New Grower Wilting and sad

[hecno]

Knowing when to water can be hard when you first start out , it was for me , then I got one of these it was the best thing I ever got .

 

[Trapper]

Knowing when to water can be hard when you first start out , it was for me , then I got one of these it was the best thing I ever got .

I literally KNEW I was going to see a picture of an Accurate8 when I was reading the post on the sidebar.
Couldn't agree more.

 

[Waira]

bdt- that HPS light might be part of the problem, being too close, too hot! - raise it up several more inches.... the plant is stressing over keeping itself cool, moving all that water up there to trying to regulate Temps,... RH plays a big role in this as well, as does air circulation... even with moist soil, wilting can happen, if it's combined with low RH and too strong of air circulation... don't like the looks of the plants color either-- how are you getting pH readings, and what are they? (Fweed and Trap have your good tip covered there already!)....good points made about wilting-- funny, both too dry and too wet cause the same thing! MJ wants to be fairly moist, more consistently during veg' in particular; more wet to dry cycling during later bloom is fine... So, you say she improves after a watering?-- that's means things were dry, deep dry!....(one thing to watch out for: sometimes, the surface soil will be much drier than down deeper, but folks will give a big drink anyway, instead of a lighter one, which can lead to overwatering as well; avoid extreme swings between wet/dry, as this can make the pH swing too... if it's borderline, matters can potentially worsen...); as mentioned, hefting the pot can tell you overall how moist it is, but you need to calibrate yourself, getting a feel for the weight when it's well watered, and then when it's on the dry side,.. but in any case, try not to let it get to the point of wilting! get us temp, RH, pH readings, and tell us what's up with your air circ., namely, how much of a breeze are the plants experiencing,..

 

[bdt]

Temp is running a little hot around 80% or so.I adjusted that with a little bigger fan over the top. It's kinda dry,prbly around 21 rh.

 

[bdt]

Update!! lights off for 4 hrs. lights back on she has perked back up again. ph level in soil is 7 near the top 6.5 in the middle.I dont have a real fancy tester but it seems to work. It says the soil is dry but to me the pot feels heavy.Once again thanks for all this help. I'm sure i dont need to say I'm relived to have somewhere to ask questions...Should I water ? It's a nute day. Been giving it ionic grow every third watering. It looks good except for the wilting.

 

[virginia gent]

Welcome to AFN and some good grow karma coming your way. Check Muddys' sticky on life cycle, I do every grow. The roots will follow the water, deeper roots taller plant. Salts build up from nutes and "lock out" the nutes from the plant and cause problems. 80f and 50% rh and 6.5ph is what seems to work best for most on a 20/4 light schedule but have fun and experiment. Less nutes (1/4 recomended amount) is good to start with and a good ph meter is a must. Put your hand under the light at the top of the plant, too hot for you too hot for the plant. Good luck.

 

[bdt]

Yep, all this learned today.Knew about 1/2 nutes thnx

 

[bdt]

Things are looking better already.thnx for the help. The plant was hot.

 

[Waira]

Hey dude! I gather, you mean 80F, and 21%RH? Those combined are taxing the plant,... 80F is okay usually, but with low RH it puts significant water stress on the plant,... you don't want the plant to be getting blown around either, that also really pours water stress on it,... a gentle breeze across the foliage is best,... getting the RH up will be very helpful, either with a machine, or even hanging a wet towel in there will bump it up some,... Sounds like you have a small probe type pH+moisture meter? Those are notoriously unreliable, as you've seen with the moisture reading! :slaps:--pH is no better,...I know, I've tested a few of them against an Accurate 8 pH soil probe,... no comparison! .... don't water if the soil feels nice and moist still,.. don't want to saturate the soil (this smothers the roots, messing with gas exchange),....hold off a day,... your finger makes a decent probe too,..poke down a couple inches or so, and get a feel for what it's like... I know it's beating to control heat with an HPS lamp, unless you have it fully enclosed and ducted,... even them the heat is significant!.... Light hours is a source of great contention, but most of the growers I know here find 18/6 or 20/4 to be best,... many find little difference between 18/6 and 20/4,... so, maybe consider shifting to an 18/6 schedule if heat and RH issues become overly difficult to manage,....