fabric pots got saturated--trying to nurse them back to health--tips?

I have several 10g fabric pots outside vegging and we had a 3-week stretch in June with lots of rain, drizzle, and fog. When I realized they were wicking moisture up from the wet ground I moved them onto a covered porch so they could dry out (they were saturated). Soil is Coast of Maine's Stonington Blend.

Some of them started to get droopy and/or the leaves wilted, some yellowing and even some decay in lower leaves, guessing there's some root rot going on. Been doing my best to dry them out over the past two weeks but the humidity has been really high. Try to get them in sun (when we have it!) to help dry things out but several can no longer transpire very well, they start wilting badly when in direct sun so have kept them in shade. However a few remain wilted even in shade. Have removed any yellowing/dying leaves. Did a light foliar feed with kelp a few days ago but no visible improvement. Poked aeration holes in one with a chopstick to see if that would help, didn't seem to.

After 2 weeks pots still aren't light but soil feels bone dry when I put a finger in. This morning I gave them a very light watering, just enough to "cut the dust" on the top layer of soil. Seemed like 2 weeks with no water was not a great situation for the top part of the root zone.

Any suggestions on how to turn this around? I know, better to prevent it from happening in the first place--I will never leave fabric pots on wet ground again, my bad, lesson learned. But I still have 2-3 weeks until flowering begins so if I can just nurse them back I might be OK. But it's looking pretty iffy. Looking for others who've successfully come back from a mishap like this. Thanks for any tips.

These two were wilting in the sun so have kept them mostly in shade, still looking pretty sad though:



This one seems like it just be salvageable but after 2 weeks she's still drooping:




This one also might be salvageable but still not looking healthy:



Not sure I can save this one. After I moved them up off the ground this pot started to feel pretty light and looked only very slightly droopy so I gave it a good drink. Next day it looked really bad and has not really recovered even spending most of its time in the shade. That watering must've kicked the root rot into high gear. Should've watered lightly or waited longer I guess.

I am not an outdoor grower, but I have experienced pythium in my indoor garden and this definitely does not look like that. This is just common moisture stress from underwatering IMo.

Underwatering? Wouldn't the pots be light in weight if that were the case? These were all completely saturated 2 weeks ago. Read the caption above that last photo.

When you water, water around the outside edges, not the center. You've got a big glop of very wet soil in the middle of the pot, the outside is getting dry and the feeder roots are suffering.

With plants that size in those pots, 2 weeks is a long time.
Ive been there with the weight of the pot, thinking they feel heavy. Then you really water them and go ohhh they actually were light. If you stick your finger in there and it feels dry, it's dry.

Depending on temp i would think you would need to water every 2-3 days at least

Im in 50 gallon fabric pots and i have to water every day with a few gallons. It has been 100+ though.

I guess if they were that wet for that long the root damage could be there and they just cant uptake the water they need any more.

Phytoplankton said:

When you water, water around the outside edges, not the center. You've got a big glop of very wet soil in the middle of the pot, the outside is getting dry and the feeder roots are suffering.

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That makes sense, I'll give that a try.

Estukay said:

With plants that size in those pots, 2 weeks is a long time.
Ive been there with the weight of the pot, thinking they feel heavy. Then you really water them and go ohhh they actually were light. If you stick your finger in there and it feels dry, it's dry.

Depending on temp i would think you would need to water every 2-3 days at least

Im in 50 gallon fabric pots and i have to water every day with a few gallons. It has been 100+ though.

I guess if they were that wet for that long the root damage could be there and they just cant uptake the water they need any more.

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Yes, in warm sunny weather, especially with dry air and/or breeze, every 2-3 days is about right. I give them a good soaking normally, usually a 2-3 gallons to really soak the entire root zone. If it's really hot it could be daily.

I suspect the roots are compromised and so they're not able to take up enough water in the hot sun. You think best to keep any wilting plants in the shade and try and carefully moisten the soil?

If it were me, I'd get them up on a wire rack or something and preferably somewhere with a breeze or in front of a fan. If that pot isn't dried out in a day or 2, I might transplant it into fresh, dirt and see if that helps. Be gentle but firm and get as much of the wet dirt out of the rootball and plant it into fresh dirt.

