Hey guys and girls I’m new to this forum and indoor growing and was after ideas on why my cute girls leaves are distorted. There are 2 plants.
What kind of soil are they in?
Check the ph
They’re in coco. The ph of soil is 7. Ph of nutrition and water is 6.0.
How far away is the light and what kind of light are you using? Any pics of the set up?
They look burnt probably from the light being too close. You’re not giving them nutes, are you?
600w hps. 450mm from plants. 1/4 strength nutrition as advised by hydro shop. In 1200x1200x2000mm tent
They’re awfully small to be feeding nutes, but I think it’s the lights. How close is the light? Try moving it up, and if it burns your hand, then it whol burn the plants.
It’s 450mm from the plant. I think that’s 18”??
It’s not very hot on my hand at all
Then it’s the nutrients probably. Just give them regular tap water until the get a bit bigger.
One of my seedlings in Rockwool is about the same size as yours and it hasn’t even been transplanted yet to start nutes. Plus soil already has nutes in it naturally so it’s probably overkill.
Ok no problem. I’ll give it a go. I think the leaves were like that before mutes. I’ll check my diary when I get home. Thanks for the help.
My leaves looked yellow like 2 days ago and I just gave them time and they started to correct themselves. Good luck, hope to see it when it’s bigger.
Also. O believe coco has a lower recommended pH then soil. I believe 5.5-5.9 is the goal? Try lowering it a bit. Especially that run off
Ok I’ve taken photos again. They are all geeen now but still a little turned up. Is it possible I overwatered it previously? I haven’t watered it for 1.5 days and it’s the healthiest they’ve been. I got a soil moisture meter and the moisture at root level is perfect now. I might have to keep an eye on soil moisture for when I need to water them.! I also haven’t had any runoff at all. The soil ph was tested with a soil ph probe. Probably not as accurate as I needed.image|374x500
@Ausgrow Welcome to the forum! It looks like you’ve got some good advice. If they are in coco, there are no nutrients in it, and you are correct to be feeding as soon as they begin to lose their cotyledons, the small round leaves, light at first, then building up to either the manufacturer’s recommendation or when your plants say whoa (burnt tips, too deep of green color, etc.).
What are you using to test the pH going in and coming out? In coco (I’ve read, but never personally grown in it) you should be feeding to runoff daily, but that’s going to be tricky until they can handle that much at once without drowning. The good news is, coco drains very well, so it is somewhat difficult to overwater. Plus, you’ve avoided any possible transplant shock. However, because it is a soilless medium, you need to water/feed more frequently than soil. At any rate, you’ll want a good digital pH meter (your roots will be happiest around 5.8), and probably a TDS meter to test your nutrients going in, and runoff, to see how your plants are eating.
You’ll want to raise your light to at least 24", or about 60cm, probably even closer to 36", or about 91cm, until the plants are more accustomed to the light and the environment. They think they’re outside, in the spring. Fool them. The sun is getting higher in the sky and gradually more intense. Do the same with your lights.
There is a lot of moisture in the spring, so keep your humidity slightly higher until they’re a little older. 36% (just going by the readings in the picture) is a little dry. They’ll do fine there, but might drink faster, and it may stress them. You might want to get a humidifier, or reconfigure your ventilation to fiddle with it some.
The leaves curling up in your earlier pictures are signs of heat stress. If it’s 26° on the floor, at the canopy is probably a little hotter. Use that probe, and put it at the height of your canopy, right under the light, so the “out” temperature shown is actually what your plants are getting.
The size of those pots (35-40L?) make it easy to overwater, despite being in coco. It looks like you’ve added some perlite, which will help with drainage, too. But for now, I would mix just a small amount of nutrients or pH adjusted water, or whatever you’re giving them that day (maybe 500ml apiece) and pour or spray it very slowly in a circle around the plant, a few inches away. This will promote root growth. A small seedling in a large pot will grow slowly at first, while they fill up the pot with roots. Then you will see a lot of growth all at once.
Other than that, it looks like you’ve got a pretty nice setup. With your fan/filter inside, it might limit your height adjustment with your lights, but you’ve got a nice tent. It’s pretty tall, but if you think you might run into issues with height, you might want to consider topping or training of some sort, to make sure you don’t burn any buds, and to make the most of your light anyway, really.
Best of luck to you. There’s no such thing as a dumb question around here, except for the ones you don’t ask. Don’t be shy. Everyone here is pretty chill and just want to help each other out. Happy gardening!
Raise the light. 18" is a good heighy for led. Anf yes may be a little too young for nutrient introduction. Good info you have gotten already. OnE LoVe
Not LED. HPS.