Droopy Plants

Someguy15

Someguy15

Well-Known Member
Have some seedlings maybe a week old. They are under a 400 watt MH lamp (18on/6off, 1 foot above plant tops, fan cooled) in 4" rockwell cubes. I have floods roughly every 5 hours that fully saturate the cubes. My younger plants look somewhat droopy and I'm sure it's not watering issues. Ph is 6 and nutrient was added as directed on the bottle. My temp is roughly 83 degrees, humidity 40%. What could be causing my plants to droop? I can add pictures if necessary, thx in advance for advice.
 
krustofskie

krustofskie

Well-Known Member
Im gonna say overwatering first. Saturating every 5 hours seems way too much, if your dong it because the blocks are drying out then I got to say you have a heat problem. Over and underwatering will show by drooping so will too much heat.
 
OGKush00

OGKush00

Active Member
looks like overwatering. never used rockwool before... but aren't you sposed to not water it so much? :leaf:
 
krustofskie

krustofskie

Well-Known Member
Sorry, didnt take proper notice,but you say you have your temp at 83 so this should not cause heat stress, I will stay with over watering.
 
Someguy15

Someguy15

Well-Known Member
Thx for quick replys. Anyone with rockwell experiance able to tell me how many floods per day? Would 4 evenly spaced @ 6 hours be enough. The cubes are definatly wet when I pick them up just before the next flood. Keep smokin ty guys!
 
Someguy15

Someguy15

Well-Known Member
Just wanted to add, my older plant (about 5 days older then others) seems pretty happy. Is it just too harsh for these younger seedlings? because this guy seems just fine.
 

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krustofskie

krustofskie

Well-Known Member
I use blocks myself. At this young stage they need watering little, when they need it they need it. I would wait until they are nearly dry, you don't have to have them watered at regular intervales. Rockwall cubes do hold moisture for a long time, as long as heat doesn't dry it out, you may not need to water sometimes for a couple of days, you just have to be very observant until you get used to how long they dry out in your setup.
 
the church man

the church man

Well-Known Member
i had a similiar problem earlier. i set my system up for flood and drain and it ended up being too much for the lil plants. What i did was just water them by hand at first until they started needing water more often. then i converted my flood and drain to a drip system. it was really easy i just ran a hose from pump up through one of my drains. now i'm just waiting for it to get even bigger so that i can switch to flood and drain. so yeah... i'd say handwater them until they are bigger or set up a temporary drip system
 
Someguy15

Someguy15

Well-Known Member
Added a fan to try to drop temps, I noticed they were almost 90 when measured down closer to the plants. This heat seems to be a real problem, even with the fan blowing like this my meter is still reading 88. The meter backing is black tho so it could be soaking up light & generating extra heat giving a high reading. The area does not feel nearly 90. Comments appreciated.
 

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krustofskie

krustofskie

Well-Known Member
Is that silver foil on the top of your blocks, if so not a good idea, foil will cause hot spots which can cook your babies, you need something like mylar sheeting that doesn't cause this problem, if you are using mylar already i will shut the F up. Cool looking setup by the way.
 
Someguy15

Someguy15

Well-Known Member
Foil removed. My only problem is there is some space between the plugs and the cubes. I don't want the light penetrating this destroying the roots. What should I place over the plants instead. I need a quick solution around the house. TY for the help.
 

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krustofskie

krustofskie

Well-Known Member
Cover with card for now, until you can get something better, i know it will get wet but this is just a quick fix. You can fill the gaps with something like perlite and when you can get some Mylar sheeting to cover. Have you got a fan blowing directly onto the plants, this would be good, moves the air and helps so should help with temps and it strengthens the plants. Obviously you don't want it blowing to hard on them, you just want them waving a bit.
 
PoBox123

PoBox123

Member
krustofskie said:
Cover with card for now, until you can get something better, i know it will get wet but this is just a quick fix. You can fill the gaps with something like perlite and when you can get some Mylar sheeting to cover. Have you got a fan blowing directly onto the plants, this would be good, moves the air and helps so should help with temps and it strengthens the plants. Obviously you don't want it blowing to hard on them, you just want them waving a bit.
Click to expand...

You need toget those temps in the 70's It is going to roast those little seedlings.

Plus, remember one thing. airflow,airflow, and airflow.
 
Someguy15

Someguy15

Well-Known Member
PoBox123 said:
You need toget those temps in the 70's It is going to roast those little seedlings.

Plus, remember one thing. airflow,airflow, and airflow.
Click to expand...
I'm going to get a 3 way splitter for my timer (rated 15 amps) and set it up so the 18 hours the lights come on the fans also run automatically. I'm sure 4A for the balast, .2 for my tiny fan and 1A or so for the box fan won't overload the timer. I think temps are dropping into the 70s and the plants are barely waving in the wind. Thanks for tips, look forward to more helpful comments. :leaf:
 
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