Transplanted 2 days ago, plant looks bad. Need help!

Just did my first transplant ever 2 days ago. I didn't know what I was doing and (gently) tried rolling the root ball around in my hands to break the soil free. But gave up after about 30 seconds because I heard roots snapping around too much.
After doing research, I found out that was a big no no.

2 days later, it is looking worse every time I check on it. The bottom leaves are turning yellow and some of the mid leaves are turning brown at the tips and wilting upwards.

What can I do to reverse this? I have been watering every day trying to keep the soil moist, I took out my 120watt grow bulb and replaced with a weak 40 watt bulb.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! If needed I can post pics.

You shouldn't be watering every day. You probably are over watering. Are your leaves droopy?

yea your definitely over watering. dont water it everyday. let the soil dry up a little then water. plants need a wet and dry cycle for the roots to get some oxygen. 2nd, give your plants some time, you just destroyed its root system. depending on the damage, most plants will recover. do some foliar feeding. this will get water directly to the plant instead of having to go through the damaged roots. good luck!

Yeah, the leaves are pretty droopy, now that you mention it. Okay, I won't water it tomorrow. Do you think I should leave my grow light on? I turned it off earlier today completely.

Also, for foliar feeding, should I just fill a spray bottle with filtered water, and mist it every once in a while?

how old was the plant and what type of soil? If it was young it could just be that the soil is to hot for it. I don't think it had anythign to do with any of the roots breaking.

good rule of thumb for watering is pick your pots up after you water them and feel how heavy they are. Then in a few days (1-5 depending on variables in your grow) when the leaves start to droop again pick it back up and see how light it feels. Now you know what it feels like when your plants need water and don't need water. In my opinion it's the best way to determine when to water your plants in soil.

edit:
Ps.

If you have willow tree's around your house anywhere, think about making some willow water and giving your plants a little of that. It's great for after transplants because of the natural rooting hormone in it, it's always helped mine recover in no time.

Whatever container it is in now, does it have enough drainage holes???
Next time you do water the plant, add a lil bit of sugar to the water...

Never screw with roots in a pot bound plant, unless the rots are in a warm water bath, then you can gently massage the old soil out with your fingers. thats what i do with any plant in bad soil (miracle grow) or when shifting from soil to hydro, or a when the soil s contaminated or infested. when you do it in lukewarm water, the plant even seems to enjoy it.

plants under heavy stress bounce back faster after an evening of spa massage and a rubdown. maybe next time ill offer a happy ending and see how that works.

Growman3001 said:

Whatever container it is in now, does it have enough drainage holes???
Next time you do water the plant, add a lil bit of sugar to the water...

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What exactly does sugar do? Isn't that already processed? I heard molasses is good for the plants because it's stuff the plant can process into sugars.

Cloudz2600 said:

What exactly does sugar do? Isn't that already processed? I heard molasses is good for the plants because it's stuff the plant can process into sugars.

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Sugar helps increase the vigor of the roots. Molasses diluted in water does the same thing as the sugar. Sugar is more readily avaliable to most people and time is of the essence. Molasses is a great idea as well if you already have it in the pantry. May even be a better idea than sugar.... Good one cloudz...

Dr Kynes said:

Never screw with roots in a pot bound plant, unless the rots are in a warm water bath, then you can gently massage the old soil out with your fingers.

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I am going to have to disagree on not messing with the roots. Many growers suggest getting a clean razor blade and scoring (cutting the outside of the root ball) in a few places while transplanting. Disturbing the roots helps promote root growth.

Cloudz2600 said:

What exactly does sugar do? Isn't that already processed? I heard molasses is good for the plants because it's stuff the plant can process into sugars.

Click to expand...

molasses feeds the soil, not the plant. sugar doesn't really do either so it's not helpful to the plant.

for the bazzillionth time, sugars not molasses, not processed sugar, not corn syrup, not maple syrup, not pineapple juice or any other carbohydrate will ever help a plant do anything.

the sugars are good for micro-organisms that live in soil, but not the plant. if you use hydroponics or a sterile system all you will do is grow funk.

molasses has some nutrients the plant can use but the sugars are for bugs. every other sugar is empty of anything plants crave. you would do better trying to force your plant to eat a big mac.

a pant with damaged roots needs time, proper watering, warmth on the root system (not hot, just warm) and sunlight on the foliage. thats how roots grow, and how your plant will bounce back from stress.

any magic potions, will do nothing but cost you money, and with your plant in a stressed state, any sugar will block oxygen from the remaining root system, invite bacterium and pests, turn your soil sour and make you into a bacteria farmer, not a dope grower. let the plant grow.

bamfrivet said:

I am going to have to disagree on not messing with the roots. Many growers suggest getting a clean razor blade and scoring (cutting the outside of the root ball) in a few places while transplanting. Disturbing the roots helps promote root growth.

