Leaves canoeing up, tips turning dark green.

[Renaissance Redneck]

My issue is she's about 10" tall and I have one runt sitting around 6".... So if I continue to raise my light, the runt is going to get less and stay all runty?

Put your little gal up on a brick or something to equal out the height difference.

Soak and dry, lol, how is the new method working out for you? I tell a lot of people to stop the abuse but I never hear any feedback on what people think once they stop. I just figured everyone ignored me.

Much better results, Friend Although I'll never admit that on the open forum!!

 

[A4]

Oh and the bending towards the light or away from the light. That probably has nothing to do with the light. After water/feeding, the plants tend to slump a little bit because the lack of oxygen in the soil. It just so happens she has been leaning in, now she is leaning out. That is a normal reaction to water logged soil. Do you bubble your water by any chance? That will help with the slumping! Put an aquarium bubbler in the bucket and keep the water aerated provides some extra saturated oxygen for the roots when you water/feed. Just a little trick but isn't a make or break deal.

 

[Skurge]

The top of the soil is normally going to dry out just because it is the closest to the air and air pulls moisture out of the soil. Not that big of a deal unless you grow organic then it is a BIG deal. You can mulch the top of your container with almost anything and it will stop the evaporation.

As for your runt, that is probably genetics more than anything and keeping the light lower won't help the issue. Plants stretch for light so if you raise it some the little one will catch up to the tall one eventually, or come close anyway, but you will have a little larger node spacing. Not a big issue.

The issue is that the top is actually drying out last. So the soil will feel dry directly on the surface, but if I stick my finger 1/2" down it's moist. This happens when I feel the plants are ready for another watering.... So I'm basically watering again with the top 2" of soil still being moist, but the pots are very light and I'm confident that the rest of the pot is dry or close to it... I would attribute this to smart pots + good air circulation and lack of roots near the surface maybe? Because air is passing through the entire pot, so I would assume the area with the least root mass (top couple inches) would dry last?

And I was caught between leaving the little one where it is to allow it to stretch or propping it up to get it even with the others... Think I'll just let it stretch.

 

[Skurge]

Oh and the bending towards the light or away from the light. That probably has nothing to do with the light. After water/feeding, the plants tend to slump a little bit because the lack of oxygen in the soil. It just so happens she has been leaning in, now she is leaning out. That is a normal reaction to water logged soil. Do you bubble your water by any chance? That will help with the slumping! Put an aquarium bubbler in the bucket and keep the water aerated provides some extra saturated oxygen for the roots when you water/feed. Just a little trick but isn't a make or break deal.

All of my water is bubbled via an air pump for at least 24 hours. The entire stem isn't slumping over, just the top 1-2" and it really looks like it was stretching for the light after yesterdays feeding. Looked like it was angling itself so the newest set of growth coming in got exposed to the light... The last watering was about 24 hours ago and just now it was bending away from the light but after moving the light up it's now upright again.

 

[Renaissance Redneck]

The issue is that the top is actually drying out last. So the soil will feel dry directly on the surface, but if I stick my finger 1/2" down it's moist. This happens when I feel the plants are ready for another watering.... So I'm basically watering again with the top 2" of soil still being moist, but the pots are very light and I'm confident that the rest of the pot is dry or close to it...

You're watering to perfection, Skurge If you were to stick your finger down another 8 inches, it would most likely mirror what's happening 1/2" below the soil.

 

[Skurge]

You're watering to perfection, Skurge If you were to stick your finger down another 8 inches, it would most likely mirror what's happening 1/2" below the soil.

To clarify, the top couple inches of soil is moist, not dry. Everything that I've read says when the top 1-2" is dry then it's time for a watering... But my pots are getting light and the top 1-2" is still damp, leading me to assume that they're drying from the bottom/middle and the top is remaining moist... The surface of the soil, and I mean directly on top is dry, and directly underneath is moist... I mean everything on top will be dry, if I flip a chunk of soil or piece of chunk coir it will be wet on the other side.

If I stuck my finger down another 8" and it was still moist they definitely wouldn't be needing another watering.

Just making sure we're on the same page...

So the pots are getting very light, pick them up with 2 fingers light, but the top 1-2" of the soil is still moist.

Sorry for any confusion but I'm starting to confuse myself lol.

And I have actually stuck my hand down the side of the pot to find that everything underneath is dry, on the edges at least... I'm just wondering if the top couple inches being moist pretty much all the time can lead to any issues like mold etc.

 

[Renaissance Redneck]

If I stuck my finger down another 8" and it was still moist they definitely wouldn't be needing another watering.
Just making sure we're on the same page...

Same page, Skurge Moist is your aim, and you're doing fine. Ask me about dry soil! Especially with air pots, your perimeter, both top and sides, will dry but your core will and should retain some moisture. Loose that, and your leaves wilt big time.
I don't know how else to say it, you're spot on.

I'm just wondering if the top couple inches being moist pretty much all the time can lead to any issues like mold etc.

Wet soil, you bet it can cause trouble. Moist soil, with good air flow and proper RH, not much to worry about. It sounds like you're hitting the target dead center, Brother.

 

[Skurge]

Ok thanks for clarifying, just wanted to make sure =]

 

[Renaissance Redneck]

Ok thanks for clarifying, just wanted to make sure =]

You're gonna be one hell of a grower, Friend! You do your homework, and you ask questions.
Thanks for the reps, and right back attcha!