Twisted new growth - reoccuring issue, need help

eFeNGee · Sep 29, 2025

Hi growers,
I need your help with my plants.

I’ve been dealing with this issue for a while now. Sometimes it’s worse, sometimes not as bad, but it’s always there – new growth comes in twisted, the tips fold up like a taco, and the leaf edges curl upward.

On my last run it got so bad I scrapped all the plants, thinking it was a russet mite infestation. I replaced everything I could: new watering hoses, pots, carbon filters, HEPA filters. I bleached the room, heated it to 40 °C (104 F) for two days, then bleached again.

This time I switched from soil to coco so I could be 100% sure what I’m feeding, hoping the problem would disappear. Unfortunately, it’s back again.

Setup:

Sealed grow room with a 2.4 × 2.4 m tent inside. The room works like a lung room with AC and dehumidifiers.
Added purge fans that exchange the air every hour for 15 min.
Inside the tent: scrubber, humidifier, and bottled CO₂.
Four MarsHydro TS3000s – one for each 1.2 × 1.2 quadrant.

Medium & pots:

Clones started in 0.5 L plastic pots.
Transplanted to 11 L fabric pots sitting on pot risers.
70% coco / 30% perlite mix.
After transplant they looked rough (pale green with purple stems) for about a week. Once roots poked out the bottom of the pot (1 week after transplant) they perked up. Currently at the end of week 4 veg.

Watering:

Running RO (my well water is trash at 0.7 EC, i don't even drink that sh*t). Starting at 0.0 EC.
Add CalMag up to 0.3 EC, then Canna A+B to 1.3 EC total.
pH down to 5.8.
Watering twice daily (0.5 L at lights on, 0.5 L mid-day).
Solution temp ~23 °C.
Runoff is heavy, around 0.8 EC and ~6.5 pH.
Coco never dries out, I keep it saturated. Algae growing on the perlite top layer.

Environment:

CO₂ ~800 ppm
Temps: 27–28 °C day / 23–24 °C night
RH: 68% day / 60% night
Leaf temp usually 2.5–3 °C below air temp
VPD ~1.1 kPa
Lights at 45% intensity, 0.9 m above canopy

The tent extractor ramps up with temp/humidity, minimum speed is set to 40%. Two oscillating fans blow across the lights (not directly at the plants).
I’ve checked for pests for hours with 50× and 1000× scopes – nothing. I add BTI to feeding solution occasionally to prevent fungus gnats.
The canoeing happens even on lower growth, so I thought it wasn’t light stress. But I’ve noticed about an hour before lights out the leaves fold even more. I’ve since dropped intensity to 30% with the lights at the same height.

All input is appreciated, thank you.

yamyam222 · Sep 29, 2025

As a coco grower. My observation is It looks too wet. Your RH and temperature seems a bit high. They can't transpire properly in those conditions. I'd drop the relative humidly to around 50-55% at this stage of growth. I'd also dial back the watering frequency. Let things dry off but don't let the coco completely dry out. Aim for damp.

BearWater · Sep 29, 2025

Have you turned your light up or lowered its distance recently? I’ve got a plant doing this, not that bad though, im thinking it’s the light, i raised that. And will be spraying for pests tomorrow.

eFeNGee · Sep 29, 2025

yamyam222 said:
As a coco grower. My observation is It looks too wet. Your RH and temperature seems a bit high. They can't transpire properly in those conditions. I'd drop the relative humidly to around 50-55% at this stage of growth. I'd also dial back the watering frequency. Let things dry off but don't let the coco completely dry out. Aim for damp.

Thanks for the advice mate, that’s what I was thinking too. Since it’s my first time running coco I wasn’t really sure about the watering routine – some people say keep it saturated, others say let it dry back a bit. Yesterday I hand-watered and the curling actually looks a little worse today. I’ll let the medium dry back a bit and see if that makes a difference.
About the humidity – if I drop RH to 55%, my VPD goes up to around 1.5 kPa at the leaf, 1,7kPa air VPD. Isn’t that a bit too much? I’ve got the day temp set to 28 °C to keep leaf temps around 25–26 °C, since the LEDs don’t put out much heat right now.

BearWater said:
Have you turned your light up or lowered its distance recently? I’ve got a plant doing this, not that bad though, im thinking it’s the light, i raised that. And will be spraying for pests tomorrow.

