18 day old plant suddenly wilted

My friend who lives in a legal state sent me these photos. It’s an 18 day old auto white widow. It’s their first grow. They said it’s at 59% RH, temp 79.7F under a galaxy hydro 300w 9-band LED and 1 5000K CFL. Soil medium FFOF with 30% added Perlite. Trash can micro grow! Air intake: 1x 120mm PC fan, exhaust: 2X 120mm PC fans, plus 1X 120mm PC fan hanging from string inside trash can.

Two days ago it started to wilt. They thought that it might be pests due to some spotting on a leaf, and some of the edge missing on an upper leaf. They have only watered the plant twice, a week apart. They used distilled water with a couple drops of molasses last time, after letting soil dry out. They’ve been doing some LST, and recently bent the top over a little further. The white powdery stuff on the leaves is DE. Here’s some pics:

That looks like over and under watering at the same time...I’m impressed.



What does the root zone look like if you pull it out of the pot?

Also this problem seems to have gotten worse over night. I should have mentioned that his light distance is 13”.

kmog33 said:

That looks like over and under watering at the same time...I’m impressed.



What does the root zone look like if you pull it out of the pot?

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It hasn’t been pulled out of the pot. Total noob doesn’t know how to do that and is scared to stress this auto. What’s the best way to approach this?

Thank you for your response. I’m really hoping that it doesn’t die!

Put your hand on the top of the soil underneath the plant and flip the pot over, should come out pretty easy if your careful you won’t stress it.

Hmmm...this baby is in a 3gal with a few inches of dry, loose soil at the top. There’s a 2” layer of pure perlite in the bottom of the pot for drainage, too. He’s not exactly able to keep his in such a nice shape, nor is he able to put a hand over all the dirt...still safe to proceed?

View attachment 4553781

That my friend is a good root system. What’s your secret?

OK, so the plant didn’t want to drop out of the pot. He gave it a gentle tap, still nothing. The soil was kind of packed in after the first couple of inches. Managed to get a couple of pics of the top of the roots, but I’m guessing that won’t be much help. Here they are anyway:

Looks like you’re
Letting the soil dry out too much as the roots are spindly and dry/thin looking at the bottom of your pot. With a plant that size you should have a lot more roots than you do.

Drench it and wait two days
Plants do not like distilled water

Herb & Suds said:

Drench it and wait two days
Plants do not like distilled water

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Most of what I have read says not to water if the soil is already moist. It’s still holding a fair amount of moisture. It was soaked until runoff 3 days ago. Would it still be a good idea to drench it? Should spring water be used in the future?

kmog33 said:

Looks like you’re
Letting the soil dry out too much as the roots are spindly and dry/thin looking at the bottom of your pot. With a plant that size you should have a lot more roots than you do.

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This is the top of the pot. The plant wouldn’t drop out enough to get a view of the roots at the bottom.

MantomPhenace said:

Most of what I have read says not to water if the soil is already moist. It’s still holding a fair amount of moisture. It was soaked until runoff 3 days ago. Would it still be a good idea to drench it? Should spring water be used in the future?

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Your soil looks really dry tk me In All your pics so I don’t know. And yeah, use tap water.

MantomPhenace said:

Most of what I have read says not to water if the soil is already moist. It’s still holding a fair amount of moisture. It was soaked until runoff 3 days ago. Would it still be a good idea to drench it? Should spring water be used in the future?

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you saw zero improvement after a watering?

Looks thirsty af.

madvillian420 said:

you saw zero improvement after a watering?

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The wilting actually started after watering.

Alright, well she’s more hydrated now. We’ll see how she goes.

MantomPhenace said:

This is the top of the pot. The plant wouldn’t drop out enough to get a view of the roots at the bottom.

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When removing a plant from a pot
Grasp the stem near pot and bang hard on edge of pot ...works every time except on pots over five gallons

MantomPhenace said:

My friend who lives in a legal state sent me these photos. It’s an 18 day old auto white widow. It’s their first grow. They said it’s at 59% RH, temp 79.7F under a galaxy hydro 300w 9-band LED and 1 5000K CFL. Soil medium FFOF with 30% added Perlite. Trash can micro grow! Air intake: 1x 120mm PC fan, exhaust: 2X 120mm PC fans, plus 1X 120mm PC fan hanging from string inside trash can.

Two days ago it started to wilt. They thought that it might be pests due to some spotting on a leaf, and some of the edge missing on an upper leaf. They have only watered the plant twice, a week apart. They used distilled water with a couple drops of molasses last time, after letting soil dry out. They’ve been doing some LST, and recently bent the top over a little further. The white powdery stuff on the leaves is DE. Here’s some pics:

View attachment 4553773

Click to expand...

Maybe lift the plant and have a look at its roots. If you're brave enough.