What Does Cannabis Leaves Drooping Mean?

cannabis leaves drooping
A close up of a new bud on a marijuana plant.

Drooping marijuana is a problem that can be cured, but diagnosing the problem is necessary until it hits its point that it cannot be cured. In this guide, we will provide the meaning of drooping and the key reasons why marijuana continues to droop. Moreover, we will offer you some quick tips to avoid the scenario of cannabis leaves drooping. 

Cannabis Leaves Drooping: Why?

It might be a surprise to you that plants, compared to animals, contain more water. Some plants contain 90 to 95% water. Like mammals, water is responsible for the plants’ temperature and helps circulate nutrients throughout their body. Therefore, if you encounter drooping cannabis leaves, the first step is to pay attention to how your cannabis is being watered. 

Novice cannabis growers often assume that the cause of their cannabis plants’ drooping leaves is underwatering. Too little watering should be avoided and has several bad implications, including:

  1. Reducing the photosynthesis rate. This delays the plant’s growth and cultivation rate. 
  2. Nutrient stagnation, causing a nutrition deficit. 
  3. The cannabis is compelled to breathe at a much faster pace than the usual; valuable energies of the plant are spent in breathing, instead of being spent in growing.

Water shortages can also cause the leaves of these things:

  • Unexpected shriveling
  • Withering
  • To become brighter
  • Drooping

Both sides of the spectrum are guilty of not properly watering their cannabis plants: underwatering and overwatering.  The plant roots must have accessible moist soil throughout the day and week as they lose water through the process known called transpiration, or leaving out water from the leaves.

It’s how plants receive water from their roots. If the weed plants drop their leaves, they start drawing water from the ground.

Underwatering is a challenge because plants are only seedlings. They’re drooping, wilting, obviously not rising properly. You’ll also find the rising medium isn’t moist. Another symptom is when the seedling turns dark green, stunted, and bent. Any new growth looks boring.

What about weed overwatering? 

Now if you are thinking of watering your vine, think twice because that’s not exactly the best answer.

Did you know that too much water will cause your plant to die, too? So much water protects the plant from oxygen. Moisture adversely impacts the roots themselves. They soften and finally die. Moreover, the plant lacks energy and becomes vulnerable to pests.

Therefore, when you see your weed drooping, you may presume that you need water. Indeed, adding more could destroy your plants! Aside from drooping leaves, other marijuana plant symptoms include:

  • Firm leaves curled back from stem to leaf. 
  • Leaves gradually turn yellow. 
  • The plants start falling after irrigation.

Take note of the reality that overwatering may mean two things: providing too much hydro all at once or too frequent watering. You can also use a growing medium that retains water without enough air, or there is inadequate drainage.

Via their roots, pot plants get oxygen. The essential oxygen is dissolved in water, and pockets of air in a growing medium provide an essential supply of oxygen. If you spray your plants too much, they’re trapped with dirty water. At this point, your weed is falling because its roots need oxygen.

5 Cannabis Leaves Drooping Remedies

1. Using a medium with excellent drainage

Choose the platform carefully. If water can not run down the container, the roots stagnate, resulting in overwatered plants. We suggest avoiding clay-based soil since it contains so much water. Invest in a quality potting mix that contains perlite, since it has superb drainage.

Please ensure that adequate drainage holes allow water to enter the container bottom. If you notice water flowing too slowly through the growing medium, add perlite to raise oxygen and accelerate drainage.

Check the tray of the plant frequently and don’t let it sit in a dish that absorbs runoff water. For example, using soil that drains poorly will result in mud when receiving too much water.

2. Knuckle or Finger Method

If you learn how to correctly water cannabis plants, you’ll learn one of, if not the best skills of an expert grower. If your plants are overwatered, allowing leaves to drop, the most you can do is allow them some time between watering.

Determine if the plants require more water by inserting two fingers (or knuckles) in the dirt. Ideally, the growing medium’s top inch would be dry before watering again. If the top is already wet, wait until it dries before applying more water. If the soil is soggy, you’ve overwatered the plants and have to allow them a few days to dry out.

When it’s time to water your plants, keep applying water to the rising medium until you see about 20 percent excess runoff water drain from the container floor. If you think the first inch staying damp for longer, it’s an indication that you need to either offer less water or increase drainage. Your goal is to water your plants every 2-3 days.

3. Lift the Pot Method

When a potted plant is thirsty, another easy approach is to pick it up. Marijuana plants use all the water in their containers to get lighter with time. To compare something, you can get an extra pot and fill it with increasing medium.

Now, you should compare this new bottle, as it reflects your growing medium’s ‘dry weight.’ If you pick up a potted plant and it’s just slightly heavier than your dry pot, you know it’s time for watering.

If the rising medium stays damp for a long time (4 + days), you may need to increase drainage. It can also be a concern if you placed tiny plants in way too big containers.

4. Soil Sensor

Another great way to test the soil’s dryness. You can conveniently shop online (Amazon) or in a gardening shop. Soil sensors cost $10-$20. They’re pretty reliable, and you needn’t rely on instincts. Simply prod the sensor to the soil for reading.

If you were curious, two main soil sensor forms are used to measure moisture. Volumetric sensors measure soil water levels. Tensiometric sensors monitor soil moisture levels. A tensiometer is soil-sensitive and estimates how closely a given soil type holds water.

If you’re a horticulture specialist with money to spare, you might invest in Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR). It tests soil moisture fast and accurately. It’s expensive, however, and sometimes requires recalibration. You will need a competence level to properly analyze data.

Overall, a soil sensor is your best bet. It’s inexpensive, powerful, and user-friendly. More specifically, it could help you detect a soil problem before it becomes a serious problem.

5. Choose a ‘Dry’ Strain

If all this doesn’t succeed and you’re still suffering, the perfect cure could be one of these strains. Recommended for people living in hot climates. Unique strains from Colombia, Jamaica, Cambodia, and Mexico grow well in warm climates.

Conclusion

The key thing to note is that drooping leaves mean your plant has a deficiency. Unfortunately, some places may have a deficiency. On the positive side, cannabis drooping leaves are a symptom of an overwatered or underwatered plant in the vast majority of situations, or it is a symptom that your plant either receives too much or not enough nutrients (and watering issues are also related to nutrient problems).

Choosing a growing medium with strong drainage prevents several future crises from getting-go. You can check the rising medium’s moisture content using your fingers or check the pot weight. A more precise approach is to spend a few bucks on a soil sensor that eliminates the guesswork.

Watering the plants accurately starts by making the timing right. Watering first thing in the morning is safest. Saturate your rising medium until you see about 20% of the water dripping from the container rim. That’s ample day water.

Don’t water again until the rising medium’s first inch is dry. If your plants droop, let the medium dry out entirely and use a skewer to aerate holes around the medium. Carefully not hurt the roots! Poke along medium edges to around two inches away. You can make small holes by rotating the stick circularly.

Get another thin stick; it’s your help. Place it near the plant base and rest it, or else you may tie it to the plant’s main stem. Check the plant’s branches and the main stem are not frail and thin. If they are, it could be an indication they start stretching for light. In any case, position your plant directly below the light source and ensure at least 18 hours of light a day.

Drooping leaves in the early stages of the growth cycle can set you back a few weeks. Wait for extra time to start flowering, and you will still benefit from a robust, stable plant with significant yield.

Published
Categorized as Blog

By LGM Admin

LearnGrowingMarijuana.com is an online destination for marijuana growers who want to succeed in growing marijuana. The team behind the site enjoys growing their own weed, trying different strains and experimenting on different growing techniques to get the best marijuana harvest.