Ph problems? Watering? Help my plants droopy don’t know why

Hey guys!! I haven’t really had any problems with my plants, or anything to serious at least. But this morning I went to check on my wedding cake (indoor) and it’s droopy as shit. It looked great last night before I went to sleep..
It’s in a 2’x2’x4’ box, ffof/perlite, 3 gal smart pot, hlg 100v2 3000k, 50-64 rh and 74-81f.
I’ve been watering tap water I let sit out for a few days, the last couple waterings its been like 4/5 of a gallon.
Did I give too much water? yesterday? I only water every 3-4 days when soils dry knuckle and a half deep so..
It was fine all day after I watered it but this morning it’s droopy as shit. I’m thinking maybe ph problems as I haven’t check it at all..
please help guys! Other than guessing ph I have no idea what’s up
First pic is yesterday, rest are from just a minute ago

How long has it been in 3 gal pot? Could be root bound.

Pictures make it look like she is thirsty , just give her bunch of water not gonna hurt anything.

Also if you checked on plant at first light, sometimes plants look that way during night hours.

Hawaiifire420 said:

How long has it been in 3 gal pot? Could be root bound.

Pictures make it look like she is thirsty , just give her bunch of water not gonna hurt anything.

Also if you checked on plant at first light, sometimes plants look that way during night hours.

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Been in that pot 2-3 weeks I believe.
I just watered yesterday (almost a gallon) so I don’t think it’s thirsty.
I noticed the droopyness last night right before lights out (12-1am) and then it was worse when I checked this morning (10am). Hasn’t really changed when I checked again atlike 2pm.

Temperature never got to hot?

Fan blowing directly on plant?

Hawaiifire420 said:

Temperature never got to hot?

Fan blowing directly on plant?

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Highest temp was 81f but it’s usually around 76.
My “intake” and “exhaust” are holes I cut in the side of the box with one having a small desk fan facing in, and one out. It one facing in is right on my plant but it is not a strong blow, I have a shoe box on the outside to block light and suppress the blowiness of the fan. So good airflow

Here’s my “intake”

And exhaust

You may not be allowing the soil to dry enough between waterings. Lift it and go by weight, Checking the top few inches means nothing.

Renfro said:

You may not be allowing the soil to dry enough between waterings. Lift it and go by weight, Checking the top few inches means nothing.

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I usually do, at least move the plant around and feel the weight. I really don’t think I’m over watering but you guys always give me good advice so I’m gonna cut back. I also posted another thread on defoliation and was told to take of some of the lower big ass fan leaves so I’ll do that too and see if it makes a difference

When you lift the pot it will seem very light when they are ready.

ONE THING after I watered I let the plant And pot sit in the runoff for a couple hours.
It was more than it usually is but it usually evaporates so I thought it would.
When it didn’t after a few hours I poured it out. Would sitting in the water for some time make it too moist?

Renfro said:

When you lift the pot it will seem very light when they are ready.

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I water my outdoor plant with this method and it works great

I also just raised the light from 14” above the canopy to 23-24”

Droop is from either too much or too little moisture. It's also possible that this plant is so bushy now the roots may be all the way out to the edge of the container; forcing you to water more often than you used to. I assume you had to overwater to runoff because the root ball was dry and hard: initially the water just pooled up on top and then flowed through the fabric pot sort of going around the root ball, right?
Going with a larger container could solve everything at once. Your grow space is limited obviously but if you can give the roots just a little more room it may be a lot easier to regulate moisture. Placing a tray or something underneath the pot and watering from the bottom can also help if the root ball is tight.

Richard Drysift said:

Droop is from either too much or too little moisture. It's also possible that this plant is so bushy now the roots may be all the way out to the edge of the container; forcing you to water more often than you used to. I assume you had to overwater to runoff because the root ball was dry and hard: initially the water just pooled up on top and then flowed through the fabric pot sort of going around the root ball, right?
Going with a larger container could solve everything at once. Your grow space is limited obviously but if you can give the roots just a little more room it may be a lot easier to regulate moisture. Placing a tray or something underneath the pot and watering from the bottom can also help if the root ball is tight.

