Over water Under Water

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Kirkb

Kirkb

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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!!
 
Over water under water
Over water under water 2
Over water under water 3
Kampbe1l

Kampbe1l

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what's the medium/soil-mix? it looks like soil mix plus perlite?

wondering if the soil mix is also too damp/.muddy.

roots are getting damaged - the damage on the leaves looks like over-watering or damp-feet type issues.
 
Beachwalker

Beachwalker

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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!!
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.
 
V

Vondank420

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Let the medium dry out. Probley take 5/6 days at that temp and container size/plant size... before needing water again. Your overloving your plants lol...
 
Kirkb

Kirkb

52
8
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.

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.
 
V

Vondank420

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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.
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...
 
Beachwalker

Beachwalker

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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.
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
 
Kirkb

Kirkb

52
8
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

Thanks man.
 
V

Vondank420

184
63
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
Couldn't have said it better. ^^^^
 
Kirkb

Kirkb

52
8
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...


Perfect. Thanks again much appreciated
 
Kampbe1l

Kampbe1l

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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...
 
Last edited:
PipeCarver

PipeCarver

Supporter
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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...
With plants that size most here use the solo cups, I'm no good with those clay pots. Also at that temp and with plants at that age I may have watered twice since their birth in my veg room at 75f @ 55%
 
Kampbe1l

Kampbe1l

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93
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 ....
 
PipeCarver

PipeCarver

Supporter
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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 ....
lol stoned again I don't know what I was looking at, those are those paper / cardboard / ? pots........please ignore my post..... I hate those pots too because they mold on me under my dome.
 
Kirkb

Kirkb

52
8
Yeah. Going to go back to the plastic. These cardboard ones seem to soak in the moisture too quick. It may be behind the reasoning of why everything seems light too quick.

Update—- the two plants are already looking better after just one full day of no water. The lower fan leaves look like crap but the higher ones are more vibrant. Shall I leave them lower ones alone and not remove? I’ve read that removing them will help since the growing energy will be re focused on the other leaves.
 
Green Mtn

Green Mtn

37
18
Just leave it alone for a few days. I wouldn't transplant, I would just let them dry up a bit and then give them only clean PH'd water. When the plant really starts to grow another set of leaves and looking 100% you can snip the dead ones off. For now I would leave well enough alone. But I'm having troubles of my own so... lol
 
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