With many statespassing cannabis legislationand lawmakers mulling over federally decriminalizing marijuana, more people than ever have a chance to get into the cannabis-growing game,both on a significant scale and a small, personal basis, from the comfort of their own kitchen or living room.
Growing cannabis isn’t a complicated endeavor. We help growers everyday whether they decide to grow outdoors or want a cheap indoor grow setup. That said, it does take some knowledge and the right kind of attitude to help ensure you’re not only keeping your cannabis plants alive but helping them to thrive in a healthy environment long enough to produce a quality crop.
Like most things, growing cannabis comes with its own set of challenges. Learn how to identify and overcome said challenges by carefully reading through the detailed guide below, and you can enjoy the success of greater cannabis yields.
If you’d like access to even more information on how to grow a thriving, quality cannabis crop, please don’t hesitate to explore some of our other cannabis education articles.
There is a wide range of challenges and obstacles that both home and business cannabis growers need to overcome to help ensure they’re actively growing a healthy plant that will produce a quality crop to provide equally quality hits.
From finding the perfect balance between too much and too little water and ensuring your plants receive the right amount of different nutrients to thrive in their environment, there are a lot of factors growers need to consider and carefully monitor throughout the growing process.
One of the most common challenges for many growers is cannabis leaves wilting and turning yellow. Thankfully, this issue is fixable if addressed early.But growers need to be quick to jump into action when they notice these problems.
Otherwise, they run the risk of having their plant die or at least cause it to produce sub-quality cannabis yields. The first step in addressing this particular issue will require you to find out exactly why your plant’s leaves are drooping. Once you’ve done that, you can find appropriate solutions to reverse the wilting and get your plants back into tip-top shape.
We’ll start exploring the specific remedies needed for growers to resolve this particular issue in a later section of this article. But first, let’s take some time to explain the basics of why cannabis leaves can start to droop, wilt, or sag in the first place.
There is a range of potential reasons that may be triggering this problem for your plant, so it’s essential for you to understand said reasons so you can know how to address the issue appropriately. Doing so will help provide you with the best chance at returning your cannabis pants to optimal health and cause them to have a much higher likelihood of producing a quality crop for you to harvest.
Why Do Cannabis Leaves Droop?
The first thing that all cannabis growers need to understand is thatleaves, in short, are the powerhouse of the plant.This is because the leaves are responsible for creating the vital energy the plant needs to grow through a process called photosynthesis. Finding out why leaves are losing color, drooping and wilting will help you remedy the issue and ensure that they can create the energy the cannabis plant needs to both survive and thrive.
If you can return the plant to total health, you will have a bountiful harvestthat will likely provide you with higher-quality buds at the end of the season.
Overwatering or Underwatering
Overwatering can be the reason for cannabis leaves wilting and dying. This is usually a rookie mistake. First-time growers often give the plant much more water than it needs. While cannabis, and all plants in general, need water to photosynthesize and grow, too much of a good thing can have negative consequences.
On the other hand, you may be underwatering your cannabis. Like humans and other mammals, plants need water to ensure their internal processes run smoothly and effectively. Provide less water than your cannabis plants need, and you will see the cannabis leaves wilting. There is a delicate balance between too much and too little moisture.
Nutrient Issues
Another reason your plants may be sagging is that the plant is getting too much or too few nutrients. If you use an artificial grow medium or normal soil and supplemented it with nutrients, too few or too many nutrients will lead to discolored and wilted leaves. You will need to strike a delicate balance to ensure your leaves stay strong and healthy.
Finally, your plants may droop because it is nighttime. There are many theories about why some plants close up or let their leaves fall horizontal at night.
Nighttime Drooping
Finally, it’s possible that your cannabis plants may droop or appear to wilt because it is nighttime. There are many theories about why some plants close up or let their leaves fall from their horizontal position at night. We’ll take the time to cover some of these theories in a later section of this article.
For now, just know that many species of plants will naturally take on a drooping state at night, and it doesn’t always indicate problems regarding their health or functioning.
