What have I done to my plants?!

I'm a first time grower and things were going smoothly until a couple of days ago. I transplanted my 14 day old crop into 6" pots and almost right away most of them started yellowing on the lowest sets of leaves. As you can see in the pics these yellow leaves are droopy too.

My set up:
- closet grow with 4 42W cfl bulbs about 1-3 inches from the plants (24hr light)
- watering with tap water but letting it stand for 24+ hours before use
- generally watering every other day (100mL when they were in the small pots and now up to about 150-200mL post transplant)
- haven't used any additional nutrients yet aside from the ones in the soil
- soil is 1/2 potting mix, 1/2 perlite
- temperature is usually between 70-85F and humidity is quite low at around 30%

Under watering? Over watering? Heat stress, low humidity, nutrient deficiency? I have looked at so many articles, pics, and faqs but I cant figure out a definate problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

What the hell have I done to my plants?!?

Over watering is most likely, you only need to water when the dirt is really really dry, almost to the point of the plants wilting.

NoDrama said:

Over watering is most likely, you only need to water when the dirt is really really dry, almost to the point of the plants wilting.

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true, true, true.

my plants looked the same when I over-watered in the beginning.
don't be so eager, with light, warmth, and less water than you'd thing, these things practically grow themselves, lol.

Thanks for the fast response!

I had figured it was overwatering but I didn't want to be wrong and damage my ladies by underwatering too much. The concensus online is to water when the top 5-6cm are dry... but does that mean bone-dry or just dry enough that dirt wont stick to my finger? Or should I even wait longer than that?

Also if anyone could suggest an approximate amount I should be giving them at each watering that would be great.

I am wondering that too. Mine are about the same size as yours, i am usually waiting until all the soil is bone dry just before the plant starts to wilt. I have been waiting 3-4 days to water mine.

i usually stick my finger in about a inch or two and and if i feel its damp ill wait another day, you dont want to ever see mud

Hello all this is my first grow and I'm flowering four very nice plants and put them on 12/12 when 2 were like 2 ft. tall and the others were like 3 to 4 feet tall. I have no idea how much I'll harvest.????? Im curious about whether it'd be better yields to have 8-12 started 12/12 at like a foot tall and not much to them in the way of side stems or if im better off with just four started on 12/12 when they're around 3 feet tall with lots of growth through the middle?

jonblazing said:

Hello all this is my first grow and I'm flowering four very nice plants and put them on 12/12 when 2 were like 2 ft. tall and the others were like 3 to 4 feet tall. I have no idea how much I'll harvest.????? Im curious about whether it'd be better yields to have 8-12 started 12/12 at like a foot tall and not much to them in the way of side stems or if im better off with just four started on 12/12 when they're around 3 feet tall with lots of growth through the middle?

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Quit trying to hijack my thread!

One thing i forgot to mention about my setup is that i've lined then closet with aluminum foil, dull side out. Would this maybe cause the yellowing?

grewer said:

One thing i forgot to mention about my setup is that i've lined then closet with aluminum foil, dull side out. Would this maybe cause the yellowing?

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I don't think so... looks more like water and/or nute issues.

though aluminum foil is not really recommended, it causes heat spots in the grow area, and isn't worth the light it reflects

is your closet painted white by chance? if so, you really dont need to invest in any reflective surface(s)

you should look into a moisture meter they sell at walmart, works great, and its cheap