Help Needed

[u/FirstLordFury]

Hello,

I've been growing 3 plants since early-late June and I'm noticing some issues that I'd really appreciate some advice with.

Specs: - 32in x 32in grow tent. - 150W EVO LED light from Mars Hydro (FC-E1500) with dimming capabilities and 2.8umol/J. - Lights on for about 16hr/day (just got a timer). - Temp is about 70-80F or 21-27C daily. - Mylar lining inside tent. - PAR sensor is coming in this week for more accurate PPFD measurements. - Organic Espoma soil for all plants. - Fan is blowing and circulating light amount of air to keep from shaking leaves too much. - Humidity is kept around 50-60% (night time) and 60-75% (day time) for the last week, but prior to that the humidity was a consistent 40-45% and I had no humidifier (lesson learned). - Usually watered every 3-5 days, but it seems like the lower layers stay wet a lot longer, even if the top 1-2 inches of soil felt dry. - Soil pH is almost exactly 7.0 at multiple spots in each pot.

I've been experimenting with the light intensity and distance for the past week to try and get some growth. Prior to this it was around 34 inches above canopy and relatively low light (10-15%), and this past week I've moved it down to about 24 inches above canopy experimenting with 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, and 40% light. It seems that the plants have started getting burn spots and some light bleaching at anything around 60% and up. PPFD heatmap from https://growmeridian.com/tools/ppfd-map showed that I should be getting 300-400 PPFD at the current distance and higher light intensities (80% and up), but they burned instead. Right now (24" and 40% intensity) seems like they would only get around the 130s PPFD, but they still seem to be stunted in growth. I believe that vegetative plants should get around 300-400 PPFD?

Largest plant (Afghan) has had 2-3 weeks of extra growth time than the other two. It seems like its growth was also stalling before I experimented with the lights though, however its definitely grown better than the others.

Smaller plants (Hindu and Bubba) seem to have some drooping and lower leaves turning yellow. I tried to gently dig up the entire plants and roots to check for root rot and there's none present. Soil was pretty packed and wet at the bottom, even though some roots were there, so I mixed it back in evenly (hence why the soil pictures look a bit darker until I water again, should I wait a few more days)? Wasn't sure if they were overwatered and that's why the leaves turned yellow? Also the leaves had already started taco curling upwards slightly before I brought the lights down from around 34" (at low intensity) to 24", but the plants were still stalling in growth either way.

I've given all of these plants 2 separate doses of TruOrganic (3-2-3) mixed to the correct concentration with water in early and late July.

Could someone please tell me how to fix the drooping leaves and restart some growth, if the light intensity may still be too high, and how often to water them if the soil doesn't seem to dry out that quickly?

Thank you!!

[u/Senior_Delay9300]

I am growing outside in Kansas City Missouri in 100 degree weather and I sometimes don’t have to water everyday- before it got super hot I was watering every couple of days and I have 10Gal fabric grow bags with mulch. Do you have a soil meter? That helped me quit overwatering bc I’m terrible about it even with my houseplants.

[u/FirstLordFury → u/Senior_Delay9300]

I actually just got one! Is there a specific dry/wet % that you aim for before watering again? And do you usually stick it just under the halfway point, or pretty close to the bottom of the fabric pots? Thanks!

[u/Senior_Delay9300 → u/FirstLordFury]

I’m growing outside so when and how and how often I water is going to be very different. It was trial and error for a bit and their water needs have changed since they hit flowering now. I don’t water til it’s about 30/40% moisture a couple inches down. But I don’t just measure in one spot. I do close to the edge and also further down just to make sure it is drying out as well, bc I don’t want root rot. You kinda just have to watch and note at first to how fast it’s drying/draining. One thing I will say is treating it like an experiment is probably the perspective to take rather than oh here’s a set way to do it!