Advice Please, upper leaves drooping.

[NugNubs]

Over the last two day the upper leaves on both my girls have taken to drooping, all the large fan leaves are fine just the upper ones and some of the small fans near the bud sites lower down on the plant.

Light: 300w Galaxyhydro LED @ 14-15 inches above plant tops.

Temps: Lights on = 70 deg F
Lights off = 55 deg F

RH : High = 68%
Low = 49%

Nutes : Roots Organic Buddha Bloom (.5-2-1) @ 20 ml / gallon
sulpher free molasses 15ml /gallon
Roots Organic Elemental Cal-Mag 1 TBS /gallon
Feeding at every other watering, taking water every two days
Molasses given every 4th feeding same with Cal-Mag but on opposite schedules.
ex: h2o-> 2 days later h2o + bloom and cal-mag -> 2 days later h2o -> 2 days later h2o + bloom and molasses ect
I have not ph'ed anything yet but but if the general consensus is ph related I will make the effort to get the needed
meters ect.


Soil: 50% Bumper Crop Organic soil builder, 40% Happy Frog, 10% coarse perlite in 5 gallon smart pots.

My guess is its something to do with the low temps during lights out or maybe a N deficiency? I have also noticed the occasional fungus gnat buzzing around. Plants are at day 43. They are Short Riders form Nirvana seeds

Pics:

Pics are from today, each plant got fed last night.

Thank you all for any and all replies.
Grow well, be Happy

 

[A4]

It looks like a combination of wet feet and high humidity. Are you allowing your containers some time to dry up a little between waterings? That 68% RH will cause the droop as well as bud rot if you don't get enough air flow in there. If you can't get the humidity out I would at the very least get a fan to blow over the tops of the plants to keep air circulating. That alone may perk them up. The droop like that when they can't breath. They need air through their roots or their leaves, preferably both.

Look at it as a pump, the plants takes in water from it's leaves when it is young because the roots aren't developed. Once the roots develop it takes in water from there. The larger the root mass, the more water it takes in but the plant has to have somewhere to dissipate the water. They release the water through their leaves into the dry air. If the air isn't dry then the plants can't release the excess water into the air and it begins to droop. The more dry air you can blow across the plants, the more water they can release and the more nutrients they will take up.

 

[wingman1305]

Yea as a4 said this looks like humidity / water related droop. Now as far as a few fungas gnats, you should probably drop a layer of sand over the top of the soil before they get bad. They will dig in and eat on your roots before you know it.

 

[NugNubs]

They are allowed to dry out some, I make sure the soil is dry about 1.5-2 inches down before I water/feed. There is an intake fan mounted low in my chamber, when its on all the leaves on the plants rustle but its on the same timer as the lights (18/6), should I leave the fan on 24/7? Sounds like I also need an exhaust port. I have been trying to keep the chamber buttoned up tight so the temps stay up, its getting cold in the North East and the room I have them in tends to be on the cooler side. What do you guys think about keeping the lights and fan on 24/7, when the lights and fan are on I see about 65 deg f and 50% RH. Thanks for the input guys I will be getting some sand today and some supplemental ventilation, How thick should the layer of sand be?
Again thanks for the help this is the best bunch of enlightened beings I know of, so glad I found this site!

 

[bushdktr]

Agree with all, you need to get Rh down to 40-50% max in flower, get some air circulation, stop watering for 2-3 days and watch them. Otherwise they look healthy but you need to dry the soil ASAP to avoid root rot.

 

[A4]

Yeah, you can leave the lights on 24/7, shouldn't be a problem with that. Yes, you need some air exchange in there to remove humidity and bring fresh CO2 in. You want the air in your tent/room to be turned over every 5 minutes. Fresh air in, stale air out. That is one of many reasons I haven't switched to LED yet, HPS is real nice in the winter keeping the room warm without supplemental heating. 1/2 inch layer of sand should work but generally you don't see fungus gnats when your soil is watered properly but then again, that goes hand in hand with keeping your temps up. If your temps aren't high enough and RH isn't low enough, there isn't a lot you can do to make the plant remove water from the soil. It is all tied in together, nothing is isolated, one problem can become many when everything lives in symbiosis.

 

[NugNubs]

Thanks all, just added some exhaust openings, and the CFL's will be on 24/7, I will hold off on water for 2-3 days minimum and see what happens, I may just move the chamber downstairs where it's warmer. Any thoughts on some defoliation of the fans to increase air movement through the plants, if Nirvana is accurate I have 20 days left, I think it will be longer but I have been wrong before.

 

[wingman1305]

I wouldn't do any defoliation unless absolutely necessary because of mold or something, those leaves have energy that buds need to thicken up.

 

[NugNubs]

Thanks again for the help all, with the added exhaust and 96 more watts worth of CFL's the temp is at 70 deg f and RH is at 49% and falling and the upper leaves have started to perk back up.

 

[Waira]

Nug'-- ... are they still staying drooped, or did they pick up by now? Another possibility, is the natural leaf droop some plants do around lights-out, or just after,... do they perk up after light's-on, or stay drooped? ...just curious, as I've seen this mistaken before....otherwise, follow these guys' advise! ..heft the pots, and see if they feel kinda heavy, or light, hinting at uneven soil moisture,.. though fabric pots are better at keeping this more even vs. plastic,...