Compaction issues?

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parrajara

Member
Plants are 37 days old. They were stunned but are making a decent recovery. Now I have them going on pretty good wet/dry cycles but I am facing some problems.

Plant A is not drying out as quick. I must have not added enough perlite. Because of this, I water the plant when it's thirsty but the soil is not fully dry. The plant seems to respond well overall, but I notice that the leaves don't perk up as much as they should, or as much as they used to after waterings. They perk up the first day, and then stay quite droopy until the next watering. They are not overwatered or underwatered, but perhaps not getting enough oxygen.

I topped them (Dec 22), and they thrived ever since. But the leaves are droopy on Plant A, and as for Plant B...

Plant B has weird shape to the leaves. They look rough. Not sure how to explain, so I took pictures. I don't think this one has compaction issues, but something is happening.


Strain: Photoperiod Feminized Green Crack Kush (Sativa)
About: I started germination around Nov 19. The plant was looking healthy (aside from a bit of yellowing leaves) up until 5 days ago.

Environment:
  • There are two fans in there, one oscillates and the other does not make direct contact with plants. Its there to help with airflow.
  • Growing in a 2x4x6 tent using a 150CFM fan, which I calculated and it's enough for my space
  • Using 2 LED lamps (active heating, no heatsink) that are 400 actual Watts (200 each)
  • Lamps were 22" away but I have just changed them to 24".
  • I have a humidifier which manages to maintain humidity around 50%RH
  • The temperature ranges between 75-80F on a daily basis with lights on, and I suspect around 72-75F with lights off (I close the windows to let my condo warm up when lights are off)
Growing Medium & Taking Care:
  • Growing 2 plants in small (maybe 1 gallon or less) square plastic pots with holes in the bottom
  • The pots have a plastic dish drying "mat" underneath to elevate them and provide more circulation
  • I started my grow with what I thought was about 30% perlite 70% happy frog... may be wrong.
  • Water is not pH'd , soil is a good buffer.
  • Lights 18hrs/Dark 6hrs until yesterday. Switched them to 20/4.
I want to hold off on transplanting Plant A, but I'm concerned further waterings can be detrimental. Not certain though. Any help/suggestions to mitigate compacted soil, or whatever my issue is (maybe I'm wrong?), are welcomed.
 

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macsnax

macsnax

Well-Known Member
Maybe your over thinking things. Sometimes when plants aren't visibly doing anything they're building roots. You need more plants or a second hobby, your lil veg girls are getting in your head lol
 
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O

oill

Well-Known Member
parrajara said:
Plants are 37 days old. They were stunned but are making a decent recovery. Now I have them going on pretty good wet/dry cycles but I am facing some problems.

Plant A is not drying out as quick. I must have not added enough perlite. Because of this, I water the plant when it's thirsty but the soil is not fully dry. The plant seems to respond well overall, but I notice that the leaves don't perk up as much as they should, or as much as they used to after waterings. They perk up the first day, and then stay quite droopy until the next watering. They are not overwatered or underwatered, but perhaps not getting enough oxygen.

I topped them (Dec 22), and they thrived ever since. But the leaves are droopy on Plant A, and as for Plant B...

Plant B has weird shape to the leaves. They look rough. Not sure how to explain, so I took pictures. I don't think this one has compaction issues, but something is happening.


Strain: Photoperiod Feminized Green Crack Kush (Sativa)
About: I started germination around Nov 19. The plant was looking healthy (aside from a bit of yellowing leaves) up until 5 days ago.

Environment:
  • There are two fans in there, one oscillates and the other does not make direct contact with plants. Its there to help with airflow.
  • Growing in a 2x4x6 tent using a 150CFM fan, which I calculated and it's enough for my space
  • Using 2 LED lamps (active heating, no heatsink) that are 400 actual Watts (200 each)
  • Lamps were 22" away but I have just changed them to 24".
  • I have a humidifier which manages to maintain humidity around 50%RH
  • The temperature ranges between 75-80F on a daily basis with lights on, and I suspect around 72-75F with lights off (I close the windows to let my condo warm up when lights are off)
Growing Medium & Taking Care:
  • Growing 2 plants in small (maybe 1 gallon or less) square plastic pots with holes in the bottom
  • The pots have a plastic dish drying "mat" underneath to elevate them and provide more circulation
  • I started my grow with what I thought was about 30% perlite 70% happy frog... may be wrong.
  • Water is not pH'd , soil is a good buffer.
  • Lights 18hrs/Dark 6hrs until yesterday. Switched them to 20/4.
I want to hold off on transplanting Plant A, but I'm concerned further waterings can be detrimental. Not certain though. Any help/suggestions to mitigate compacted soil, or whatever my issue is (maybe I'm wrong?), are welcomed.
Click to expand...
Good details in the post... wish everyone was like this.

