Greetings, I had a few plants in a flood & drain system in net pots. The plants were arranged so that the net pots simply sat in a container that filled and drained every 3 hours. Over one month I monitored the plants as they drank the water and ate the nutes. I adjusted the ph every morning as well as topping off the reservoir. The plants grew very healthy and fast, but roots never grew outside of the net pots. I assumed this was because roots are photo-phobic and don't like to be exposed to light. The under side of the net pots had them growing but nowhere else were roots outside of the net pots. I figured it wouldn't be a problem for the plants because the entire pot is submerged in solution every couple of hours. Well a few days ago I noticed the leaves began to droop on my largest plant until all of the leaves were completely droopy and only the tips of the branches were upright, then the branch tips tipped over too. My first thought was that the plant was root bound but I didn't think that could happen in hydro. Well I transplanted the plant into a bubble bucket with 1/2 strength nutes for two days, saw no changes above or below in the root area, so I tossed it. Now, what causes a completely healthy plant to lose all life in 1.5 days, in an ebb&flow system? Is there salt build up on roots in hydro? Are plants flushed in hydro too? Every week? It's pretty discouraging when this happens because the plant was very healthy, so how do you know what to improve on? Is this what people mean when they say a strain is easy/hard to grow, that your plant could suddenly become shocked and die half way through a grow that requires a rather large initial investment?
Thank you for the fast response. I guess one question to ask is whether it's unhealthy for the roots to be exposed to light? I knew the roots would avoid the light exposure, but what I'm not sure about is whether this would cause the plant to become shocked or die. If a plant has roots the size of a fist, and is fed multiple times each day, would the plant be able to continue growing, or would the plant require longer roots to survive? Also, if the roots are the size of a fist, would the plant simply not grow to its potential, or would it outgrow its capacity and die?
i think you'll get alot more accurate advice to your problem by posting a few pics of what your worried about. just my .02
Are they wilting? Increas the frequency of the waterings...try every hour... As the plant gets bigger it needs more water...it may be running out between those feedings... Does it perk up after watering?
im in soil but my plant will droop like crazy if im late with watering and it perks up a few hours after watering without fail every single time.
I know it sounds hard to believe, but the plants may have become water logged. If the Ph gets too out of balance, it can lock out nutes, and basically just leave the plant to get waterlogged. Another issue could be lack of oxygenated water, but it isn't very common with an ebb and flow system. On a side note, you should try a grow in a hempy bucket. Its very simple to set up and gives great results.