Kirkb said:

Hello All. See pics. Would you say this is from under watering or over watering? Something else? I water once in the am and then at approximately 5 pm. When I do go to water, the pot is light (weight) and dry which leads me to think I’m not over watering. I was using the hydroponics flora gro system but went back to distilled water thinking it may have been nutrient burn. I have a fan set on low moving the air around and not facing the plants. Temp in room is about 70. Help!!

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Beachwalker said:

Classic over-watering; never water plants in soil twice a day arbitrarily like that! (I'm agreeing with everyone above that it is soil?)

To learn proper watering techniques fill up a pot the same size as you're using with the same mix you're using, but keep it dry and set it aside..

When the Potted Plant feels the same weight as the dry pot you have set aside, that is when you water, but not before in soil.

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Kirkb said:

Ok. Going to let it dry out. Once it’s time to water again shall I just spray mist it or soak the soil and then not water again for awhile until the weight is how you mentioned. I’m really goofing on this watering thing. I probably shouldn’t have but I flushed it last night and right now it’s already getting light. Not watering again for 5 days is gonna seem like forever. Thanks for the input.

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Kirkb said:

Ok. Going to let it dry out. Once it’s time to water again shall I just spray mist it or soak the soil and then not water again for awhile until the weight is how you mentioned. I’m really goofing on this watering thing. I probably shouldn’t have but I flushed it last night and right now it’s already getting light. Not watering again for 5 days is gonna seem like forever. Thanks for the input.

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Beachwalker said:

Let it complete dry out to the point where it's almost ready to wilt a little bit

and then completely soak it (and sometimes even let about 10% to 20% run out)

and then don't water it again until it's completely dried out almost to the point of wilting a little bit

that's called a wet/dry cycle, good luck

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Beachwalker said:

Let it complete dry out to the point where it's almost ready to wilt a little bit

and then completely soak it (and sometimes even let about 10% to 20% run out)

and then don't water it again until it's completely dried out almost to the point of wilting a little bit

that's called a wet/dry cycle, good luck

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Vondank420 said:

Just to be clear. Im not saying the 5/6 day is spot on but keep an eye on it. If it's not ready at day 5/6 wait another day and check again.
The roots and plants will thank you...
Hard not to touch the plants but less is more in the begging...

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Kampbe1l said:

the soil mix (medium) and the growing conditions (temps & humidity, plant size, etc...) will determine how often to water/feed.

if you're watering twice a day with a soil mix, then you are over-watering. that's why i originally asked what type of medium, you're growing in?

if the medium is more hydroponics-based (inert mediums like perlite, coco, rock-balls, etc, rather than soil mix), then this might be the watering/feeding cycle.

over-watering gives those symptoms you had photo'ed in the OP - the lower leaves browns/dies rapidly, while the upper newer leaves shows some damage at its tips. The leaves will start not been the healthy darker green, but yellowing around the edges, and even around the veins. The leaves gets 'bloated', rounder shaped. And the plant stagnates in its growth. Eventually, there might even be more insect/pest activity, and a smell - but that tends to be when its more extreme. It looks nutrient deficient because its roots system got fucked.

the typical suggestion is to dig 2 inches into the pot mix to see if its dried out, between watering/feeding - but if your soil mix is not quite right, then the bottom of the pot might be still moist, leading towards root rot/disease. that's why the suggestion here is to have the same pot size full of the same soil mix dry, and that pot with the plant growing in it - so you can compare directly the weight of these pots to determine how dry the plant is.

i also follow what was suggested above - just before it starts to wilt from under-watering, that's when to water. Out of these two sins - given the medium, temps, humidity, etc - its probably better to (slightly) underwater, than overwater.

the reason you start sowing in smaller pots, and gradually transplanting as it grows bigger in larger pots - from one side, its about root-bound, larger pots means bigger space to grow larger root system. But also, smaller pots with the smaller plant growing, is probably easier to water. If you have a large pot with a small plant, you only need to water around its stem, not the whole large pot. If you water a small plant in a small pot, you can't really 'over-water' the pot.

so, assuming it's soil mix - let the soil mix dry out, then regularly water according to a schedule (which might be 5 days or so between watering/feeding). expect more damage to become visible over the next couple of weeks, while it recovers. First, regulate its watering cycle before making amendments to it soil mix. Consider adding more perlite to this soil mix, which will again change that watering cycle/schedule. I think that the potting mix might need better aeration -less moisture retention, but hard to tell if it's overwatering.

if need be, made amendments to the soil mix - when it dries out totally, then consider repotting/replanting into a different/amended soil mix...

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Kampbe1l said:

Nice spot.

Clay pot, terracotta, heavy, also retains moisture. Even heavier when moist.

Use standard plastic pots, probably better than terracotta. Better, even to use fabric pots, or those aerated pots.

Here, I am suspecting damp soil mix, plus definite over watering plus moist terracotta ....

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