Nothing majorly wrong here like the guy above said....

Only thing I would consider is pointing the fan so it hits the plants... they are big enough now to handle it.
 
P

parrajara

Member
oill said:
Good details in the post... wish everyone was like this.

Nothing majorly wrong here like the guy above said....

Only thing I would consider is pointing the fan so it hits the plants... they are big enough now to handle it.
Click to expand...
A fan directly hitting them (that does not oscillate) won't create leaf burn?

I poked in the soil and mixed it to help with aeration. Of course this damages some roots, but its the lesser evil.
 
O

oill

Well-Known Member
parrajara said:
A fan directly hitting them (that does not oscillate) won't create leaf burn?

I poked in the soil and mixed it to help with aeration. Of course this damages some roots, but its the lesser evil.
Click to expand...
An oscillating fan! Not constant
 
P

parrajara

Member
macsnax said:
The one that doesn't oscillate is probable causing the leaves to curl.
Click to expand...
It's not making direct (I don't even think indirect) contact with the plant. How could that cause the leaves to curl?

My leaves are still really droopy on the top growth in Plant A - which may not be a big deal, but definitely isn't normal or ideal.

It has been two days since last watering, so I will be watering them tonight (when it's 2 and a half days). I'm sure the leaves will perk up like they always do, but they droop so quickly again after - well before the next watering.

Poking around the soil helped with aeration/drying the soil, but I don't think it's a good idea to do this every watering to mitigate compaction.
 
macsnax

macsnax

Well-Known Member
parrajara said:
It's not making direct (I don't even think indirect) contact with the plant. How could that cause the leaves to curl?

My leaves are still really droopy on the top growth in Plant A - which may not be a big deal, but definitely isn't normal or ideal.

It has been two days since last watering, so I will be watering them tonight (when it's 2 and a half days). I'm sure the leaves will perk up like they always do, but they droop so quickly again after - well before the next watering.

Poking around the soil helped with aeration/drying the soil, but I don't think it's a good idea to do this every watering to mitigate compaction.
Click to expand...
It's either over water or the fan. These things are easier to diagnose in person. All I have is your pics and your words to go off.
 
macsnax

macsnax

Well-Known Member
If you really think the issue is not enough perlite. Maybe water just enough that the plant will use daily, but that takes some understanding of your plants too.
 
P

parrajara

Member
macsnax said:
If you really think the issue is not enough perlite. Maybe water just enough that the plant will use daily, but that takes some understanding of your plants too.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I do appreciate you taking your time to diagnose and offer your input. I think I've gotten to know these ladies fairly well over the last 38 days - so I will try to do so.

Going to water them shortly, will update tonight or tomorrow.
 
P

parrajara

Member
Been weighting them. Plant A's weight went down by more than Plant B between waterings, which makes sense because the bigger plant should be drinking more. So I decided to water Plant A yesterday. It has been 18 hours and the plant looks droopy still. It never perked up after watering.

Before Waterting PLant ABefore Watering PLant BAfter Watering PLant AAfter Watering Plant B
Last Watering (Dec 28)5526149371009
This watering (Dec 30)615not going to water yet, will update this number when I do1002

If I rule out overwatering/underwatering, there are still so many possible causes...

  • Root bound (which I read it's a myth)
  • Compaction lading to poor oxygen flow (most likely scenario in my opinion)
  • lockout due to pH? I bought a pH pen that is useless, so I have not measure pH of my water or soil. I do let it sit between waterings (2-3 days) to dechlorinate.
I'll post a picture of what it looks like before watering and now (18 hours later). Any help would be extremely appreciated, I don't want these ladies to continue deteriorating.
 

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