So my plant is about a month old and a few weeks ago I noticed the leaves began drooping and yellowing, and the new leaves coming in are really yellow on the tips. I have it in a decent sized box lined with white material and I have a 27w fluorescent bulb from Lights of America. I have it in soil covered with a few inches of sand at the top because I had/still have a gnat problem. As for watering I give it around 1-2 cups of rainwater(I collected it from outside and then filtered it through one of those stretchable book cover pantyhose like things) ever 3-4 days. Here's a pic of the plant, if you need any other info to help diagnose the problem let me know. And thanks in advance for any help!
...yeah, that's not normal. ...how wet is your soil, how wet do you keep it? ...what type of medium are you using? (soil, coco, exc...) ...have you fertilized any?
Since I put the sand in it's kinda difficult for me to judge how wet the soil is, but I usually don't water again until when I stick my finger through and it feels dry. As for the medium I'm using a Hyponex soil. And I haven't used any fertilizer yet, just the rainwater.
...sand retains water really, really well....too much sand in your soil and you could probably screw up the CEC (caution exchange capasity), which would make it unable to support microorganism life....I wouldn't have added the sand....what kind of sand, btw? Let your soil dry out before you rewater and I'm sure things will look better for you....you have a very young plant that has a very little root system and it shouldn't be drinking much water at all, therefore you shouldn't be watering too often at this stage. ...rainwater is awesome! Stick with it if you can. ...is your soil all organic?...or does it have time released fertilizers?
The bag doesn't give a good description of included nutrients all it tells is that it was fomulated from forest products, compost, sand and perlite. Is that bad that the sand is good at retaining the water? I only put it in there because I read it helps keep away the gnats because their eggs are unable to survive in it. Also I just thought I should add that I have the plant on a 24hour light cycle. That's cool yah?
...I see, your definately overwatering. Sounds like good organic soil and should last 3-4 weeks without any fertilizers. ...the fungus gnats was the first sign that you maybe overwatering....sand will retain water really well so, adding it to alrealy overwatered soil is a bad thing, yes. ...just let it dry out....your roots are being strangled by soil that is too compacted from being too wet.....
Alright cool. I thought it was overwatering but I wasn't sure. So by 3-4 weeks do you mean 3-4 weeks from now or from when I first put in the germinated seeds?
...I would simply transplant into a larger pot of fresh soil in 2-3 weeks from now....3-4 weeks after the transplant into the larger pot you could either transplant again, or start fertilizing....good soil will do all the work if ya work it right....just know that your roots love oxygen just as much as water.
...and forget the sand. Just get some sticky strips and hang them around your grow area, and watch the over watering....you'll still have a few gnats fly'n around here and there, but they LOVE overwaterd soil and populate very, very fast in it.
Alright sweet. Thanks for all the help brah. I just got one more question. I actually have two plants. Both under the same 27w light. The other plant, while smaller seems to be having less issues, but I was wondering if both plants will be able to survive much longer together under the same light.