Soggy soil?

Hello, I am experiencing a new problem and I couldn't find any mention of it on the website anywhere. Hoping somebody can help me. For some reason my soil is retaining moisture. I haven't watered my plants in like almost 2 weeks. I looked at the soil today and it looked very moist. Today I thought it's been way too long so I watered it anyways. Now the soil is really soggy. It looks like the water is pooling. Then I thought maybe it's just not seeping further down, so I took a steel hanger and started to poke deep into the soil, in the hopes that the water would drain deeper into the planter. That did not do anything.
It's as if the plant is starving itself and not using any of the water. My leaves are turning yellow. The buds seem to be forming nicely at the top but not the bottom. The top became so heavy the plant couldn't support the weight and the plant started to fall down significantly. As you can see I used a wooden stake and a zip tie to prop it up.
What's going on? Why is the plant not using the water? I'm on a 12/12 light cycle. So confused...

Are you on a 12/12 due to the plants placement? You shouldn't be on this light cycle yet if your outdoors!

Livnthedrm said:

Are you on a 12/12 due to the plants placement? You shouldn't be on this light cycle yet if your outdoors!

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This is an indoor grow.

Gr8ness said:

This is an indoor grow.

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Okay, it looked outdoor. It sounds like you have a drainage problem, if you haven't watered in two weeks. You can bring in a dehumidifier to dry your grow room. I would also check the moisture level in your room. I would drill a small hole in one side of that box, so that water can drain. Then let your plant dry out all the way, then water with a small amount of water/nutes and it should be good.

So...

I think the reason why my plants were drooping was because I didn't have a fan running. I am totally new to this; it's my first grow. I've been Googling for hours and I'm convinced my plants were too hot and/or the environment was too humid.

I attached a fan and am venting it outside now.

I also took a spray bottle and misted my plants fairly thoroughly. I'm hoping I can save these two plants.

I assume, but don't see stated anywhere, that there are holes in the bottom of that pot?

CC Dobbs said:

I assume, but don't see stated anywhere, that there are holes in the bottom of that pot?

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No holes on the outside-bottom of the planter. There is a divider (with holes) inside the planter close to the bottom to allow water to drip down to the inside bottom of the planter (if that makes any sense). But there are no holes on the bottom-outside. Both planters are quite heavy now so I can't drill any holes on the bottom.

Gr8ness said:

No holes on the outside-bottom of the planter. There is a divider (with holes) inside the planter close to the bottom to allow water to drip down to the inside bottom of the planter (if that makes any sense). But there are no holes on the bottom-outside. Both planters are quite heavy now so I can't drill any holes on the bottom.

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Could your bottom rez be full and backing up into the upper rez?

CC Dobbs said:

Could your bottom rez be full and backing up into the upper rez?

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Hmmmm, this is a strong possibility. I was thinking the same thing. The problem is, these plants are fairly big. They're like 2 feet in height (https://www.lowes.ca/planters/harmony-16-in-self-watering-tall-planter_g1477023.html?searchTerm=Harmony-Planter&ProductSlot=2).

Each are full of both soil and water. It would be a real pain in the arse to lift a planter of that size (and weight) to drill holes. Plus I'm sure it would be very stressful on the plants as well (not that they're doing all that great right now anyways...).

The top of the plants would most likely sustain some kinda injury when I take them out because it would most likely hit the light at the top anyways. It feels like I'm SOL.

I misted both plants thoroughly today after I hooked up my fan. I hooked up my fan to one of those variable fan controllers (http://www.amazon.com/C-A-P-VSC-DNE-Hydroponic-Variable-Controller/dp/B004D509DQ). The problem is, I'm not sure what to set the dials to.

Can you please make a suggestion as to what I should set for the day temp and the night temp? I'm so lost here.

Gr8ness said:

Hmmmm, this is a strong possibility. I was thinking the same thing. The problem is, these plants are fairly big. They're like 2 feet in height (https://www.lowes.ca/planters/harmony-16-in-self-watering-tall-planter_g1477023.html?searchTerm=Harmony-Planter&ProductSlot=2).

Each are full of both soil and water. It would be a real pain in the arse to lift a planter of that size (and weight) to drill holes. Plus I'm sure it would be very stressful on the plants as well (not that they're doing all that great right now anyways...).