TCH said:

If it were me, I'd get them up on a wire rack or something and preferably somewhere with a breeze or in front of a fan. If that pot isn't dried out in a day or 2, I might transplant it into fresh, dirt and see if that helps. Be gentle but firm and get as much of the wet dirt out of the rootball and plant it into fresh dirt.

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Will try to keep them elevated with air circulation beneath. Thought about transplanting but decided against--no extra pots for one.

Tomorrow at dawn I'll try some judicious watering and see if that helps.

They could do with bigger pots.
Some look as if they’ve already filled them.
Re-pot into 20’s with some fresh soil and root space, they’ll be praying in a week.

Good luck!

Up pot

NewEnglandFarmer said:

Underwatering? Wouldn't the pots be light in weight if that were the case? These were all completely saturated 2 weeks ago. Read the caption above that last photo.

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I have read your whole post. But you are right, I have not check the last photo properly. Despite the quality is not the best, considered this photo was taken day after watering, I would say there is a stem rot at the base. It looks like the plants are suffering from water transport for some reason but reamians healthy, that does not match with pythium. Stem rot, crown rot or fusarium if you really believe your watering habbits are just fine.

That last pic of the very wilted plant i would cut that bag off an inspect the roots not much to lose, That soil you are using turns to nasty muck if to wet for to long.

Grossly under watered

Update: found some necrosis in the stem and some leaves in one of the plants, guessing this is from a root issue. Overall plant not looking terrible but it's clearly compromised:


Here's the whole plant:


I did a light perimeter watering on all of them and after the worst wilter didn't seem to be responding I felt as deep as I could in the soil with a finger at the outside. Didn't feel wet. So I added a full gallon slowly around the perimeter--nothing to lose at this point, right? Things were definitely going downhill. Pot is quite heavy now. She might look a tad better but not perking up really:



Thumper's probably right, I should cut that bag off and transplant if I really want to save it. But I've got nowhere to put it and I've got another Northern Lights going so I'm going to see if I can salvage her in the fabric pot.

NewEnglandFarmer said:

Update: found some necrosis in the stem and some leaves in one of the plants, guessing this is from a root issue. Overall plant not looking terrible but it's clearly compromised:
View attachment 5310552

Here's the whole plant:
View attachment 5310553

I did a light perimeter watering on all of them and after the worst wilter didn't seem to be responding I felt as deep as I could in the soil with a finger at the outside. Didn't feel wet. So I added a full gallon slowly around the perimeter--nothing to lose at this point, right? Things were definitely going downhill. Pot is quite heavy now. She might look a tad better but not perking up really:

View attachment 5310554

Thumper's probably right, I should cut that bag off and transplant if I really want to save it. But I've got nowhere to put it and I've got another Northern Lights going so I'm going to see if I can salvage her in the fabric pot.

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Check that bad spot very close for a bore hole if so it explains everything.

After thinking a bit check all your drooping plants for bore holes they like to bore in right where a leaf joins the stem

thumper60 said:

After thinking a bit check all your drooping plants for bore holes they like to bore in right where a leaf joins the stem

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Not seeing anything but good suggestion.

After watering I did the finger test for soil moisture and it seems like the medium may have gone hydrophobic on me...seems bone dry 2-3 inches down. I added some aloe vera as a surfactant and hit them again with more water, slowly in stages. The really bad wilted one has bounced back noticeably:



The Pine Tar Kush is looking less droopy also:



So it looks like I waited too long for the pots to dry out and part of the rootball got seriously dry. Still getting the hang of fabric pots I guess, normally I wait until they get nice and light then give them a thorough soak but obviously I should not have gone so long.

As far as getting the hydrophobic soil to accept moisture, maybe I should try watering from the bottom as when I water from the top it seems like the really dry parts just repel the water.

So anyway I feel better about nursing these girls back to health in time for flowering next month. Thanks for suggestions and tips everyone.

Unfortunately I see some of these have fungus gnats--wonder if they could be causing the issue I noticed this morning on the stem and leaves of that one plant (larvae in enough numbers will damage roots).

Put a tuna can with vinegar, water, and dish detergent to see if I can eliminate the adults. And will let the surface dry out some before watering again (or will water from bottom), that should take care of the larvae.

I'll tell you one thing, fabric pots are way more work and worry than plants in the ground. All those are doing great.

What about the rotted stem?

Looks like they’re coming around, nice job!