Nope, i've raised the lights and lowered the intensity to give them a little break from the light, no effects tho.

yamyam222 · Sep 29, 2025

eFeNGee said:
About the humidity – if I drop RH to 55%, my VPD goes up to around 1.5 kPa at the leaf, 1,7kPa air VPD. Isn’t that a bit too much? I’ve got the day temp set to 28 °C to keep leaf temps around 25–26 °C, since the LEDs don’t put out much heat right now.

Below is the VPD chart I use. Looking at your current stage of growth I would aim for under 60% RH. 1.1-1.3 VPD feels about right. I find it better be slightly lower on the RH. They tend to drink more and grow faster because of more frequent fertigation.

eFeNGee · Sep 29, 2025

yamyam222 said:
Below is the VPD chart I use. Looking at your current stage of growth I would aim for under 60% RH. 1.1-1.3 VPD feels about right. I find it better be slightly lower on the RH. They tend to drink more and grow faster because of more frequent fertigation.

View attachment 2535911

I've been using this chart as well, just keep in mind these values are valid if your leaf temp is 1,7C lower than your air temp. Given my delta is 2,5C the values change a little. However i will try to drop the rH to 60% to induce dryback of the media. :)

RoadKillSkunkHunt · Sep 29, 2025

eFeNGee said:
Thanks for the advice mate, that’s what I was thinking too. Since it’s my first time running coco I wasn’t really sure about the watering routine – some people say keep it saturated, others say let it dry back a bit. Yesterday I hand-watered and the curling actually looks a little worse today. I’ll let the medium dry back a bit and see if that makes a difference.
About the humidity – if I drop RH to 55%, my VPD goes up to around 1.5 kPa at the leaf, 1,7kPa air VPD. Isn’t that a bit too much? I’ve got the day temp set to 28 °C to keep leaf temps around 25–26 °C, since the LEDs don’t put out much heat right now.

Nope, i've raised the lights and lowered the intensity to give them a little break from the light, no effects tho.

It looks to me like a light intensity issue. I realize you said that you raised your lights and lowered your intensity ... did you go far enough? If you can download Photone for your smart phone. Check your light intensity at several places at the top of your canopy. At least you have an idea of how much light your plants are receiving.

When plants are struggling, turning your lights down should be your first move. It buys you time to sort through things. You can always turn your lights up again once the problem is resolved.

Coco should be watered daily. Some people will water more than once daily. I don't think your issue is related to watering. More likely its both too much light and a bit over-fed.

eFeNGee · Sep 29, 2025

RoadKillSkunkHunt said:
It looks to me like a light intensity issue. I realize you said that you raised your lights and lowered your intensity ... did you go far enough? If you can download Photone for your smart phone. Check your light intensity at several places at the top of your canopy. At least you have an idea of how much light your plants are receiving.

When plants are struggling, turning your lights down should be your first move. It buys you time to sort through things. You can always turn your lights up again once the problem is resolved.

Coco should be watered daily. Some people will water more than once daily. I don't think your issue is related to watering. More likely its both too much light and a bit over-fed.

I went so far i am afraid that i'm not giving them enough light right now

The MarsHydro TS3000 is a 450W quantum board, based on the ppfd map they supplied it should be giving out 1000ppfd at 50% intensity when sitting 12" / 30cm above the plants. Mine are set to 40% intensity and sitting 90cm above the plants. Before the adjustment it was 50% intensity @80cm.

yamyam222 · Sep 29, 2025

eFeNGee said:
I've been using this chart as well, just keep in mind these values are valid if your leaf temp is 1,7C lower than your air temp. Given my delta is 2,5C the values change a little. However i will try to drop the rH to 60% to induce dryback of the media. :)

Right on. Poor plant transpiration creates a ton of secondary symptoms. Pulling your light back further might help/mask the issue. A healthily plant can be blasted with well over 1000ppfd when you have everything dialed in.

RoadKillSkunkHunt · Sep 29, 2025

eFeNGee said:
I went so far i am afraid that i'm not giving them enough light right now The MarsHydro TS3000 is a 450W quantum board, based on the ppfd map they supplied it should be giving out 1000ppfd at 50% intensity when sitting 12" / 30cm above the plants. Mine are set to 40% intensity and sitting 90cm above the plants. Before the adjustment it was 50% intensity @80cm.

What is your ppfd rating at 40% intensity? Your plants are struggling. The request to lower your light intensity more was to allow them to recover. This isn't permanent. Once your plants are on their way to recovery, you can raise your intensity again. That taco curl is not moisture related from over-watering.

eFeNGee · Sep 29, 2025

RoadKillSkunkHunt said:
What is your ppfd rating at 40% intensity? Your plants are struggling. The request to lower your light intensity more was to allow them to recover. This isn't permanent. Once your plants are on their way to recovery, you can raise your intensity again. That taco curl is not moisture related from over-watering.