The Connection Between Watering and Drooping Cannabis Leaves
Plants consist of up to 90% water. Consequently, water plays a crucial role in plants’ vital processes, from regulating temperature to the absorption and transportation of nutrients from the roots to other structures. If a plant receives too much or too little water, these processes are disrupted, leading to sickly leaves and overall poor health.
Providing a lot of water may seem like a good idea, but it can have catastrophic effects that may eventually lead to your plants’ death. Plants use oxygen during respiration, which is the process of releasing energy for their cells to use. The cannabis plant’s roots absorb oxygen.
When you overwhelm your plants with too much water, you are essentially suffocating their roots and preventing them from using the energy generated via photosynthesis. On top of that, the roots can soften due to the excess moisture and eventually die, causing your cannabis plants to die as well.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, underwatering leads to the cannabisplants wilting and leaves dying. This usually happens to cannabis seedlings long before they have a chance to thrive. Inadequate water slows the rate of photosynthesis and delivery of nutrients, stunting the plant’s growth and development. It can also disrupt the balance of oxygen absorption and transpiration, forcing the cannabis plants to spend more of their already limited energy to absorb oxygen via the roots.
Both over and underwatering can lead to discolored, shriveled, and withered leaves. If you do not address this problem early enough, your cannabis plants will wither and die. If they manage to survive, they will develop a reduced number of subpar flowers, reducing your final yield and wasting your efforts.
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Nutrients and Cannabis Drooping
Providing too much or too few nutrients may also be the reason behind your cannabis leaves wilting. In addition to water, carbon dioxide, and oxygen, plants also require various nutrients. These nutrients ensure they photosynthesize and use the energy generated through photosynthesis effectively. Nutrient deficiencies can also make your plants more susceptible to mold and pests. In severe cases, it may lead to plant death.
The most common cause of nutrient deficiency in cannabis plants is improper pH, presenting as discolored leaves. If the growing medium or the water you provide is too acidic or too alkaline, your plants will not be able to absorb crucial nutrients. For instance, if you give the plants too much fertilizers and nutrients, you will alter the pH balance, causing nutrient lockout.
Cannabis plants need a pH balance of 5.8-6.8 in soil or a growing medium. If you are using hydroponics, the optimum pH balance is 5.5-6.5. A pH level that is higher or lower will prevent your plants from absorbing the nutrients they need, leading to cannabis leaves wilting and turning yellow.
Essential Cannabis Nutrients
A variety of nutrients are essential to the health of cannabis plants. Nitrogen is one of the most crucial nutrients, especially during the vegetative growth stage. However, your plant will continue to need nitrogen even after this stage. Watch out for the following symptoms to determine if your plants aren’t getting enough of this vital resource:
The older leaves at the base of the plants lighten in color and become yellow.
Extreme nitrogen deficiency will cause the lightening and yellowish appearance to progress up the plant, causing discoloration and brown spots at the margins of the leaves.
Curled leaves that lose their vigor and drop.
Reduced buds and early flowering.
Phosphorus also plays a significant role in photosynthesis and the release of energy to plant cells. Phosphorus deficiency usually happens when the pH exceeds 7, reducing photosynthesis and the overall deployment of energy to the cells. This inevitably leads to stunted growth, delayed flowering, and poor resin production, ultimately reducing plant yieldslowering the overall quality of said yields. The following symptoms are signs of phosphorus deficiency:
Leaf stems of older leaves turning purple while the other leaves take on a dark blue-green hue.
Blackish-purple spots in the leaves and dead spots on leaf stems.
Curled and dropped leaves
Potassium facilitates the production and movement of vital sugars and carbohydrates throughout cannabis plants. It also aids in cell division, root growth and transpiration, and water absorption. On top of that, potassium helps develop flowers, keeps pests away from the plant, and regulates internal temperatures. Potassium deficiency will present as:
Brown, burnt-looking leaf tips, and brown spots on the older leaves at the plant’s base.
Dehydration and yellowing of the leaves.