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I just water to runoff every time I water. Never had an issue until now. There was more runoff this time and I let it sit for much longer in it. I do have the pot on a tray, that’s kinda how I regulate runoff. This thing has grown really fast though so going to a 5 gal wouldn’t be the worst idea!
Any tips for transplanting out of the fabric pots? I thought they weren’t supposed to get rootbound in them..

Root bind is not quite the same as a plant that has simply outgrown its container. You can keep plants longer in a fabric pot than you can in hard plastic; you'll just be watering more often. It is not root bound but what happens when the roots in a smart/fabric pot reach the edge they split off and grow capillary root ends that keep going down finding the edge. It is this air pruning which gives an increase in O2 to the roots; good for vigorous growth in veg but also dries out the root ball very quickly. Especially in warmer temps.
What I do is let the root ball get a little dry so it stays as a single mass without breaking apart. Have your next size pot ready filled up 1/3 with soil. This is also a good opportunity to sprinkle some granular mycorrhizae onto the fresh soil so it is in direct contact with the root ball if you use myco in your grow.
Flip the whole plant upside down over a tote bin or something on the floor like say a newspaper or tarp to catch falling soil, with your hand on the surface of the soil so the main stem of the plant is in the V between your middle and ring fingers like you were greeting a Vulcan. Nanoo nanoo, live long and prosper, flip the plant over and pull from the bottom of the smart pot; Wiggle it until the root ball is free. Don't worry if you lose some of it; it will grow back in thicker. Once you get the old smart pot off use your other hand to rest the root ball on for a minute while you flip it back upright and place it into the fresh mix. Your plant will thank you...

If it’s too moist just leave it - it’ll bounce back.

If it stays droopy it’s another issue.

You say you transplanted?

What can happen is the difference between the soil hardness (between old and new) is so great that the water shoots through the easiest path around the old transplanted root ball.

Making the plant thirsty as it’s main root zone isn’t getting water.

This will make itself apparent in the next few days if she doesn’t perk up.

Nutty sKunK said:

If it’s too moist just leave it - it’ll bounce back.

If it stays droopy it’s another issue.

You say you transplanted?

What can happen is the difference between the soil hardness (between old and new) is so great that the water shoots through the easiest path around the old transplanted root ball.

Making the plant thirsty as it’s main root zone isn’t getting water.

This will make itself apparent in the next few days if she doesn’t perk up.

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I have not recently transplanted- just to be clear! I am THINKING about transplanting up but I currently don’t have enough soil to do so. Gotta wait for some to come after I get paid..
the soil is FFOF and perlite mixed at like 60/40 ratio.
Drainage is fine and it doesn’t puddle up.
I can actually hear the water running through the soil. It’s made for some great roots..

I think I just gave too much water this ONE time. I put a kitchen rack under it propped up on some chunks of 2x2 so hopefully the bottom (which is still really wet) can get some circulation around it and dry and the plant will hopefully perk back up.

If it’s still droopy in the morning I’ll let y’all know, lights out is in 40 minutes and I don’t wanna disturb them, I’ve been in and out of the box all day today.

Thanks for all your responses guys I really appreciate it. This is the first issue I’ve had with this plant and it made me super nervous

Hey guys she’s still droopy. Not sure what to do other than pot up, which I can’t do right now because I don’t have any soil.
It can be here soon though, amazon prime is the best.
Would that be the next step?

Weouthere said:

Hey guys she’s still droopy. Not sure what to do other than pot up, which I can’t do right now because I don’t have any soil.
It can be here soon though, amazon prime is the best.
Would that be the next step?

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Adjust to a half gallon of water for 3 gallons of soil, 1 gallon is too much for a 3.