Overwatered? Underwatered? Help my girls…

Grow in coco and you can feed daily and never have to worry about over watering.
Note: except when you have a small seedling in a large pot.

 

Looks pretty good to me. Maybe a little thirsty. Topping slows down growth a lot. If your pots get to dry, the soil becomes hydrophobic. The water ends up running right through it and usually you will end up with a pot with a wet bottom and dry top.

 

From a hydroponic growers perspective there is no such a thing as overwatering.
Must be magic I can grow in water and you have over watering issues in most likely bagged potting soil which really is compost.
OR its a different problem and your not seeing it.
Maybe the problem is drainage ...............

I can grow in water because it has oxygen in it.
You can't grow because you have drainage issues your water is pooling up and becoming stagnant.
Water that is not oxygenated ........................

Oxygen is a requirement to MJ plants roots

 

I use to grow using a layer of mulch on top like you are and you would be surprised how long the soil stays moist. With that being said there is a significant difference between an over watered leaf and a thirsty leaf. The over watered will look “bloated” and droopy and the under watered will be dry, almost crusty and wilted. When my plants were about the size of yours they would get a litre of water but that would be once a week. Cannabis loves a good wet dry cycle. Just remember don’t love your plants to death. I’ve been guilty of that myself in the past. Remember they are a weed and they just want to survive.


Also, there are fairly cheap moisture meters that you could get that give a decent indication of what’s going on. Or you could do the lift the pot method. I use to use this when I had a tendency to over love my girls. So this is how I did it. I had a pot filled with the same mix as my tent plants and I would leave it just outside the tent and it would be bone dry. That way I could lift it and get a feel for its weight and then lift a pot with a plant in it and compare the weight of the two. If the plant was heavier I would wait. There is also the finger method. If you stick you finger in two knuckles deep and it’s moist wait to water. If it’s dry you should be ok to water.
Judging by your bottom leaves yellowing I would guess you are over watering otherwise that should still be nice and healthy.
Also one of your fans looks like its aims right at the plant. Plants like passive air not direct air. Move that fan up and that will help as well I think.

 

Also don’t panic, your plant doesn’t look that bad.

 

have you used any bottled nutrients or are they just in a hot soil?

 

And another option is try DWC. Growing in oxygenated water is the best way to go. Unlimited water so you don’t worry about watering and so long as you have a good air pump there is unlimited oxygen. I did a simple build using a camping cooler which I did a thread on. I use to grow in soil but I will never go back. Too much BS: bugs, watering issues, pH issues… the list goes on. Here is a pic to show what dialled in DWC looks like in veg (I am main-lining two plant for 8 tops each, current grow see diary for any details if you’re interested). There is no over or under watering in DWC.

 

I have used bottled nutes and I also did organic super soil mixes.

 

Are you in a super soil mix or are you using bottled nutes?

 

Oh and another thing don’t pull them out of the pots. You won’t have much of a root base and it will make a huge mess and you might even damage roots and then your plants really won’t be happy. Been there done that!

 

It's hard to say. Leaves are drooping in the pics, but not clawed or anything. Stick a finger in. Is the soil damp? in the beginning I can water every 4-5 days and the soil is still damp. There's not "answer". Some plants act different ect. You'll just have to guess and try and see what happens.

 

sorry i thought this was a questions posted by the originally poster of the thread lol. My bad.

 

Also make sure you don’t have the fans pointed directly at the plants. Hey don’t like direct air. Passive air is what you are looking for.

 

Your not thinking right on this.
Your grow medium is like sponge . its compost . dried organic matter soaks/wicks up water/moisture and holds it.
Add dirt/sand /pea gravel perlite . to give your grow medium better drainage so the roots are not in stagnate water.
You want like 60% compost/bagged potting soil which doesnt have actual soil in it.And 40% dirt sand pea gravel
The companies that sale the bagged compost named it potting soil BUT HAS NO SOIL IN IT.
Compost soaks up water allot more then dirt/sand/stone.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A flowerpot filled with potting soil

Potting soil or growing media, also known as potting mix or potting compost (UK), is a substrate used to grow plants in containers. The first recorded use of the term is from an 1861 issue of the American Agriculturist.[1] Despite its name, little or no soil is usually used in potting soil.

