Plants drooping, overwatering?

Hello everyone

I am new here, but Ive been gardening for a while now. I have just recently moved and my new space is actually in a basement. My previous space had been a main bedroom in my house. I havent changed my method and Ive run into some issues that have me puzzled.


My grow is Serious Seeds Ak-47, a strain I grow frequently, and Dutch Passion Blueberry, first time.

My conditions are as such:
6" Rockwool cubes
Plants are about 3 weeks old
Light - 24/0 400w MH
77-79F/20-25% RH
Currently feeding - 1.0 EC Ionic grow (with pH of 5.80)

The issue I am having is the plants are pretty droopy and the growth seems to be quite slow.

I am not sure where to put my finger on the issue- My old room was a bedroom which was heated and cooled like a regular room in a house so the entire atmosphere- temp,rh, ventilation was quite ideal. Now I am in a large, clean basement where Ive built an 11x14 room of panda film.

Is it over watering? My cubes seem to stay much wetter in this basement and take a while to dry out.

Does such a low RH cause these type of issues ? I typically veg at about 50% or higher

Would my water be a factor? I didnt even think about testing the water at my old place (other than ph obviously). But the water I am using now pH is about 6.8 and TDS is 140ish. I live in the same town as before so i dont believe it could be that drastically different.

Sorry I dont have pics, but i will get some up here after work. I was hoping to see what kind of discussion or ideas I could have with anyone here.

Right now Im thinking the roots are lacking oxygen, I need to let the cubes dry out a lot more than I have been. This is just my current hypothesis

Thanks!

I had the same problem when I first started growing in a walk in cooler. I solved my drooping and slow growth with better ventilation. Turns out those babies just were not getting enough fresh air. I use coconut fiber, and it tends to hold the moisture fairly well. I run a standard drip irrigation system for all of my plants. It comes on a total of 4 times in a 24hr period. It drips for 15 min. I grow in large, but shallow tubs that drain off excess water really well. Hope this helps you.

i think i read somewere that the ideal temp conditions should be low - mid 70s. is that the temp on the plants u put up there or in the room?

Jericho said:

i think i read somewere that the ideal temp conditions should be low - mid 70s. is that the temp on the plants u put up there or in the room?

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totally agree with ya jericho.. them temps are a lil to close to the 80's
maybe there thirsty??
i try to keep the RH around 30-40.. somewhere in there. that seems kinda low to me.
LH

Jericho said:

i think i read somewere that the ideal temp conditions should be low - mid 70s. is that the temp on the plants u put up there or in the room?

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That would be the temp at the canopy (albeit low!) of the plants. This temp is not much different than what I kept grows at in my other house. I understand this may be high to some folks, but personally Ive been successful with it. As far as being thirsty, they are sufficiently watered if not too much so.


Superskunk- I think youre onto something with the ventilation. I did not really think those other issues would create such an impact, but I believe fresh air could. My room, as i said, is a big panda film box, so aside from the slit I enter thru, there is little air exchange.

LEFTHAND said:

i try to keep the RH around 30-40.. somewhere in there. that seems kinda low to me.
LH

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Im with you on that, do you think that a low RH would create these issues?

dreys50 said:

Im with you on that, do you think that a low RH would create these issues?

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if your temps are above the mid 70's and you have a lower rh sure.. i think so.. you mistake it for over watering so you cut back.. and they basically dehydrate... 9 times out of 10 the air we bring in to the room is cooler... if you cut back on your watering.. and your rh is that low with higher temps i would say its that. also a picture could say differnt..but worth a shot man..
LH

LEFTHAND said:

if your temps are above the mid 70's and you have a lower rh sure.. i think so.. you mistake it for over watering so you cut back.. and they basically dehydrate... 9 times out of 10 the air we bring in to the room is cooler... if you cut back on your watering.. and your rh is that low with higher temps i would say its that. also a picture could say differnt..but worth a shot man..
LH

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Any thoughts on raising the RH? This has been an issue Ive pondered for weeks at this point, cant really come up with anything good- meaning anything that would increase RH a significant % at least.

I really do apologize for not having pictures, I get annoyed myself when friends have asked for help and no visuals. Ill have pics up in about an hour for you guys.

dreys50 said:

Any thoughts on raising the RH? This has been an issue Ive pondered for weeks at this point, cant really come up with anything good- meaning anything that would increase RH a significant % at least.

