Is this over watering...or something else?

From what I have been able to find on the 'plant problems' pages, it appears as though I've been guilty of the newbie tendency to over water my babies. Am I correct in this diagnosis, or is there something else wrong here? The plants were 26 days old in these photos. The two AK48s and the Blue Mystic have been topped, the Short Riders have been left to grow as they wish. All are in MG soil and have yet to receive additional nutes, as I know youngsters can easily be overfed in MG. Can they take a very mild dose of nutes at 4 weeks old...and will that help to make up for the nitrogen issues I've caused by the heavy hand in watering? The drooping isn't terrible but the color has me a bit concerned, and there has been a yellowing and loss of the lowest true leaf set. Any veteran growers that can share their experience with me would be appreciated!

Losing the first true leaves is common. The cupping of the leaves does appear to indicate excessive moisture.

Remedy: Allow the cups to dry between waterings. The top 2 inches should be dry before watering again. Ensure adequate drainage and avoid soil compaction. Be prepared to begin a light feeding. The first sign of yellowing lower leaves, begin to feed a vegetative nutrient, at 1/4 strength for the first feeding. Increase to half strength on the following feeding, then gradually work up to the full strength recommended.

Good luck and happy harvests!!

i cant tell for sure but if those are blue party cups. you may want to transplant to a bigger pot. root systems on those types of plants can be huge

also with party cups it helps to cuts some type of slits at the bottom for drainage. if there is no drainage and you might be over watering then that could get ugly. but you should for sure transplant within the next few days.

Canabian420 said:

i cant tell for sure but if those are blue party cups. you may want to transplant to a bigger pot. root systems on those types of plants can be huge

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That's a good observation. I use 9 oz solo cups and usually by day 14, they are ready for the one gal pots. If those are 16 or 20 oz cups, at 26 days, I'd agree and say transplant.

They are 18 oz party cups and yes, they have drain holes in the bottom. There are visible roots if you look thru the holes, so I guess they're ready for more room. I got some larger plastic pots to put them into for a while, and I already had 2.5 gal buckets ready to use for the end flowering stage. Should I use nutes when I transplant or will that be too much stress all at once?

From the look of the roots, it was well past time for transplant! Now that they have a bit more room, I hope they will take off. There is still some issue with droop and bottom leaf yellowing, but I gave them a very dilute drink of nutes after repotting.(Schultz10-15-10) There should be better drainage too, as I added Perlite to the MG mix I'm using. How often should I give them nutes now? Every watering, or less often?

^Definitely! 26 days, is way too long to be in a party cup, unless you are looking for small, slow-growing plants. While they may have been showing symptoms of overwatering, a transplant is what they needed. Good decision man. Watch them take off now, it'll be VERY noticeable, in a few days.


Oh yeah,....water them, or they'll continue to starve. Make SURE that ALL the soil is moistened. They look very dry to me, and they aren't going to do much of anything, unless you give them a good watering. That soil looks to have plenty of perlite in it, so don't worry about overwatering them. You could flood them, literally, and they'll be perfectly fine. It's MUCH more important that ALL the soil is damp,(right now) than worrying about watering them too heavily.

It may be wishful thinking, but I swear I can tell a difference in just one day since transplanting into the larger pots. I think the drooping is better and the tops seem a bit more perky looking. I did give them a bit more water as I agree that the soil looked too dry - I guess I'm still wary of the earlier over watering issue. The one group photo in party cups is from just six days before all of the others. I've added two small T5 strips that give a bit of red spectrum light. The CFLs I'm using now are all blues (6500k). Do they look better or am I just trippin?

Nobody have any answers? Should I be giving them 1/4 strength nutes at every watering now, or what? They seem stunted from the party cups and lower leaf set has been lost on every one of em. Is the Schultz 10-15-10 okay for them, or is there something better at the Depot or Lowes?

If you have just transplanted into fresh soil, you shouldn't need nutes just yet. Plain water for at least a couple of weeks should suffice, since the soil is already nuted.

^Exactly. You've just transplanted, and judging by the size of those pots, they won't need fed for another 2 weeks.(10 days, minimum)When you do decide to feed, go weak with the mix, like 1/8th strength. A week later, move up to 1/4 strength, etc.....and increase until you reach your max dose. Burnt leaf tips of the newest growth, and/or dark green foliage, are good signs that you are borderline overfert, and time to back off.

Thanks guys. So do you think the Schultz 10-15-10 will be okay for nutes in a couple weeks or do I need something with a different NPK ratio?

Will leafs that already look a little light in color get darker with more N, or are they doomed to stay pale?

They look much healthier than three days ago in those 18oz party cups, right? I need to put a ruler to them cause I swear they look taller every day. The last one is a Blue Mystic that I just topped a day ago - it's actually six days younger than all the others. I liked the way the four colas look on the other Blue Mystic, so I couldn't resist topping the smaller one too. I've got the tops of the ones I clipped rooting (I hope) and the first three seem to finally be showing signs of growth. They looked almost dormant until a day or so ago, not dead, but not growing - now they appear to be getting new growth in the center. That means they've rooted now? Should I put everything into 12/12 at the same time, or keep the tops in veg longer?

manditroy said:

It may be wishful thinking, but I swear I can tell a difference in just one day since transplanting into the larger pots. I think the drooping is better and the tops seem a bit more perky looking. I did give them a bit more water as I agree that the soil looked too dry - I guess I'm still wary of the earlier over watering issue. The one group photo in party cups is from just six days before all of the others. I've added two small T5 strips that give a bit of red spectrum light. The CFLs I'm using now are all blues (6500k). Do they look better or am I just trippin?

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Overwatering is not caused by too much water at one time. Its caused by watering too often. Water until you get about 10% runoff. Let soil dry and water again.

cowboylogic said:

Overwatering is not caused by too much water at one time. Its caused by watering too often. Water until you get about 10% runoff. Let soil dry and water again.

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To everyone that worries about overwatering,...... read that, over and over, until it's committed to memory.

Be careful with that blue mystic. A lot of people are growing that plant right now because the pictures of it on the retailers site is outrageous. Your plant will not look like that plant, and there's a reason these beans were so cheap.

I grew her out before, and I'm working on clones of her right now. She has an extremely poor tolerance to stress. She also needs very little nutrition and is extremely susceptible to nutrient toxicity.

If you're having trouble with her in veg just wait until flowering. I had 2 plants that just tanked, never even made it to harvest. So be careful, and flush those bitch ass princesses regularly. I've yet to see a "perfect" Blue Mystic grow, or a plant that resembles what Nirvana is trying to sell.

Personally I'll never buy Nirvana genetics again after my experience with their BM. lol. BM. Seriously, that's what I think of this strain. It's a BM.

I wish you all the luck. I'll stay tuned so I can offer my experience as things progress.

Water to container capacity...allow to dry fully...water to container capacity...allow to dry fully...