Overwatering? Pics included.

In the past two days, my plants have started to scare me. They were very perky and dark green. Now, one of them especially has started to droop heavily. The leaves are also curling downward. They've been under CFL's for 4 weeks now, and I just switched today to A 400 Watt HPS system. Temps are staying right at 80 degrees with the lights on and 72 with them off. I only water them every 4 or 5 days. I'm using Miracle Grow organic choice potting mix. Its the only soil I could find at any store near my house.

I'm attaching a picture of the plant in question. Can anyone help me diagnose my plant?

looks under watered,give it a good watering and keep it away from the light and it should perk up

ps im goin by the look of the soil and drying of the leaves

well...ii would say dont use mg iver again...it gets to br a prob and pest iin its own way...in the pic ure soil looks preety dry actually might be under watering and or heat stress since u say u just started using hps???but let others comment before ii tell it iim irie high

well, i just watered that plant about 6 hours ago. and the drooping may even be worse now than before. the light is about 15 inches away from the plants in a very well ventilated room. It is kinda warm, but not by any means hot, to the touch at the canopy level.

for hids they should be 24 in. your goin to kill your plants if ur not careful.read the forum and take the advice,some ppl have more experience than others,thats why we help those who ask

looks too me that your problem is that your plant has gone into a shocked phase maybe due too the increase of light and temp and lack of adjustment in watering for the new climate and growth rate also try checkin the ph of your water source and soil could also be contaminated soil product

wackymack said:

for hids they should be 24 in. your goin to kill your plants if ur not careful.read the forum and take the advice,some ppl have more experience than others,thats why we help those who ask

Click to expand...

That is exactly why I posted this; to get advice from some of the experienced growers. Also, I have been reading the forum for more than a month now. I wouldn't have asked the question if I could find the answer. Trust me, I tried.

I was told that as long as the ventilation is good and the temps stay good (as of now 79 at the tops - light has been on for 6 hours) that the light should be fine a little bit closer than 2ft. They seem to have adjusted to the light fairly well, because over night there was a decent amount of growth and the leaves have perked back up significantly. Also, the soil does look dry, but it is pretty wet about an inch or two deep.

Could my soil be retaining too much water, or do I need to back my light up a little bit?

the light is fine, however, I would have started with it farther away and slowly moved it closer to help avoid shock of the new intensity of the light.

try letting the pots dry out completely before you water again if you think your giving it too much water.... most of these types of issues are worked out through trial and error.

orecal knows TRAIL AND ERROR is the only way to learn....and yes prob shouldve moved light toward kind slowly....and yes let soil dry COMPLETLY b4 next watering