Drooping and dying from bottom up

[potatochicken]

So my first time grow was coming along nicely until three of my plants started mysteriously wilting.

I thought it was underwatering so I watered them a bit, but still made no difference, actually that made it worse.

4 plants out of 7 look very healthy.

Please help, here are the specifics:
*coco and vermiculite medium
*nutrients according to cocoforcannabis.com
*leaves falling from bottom up
*drooping of leaves from stem up
*Leaves have moisture when crushed

Is this overwatering or heat stress or something else?

 

[NewWorld]

You can save them that's exactly how mine when from underwatering.
Although they can do the same from over watering.

You want to poke loads of holes in the soil to to allow the roots to breathe.

Only you'll know if you've over or under watered them. Looking at the water on the floor, I'd say you've under watered them and just panicked??

Spray the leaves. Give them plenty of light. Keep spraying if they're underwater.

Mine bounced back in 24 hours.

All the best

 

[HeadyMcDank]

Sorry to hear about the issues...

Some troubleshooting...
what is the pot weight when you pick it up?
Pot weight is something to consider after feeding and before.
Are we using nutes every feeding?

I saw you mentioned heat stress, what are the temps? How close is your light and what kind?

Least likely scenario but best to double check If the pot is super heavy and still droopy could be overwatering. Most of the coco look pretty moist in pics.

If it is super light maybe underwatering. The droopy 1 in the basket looks from the pic like the medium may be dry. The coco looks light brown in pic.

I do not see leaf discoloration frequently associated with nutrient issues or dry medium when medium becomes acidic.

I will check back a little later.

 

[potatochicken]

Sorry to hear about the issues...

Some troubleshooting...
what is the pot weight when you pick it up?
Pot weight is something to consider after feeding and before.
Are we using nutes every feeding?

I saw you mentioned heat stress, what are the temps? How close is your light and what kind?

Least likely scenario but best to double check If the pot is super heavy and still droopy could be overwatering. Most of the coco look pretty moist in pics.

If it is super light maybe underwatering. The droopy 1 in the basket looks from the pic like the medium may be dry. The coco looks light brown in pic.

I do not see leaf discoloration frequently associated with nutrient issues or dry medium when medium becomes acidic.

I will check back a little later.

1) NUTES AND WATERING:
Hi thanks so much for the reply, I've been giving them nutes with every feeding, and watering till what I thought was 15 to 20% runoff(I found out yesterday though that 750ml of water was enough for this, but I've given the three wilting plants about 2 litres each, and surviving plants less).

I usually water once every 2 days and use the tissue test where I lightly press 1ply tissue to the coco, and judge whether to water from the wetness.

TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY:
Temp is 26 Celcius in the morning and 33 Celcius max close to lunch time, I know this is a bit high but I live in the tropics and this is a strain native to Southern India.
Humidity is about 70 to 80% (relative humidity).

LIGHT:
I'm using natural sunlight coming through a transparent roof since they're on 12/12 now, and using a tarp to ensure complete darkness when required.

PH:
Admittedly I did not adjust ph for the watering right before the problem occured, but all plants were watered with the same water. Might this cause wilting on the level seen here (from what I read from the Internet, pH imbalance just causes spots and yellowing and impedes growth).

ROOTZONE :

I pulled the worst affected plant and though tiny roots are visible at the bottom, the taproot disappears abruptly about half an inch below the top surface. What's up with that? It's like the roots were removed down under.. Root rot?

NEW GROWTH:

healthy new growth appearing on two of the three.

 

[potatochicken]

You can save them that's exactly how mine when from underwatering.
Although they can do the same from over watering.

You want to poke loads of holes in the soil to to allow the roots to breathe.

Only you'll know if you've over or under watered them. Looking at the water on the floor, I'd say you've under watered them and just panicked??

Spray the leaves. Give them plenty of light. Keep spraying if they're underwater.

Mine bounced back in 24 hours.

All the best

Hi, thanks for taking the time to reply. As soon as I noticed the issue, I sprayed and slightly watered, but the plants didn't bounce back like they normally do (I've had underwatering before but the plants bounced back within 2 hours), in fact the wilting worsened with watering in this case.

 

[HeadyMcDank]

Seems like you narrowed the issue down a bit to the over feeding in terms of volume. These lessons are always hearbreaking but in the long run it spurns growth.

With coco i think you have to feed some everyday to keep the medium moist. It may also be necessary to spray medium to prevent dry spots as these will cause issues if coco drys out in patches.

I am newer to coco. I am running 50/50 coco/perlite mix in flower where i have an auto feed. But i veg in soil because i cannot keep up with the constant feeding in veg.

In terms of temps i dont think even 30 is hot enough to wilt the plant. 1 question i have tho, i think you mentioned it was under a clear window. I guess what i am wondering - just to rule it out, is there any possibility of the window amplyfying the sunlight and maybe making it hotter for the plant? Like a magnifying glass to an ant kinda thing... not realky likely but always good to rule out - i am somewhere warm and the sun coming thru my sliding glass door mid morning makes my living room 10ish degrees hotter.

With regards to roots, yes that does sound like root rot. Dark roots that come apart easy are signs of rot.

Feeding/Watering is a tricky skill and one that takes time to master. The trick is to keep the medium wet enough the roots are ok but dry enough the roots keep exploring the pot. Bigger the root the bigger the fruit. Frequent lighter waterings do more to encourage this natural process vs heavier soaking less often.

It may help to start in smaller pots then transfer to larger ones. Vs starting in a larger pot.

 

[potatochicken]

Okay so this is the issue: rootball is tiny. I previously tried DWC hydro and failed to get proper root development, which is the reason I switched to coco.

Roots were growing great till drip system was sustaining them but refused to get into the reservoir, because it was too hot (guess).

I'm wondering whether the heat is the issue or whether it has more to do with the idea of keeping it relatively dry so that the roots keep developing. Only time will tell. I will keep updating. In the meantime I will keep a reservoir and automatic watering system on standby in case other plants also show signs of overgrowing a tiny rootball.

 

[potatochicken]

Seems like you narrowed the issue down a bit to the over feeding in terms of volume. These lessons are always hearbreaking but in the long run it spurns growth.

With coco i think you have to feed some everyday to keep the medium moist. It may also be necessary to spray medium to prevent dry spots as these will cause issues if coco drys out in patches.

I am newer to coco. I am running 50/50 coco/perlite mix in flower where i have an auto feed. But i veg in soil because i cannot keep up with the constant feeding in veg.

In terms of temps i dont think even 30 is hot enough to wilt the plant. 1 question i have tho, i think you mentioned it was under a clear window. I guess what i am wondering - just to rule it out, is there any possibility of the window amplyfying the sunlight and maybe making it hotter for the plant? Like a magnifying glass to an ant kinda thing... not realky likely but always good to rule out - i am somewhere warm and the sun coming thru my sliding glass door mid morning makes my living room 10ish degrees hotter.

With regards to roots, yes that does sound like root rot. Dark roots that come apart easy are signs of rot.

Feeding/Watering is a tricky skill and one that takes time to master. The trick is to keep the medium wet enough the roots are ok but dry enough the roots keep exploring the pot. Bigger the root the bigger the fruit. Frequent lighter waterings do more to encourage this natural process vs heavier soaking less often.

It may help to start in smaller pots then transfer to larger ones. Vs starting in a larger pot.

By the way HeadyMcDank, thank you for your valuable input on the importance of keeping it a bit dry to encourage roots. I did not know it previously.