Plants not looking too hot. Please help!

So my buddy has a few plants growing and ran into a problem. Some of the lower leaves are turning yellow and drooping. At first we thought it was overwatering but now I am starting to think we are not watering enough. Normally I water once every two days but the soil seems really dry within a day. I picked the pots up to see if there seems to be any water weight in the pots but it seems pretty light to me. Do you think I just need to start watering more? The lower leaves are starting to curl in and crumble. Any information would be very helpful.

First time grower

how old are the plants? is the soil dry even if you stick your finger like 1 to 2 inches into the soil? You have a soil with nutes in it? You feeding them yet? Which parts of the leaves are turning yellow? Pictures??

pictures worth a thousand words......we need one or the other. lol. explain your growsetup and the progress of the grow so far and your future plans for it.

darkdestruction420 said:

pictures worth a thousand words......we need one or the other. lol. explain your growsetup and the progress of the grow so far and your future plans for it.

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The plants are about 3 weeks old since the germinated seeds have been planted. There are four, two are about 4-5 inches and the other two are about 3-4 inches tall. The soil seems pretty dry when I stick my finger in(1-2 inches). Even when I do feel moisture its not very much. We are using foxfarm soil and have used some other nutrients mixed in with distilled water a couple times. We were thinking to use just water for a few more days before really using the nutrients. The bottom two fan leaves are yellow and almost look crispy and now a couple more of the bigger leaves near the bottom are starting to turn yellow on the tips.


The setup is a box about 4 feet high and 2-3 feet wide both ways. There are four plants growing. Using a good HPS light with fan. In my opinion our setup is pretty good for a first time box.


Ill try and post pictures soon.

Here are some pictures. Any feedback would be helpful.

How many watts is that light? is that a 150 watter? What are your grow room temps? U should only have to water approximately every 3 days... and with your soil, your shouldnt have to add nutes till about the fourth week. My guess is a lack of lighting for 4 plants if thats a 150 watter when u consider the distance u must keep it from the plants as well

Looks like you had a nitrogen deficiency, but it seems to have been corrected.. prune those dead leaves.. they look like they're starting to decay.. drop the lights a bit..

ConnManyThings said:

How many watts is that light? is that a 150 watter? What are your grow room temps? U should only have to water approximately every 3 days... and with your soil, your shouldnt have to add nutes till about the fourth week. My guess is a lack of lighting for 4 plants if thats a 150 watter when u consider the distance u must keep it from the plants as well

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thats not 150 watts.. its at least 400...

you need to start using some nutes.. those things are small for 3 weeks..

JN811 said:

thats not 150 watts.. its at least 400...

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O is that right?

I wouldn't worry about it too much, unless it's effecting any of the mature leaves above those. Those first leaves always die off fairly early, it's normal. From what I can see, they are looking pretty good, actually.

Its a 150 Watt HPS light. Its about a foot or so away from the plants. We have added some nitrogen(thats what i thought at first) but I think I may need more water? Help please.

On second thought, they look a little worse than I was thinking. I'd say it's time to start hitting them with some light nutes, something with magnesium and nitrogen in it.

jawbrodt said:

On second thought, they look a little worse than I was thinking. I'd say it's time to start hitting them with some light nutes, something with magnesium and nitrogen in it.

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We have used some nutrients but when I started using them the leaves started to change to yellow. You can kinda tell in one of the pics that the more mature leaves are kinda turning yellow.

IMHO, you dont have enough light for those for girls. Once they do mature, your lower branching will continue to suffer as you raise your light to accommodate for its height. I would add some cfls, upgrade hps, or reduce grow size... What nutes are you using?

ConnManyThings said:

IMHO, you dont have enough light for those for girls. Once they do mature, your lower branching will continue to suffer as you raise your light to accommodate for its height. I would add some cfls, upgrade hps, or reduce grow size... What nutes are you using?

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We have some canna-nutrients. One of my buddies has the same box and setup going with the same light and it seems to be working fine(he is almost through the budding stage).

Question: I am not saying it isn't the lights but why would the bottom leaves be yellow if there wasn't enough lighting? What do you think the best day to day plan of action is over the next week or two to help them out?

Well just to clarify, by NO means am I saying, its DEFINITELY a lack of lighting...just probable.

Lighting diminishes the further it travels, so to sum it up, the lower leaves are getting the least amount of light from an already small light source(no pun at all).

what are the specs or the nutrients? what strength are using it at?

sorry man, but thats plenty of light. lol. i dunno bout it being a lack of nutes guys.....sounds more like possible overwatering.

darkdestruction420 said:

sorry man, but thats plenty of light. lol. i dunno bout it being a lack of nutes guys.....sounds more like possible overwatering.

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if u say so