Plants seem to be suffering by how much droop I'm seeing

[lunarman]

this is my first grow. got a newbie journal thread going but not getting any responses from members. Hoping I can attract some attention in the sick bay. And if I can get some tips on how to generate traffic on a journal thread for the future I'd appreciate ideas.

Not sure what the best way is to link to my journal in my sig so here's the link. It has info and background on my grow environment.

https://www.autoflower.org/threads/long-time-lurker-does-first-grow.61001/

Here is a picture showing one of my plants that has the most dramatic droop. Sorry about the lighting in the picture. I have T5s and one HPS light in the tent now and it makes pics hard to do. The plant is completely drooping all over. Full leaf droop. Not just the tips.

From what I have read online about growing issues I think this could be over watering. But my solo cups drain very well and I let them dry out before watering again. Not watering to frequently. I showed pics to a local hydro shop and he said it looks normal. But I dont think this is normal from what I have seen from online pics.

 

[namvet25]

Could be over watering,under watering,lights to close,or plant is root bound and needs to be transplanted to a bigger pot.

 

[lunarman]

I think the watering or moisture is good. I have good drainage and check very day to make sure its dry before I water. I also have slits cut on the solo cups and can see the soil and there is no root bound issues.

I am also getting yellowing in the lower leaves. I read this could be PH or Nitrogen related. Or a nutrient lock due to PH and the plants are not taking their nitrogen.

I add 6.0 PH water to my organic soil or use it in a tea. But my water is PH adjusted to be between 6.0 and 6.5. I use the PH drops to check my water.

And when I use a good PH soil tester the soil in the cups PH is 6.8 to 7 right now. So maybe a touch high.

So because of the yellow leaves on top of the drooping, I'm wondering if this is PH or nute related.

 

[ruinthere]

From what I have read online about growing issues I think this could be over watering. But my solo cups drain very well and I let them dry out before watering again. Not watering to frequently. I showed pics to a local hydro shop and he said it looks normal. But I dont think this is normal from what I have seen from online pics.

View attachment 803106

I have some baby walter whites that have the same sag. I now know that I over-watered them, because my moisture meter came in the mail the other day.

What are temps like in the room?

I would get them into bigger pots very soon. Roots fill those solo cups up quickly, I know. They could already be bound judging by their size.

 

[Hippy_BiotabsF70]

Too much light maybe mate???

 

[Hippy_BiotabsF70]

What wattage are you blasting her with dude?

 

[lunarman]

Im using T5s for veg so dont think it's too much heat or light.

I transplanted just now to 5 gallon pots. There were no root balls in the solo cups, but I could see the roots on the outside and a bit at the bottom.

Also flushed twice in the last day in the solo cups before transplanting.

Also double checked the PH of the soil with a good probe and a slurry with a combo meter and it's just below 7. And my water supply is around 6.

 

[Waira]

-- what pH tester do you use for in-pot measurements? Has the combo meter been calibrated recently? ...just want to make sure about the readings,.... the slurry test, that was with soil from that tiny cup? If so, it may not have been enough,...? Droopy plant is different strain from the other pics with yellowed lowers? --that looks like N defc., odd to see it in such young plants,.. N is very robust availability across a wide pH range, so lock-out isn't likely,... if the soil pH is near 7.0, it's Fe/Zn that are most likely to lock out, and no sign of that,.... how much do you let them dry out? young plants do better with even consistent moisture,.. big swings mess with growth evenness, and also pH swings,... what soil is this, and nute's used, tea included? .... your water looks very soft, any chance you have a TDS/EC reading? 6.0 is low, even for soft water,.... transplant timing was good it seems! No loss of soil, trauma to roots when done? .... flushing is not something to be done unless there's a confirmed issue with the soil-- badly off pH, nute/salt build-up,... otherwise, it just strips away what little was there to begin with,... On the droppy plant, get us a normal light pic please, HPS/LED is horrid for diagnostics, bad color rendering, which is often a vital clue,...

 

[lunarman]

@Waira.
I'll try to answer the questions, and I should mention I made changes since posting so some things are not relevant now.
I am using the control wizard probe, I think based on your past recommendation.
The combo was calibrated and cross checked with a blue lab tester too.
I transplanted out of the cups last night in to pots with more amendments in it that I created and cooked up a while back just for these pots to carry from veg to flower. I checked the pots after the transplant with the control wizard and I am getting in the range of 5.8 to 6.4. So I am really feeling like the PH is good now. I'll take more readings later today.

Since the transplant done like 12 hours ago, the plants are looking much better from a droop perspective. Not sure if its because of a couple of flushes I did over the last couple of days and the upsize of pots or both. I took a couple of pics this morning. The group shot is trying to just show that overall there is less droop on the all plants. The leaves and stems really lifted up now.

The second picture shows the one plant I'm not concerned with. No droop, but pretty yellow lower leaves. This plant for some reason is the worst. The other might show a bit of lighter green but not quite yellow. I wish I knew what this is. My water PH is good. Soil PH is good. So should be no lockout. My soil is a homebrew TLO based on Coco and perlite substrate and then I added organic matter including composted and aged horse manure, EWC and an organic powder that is a blend of meals etc. It's NPK is 4-10-4. And I cooked this for 6 weeks before using it.

If this is a N deficiency, is there a way I can add N organics to my pots? With a liquid mix or maybe a solid top dressing?

 

[Waira]

...5.8 is too low for soil, try and get that over 6.0 at least, 6.4 best,.... it's borderline for starting lockout of P,... what did you add for micronutrients in this custom TLO mix? There's more than N defc. happening here,... pale bottoms, that's N,.. pale tops, that's more likely an immobile nute, Fe, Zn, S,... 4-10-4 is way out of wack for a grow nute, look at the N-P-K ratios,.. this is almost a bloom nute, a little more K and it would be,.... So, for micro's, I like Earth Juice Microblast, great coverage plus many are them are in sulfate forms, so S is getting in there as well! For N, General Organics Biothrive Grow4-3-3,. Roots Organics has a line of nutes,... fish goo 5-1-1