Click to expand...

next time you gt a pot bound plant, put the root ball in a lukewarm bath and gently massage the spent soil away, re-pot with fresh soil, and watch how fast she recovers.

damaged roots dont help anything grow, the idea is to free the roots up and allow them to spread, thats why they say cut them in quarters ad spread them out. but if you massage the roots free of their spent soil prison, they will spread happily on their own, and grow without having to repair any extra damage. I know every gardening book, 4H club, old timer and botanical expert will say slash the roots free, but im telling ya, try it a couple tmes, and youll never want a razor in your roots again.

just last week i took a pot bound little abe lincoln tomato, and washed it's roots in my root washing bin with ordinary warm water, and plopped it without any ceremony into a DWC bubble bucket, no special potions, no magic incantations, and its nearly doubled in size, and never even tried to wilt. abe lincoln is not a particularly tough breed of tomato either, and we all know how easily tomatoes stress wilt.

google it and do some research. You will find that most people agree that sugar diluted in water will help a plant going through transplant shock.

How does it help them though grow? Not saying you're wrong and I've done no research on it. Just curious on what exactly it does to help. Some people say sticking a knife in the middle of the stem helps plants grow better, consensus =/= correct.

Dr Kynes said:

Never screw with roots in a pot bound plant, unless the rots are in a warm water bath, then you can gently massage the old soil out with your fingers. thats what i do with any plant in bad soil (miracle grow) or when shifting from soil to hydro, or a when the soil s contaminated or infested. when you do it in lukewarm water, the plant even seems to enjoy it.

plants under heavy stress bounce back faster after an evening of spa massage and a rubdown. maybe next time ill offer a happy ending and see how that works.

Click to expand...

yeah man i was gonna say...a quick reach around and a happy ending can solve almost any problem...
but seriously, why did you have to remove all the old soil? when transplanting you really have to disturb the rootball as little as possible. unless your plant is potbound. then you gotta remove some roots and score the rootball to loosen up the remaining roots. and the other thing is.. when you damage roots you force the plant to keep turgor pressure the same in the canopy which can't be done cuz you pruned off the roots. it is a stressful thing for the plant and more likely than not you'll lose some top growth anyway. the plant is doing the canopy pruning for you. best thing to do is try to provide a balance between top growth and root growth when tackling a job like that. figure if you're gonna remove a third of the rootball you must also remove a third of the canopy. balance. just veg the plant a little longer to make up for lost veg time. okee dokee?

Okay, so should I put the lights back on at full blast? And should I prune the lower leaves that already seem dead?
I won't water until the soil seems dry. And if it isn't looking better by then I'll feed it sugar water. How much sugar should I put in say a half gallon of water? Also, how much should I be watering this thing? It's about 3 and 1/2 months old.

I really appreciate the help btw

The age old question lol "how much should I water?" You water based on soil/what the plant tells you not the time. You want to water when the soil is almost completely dry, but still has obvious signs of moisture. A tell-tale sign of underwatering is the leaves looking dry, lifeless, drooping. That's letting it go without water too long. Put some soil in an empty pot and feel the weight, that's a little bit too dry. Water the pot completely and that's just a little over what you should be aiming for. Plants what a moist medium not a damp/wet one.

I'm really not sure on that sugar thing man, I would leave it alone unless you have some sort of problem. For new growers Keep It Simple Stupid should be the only thing you should be thinking. Nutes, Lights, Soil, Water that's all you should be using. All that extra stuff can be done once you have some grows under your belt and you have all the other stuff down pat.

Also I don't prune leaves at all. If the leaves are truly dead they fall off by themselves, if they aren't dead then they don't fall off. The plant uses leaves not only for photosynthesis, but also as a place to move toxins out of the main body(stems). If it can't remove the toxins then where's it going to go? The only time you should prune is if you really need some space for the bud signs and the fan leaves are blocking them. Even then I just tuck the leaves instead of cutting.

good articles, sugar is good...

http://jadekine.com/?p=25
http://growersbook.com/marijuana-encyclopedia/nutrients-and-boosters/using-molasses-honey-and-sugar-water-on-marijuana-plants.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_5569542_feed-sugar-water-plants.html