Top of plants curled and twisted, some yellow leaves, slow growth, veg stage

Hey guys, I'm a new grower. I've grown before but it was 10 years ago and I used an aeroponic system. This is my first time using soil.

I'm starting my plants indoor in my garage and will go outdoor soon. I have a T5 Flourecent light and the plants are in a mix of potting soil, perlite and manure. I haven't given any nutrients yet.

I had the lights on 24 hours until a few weeks ago, no they're on 18/6 hours.


The tops of the plants are curled like a canoe and some started to twist themselves. The lower leaves look OK but some are turning yellow with spots. Growth has slowed.

I thought the plants are suffering from heat/light stress so I moved the light up 12" or so. It didn't make a difference but the plants did extend upwards a bit.



Any ideas?

Drop that light down so it's a few inches above the canopy, let them dry out, and remove the yellow leaves. Over watering caused your problems I believe!!

I'm guessing either over watering based on seeing that it looks like you only have one small hole in each of those pots. If the issue isn't from over watering then have you checked the roots? Those plants seem pretty old for the small pots they are in.

Thanks guys. I'll put them in bigger pots and take a look at the roots. What should I look for on the roots?
I'll get some bigger pots this evening.

Any tips for holes in the pots? I have some air pot/bag things for when they're bigger.

I'll lower the light too.

I might have been over watering. I have about an inch of rocks in the bottom and a hole at that level. I've been watering them quite a bit. I assumed the hole would give enough O2 to the roots.

Roots should be white...If you see dark colored rot, after you transplant let them dry out, and then add a little hydrogen peroxide to your next watering. And cut the yellowed/damaged leaves right off. I think they'll be ok once they dry out.

The roots should be nice and white. I probably go overboard but I drill about 50 small holes into my solo cups.

Thanks guys, I'll take some pictures of the roots tonight.

How big of pots should I get? I have some 15 gallon grow bags for outdoors. Should I move them to 5-gallon pails for now?

5 gallon buckets will be good. I commonly go from solo cup straight to 5 gallon.

mulletator said:

Thanks guys, I'll take some pictures of the roots tonight.

How big of pots should I get? I have some 15 gallon grow bags for outdoors. Should I move them to 5-gallon pails for now?

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I'm a fan of gradually increasing pot size. It allows the roots to settle in and fill out the pot easier. Imo go for maybe double the size of the current pot.

TreeFarmerCharlie said:

5 gallon buckets will be good. I commonly go from solo cup straight to 5 gallon.

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Will do. I already have some actually. Should I put holes in them?

mulletator said:

Will do. I already have some actually. Should I put holes in them?

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Definitely.

What is your ph at when watering?
What is color temp of t5 bulbs?

lime73 said:

What is your ph at when watering?
What is color temp of t5 bulbs?

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I'm not sure about the pH, my tester isn't working. The bulbs are pretty white, I'm not sure of the spectrum but I've used them before and haven't had issues.

mulletator said:

I'm not sure about the pH, my tester isn't working. The bulbs are pretty white, I'm not sure of the spectrum but I've used them before and haven't had issues.

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Get a new pH tester immediately. All of those problems occurring at the same time indicates something is very wrong with water. Either over watering, or out of range pH in your water and water/nutrient feed. Either one of those issues can cause severe nutrient uptake issues.

spek9 said:

Get a new pH tester immediately. All of those problems occurring at the same time indicates something is very wrong with water. Either over watering, or out of range pH in your water and water/nutrient feed. Either one of those issues can cause severe nutrient uptake issues.

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Will do, I'll order one on Amazon Prime ASAP. Any recommendations?

I transplanted them today. I had a bunch of decorative pots. I'll move them to the 15 gallon aerobags in a month or so.

They were a bit root bound. I picked up a pH test kit but I'm not sure what to test. Should I test the water or put soil into a cup or something?

In the previous pots I added some manure to the soil, that might have been a factor.

The new pots have big holes in the bottom so hopefully that helps.

Check for the water you feed them first then the excess water from the pots. If feed is bigger then soil higher your feed else lower your feed ph. Soil ph should be 6-7 ph level. Keep it on balance you dont need to be exact but still be between 6-7.

LikeANewbie said:

Check for the water you feed them first then the excess water from the pots. If feed is bigger then soil higher your feed else lower your feed ph. Soil ph should be 6-7 ph level. Keep it on balance you dont need to be exact but still be between 6-7.

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WIll do. I just watered them yesterday so I'll wait a couple of days.

It's been 3.5 days since the transplant. The plants seem a little healthier. Since the transplant, I haven't seen any new yellow leaves and it looks like some of the curled leaves are becoming uncurled.

I actually have two strains. The ones with the orange ribbon are Mandarin Dream and the other ones are Sweet Tooth. The MD seems to be doing better, less yellowing and curling.

I gave the plants some nutrients today, I gave them some veg and micronutes at a light concentration (50ml/20L of each).

I tested the pH as well. Here are the results:

• soil put into cup - about 7 pH
• tap water - about 7 pH
• nutrient solution - about 5.5 - 6 pH

We'll see how the plants respond to the nutrients, I hope they grow a bit and become healthier.