The top of the plants would most likely sustain some kinda injury when I take them out because it would most likely hit the light at the top anyways. It feels like I'm SOL.

I misted both plants thoroughly today after I hooked up my fan. I hooked up my fan to one of those variable fan controllers (http://www.amazon.com/C-A-P-VSC-DNE-Hydroponic-Variable-Controller/dp/B004D509DQ). The problem is, I'm not sure what to set the dials to.

Can you please make a suggestion as to what I should set for the day temp and the night temp? I'm so lost here.

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I think you need to deal with your dying plant and probably way over saturated soil. If the rez is full of water and has nowhere to go then your roots will rot so it won't matter how good your air circulation is. The roots need to breath and they can't if the soil is full of water.

CC Dobbs said:

I think you need to deal with your dying plant and probably way over saturated soil. If the rez is full of water and has nowhere to go then your roots will rot so it won't matter how good your air circulation is. The roots need to breath and they can't if the soil is full of water.

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OK. I'll see how I can remedy this problem. It's not going to be easy though. I think this grow is pretty much bust.
These things are big and heavy. Not to mention full of water. I'm afraid that if I manage to get the planters safely out of the grow closet, when I drill the holes the water will run everywhere like onto the drill; electricity + water = deadly.

Gr8ness said:

OK. I'll see how I can remedy this problem. It's not going to be easy though. I think this grow is pretty much bust.
These things are big and heavy. Not to mention full of water. I'm afraid that if I manage to get the planters safely out of the grow closet, when I drill the holes the water will run everywhere like onto the drill; electricity + water = deadly.

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Could you punch a hole with an awl or screwdriver? You will only need one to start, later when it is lighter you can move it a better place for drilling.

CC Dobbs said:

Could you punch a hole with an awl or screwdriver? You will only need one to start, later when it is lighter you can move it a better place for drilling.

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Assuming I can get the planter out safely without damaging it (remember, the top part became so heavy I had to use stakes with zip ties to keep them from drooping over), I'll either go with the AWL idea or the drill, but most likely the AWL. It's just safer in my opinion.

I'll also need some kind of rubber feet to elevate the planters so that the water can run out, and a dish or water catch tray. This will be a challenge. The problem is it will take some time to and I'm sure they'll die in the mean time.
In the event that they die, do you think it would be safe for me to reuse the soil or no?

Gr8ness said:

Assuming I can get the planter out safely without damaging it (remember, the top part became so heavy I had to use stakes with zip ties to keep them from drooping over), I'll either go with the AWL idea or the drill, but most likely the AWL. It's just safer in my opinion.

I'll also need some kind of rubber feet to elevate the planters so that the water can run out, and a dish or water catch tray. This will be a challenge. The problem is it will take some time to and I'm sure they'll die in the mean time.
In the event that they die, do you think it would be safe for me to reuse the soil or no?

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No, soil has become anaerobic and is not really safe to use again for these plants. Smell it, if it stinks like sulfur or rotten eggs then it is no good for your purposes.

I grow in buckets sometimes. Usually I put about 50 1/2 inch holes in them. hold your drill at an upward angle so it doesn't get wet. If it were me I would lay them on their side and pop them out of the bucket and do a transplant into some drier soil with a good pot. Pot selection is a big deal black seems to work the best. You need something with drainage. Smart pots are good but they can dry out fast on the sides indoors. Nursery's usually have those thin plastic starter pots they usually throw them away and they work great.

If you could lift it up just a couple inches and slide a drip tray underneath, you could just poke emergency drain holes from the sides instead of having to get to the bottom

Thanks for the suggestions guys but my plants pretty much died on me. I had like eenie-weenie-yellow-polka.....oops, I meant eenie-weenie buds. So I did what I thought I should do. I stripped them. I'm really disappointed in this first grow, but I did learn a few things such as the importance of drainage, blocking out the light completely (which still remains a challenge and something I need to address). I've attached a couple of pictures of my failed harvest. I honestly doubt I'll get high off these baby buds. There are a lot of leaves (which you'll see still needs to be stripped). Speaking of stripping (insert Kim K. joke here) can you guys recommend a tool to make this task easier? Thanks!