Bruce Banner leaves curled down at 5 weeks

[899Panigale]

Hi,
From Day 1 this plant droops right after I water her. I am not having same issue with a GSC I planted the same time.
5 gal grow bag, OF, Sunshine4, perlite, 6.3-6.6ph.

Usually after a few hours, she comes back strong and looks great until next watering. I water 1.5 gal about every 3-4 days when the pot is light.

Today, 2 days after water, she is still drooping and leaves are folded and curved down.

She started preflowering and I want to save her.
Any advice appreciated.

 

[2budz]

She looks ok IMO. Lots of new growth. How far do you have to stick your finger into the soil to feel moisture? I think your real problem is the OF. It's a pretty hot soil and really not the best for autos. Some strains handle it ok, but most don't. She will be fine.

 

[Bill.de.Cat]

Rule of thumb I go by is if leaf stem and leaves droop- it needs water, if just the leaf droops it's not transpiring fast enough to get rid of excess water..ie too much water.......you might try .5 gal every other day splitting between top and bottom...

 

[899Panigale]

She looks ok IMO. Lots of new growth. How far do you have to stick your finger into the soil to feel moisture? I think your real problem is the OF. It's a pretty hot soil and really not the best for autos. Some strains handle it ok, but most don't. She will be fine.

i have a moisture meter. Currently at 2-3” it reads moist at around 30%. Deeper towards mid to bottom, it is still 50% moist. This morning, most leaves are starting to perk up but look skinny and not very vibrant green.

I guess it is possible OF for BB is not working out as well as GSC on BB.

 

[899Panigale]

Rule of thumb I go by is if leaf stem and leaves droop- it needs water, if just the leaf droops it's not transpiring fast enough to get rid of excess water..ie too much water.......you might try .5 gal every other day splitting between top and bottom...

.
Stems are solid. Leaves seem to curl on their own.
Are you suggesting roots not developed enough to utilize water? Is my soil potentially not draining enough.

thanks

 

[Talonxracer]

IMHO it is too much water at one time. At the size yours are and container size, I would try watering every other day with 16-24 oz. The soil is probably not draining thru quickly enough and 1.5 gallons of water is basically drowning the plant for the first day or two after watering

I have had similar issues in the past when just starting my indoor growing hobby with figuring out what works just right for a particular strain.

 

[899Panigale]

IMHO it is too much water at one time. At the size yours are and container size, I would try watering every other day with 16-24 oz. The soil is probably not draining thru quickly enough and 1.5 gallons of water is basically drowning the plant for the first day or two after watering

I have had similar issues in the past when just starting my indoor growing hobby with figuring out what works just right for a particular strain.

Thanks for replying.
To me, this seems the most logical explanation. The cheap moisture meter indicates bottom of the pot still contains at least 50% moisture compared to extremely dry top 2-3” os soil. The soil mix I chose was suppose to be efficient draining especially with the amount of perlite I added in.

Next time will use 1.5-3 gal pots for these autos I bought from weed seed express.com. I will also change up my soil mix a bit. But will definitely try your advice and use

 

[Talonxracer]

My general rule for how to choose a pot size is the life span of the auto, 1 gallon per 4 weeks of life. I would also not use a lot of perlite, I use no more than 25% by weight, and the perlite must be saturated with water before weighing(perlite absorbs 8 times its weight in water)

 

[899Panigale]

My general rule for how to choose a pot size is the life span of the auto, 1 gallon per 4 weeks of life. I would also not use a lot of perlite, I use no more than 25% by weight, and the perlite must be saturated with water before weighing(perlite absorbs 8 times its weight in water)

Being my first time I have no idea how many weeks to size out yet but 5 gal is definitely looking a little ambitious for this grow. Plus I don’t have experience with these seeds. Let’s just call this a trial run…