Hi, I am working on my first grow. The seedlings are a few days old and since the day before yesterday they have had very droopy leaves as you can see in the pictures below: Last night I watered them again and the two on the left I watered a little more than the other two to see if I wasn't putting enough water in. Any thoughts? Still trying to figure out if this is from overwatering, underwatering, too much heat(was in low 80s in there), or humidity issues. I got a thermometer that also reads humidity and have that in there. It has only been in there a few minutes and is reading 37%, but started at 40% a few minutes ago when I put it in(default setting when I turned it on) and it may continue to drop. Here is a link to my Grow Journal for more information: http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341294-buddy-mcnugs-first-grow-indoor-soil-w-cfl-led-ak99-bb-random-bagseed-2014.html Any advice would be much appreciated!
I'm a newbie so I would maybe wait for someone more experienced to chime in, but to me that looks like over watering. Low 80's shouldn't cause that big of a problem, I grew my little ones in high 80's and they didn't look like that. How often are you watering them? A lot of the tutorials say you should pick up your pot (or cup in your case) when its completely dry and feel that weight, then feel how heavy it is after a good watering. You wait until it gets that light again before you water it again. OR, some people put a finger in up to the first knuckle and if it feels dry you water it. It probably goes against what your instincts are telling you but I would let them dry out for a few days and see if they look any "perkier". I swamped one of my plants and it pretty much hit the ground, after about 2 days it was perky again. When in doubt, sometimes its better to do nothing and watch it carefully to see the small changes and what they are telling you rather then just throw everything you have at it hoping to fix something. Good luck!
Hey, thanks for the advice! Sounds like a good plan. I will hold off and do nothing to them for the next couple days and hopefully they will perk back up. I have had several people tell me about the keep a cup of soil sitting around to compare weights trick, so I need to really try that out. I just read online about a moisture meter I can get and will plan to order one to help. I have never grown anything at all before, so am new to all this. I was worried it was too hot in there or maybe the humidity is too low. Currently at 40%, but am trying to get that higher using a small pan of water sitting at the bottom of cabinet and have a wet towel in there too.
I think from what I remember reading that between 75 and 85 is a good temp, more like 81-82 for seedlings. Humidity around 70-80% for seedlings.......Once again, wait around for a more experienced person or check out the tutorial to be sure
Noob here, I read somewhere -- if they are droopy and stiff, it's overwatering. If they are droopy and soft, it's underwatering. If it is underwatering, they should perk up in about half an hour to and hour after watering. I also read that bottom watering is is a good way to water your seedlings and plants in general.
Ok that makes sense, thanks for the advice. The temps are in the high 70s now and I am going to take a break from watering for a while. Also going to look into a moisture meter so I won't have to worry about getting it wrong again.
Well, the plants are still looking a little droopy. Is it just me or do a couple of them look kinda crinkly too? I know everyone is saying I may have overwatered but they still look sad and its been a couple days since I last watered them. It is hard not to water them, they look like they need it, lol. Here are a few pictures from this morning: First all four from the top: Next, close ups of the plants two at a time: Now all four from the side: Temps are reading mid 70s in one part of cabinet and 80 at another part of cabinet. I keep trying to get humidity up but it is staying around 40%. I think once I get the intake/exhaust set up and can close the doors the humidity will be better in there. So, we are still thinking it is overwatering and I should just continue to leave them be? Just hate sitting by and doing nothing to help them, but if that's the best thing to do I will. Any other tips or advice or should I just continue to wait and see?
If your top soil is still moist, you really shouldn't think they need water. Relax, I think they can take some time to recover from overwatering, and I'm not aware of anything you can do. It's all up to them I guess
You are right, I probably need to relax, just want to do what I can to take care of them. Thanks to the helpful advice I have been given I have not watered my plants anymore and the seem to be perking up a bit. Here are a couple pictures of the ladies(hopefully) from this morning: First from the top: And from the side: Temps are staying in the 77 - 81 range(81 in one spot directly under the middle lights but a few inches to the sides it is high 70s. Thanks again everyone for the helpful advice.
Oh, I also wanted to add that your affected leaves may never recover, so just focus on the new ones. I had my first true leaves affected by heat stress and they are still in the same way two weeks later. All the new growth is fine though.
Its over watering same thing happened to me a week ago they didnt make it so b prepared to start over n not do so much next time bc they're seedling they're not gunna bounce back
Sorry to hear about your watering problems. I stopped watering them after it happened and they have been perking up more and more each day. I am hoping I only lose one or two from the problem if any.
I think you will be ok, but I hope your seeds aren't costing a lot. If they do and it bothers you, I recommend you practice by growing chilli peppers to get your green thumb first
These are from random bag seeds from lower quality stuff because I wanted to start out using these seeds to iron out a few newb mistakes before using my better strain seeds. Good idea on the peppers though, I may try that.