Help, leaves drooping all of a sudden

[virginharvester]

Outdoor grow and plant is about one or two weeks into flower I'd say because it looks a lot like someone's that has been in 12/12 for a couple weeks. There is definite bud formation starting.

She's about 5-6 feet tall and has up to this point been very healthy. She's in a five gallon bucket that has about four gallons of soil. About two weeks ago I cut the bottom out and set it down in another five gallon bucket with about three gallons of soil in it. It's Happy Frog soil so it's pretty good. But that's around seven gallons of soil total so it seems like enough.

I watered her on Monday with a gallon of water and some nutes. I don't think I overdid it on the nutes Monday- 1/4 tsp 10-7-18(1 tsp is the recommended feeding) and about a 1.5 tbsp of organic 3-1.5-4(2 tbsp is a normal feeding).and went out tonight, three nights later, and all the leaves were drooping from top to bottom. It was dark as I walked up to the plant but I could clearly see the shadows of the leaves just hanging and I thought "oh noooo".

It's really only the shade leaves that seem droopy. They are still green and somewhat rich looking, they are just hanging over limp.

It's been nice and sunny the past few days and she's getting about 8+ hours of direct sun. Could it be that now she's flowering and that gallon of water just wasn't near enough? I could understand that but it just happened all of a sudden, nothing gradual about it. The soil seemed pretty dry even as deep as my finger would go. Is it likely she is just that thirsty that a gallon at a time doesn't cut it anymore?

[brokencage]

If its dry then water it good. don't be afraid of over watering.just don't water again till it needs it.sounds like it needed watered to me.

[Ganja Guerrilla]

I agree

water ASAP you will know in 1 -2 hrs

you ferts need to be changed the NPK values are wrong for budding plants

[virginharvester]

Thanks all.

Will a plant all of a sudden start drinking lots more water when it buds? Before it started budding and was in a lone container of four gallons soil a half gallon of water would run out the bottom no problem. Like I mentioned, I watered with a gallon three days ago and it looked fine and last night it just looked sad and tired. But I thought I had doubled up on the water. I will say this also, a few weeks ago if I watered with a half gallon and came back a couple days later there would still be a wet spot around the stem. This time after a gallon it was bone dry as deep as i could put my finger in the soil.

GG, here are the nutes I have:

General Hydroponics flora bloom 10-7-18

Botanicare 3-1.5-4

Guano 0-7-0

Nature's Nectar 0-0-5

I was only using a little of the 10-7-18 and probably don't need to use it anymore. Without an EC meter or whatever how do you figure out a decent amount of nutes per feeding without giving too much or too little? It might be a risk but I'm trying to keep it simple out of cost and feeling a little overwhelmed just trying to get nutes and water to the site. The cheapest meter I can find in the area is $80 so I'm really trying to avoid getting into the ppm feeding and just kind of ballpark a slightly less than medium fert schedule. But with those ferts what would you think is a decent amount mix?

I think I'll take a couple pictures of it and try to figure out how to post them.

Thanks again.

[Ganja Guerrilla]

Will a plant all of a sudden start drinking lots more water when it buds?

yes absolutely, if you were giving it 1/2 a gal per visit ...step up to a gallon per visit

Without an EC meter or whatever how do you figure out a decent amount of nutes per feeding without giving too much or too little?

thats a relative question, how old is the plant and is this strain fert tollerant? etc etc etc

I dont measure the PPM's ...just start off with 1/4 strength fert solutions and gradully increase the strength, pay close attention to the plant ....take photos if need be to recognize any adverse affect to the plants youll know when to backoff

use all 3 of these

Botanicare 3-1.5-4

Guano 0-7-0

Nature's Nectar 0-0-5


total NPK 3 - 8.5 - 9

[virginharvester]

I'm looking at some articles and I see even root rot is a possibility. A few weeks ago I added soil by cutting the bottom of one pot and setting on top of another filled with a few gallons soil. When I did I noticed the roots were pretty tight around the bottom. It seemed to be draining well before. I just hope the roots haven't become compacted or are holding water at the root base. I don't want to overwater but maybe I do need to water again soon to make sure the soil is draining since I cannot say I've actually seen water pour out the bottom since I made the change. But since I just watered with another gallon last night another watering soon might be too much? I just wonder if I can eliminate root rot by watering enough that it has to drain out the bottom. So far, when watering with a gallon no water has drained out the bottom so I would try two and a half gallons and make sure I get drainage.

Root Rot
Root rot is a waterborne disease that attacks the plant roots. There are several varieties of root rot but all are treated the same way. Rot can cause a crop to fail rapidly. The symptoms are almost like those of a nutrient disorder, overwatering or underwatering. Wilting is a very common symptom of root rot.
Poor water drainage promotes root rot.

I wouldnt be so "nervous" but this plant is my harvest. At this point, if she goes, I got nothin.

Thanks again.

[Ganja Guerrilla]

your plant didnt perkup over nite after a gallon of water??

then possibly the droop isnt as bad as you make it sound,

possibly overwatering droop ? did you put holes in the bottom of the new pot under the old pot, or is filling up with water, with a gallon of water there should be runoff..............

you better post some pics & check to be certain you have drainage

[virginharvester]

Originally Posted by Ganja Guerrilla

your plant didnt perkup over nite after a gallon of water??

GG, unfortunately I'm doing a grow off site. I have to drive to my site and check it at night- I know, it's lame. But the site is great, well hidden, and getting lots of light.

possibly overwatering droop ? did you put holes in the bottom of the new pot under the old pot, or is filling up with water, with a gallon of water there should be runoff..............

The new pot has 5 nice holes on the bottom so should definitely be draining. It occurred to me that if the top pot wasn't draining and I watered with a gallon Monday night would the soil have looked so bone day and felt real dry a few inches deep only three days later? I don't know, I'm just trying to figure out if I'm over watering or under. But it seems like it's draining even though I can't say I've seen any run off.

Since I did water with a gallon last night, if it's still droopy tonight should I just leave it for a couple days and see it it's overwatered? There's still that side of me that wants to pour a couple gallons in and wait to see if it drains out the bottom just to make sure. But I know if it is overwatered that wouldn't be a good idea.

you better post some pics & check to be certain you have drainage

I'll definitely take pics tonite. I was looking for the instructions on how to post a pic if anyone can point me in that direction.

On a side note, I should mention the top pot does have water crystals in it and are located at the bottom of the top pot. Is there any weird possibility the roots aren't growing into the second pot and staying close to the water crystals but getting compacted and getting rot? I know that's probably a reach, but I'm just putting it out there

Thanks again GG.

[Ganja Guerrilla]

then were just wasting time & typing here, speculating, let us know if they perked up after you visit

if it looks better water it again

[virginharvester]

GG, I went out last night and found that it had not gotten worse but looked better. I think if it were sick it wouldn't have improved. I went ahead and watered like you said, slowly and surely so it went straight down to the rootball and soaked it. And I did get a little bit of run off out the bottom. I feel pretty good about it since it looked better.

Thanks all!

[Ganja Guerrilla]

good to hear


try this next time you visit, for watering,water as usual, take a milk jug with water and poke a TINY pin hole in the bottom of the jug, remove the top cap place the jug at the base of the plant and this will take a couple days to leak out, so that the plant gets more water longer