Materials[edit][/paste:font]
Materials used for growing mediums include: peat, coconut coir, wood products like bark and wood fiber, perlite, stone wool, soils/tufts, and recycled paper and cardboard.[2] Other materials used include rice hulls, sand, vermiculite, and calcined clays.[3]

Properties[edit]
Typical potting mixes include one or more materials which retain moisture, one or more materials which aid in aeration and drainage, and fertilizer. Moisture-retaining materials and aerating materials can be combined in any ratio, depending on the particular needs of the plant. Soils are minimally used as growing media because they compact and lose pore space after repeated watering and can be too heavy for growing potted plants.[4] Mediums used for growing plants in pots typically are a mix of organic and inorganic ingredients.[5]

Good growing mediums have a number of properties including moisture and nutrient retention capacity, quick water infiltration, pore space for aeration (plants roots need oxygen), drainage for excess water, decompose slowly, and provide support for the plants growing in them.[5] They also have an optimal range of pH, cation exchange properties, and lack substance that are toxic to plants [5] These are also dependent on the type of plant grown since there is wide variation in moisture and nutrient needs among different plants.

Moisture retention[edit]
This part is usually made up of peat (usually with limestone to reduce acidity)[6] or coconut coir. It serves to absorb water and nutrients. Tree bark, mainly of pine, may also be used.

The use of peat is controversial since the harvesting of peat moss from peatlands (which includes unique habitats such as bogs and fens) degrades these peatlands. Peatlands are home to a diverse range of plant and animal species. Peat also has a very slow accumulation rate, as little as 1mm per year, so they take a long time to regenerate. Peatlands are also carbon sinks, constituting 3% of the world's surface but storing up to 30% of the carbon sequestered in the soil.[7] The removal of the layer of CO2 absorbing plants releases CO2 into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.[8][9]

As such, alternatives such as coconut coir are promoted by some organisations.[10][11]

Drainage[edit]
Sand and grit may be used for drainage and aeration. Perlite and vermiculite improve both aeration and water retention.

Nutrients and chemistry[edit]
All plants need essential plant nutrients to grow, so it is important to make sure there is a sufficient amount in the potting soil.[12] Some nutrients may be already present in the bulking ingredients.[13] Peat contains 1% nitrogen that is almost never released. Limestone (for raising pH) contains mostly calcium (calcite), but can also contain magnesium (dolomitic). The latter is preferred as it supplies both elements. A typical proportion of limestone to peat is 8.5 pounds per cubic yard (5.0 kg/m3).[13] Coir contains a high amount of electrolytes (salts). In fact, untreated coir contains too much sodium and potassium for plant growth, so it is washed and then buffered (partially replacing salts with other minerals, usually calcium and magnesium) to produce the growth medium. Vermiculite contains some calcium and magnesium, but more importantly it helps retain water and nutrients in the porous structure.

Nutrients not supplied by the bulk will need to be supplied by the fertilizer. In conventional mixes they may be slow-release formulae of synthetic fertilizers, while organic mixes will use organic source such as compost (e.g. leaf mold, bark compost or recycled mushroom compost). Overuse of fertilizers will, as with in normal soils, risk damaging the plant.[13] For compost, the maximum recommended amount is 1 part compost to 1 part bulking material.[14]

A soil test may be done to analyze the chemistry of a potting mix, despite the mix not necessarily being made of soil. As an approximation for indoor home planting, the mix is generally treated as greenhouse growth medium. The main method is a saturated media extract (SME), which tests the chemical contents of a water extract of the mix.[13][15]

Reference levels for potting mix by the SME method[13][a]
Analysis Acceptable, min Optimum, min Optimum, max Acceptable, max
Soluble salt, mS/cm 0.75 2.0 3.5 5.0
Nitrate-N, ppm[c] 40 100 200 299
Phosphorus, ppm 3 6 9 18
Calcium, ppm 80 200 — —
Magnesium, ppm 30 70 — —
Different mixes for different uses[edit]
The growth medium should be adapted to each plant's (and growth stage's) preference for aeration, drainage, nutrition, and pH.[14]

For seed starting, a "germination mix" is typically light-weight and suitable for starting small-seeded plants. A "seed starting" mix is suitable for larger seeded crops.[17] Following early growth, most plants prefer a potting mix that is more well-draining.

Cacti and succulents require sharp drainage, thus requiring a much larger percentage of perlite or sand.[18] Carnivorous plants, such as the Venus flytrap and the pitcher plant, prefer the nutrient-poor, acidic soils common to bogs and fens,[19] while water-based plants thrive in a heavier topsoil mix.[20]