you let it dry out too much the ec in the root zone will go up which is what might be causing your problem. Clawing is overfeeding for sure but it's most likely because you're letting it dry out too much but idk for sure because some strains eat more than others. What is your runoff ec looking like?

Thanks for the replies. They wasn’t droopy looking before. I did however notice some slight clawing before hand. Which I know means I should have cut back on the feed. As I thought it was already quite low I didn’t bother.

I watered both and they both wasn’t weighing the exact same. I had watered the perlite and coco pot yesterday and some hours before the other. So today it was feeling lighter and yet even that one went droopy. To be honest I would have probably watered it a little sooner it felt that light. Not bone dry, but like I say I had noticed I wasn’t seeing much roots on the top half of the pots. I put it down to me waiting for the pot to get so light that by the time they had the lights had dried out the top half of the coco. So I started watering a little sooner. Well I was shocked when I checked the roots, they are now spread fully in the pot. So it was deffo where I was going wrong.

Anyway I feel I have watered plants in pots heavier than this and didn’t see this droopy leaves happening. I even watered daily from day 1 as I’d read people say to do that and ended up drowning plants in the past. Even those didn’t go like this? Look at these here. They was watered till run off from seed from day 1 before they had any decent roots. One even died but none of them had droopy leaves until the one got killed.
Now of course I know that’s not correct but I was learning.

I am only hoping it’s more down to N tox as I feel I’ve cracked the watering. Deffo seeing more roots through out the pot and happier looking plants. But hey if it’s over watering then it is what it is.

Do you test your runoff water? You should know if you're overfeeding if the runoff ppm is higher than what you're putting in. It could also be a ph problem. You should add some perlite to your coco too at least 30-40% for early stages. It's easy to overwater with just coco alone.

The ph pen is literally only two weeks old. I can see the plants was finding the food too much from before. I noticed some slight clawing and choose to ignore it. I know that’s my own stupidity.

I have one in pure coco, the other is a coco perlite mix. I hadn’t used perlite before but wanted to give it a try. Both the pure coco and coco perlite mix are in the photos showing the same symptoms. Plus like I saw they was watered previously at different times, so the coco perlite mix was a little lighter in weight. I actually would have watered it a little sooner if I had checked it sooner. That’s how much I feel the pot wasn’t really heavy.

Plus like I say in the past I have 100% overwatered plants to the point I killed one. When I was learning and read to water daily from day 1. Those plants never showed droopy leaves like this. They went pale sure and of course like I say one died And that went droopy. That was after days of watering constantly before the roots was developed.

I have one plant this round that shows N tox at .8 ec. Your plant is quite green, so I'm sure that this is the case here. How often are you feeding them? I would just be feeding that plant once per day, and be sure to allow plenty of runoff to keep washing out excess salts every time you feed as well. It will grow out of this N tox quickly as the plant develops.

They are both fed once a day. i should of backed off a little when I noticed the clawing. The only reason I didn’t is because I thought ahh 0.8ec isn’t high they’ll get used to it. I should of read the plants rather than caring about numbers.

I would only be happier if it was N tox that caused the sudden change in leaves. Simply as I feel I just solved a problem I’d been having regarding watering. I have been watering a little sooner, and as a result I no longer have the issue of roots only being in the top half of the pot. I checked the roots on these when I saw the change in the leaves as I have heard many times it’s super hard to over water coco when roots are developed. The whole pot had roots spread out and probably the best looking roots I’ve had in years.
Now also through in, these plants was both weighing different with the coco/perlite mix being even lighter in weight. Yet that also showed the symptom. On top of that like I say and showed, I’d watered plants daily to run off from seed before roots had developed. To the point I even killed one from over watering as shown. Now even they didn’t go droopy like this.

I am only keen/hoping it isn’t over watering as at least then I know I’ve solved the correct way for me to water coco because like I say, I have some pretty decent roots this time round.

ninja1 said:

They are both fed once a day. i should of backed off a little when I noticed the clawing. The only reason I didn’t is because I thought ahh 0.8ec isn’t high they’ll get used to it. I should of read the plants rather than caring about numbers.

I would only be happier if it was N tox that caused the sudden change in leaves. Simply as I feel I just solved a problem I’d been having regarding watering. I have been watering a little sooner, and as a result I no longer have the issue of roots only being in the top half of the pot. I checked the roots on these when I saw the change in the leaves as I have heard many times it’s super hard to over water coco when roots are developed. The whole pot had roots spread out and probably the best looking roots I’ve had in years.
Now also through in, these plants was both weighing different with the coco/perlite mix being even lighter in weight. Yet that also showed the symptom. On top of that like I say and showed, I’d watered plants daily to run off from seed before roots had developed. To the point I even killed one from over watering as shown. Now even they didn’t go droopy like this.

I am only keen/hoping it isn’t over watering as at least then I know I’ve solved the correct way for me to water coco because like I say, I have some pretty decent roots this time round.

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No worries, you're doing just fine. The bigger the plant gets and the bigger the rootball gets, the easier it gets in coco.

If it’s n tox which caused the droop. Then while not good I’m really happy lol. I kept seeing a lack of roots and mostly at the top half of the pot. This time when I checked the roots looked great. Lovely and white and spread around the whole pot and that’s them literally been in the pot a week. So I feel like I’ve cracked where I was going wrong with watering.