Not sure honestly since no one tests these lights at 90cm distance. Gotta be like 300ppfd max. I will check with Photone but it measures weird values on my phone.

RoadKillSkunkHunt · Sep 29, 2025

eFeNGee said:
Not sure honestly since no one tests these lights at 90cm distance. Gotta be like 300ppfd max. I will check with Photone but it measures weird values on my phone.

I think you're missing the bigger part of this. Your plants are struggling. It's either too much light or too much light + too heavy feed. Watering daily is what you do in coco. If you leave your light at too high of an intensity, your plants won't recover. If you turn them down low to a point where they start to stretch a little, you can begin to dial things in without using photone.

With the damage to your plants right now, you really are not in a position where you want a high ppfd. Turn it down. It's temporary. Please list your nutrient brand, the amounts you're using when you feed them.

Edit: I found that information.

yamyam222 · Sep 29, 2025

RoadKillSkunkHunt said:
I think you're missing the bigger part of this. Your plants are struggling. It's either too much light or too much light + too heavy feed. Watering daily is what you do in coco. If you leave your light at too high of an intensity, your plants won't recover. If you turn them down low to a point where they start to stretch a little, you can begin to dial things in without using photone.

With the damage to your plants right now, you really are not in a position where you want a high ppfd. Turn it down. It's temporary. Please list your nutrient brand, the amounts you're using when you feed them.

Edit: I found that information.

Take a hike. He said Canna A+B to 1.3 EC total and watering until runoff. Plus his light is nearly in the ceiling. Are you purposely trying to ruin this guys grow?

RoadKillSkunkHunt · Sep 29, 2025

yamyam222 said:
As a coco grower. My observation is It looks too wet. Your RH and temperature seems a bit high. They can't transpire properly in those conditions. I'd drop the relative humidly to around 50-55% at this stage of growth. I'd also dial back the watering frequency. Let things dry off but don't let the coco completely dry out. Aim for damp.

I'm concerned about the 1.3 ec since my interpretation of that means the plants are getting that much twice a day. In a perfect world, the 1.1 vpd would be fine but under the plant's current conditions, they need to dry out like you said. Swollen green leaves these plants are struggling to get rid of the moisture. Tacoing tips suggest the plants are getting too much feed.

yamyam222 said:
Take a hike. He said Canna A+B to 1.3 EC total and watering until runoff. Plus his light is nearly in the ceiling. Are you purposely trying to ruin this guys grow?

No, I'm trying to get him to slow things down long enough to allow him to sort through this. If these plants are being fed at 1.3 ec twice daily and are tacoing like they are, they are being over-fed. I actually agree with what you have told him. Turning down the light buys him time to sort this out.

Or he can continue to drive them hard and burn them up.

carlosescobar · Sep 29, 2025

Ive given up with coco after 2 years of struggling, new grower mind , i think its ok if you have experience of growing but if you just want to grow some plants , soil with photos is best . i killed 3 grows which did this same thing, curling up and it was something to do with too much nutrients, especially towards the end. it was my fault because i treated it like soil so i would imagine i got a build up of nutrients in the coco which were not washed out, then i mixed 50/50 soil/coco , thinking that would just be a well draining soil.
now that i look at the pics again , you havent got any tip burn , which mine had most of the grow, but i ve also overwatered plants and ive never seen curling like that due to water
ive just finished 3 photos in soil and it been so different, not a curl ,no blemishes , perfect green colour and a nice dank smell .

yamyam222 · Sep 29, 2025

RoadKillSkunkHunt said:
I'm concerned about the 1.3 ec since my interpretation of that means the plants are getting that much twice a day. In a perfect world, the 1.1 vpd would be fine but under the plant's current conditions, they need to dry out like you said. Swollen green leaves these plants are struggling to get rid of the moisture. Tacoing tips suggest the plants are getting too much feed.

No, I'm trying to get him to slow things down long enough to allow him to sort through this. If these plants are being fed at 1.3 ec twice daily and are tacoing like they are, they are being over-fed. I actually agree with what you have told him. Turning down the light buys him time to sort this out.

Or he can continue to drive them hard and burn them up.