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open water.. like in a pie pan /small pail? small 20$ humidifier??
i grow in a tent hydro.. so i dont have a problem with low rh..
but those are some easy methods..
LH

LEFTHAND said:

do you have a fan blowing down your table (cubes/stems)??
LH

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Sure do, there is an oscillating fan on the plants 24/0. It isnt blowing down, just perpendicular to the plants.

LEFTHAND said:

im stumped man.. until i can see a pic.. i will say higher heats low RH.. but the wet rockwool throws a curve into er.. rotten roots?? not bringing in water...
LH

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Well I appreciate you taking the time to brainstorm with me. Ive been stumped for many days at this point. I grew for years without issue, Im pretty meticulous and havent changed a thing. The low RH, poor ventilaion, and possible water differences are the only changes. Its just a matter of narrowing it down.

I think the water difference from what I used prior to this is pretty neligable, so my approach is to get the RH up and increase my ventilation.

As far as RH and open water- I havent been dumping my drain res, so I do have a tray of water in there. The room is about 150sq. feet so that might not be anywhere close to what I need for that size space to get a good increase in %.
Ive heard putting the water in front of your fan helps, anyone out there have any experience with this?

Ive uploaded a few pics.

Temp/RH at the time was 75/23

The pic of blueberry is kinda crappy (top far right) so I think I may go grab another shot right now.

LEFTHAND said:

heat my friend.. looks like heat.. notice how the ones around the edge are up and perky leaves still look a lil wacky but the center ones are all on there knees... lol ... i dont see a fan in there lol.. roots look healthy from what ya can see..
try to get more of an air flow in the middle maybe?? or raise the light some.. along with your rh..i also notice you dont have any ducting hooked up to your hood?? that would help your heat sit... but also i dont know how you have your venting system hooked up.... something i seen thought i would bring it up..
LH

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Thanks for checking back.

Lol, I had a feeling you might mention it- but there is a fan, its off to the right behind the res. The ones closest to it were getting wind burn so i had to move it back a bit, its just barely out of the shot. I could move that a bit closer to help cool.

I do not use the ducting with the 400w bc it doesnt really need it. I have a full 440CFM air cooling setup, that I use with a 1000w which I flower under. The ducting is all just barely out of the picture above the light, fully installed but I didnt bother having it go to a low height that Id be using the 400 at.

I cant say that I totally buy into the heat thing, but Im willing to give it a try. I do rotate the trays daily so Im going to make note if the ones that get moved into the center 2 lanes get droopy/ones moved to the sides perk up. That was a good observation on your part.
Im going to shoot for temps about 73/74. I may raise the light, more likely I will move the fan to the wide side of the table, as to sweep the center of the lighted area better.




I attached a pic of my overall setup as it would be with the ducting all hooked up just for sake of viewing. As I said before, i just didnt bother stretching it down to the height Id use the 400 with.

I'm leaning more towards your ventilation....is that all good? where is the intake? is it passive? I'm just curious as to the quality of air that you are bringing in? maybe a lack of c02? Is there anyway that you could suck in air from your upstairs where the air might be a little more c02 enriched, or if you have decent weather, even outside...I don't know your climate.

Super Skunk mentioned this to.

legalize_freedom said:

I'm leaning more towards your ventilation....is that all good? where is the intake? is it passive? I'm just curious as to the quality of air that you are bringing in? maybe a lack of c02? Is there anyway that you could suck in air from your upstairs where the air might be a little more c02 enriched, or if you have decent weather, even outside...I don't know your climate.

Super Skunk mentioned this to.

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I was leaning this way as well. The room had little to no ventilation, just a zipped up box. I have raised 1 wall so there is more airflow from my upstairs door/rest of the basement. If I need to get an active ventilation system I could certainly look into it.

After seeing the pics, I would be opening up some ventilation somewhere... Notice the leaves becoming distorted, that is because the plant is starving for a breath of fresh air. Mine looked identical to yours. After I got some fresh air to them the plants perked right up. After about 2 weeks. Marijuana is a very tough plant, a low humidity means you need a spray bottle. Once a day or so go spray the leaves almost like an evening rain shower. And one more little thing, I like to keep the humidity down in my grow room. This keeps a firm handle on mold. I would rather water a bit more often and mist my plants then to fight mold. Air is very important when growing indoors.