Found another photo from the group of plants that I fucked up previously. These was watered daily to run off from the first day of popping up. Given no time to dry a little just as the roots develop. Literally flooded them constantly and even they didn’t go droopy like above. Simply grew shit and looked horribly pale before dying. These was watered like that without any decent roots and the pots being soaked heavy daily.


thanks for the replies. Just was feeling so good having seen these plants roots finally where I want them to be. these was just cheap seeds for me to practice with. If I know I got the watering right for better roots I’m about to outlay some money on some good clones. That’s why I wanna know before I spend some cash lol . But having seen overwatered plants not behave like that and how good the roots looked. Plus knowing how the pots felt. I do feel semi confident it’s more n tox that caused it than watering.

What nutes are you giving? Ive given 1.4ec with Maxibloom from start to finish with maybe one or two strains giving a slight claw if any at all. 400ppm isn't alot actually.

Canna nutes. At first if this isn’t over watering I have probably been letting the coco get too dry. Not bone dry but the top half was having no roots. I assumed it’s because the light was drying that while I was waiting for the pot to get light. So I started watering a little earlier. Only done that twice including yesterday. Can already see the top half has started to develop roots now. This is after two waterings of watering a little sooner.

these are how the plants look just now as lights have come back on…

It may well be over watering. I’m not certain. Just for all the reasons I gave in a previous post and such as not even seeing that with plants I overwatered so much they died. The fact these two pots didn’t feel heavy and the coco perlite one felt even lighter than the other.

If it were me...I'd put those into 2.5 gal hempy buckets...fill bottom 2 inches with perlite with a hole for drainage....coco on top. I water mine once every 3 days. Easy peasy

inth3shadowz said:

If it were me...I'd put those into 2.5 gal hempy buckets...fill bottom 2 inches with perlite with a hole for drainage....coco on top. I water mine once every 3 days. Easy peasy

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tbh I ain’t going to finish these mate. I just wanted to try use these cheap seeds to get the watering issue sorted. There was no roots in the top half of the pot went I went from tiny pots into these small ones. They’ve had two waterings a little earlier and can now see the roots are in the top half of the pot. So I think it’s on the right track. If I was gonna finish these I would pot them up. I am tempted though just to see how they get on. I’m fact I probably will as I’ll be waiting days for clones or decent seeds to arrive anyway.

the roots look alright for a week in these pots? And potted up without the best roots tbh as only had two waterings where I think it’s got roots developing in the top half. Next time I’d have the roots better from the start I hope. Plus I’ll bother using some rhizo next time as well.

ninja1 said:

tbh I ain’t going to finish these mate. I just wanted to try use these cheap seeds to get the watering issue sorted. There was no roots in the top half of the pot went I went from tiny pots into these small ones. They’ve had two waterings a little earlier and can now see the roots are in the top half of the pot. So I think it’s on the right track. If I was gonna finish these I would pot them up. I am tempted though just to see how they get on. I’m fact I probably will as I’ll be waiting days for clones or decent seeds to arrive anyway.

the roots look alright for a week in these pots? And potted up without the best roots tbh as only had two waterings where I think it’s got roots developing in the top half. Next time I’d have the roots better from the start I hope. Plus I’ll bother using some rhizo next time as well.

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Hmm...are they fem seeds? Your plants can easily recover once transplanted into a hempy. I'd skip all that extra supplementation and worry about lights and environment...coco or coco hempy is the easiest way to grow (imo)

inth3shadowz said:

Hmm...are they fem seeds? Your plants can easily recover once transplanted into a hempy. I'd skip all that extra supplementation and worry about lights and environment...coco or coco hempy is the easiest way to grow (imo)

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tbh I can’t even remember lol . The environment is good. I have always struggled with having shit roots and so even when I complete a grow it’s taken a lot longer to veg. I am confident the issue recently has been waiting for the pots to get too light. Say that just because I can now see roots in the top half of the pot. I don’t care about finishing these tbh so the sex doesn’t matter much to me. What I would like to do is pot them up probably tomorrow. Just to see how I get on with rooting out the pot size I like to finish in. These have more roots than I usually see and are drinking daily.

At the start with these I was making my usual mistake of letting the pots get too light. That probably pushed the ec up where the top half of the coco was drying. In future though I’ll read the plants, I kinda slacked here because I knew I wasn’t planning to finish them. I wanted to see better roots and growth and I am 90% sure I’ve got that sorted.

water them in the first pots. Wait until pots feel quite light but not bone dry in a few days time water again. Just to give the time for the roots to develop. once the roots are there still go by the weight of the pot but no need to let it get as light.

Like I say I’m gonna pot these up and see how I get on. If they are looking decent in the next pots then I’ll grow some balls and order some clones which aren’t coming cheap. I will let you know how I get on, thanks for taking the time to reply to me I appreciate it man.

Just to add it must have been over watering. I have watered since and didn’t see that same issue. I guess I was a bit too keen lol . Thankfully it was only slightly as you could see they started to improve within a couple of hours of it happening.

The thing with me is, I have been guilty of letting my pots get too light. Probably the reason for the n tox as well due to spikes in the ec. Watering sooner I saw better roots and so yeah I was probably too keen. Anyway just wanted to update and say thanks for the help.

I am going to pot up this weekend. Just to get in some practice with how to deal with the watering in the final pot size I’ll be using. I usually pot up with bad roots but touch would this time things seem okay. they are drinking daily and decent roots. I’m going into a fairly bigger size. So at first I won’t water until run off as I feel they’ll stay wet too long. Instead I’m gonna give it a couple lighter feeds then hit the plant until run off.