HELP ASAP!! i think i burnt my plant =[

here is our situation: anybody with any advice please help us asap. thank you in advance!!


this was our plant at the start of its 3rd week.



and this is at the end of the 18hour light cycle from today. ( i just added another 23w cfl [total=3 23w cfls])

so we started our grow with 2 23W CFL lights, and a member on here told us to upgrade to (3) 23w CFL lights. and ever since we added the extra 23watt cfl, i just noticed that our plants leaves are withering/shriveled up. but they're still pretty green. im afraid this has caused a lot of damage to the plant. what should i do? i think it's either the lights may be too close to the plant, i put too much plant food in with the water, i might have underwatered or it's too hot in the small grow space(there is no exhaust vent with the door closed). if you or anybody has any ideas please let me know asap!!

btw: i placed the plant by my bathroom window (which is dark except for the moonlight) after its 18 hour light cycle because i thought that it would help relieve some of the stress that i caused it today. it doesn't start its light cycle until 8am (i live in california)

Well since your Using CFLs i don't think u burned it but i think u could have it so the lights are heating up enough to make it so your under watering.

i thought it might be that because every night after the 18hr light cycle is about over the soil felt a little crispy/dry. so i watered a good amount after i discovered the withering of several leaves.

what do you suggest that might help us out?

thanks in advance

well you could get a moisture meter to see how wet the soil is getting in deep cause just because the top is crispy doesnt mean it is down lower. But id say just make sure u water it cause it doesnt look burned to mean.

Stick your finger in about an inch. If it's moist leave it be.They will shrivel if overwatered. Try to water when the soil is dry, for me this worked out to about every three days.

what about that leaf on the left hand side on the 2nd set of true leaves?

do you guys think thats from over/under watering instead of too much light/lights too close?

the cfl lights are about 2 inches away from the plant

Try moving the cfl back about an inch and see.I don't think it would do that, but give it a try.Your plant is young yet, and may be tender.

thanks for the advice stoney!

Hey, I hope it helps.I'm not an expert.Make sure you read that grofaq up there...very useful info.GROWFAQ

Yeah it looks like light burn. Sometimes if you fluctuate the space between the lights and the plants a lot, the herb gets used to the heat and temp, then when you move the lamp suddenly it loses that resistance. You have the right amount of nutrients. It looks very green and healthy. When you touch it, does it feel like a dry leaf, like one that has been dried in the sun? That's how you know for sure. Because it certainly does look like that. Those lights are more concentrated than what people assume.

those lights are wicked close especailly with those big reflectors keepin the heat down low. Looks like the heat is getting to it but it will be ok. What are your temps runnin around your plants? Its young yet so its needs a little tenderness but its also a weed so it wont stop tryin to grow

lose those metal reflectors. they don't do much good for cfl lighting anyway, and they absorb heat that might normally dissipate through convection. add a gentle fan to try to keep the heat from the bulbs from reaching the plant. just removing the reflectors should cause a drop in the temps around the plants considerably.

As far as the damage, it could be a few things. overwatering, heat stress, or ph issues could all be the culprit. I'd go with a combo of heat stress and overwatering. 2 cfl bulbs shouldnt burn a plant at that age unless it is touching the bulb, but those metal reflectors seem to redirect heat towards the plants.

havocdb said:

lose those metal reflectors. they don't do much good for cfl lighting anyway, and they absorb heat that might normally dissipate through convection. add a gentle fan to try to keep the heat from the bulbs from reaching the plant. just removing the reflectors should cause a drop in the temps around the plants considerably.

As far as the damage, it could be a few things. overwatering, heat stress, or ph issues could all be the culprit. I'd go with a combo of heat stress and overwatering. 2 cfl bulbs shouldnt burn a plant at that age unless it is touching the bulb, but those metal reflectors seem to redirect heat towards the plants.

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but dont we want the reflectors so that it wont waste any light? (would it waste light if i took away the reflectors?) and we do have a small fan in the grow area, and today i added a bigger fan outside of the closet to increase the circulation. thanks for the help and i hope the plant makes a full recovery! ps: will this mishap set me back a couple days/week?

here's an update. i took pictures this morning, but i didn't bring it with me to work so ill post them up later. but ever since that one night we saw the plant burn, we quickly removed the reflectors and flushed the soil with about half a water bottle. i let the plant sit by the window during the nights so it can get fresh air and some moonlight. after a few days i noticed the plant getting healthier and started growing again. so ive been mixing in nutrients (10-15-10) with the water and watering about 1/4 of a water bottle each day and we added another 23w cfl. the plant is definately growing A LOT quicker each time i check it, but ive noticed that the leaves towards the bottom are growing a lot slower, getting a little yellow.. anybody have any suggestions? i thought maybe it was that they're not getting enough light, so i moved the lights a little lower (i know i know, you guys need pics so ill post it up around 4pm before my 420 sesh today )

thanks!!

ok so here are the new pictures.. the 1st two pics are from 8/22 around 12:00am(so about 4 days after the "burn incident"




and these pictures were taken 8/26 around 10:30am (about 1 week after the "burn incident")

so since i believe ive solved my problem, i am done with this thread and will continue in my grow journal

you should add a venting system

yeah i agree, i need a free day so i can add in my active exhaust fans and passive intake for the grow area.

right now i just have 1 fan blowing at the lights/plant inside the grow area and i leave the door slightly open so it can get fresh air

make sure it has enough water and your not over feeding it if your even using food

I think it will be fine though