Okay so I already asked this question in the Absolute Beginners sections but I would like a second opinion given more/better pictures and more complete information. I am in a bit of a panic given yesterdays events so I will skip the back story and jump right into it. My 5 Kaya Gold feminized ladies were germinating when I decided to make a micro-box to germinate them in. Basically a rubbermaid ice-cooler with a 5" fan and 2 26Watt CFLs. I made the mistake of closing the lid while I went on campus for 3 hours before I could create a proper ventilation system. I made 2 possible mistakes and I am hoping yall can tell me which it was. Before I left I watered the plants out of ignorance, although the solo cups do have drainage holes. Upon my return the cooler was super hot and all my babies were wilted over as you can see in the pictures below. I immediately got them out of the cooler and under a fan, and since at first I thought it was due to the heat I lightly misted each one with cold water. Here are some pictures, the stalks are of normal width towards the bottom but extremely thin and wilted towards the top, which makes me think it was the heat from the lights that fried them. But many people in my last post said it was over watering. What do yall think? BEFORE: AFTER: I AM a beginner and realize now I should have let them be, but please GC, give me guidance. The littlest sproutling was the only one that showed any growth this morning, the rest still looked...dead I am willing to do anything to save these ladies, if only one survives then I will be attempting to clone, but I am open to suggestions.
they look pretty dead to me holmes you can let it dry a little and see what happens.. but i wouldn't expect much..
By "dry a little" you mean just let sit under the light with no water? Or is there a specific strategy to dry them out?
I'm assuming that you punched enough holes in the bottom of your cup to let water pass. they look pretty gone, start over? (the first pic looks like it might make it good luck)
yeah.. let it sit under the lights till the cup feels light. Feel how heavy it is now as a reference. but man.. they look pretty dead
Okay, well let's suppose the other 4 are *gulp* dead, what is the likelyhood of this little guy surviving? It was just breaking the soil when the rest were wilted over and now it has shown a little growth since then, however not as much as I would've expected. If she pulls through would it be wise to take clones so the entire (outdoor) grow season is not lost or would it be too late in the season by the time the clones root and veg? I'm just looking for friendly input at this point, thanks for the responses thus far. NOTE: for those that are wondering, all the cups have 4 fairly large holes at the bottom for sufficient drainage, this soil just seems to hope the moisture too well..
Just keep them all.. if they don't show anything in a few days, toss em. But marijuana plants are pretty hardy lil guys. What I did to my 2nd plant, id probably be thrown in jail for if there was such a thing as plant abuse. But now she's huge! U have nothing to lose and unless u need the space in ur growbox, might as well as save it to see if it still produces buds. If anything it can be a learning experience.
Thank you for that input shug, that was very encouraging to a young grower. I plan on keeping all 5 under on a 24/0 light schedule in the grow box until something happens, be it they perk up or lose their color and die. The most valuable experience is gained through mistakes but I just wish I didn't make this one
If you cut some verticle slits up the sides of the party cups, you will do better with regard to air flow, 10-15 of them from top to bottom. Use a razor blade.
I'll do that immediately, thanks for the tip. It's tiny things like this I was hoping to gain from yall, any other tips to help my ladies would be greatly appreciated. Smoke on blades, Carbon
When water sits it deoxygenates, deoxygenated water drops in ph as it looses the oxygen part of the H20. Oxygenated water, like someone bubbling oxygen thru an air hose into a bucket of water raises the ph, it becomes more alkaline. Same with human blood, you don't breath and the ph drops and become acidotic, hyperventilate and it becomes alkaline. When we feed the plants you have to allow for a wet to dry cycle, so that the ph lowers and the micro's are absorbed, and as it dry's and becomes alkaline in it's dryness, the macronutrients are absorbed. So you only water when the feeder leaves of a plant are at less than parallel to the ground, less than horizontal... it's an indicator of dryness, they droop some, not completely parched but drying out some...in bigger plants anyway. Your's is small, just let it dry out some, it will like you more. Spray bottles are useful for noobs, they cut down the amount of water you are dosing, and you still feel like you are getting to do something for your plant
Hahah thank you, that was very informative. Also, I just want to confirm that it wasn't heat damage. The cooler was very hot, I didn't have a thermometer but was easily 90 degrees+. I just want to make sure it is over-saturation. I noticed all the plants get extremely skinny towards the top of the stalks but remained plump at the bottom. They all get skinny at about the same height and the short ones are the only ones still upright. It's hard to see in the pictures though. Is this still conclusive with the overwatering theory? EDIT: I also made slits in the cups for better air circulation and moved the lights higher up. Are there any last ditch methods I could try on one of the plants to possibly save them all?
Sorry for the double post but I need help. Will I see an improvement just from them drying out or will I need to add water at the appropriate time? It's been three days since the "incident" and the soil is looking rather dry, I press my finger an inch into the soil and its still a bit moist but not largely so. Also, the plant's stalks seem to be getting skinner and more emaciated. Is this a sign that they are truly dead?