top leaves wilting

I just set up my new 150w HPS it is about two feet from the top plant. The temp is 78 give or take. I do not have a fan but the temp is not to hot. I can put my hand on the top of the top leavesand hold it there and not feel very hot at all. Why woul d the plant leaves wilt? I had a 2 foot 20w flor. on it before. Is it shock on the new light? Any help appreciated.

It could be, try giving it a few days to see if it recovers but pics would help.

See if you can put the thermometer near the top of the plant. I move seedlings from 20w to 12 inches from 175mh all the time and never see light burn or shock. I do have a fan running occasionally though.

My guess is more like a watering problem if they are droopy.

P.S. Fan is important-- not just for keeping it cool.

here are a couple of photos one before the wilting and one after. The wilt does not seem to be continuing. Is it from over watering? I do not have a fan on them, but the temp stays between 75 and 81.

johnbaker said:

here are a couple of photos one before the wilting and one after. The wilt does not seem to be continuing. Is it from over watering? I do not have a fan on them, but the temp stays between 75 and 81.

Click to expand...

two feet may be kinda far away stick your hand on top of it keep moving the light closer until it feels warm not hot...also that soil does look really wet.

I would agree your soil is looking a little to wet and that's generally what happens...bring the light closer!!!!! those 150's aren't the strongest and the light conversion says for every foot you move away it a quarter of the lumens so right now if you did get 16,000 at one foot your sitting at 4,000 and thats still being generous most likely it far less than that...if you do bring the lights closer it will cause the plants to transpire and thus letting a lot of that water you have out of the soil...good luck

I will move the light closer, but I just watered again. I doug my finger 3 inches and it was as dry as could be. Not one pc. of soil would stick to my finger. It was as clean as when I put it in. The soil is not that great. It was cheap soil with no nutes or pete. It does not hold the water so well.

I just put a small fan in the room and took out all the extra water out of the dish from watering. Maybe I am over watering. The leaves druped even more. I also lowered the light so it is about a foot above the plants. I also was not paying attention and had the plant to the balast end of the light. Moved all so they are at the bulb end. I will let it all sit for 3 days with nothing and see how they do.

trust me man letting it dry out a little more is better than overwatering... it loves to search for water and it helps with a healthy root system which is the life source of your plant.

It's still possibly overwatering. Roots need oxygen to grow and avoid rot, so the soil needs to almost completely dry out between waterings.

Once upon a time I was using a meter to keep an eye on the moisture and I couldn't figure out why the soil reported dry, but the plants showed signs of overwatering. Well, I was only inserting the probe a couple of inches deep; didn't realize that the bottom of the pot was staying waterlogged.

Now I wait till they are dry at the bottom and when I do water I completely drench them.

I also moved the light so it is about a foot above the plants, put in a small fan, and moved the plants to the bulb end of the light instead of the balast. I did not pay attention to which end the bulb was on. I drained all the extra water in the catch dish and will let it dry for 3 days.

P.S. Those $5-10 water meters at the big box garden departments work just fine and give you peace of mind. Even if you find out that your moisture is OK, you're still good cause you can cross that off the list of possible problems.


And I agree with milehigh. Light needs to be closer. And get a breeze in there to strengthen the stems and distribute the CO2. Plants that age shouldn't need to be staked, if that's what I'm seeing.

Edit: excellent. sorry I my post was too late.

Looks as if you need a better soil mixture.I am strictly hydroponics now but when I used to grow with soil I found out that roots need OXEGEN.You can still use the same soil, its better if the soil has no nutrients that release with time.Just put 50% SOIL 25% PERLITE 25% VERMICULITE mix up real good.You can find these products at your local gardening store.I used to get mine at Home Depot.TRy it out let me know what you think with the results.Also you might want to get a fan still air is never good air circulation is vital.