Hey guys so my outdoor grow was going well up until a week ago, we had 3 days of thunderstorms and my plants looked fine until the next sunny day when they began drooping. Now its been 4 days of sun and they just look worse with each day that goes by. No improvement in the drooping at all and more and more leaves are turning yellow. I have 4 smaller plants that are doing just fine, its only the larger plants that seem to be affected. I'm starting to wonder if maybe the thunderstorms didn't drown my plants as much as I thought and now maybe they're actually under watered? The soil feels dry as far as I can stick my fingers into. If anyone can tell which it is or has any suggestions please share. The last picture is how they looked after 3 days of rain when the sun first came out. Thanks.
Check your drain holes. If im ever unsure of the moisture content in the medium you check the top obviously by sticking a finger down an inch or two and if its dry then, well its dry lol. That being said, just because the top two inches are dry doesn't meant that the bottom half isn't moist. It very well may be moist still. I'm a fan of big drainage holes. One reason is to never question if i have good enough drainage. The other is so I can lift the pot and check the drain holes and see if the medium looks dry or mosit. By the size of your plants, and how much perlite seems to be in your medium, i would say underwatered. No matter how much volume of water they get at any given time, it can still dry out within a day especially if the roots have filled the bucket.
Not saying it can't be done in 5g buckets, but to still be veggin, those ladies look like they need a TP into a 20g pot or so.
4 days outside, in the sun, in a bucket... I would vote Underwatered. Sent from my POCOPHONE F1 using Tapatalk
I had a bit of a brain fart and never thought to test the weight. The buckets are the lightest I've ever felt them!! I am going to water them immediately. I guess I'm just shocked that after 3 days of heavy rain they would dry out in a day. I was scared of watering them again and completely ruining them. But you guys helped me feel a little more confident in the fact that they're probably under watered. Watering them asap and I'll update in the next couple days!! Thank you.
You'll see improvement in a few hours. By tomorrow they'll be back on schedule. Just remember to expect frequent waters with the size of the plant, the size of the bucket, and being outside.
The intense rain could have even fucked with soil and roots some. I water with a 5 gal bucket but going to change that because when they get bigger pouring from high up will fuck with the soil and stress plants. Recovers next day.
While we're at it, anyone ever seen a plant like this? It grew very slowly at first and suddenly took off. The leaves are an odd texture and unlike anything I've ever grown before. I almost feel like there may be some ruderalis in it? 2nd pic is for size comparison.
I actually plan on getting a blumat drip system set up soon. Apparently has very positive reviews and no pumps or timers needed.