He is watering with run off. There is no build up of nutrients. The plants take what they need and the remainder is washed away with the next watering.

eFeNGee said:
Not sure honestly since no one tests these lights at 90cm distance. Gotta be like 300ppfd max. I will check with Photone but it measures weird values on my phone.

Best advice- look for advice from coco growers. It is a completely different animal.

eFeNGee · Sep 29, 2025

RoadKillSkunkHunt said:
I'm concerned about the 1.3 ec since my interpretation of that means the plants are getting that much twice a day. In a perfect world, the 1.1 vpd would be fine but under the plant's current conditions, they need to dry out like you said. Swollen green leaves these plants are struggling to get rid of the moisture. Tacoing tips suggest the plants are getting too much feed.

No, I'm trying to get him to slow things down long enough to allow him to sort through this. If these plants are being fed at 1.3 ec twice daily and are tacoing like they are, they are being over-fed. I actually agree with what you have told him. Turning down the light buys him time to sort this out.

Or he can continue to drive them hard and burn them up.

Mate, I’m not sure how to make it clearer… the lights haven’t been lower than 80 cm (about 31 inches) since the start of the grow. I’d agree with you if I was nuking the plants with the lights at 50% power sitting 10 inches above them, but that’s not the case at all.

yamyam222 said:
He is watering with run off. There is no build up of nutrients. The plants take what they need and the remainder is washed away with the next watering.

Best advice- look for advice from coco growers. It is a completely different animal.

I'm gonna ease up on the watering and see what happens, thank for the advice :)

RoadKillSkunkHunt · Sep 29, 2025

yamyam222 said:
He is watering with run off. There is no build up of nutrients. The plants take what they need and the remainder is washed away with the next watering.

Best advice- look for advice from coco growers. It is a completely different animal.

First standard operating procedure when you're experiencing problems like this is to turn your lights way down. The great thing about hydro is also its curse ... when things are running well, plant growth is out of this world. When there are problems, you can burn them up quickly. Turning down the light does not solve his problem. It's not intended to. Its intended to buy him time so he can work through this.

yamyam222 · Sep 29, 2025

eFeNGee said:
Mate, I’m not sure how to make it clearer… the lights haven’t been lower than 80 cm (about 31 inches) since the start of the grow. I’d agree with you if I was nuking the plants with the lights at 50% power sitting 10 inches above them, but that’s not the case at all.

I'm gonna ease up on the watering and see what happens, thank for the advice :)

You’ll get there. I suggest reading other peoples struggles throughout the forum. It helped refine my process. My current run is close to yours. 50/50 coco/perlite. 700ppfd. GH Trio at 1.2 EC varing the PH 5.8-6.5. 80F with 50-55% RH. The only difference is I water just CalMag at 300ppm between every feed. I don’t see any calmag issues with your girls. That may show later since your PPFD is so low. They tend to get calmag hungry when pushing the light intensity.

Edit- The 300ppm calmag is at 6.5ph. I find the rise in PH with just calmag lets me push the PPFD 1000+

Florida_Mike · Sep 29, 2025

What's the Common denominators between both grows (soil vs coco), both with the same issue?

Lights
Water
Fans
Nutrients
ec/ph pens
Co2
???

You've pretty much ruled out lights. (with your setup, you should be able to blast them @ 100% if desired, anyways)
Fans should be irrelevant unless blowing directly on plants at hurricane strength
Bad batch of Nutrients could be to blame but unlikely. No burnt tips = not over feeling

That leaves the pens and the water. My bet is on the water and rootzone O2, and or ph levels (even though it's RO water)

What pens are you using and how often do you caliblate them?

Tell us more about your water... You said well water, does it go through a water softener prior to RO? How old is the RO membrane? How do you collect and store it? Does it sit 24hr b4 using? Do you have a circulation pump or air stone in it? Do you ph it b4 or after mixing nutrients? Are you mixing ingredients in the proper order - Silica 1st (if using) then calmag, then micro, then base

You can test water hypothesis by using distilled water to mix for one plant and see what happens

The beauty of hydro/soilless growing, is that if problems arise; you can always dump, flush and reset and it's like starting brand new

With your setup with Co2 and all, they could be outgrowing their root zone O2 levels and getting "soggy feet"

My bet is that it's still something to do with your water.

Just my .02 on the O2, H2O and the CO2... lmao

*I personally would eliminate Co2 supplementation until you get this sorted out

Oh, and welcome to the farm!

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Twisted new growth - reoccuring issue, need help

Twisted new growth - reoccuring issue, need help

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