Whats up with my leaves?

I've read all kinds of signs for nutrient deficiency...

The leaves of my plant are perfectly green, but the sides curl up very slightly. All of the nute deficiencies I've read mention something about curling sides with yellow or brownish color.

Is there any kind of nute deficiency that pertains ONLY to the curling sides?


Also, I'm planning on getting a HPS for the flowering stage, but I don't want to spend my money unless I know it's a female. Would it be okay if I started 12/12 with my compact 150w flourecent light for a week, and if it's a female, quickly switch to an HPS?

Thanks

 

Hey FF, let us know a little about your grow: plant in dirt? what kind of soil & how big a pot? what have you been feeding & how moist/dry you keep the soil?
If you're in hydro, specify what you're doing there.
Leave curling seems to occur throughout the grow and is seen first at older fan leaves that are beginning to become overshadowed by the newer stuff. They progress to complete discoloration and fall off in the advancing flowering process. Let us know what you've got.
You're going to need the HPS regardless, unless you'll abandon growing altogether if this baby is male! b1

 

Curled leaves, usually a sign of either over watering or under watering.
Also it's another sign of over feeding.
If you pushed me to pinpoint it I would say over watering.

 

Sorry for the lack of information. I'm growing in soil, in an 8 inch diameter pot, and it's about 4 inches tall now (counting only the stem). There are three alternating nodes and the fourth is well on its way out of the center. I'm not giving it lots of nutes, only some (the directions say 7 drops a quart, I used 3, and it's a standard indoor herb plant food), but the soil itself came with nutrients. I just transplanted them on Feb 4th, and watered them right after (1 quart). Before that they were in 4 inch pots and were watered 9 days before (the soil was fairly moist until the transplant). Temp is at a fairly consitant 70-72 degrees, and I haven't watered since the transplant.

Actually, the curling doesn't look too bad now. It grew half an inch in 8 hours, so it's doing very well.

Unfortunetely I only have one plant going, but b1, is there any point to continue growth if it's a male?

Thanks

EDIT: I see what you mean b1. I think I might start germinating more seeds soon.

 

I see nothing wrong with what you've got and with what you're doing. Next time use soil without chem ferts added. The only reason I can see you having shocked the plant is in the transplant from neutral soil to chem supplemented soil and then running a quart of water into that, releasing a minor flood of nutrients which might have burned the tender little rootlets which never had been exposed that sort of thing. Walmart now sells a potting soil that is high quality and has no chemferts. If you're interested I'll copy the name next time I'm out in the shed.
If you are set-up to propagate plants your male will do the pollinating, that'll be the reason to keep him. He also produces a small (but significant) quantity of active ingredient, best accessed using extraction methods (cannabis butter etc.). If you want your female(s) to remain sensimilla (unpollinated) you'll have to keep the male carefully seperated. I stripped a male of all of his seed pods just today and will monitor his development, being careful to keep removing all his "little bells". Hope this'll help your thinking and future planning. b1

 

Thanks, it's still growing fast, though now I notice little white roots poking out of the holes at the bottom of the pot. Does this mean that the roots have extended as far as they can go and that growth will start to slow down? Would you suggest another transplant, or should I just stick with the 8 inch pot? I'm looking for the plant to be about a foot and a half.

Thanks

 

Your pot might be too small. I grow in 4 gallon pots:12" across the top & 12" tall. If you're seeing rootlets come out the bottom, the pot's too small. Transplanting is stressfull, but this being your experiment and you still not knowing it's gender (right?) I'd transplant. b1

 

hey i wouldn't rush to transplant, an 8 inch pot will provide the roots with plenty of room to grow for a while yet. just make sure that you don't have water sitting in the saucer under the pot, if you use one or you could put spacers between the pot and saucer or floor. either of these will keep the roots in the pot where it's nice and moist. wait and transplant when you can pull the roots and soil out of the pot by the stem and before the roots start wrapping around the pot, though you'll probably get a little of this anyway. as for your leaves, it sounds like your plant is getting too dry between watering or the light is too close.

 

I agree with you zendude, no rush to transplant. I was more thinking that if you wait until too close to beginning 12/12 you'll have to deal with that disruption as well. I am totally against transplanting by principle: I germinate seeds and plant them directly into the final container where they're going to live in; I make a well in the center and put the perlite/vermiculite/spagnum moss into it, about the same amount you'd put into a small starter pot. In analyzing his watering schedule he seems to not really have had time to dry out and the plant, being so little, doesn't use much. So heat burn from the light you gather?!. b1

 

Thanks for the responses, I appreciate everyone's help.

Perhaps the light may be too close. Before with the 150w compact flouro, I always had it about 2-3.5 inches away from the top of the plant. Was this too close? Anyway, the leaf curling has subsided for the most part.

I just watered it again (1 quart) yesterday with 10-15-10, (5 drops out of the 7 they recommend on the bottle). I hope this isn't too little/too much. Also, I added another 100w compact flouro, both are about 3.5-4 inches away from the leaves currently. It's still in the 8 inch pot...

I was reading a book about indoor growing and it said that 6 inch pots get the plant to 1 foot, 8 inch pots get it to 1.5 feet, 10 inch to 2 feet, etc..

I would be happy if it only got to 1.5 feet, so should I even transplant at all?

Any other suggestions?

 

You could always put a temp probe right at your plant's top leaves and see if what sort of reading you get. I just measured mine:250w hps in glass enclosed/fan extracted hood @ 12inches distance =82deg and the same setup with mh =75deg. b1