Curling of the younger leaves at the top of the plant and outer branches.
Physically weak plants that are sickly and susceptible to pests.
Magnesium is instrumental in the creation of carbohydrates and sugar, as well as absorbing energy from sunlight. Magnesium deficiency usually presents in cannabis plants after around 3-6 weeks, with yellowing in the leaf veins of older leaves and rusty brown spots on the margins and tips of leaves. The entire plant will look sickly and start drooping, with some cannabis leaves wilting and dying.
Calcium is crucial for cell growth and the circulation of vital resources like nitrogen and sugars in cannabis plants. Reduced calcium levels are more common in cool, wet climates with acidic soils and hydroponic grows. It causes the older leaves at the plant’s base to curl and develop brownish-yellow spots. The root tips eventually wither and die if this issue persists.
Nighttime Cannabis Drooping
In some cases, the drooping of cannabis plant leaves may be a response to the cold as day turns into night. Thanks to photosensitive cells and an internal circadian rhythm, over 200 species of plants, including cannabis, are nice and perky during the day but naturally shift to droop at night. This is known as nastic movement, and it happens in response to a range of critical environmental factors, including temperature, light, humidity, and even touch.
Cannabis plants move their leaves in certain ways once night falls, light levels reduce, and the temperature drops. This is referred to as foliar nyctinasty. It causes cannabis leaves to droop from their usual horizontal position during the day to a more vertical, down-facing position at night. Although we don’t know precisely why cannabis plants do this, there are a couple of theories that have been given by different scientists and researchers over the years, especially as efforts towards expanded marijuana legalization have taken place.
Some scientists suggest plants like cannabis do this to reduce their overall levels of heat loss and keep themselves as warm as possible when the environmental temperatures begin to drop around them. Other researchers theorize that this drooping shift during the night helps water roll off the plant, allowing it to be completely dry by the time morning comes and the leaves start to photosynthesize.
Reducing the amount of moisture on the surface of the leaves may also prevent pathogens like powdery mildew from growing and spreading across the plant, negatively impacting its overall health and impeeding its ability to perform photosynthesis effectively throughout the day. It’s also been stated that nighttime drooping may be a specialized form of defense against small plant-eating animals and insects, as vertical leaves are much harder to access and eat than horizontal leaves.
This information indicates that the drooping of marijuana plants at night is not always a result of wilting or a sign that the plant’s health may be in jeopardy. Instead, the plants can simply be thought of as “sleeping” in preparation for the work they’ll need to do during the following day to continue to grow. That said, this may not always be the case and may be a sign that your cannabis plant is currently struggling to thrive in its environment. It honestly depends on your specific plant and the conditions in which it’s being grown.
Any and all of these reasons could play a role in why your plant is drooping at night, so be sure to keep an eye on its overall health and functioning to better determine if said drooping is a result of an issue rather than a natural nighttime process.
How to Nurture a Drooping Cannabis Plant Back to Health
You may be wondering, can wilted cannabis leaves recover? Is there anything I can do to help the plant return to a happy, healthy state? If you discover the issue in time and take the appropriate steps, of course, they will!But we want to heavily emphasize the importance of noticing these issues and acting quickly. Waiting too long to address any of the above concerns could eventually result in the death of your cannabis plant or at least trigger a less-than-stellar harvest of sub-quality buds.
The first step you’ll want to take to address the issue is to identify the most likely reason behind your drooping and wilting leaves. Are you providing the wrong amount of water, or is it a nutrient deficiency? Once you’ve identified the cause, you can begin reversing the damage your plant has sustained and help it return to a state of optimal health.
Water and Drainage Issues
If you suspect that your cannabis plants are absorbing too much or too little water, first consider the breathability of your growing medium. Without good drainage, the water will remain at the surface, suffocating the plant’s roots. If you use clay-based soil, switch to a premium grade potting mix because clay soils have poor drainage and hold too much water. Using a skewer, poke holes around the growing medium to provide ample aeration without harming the roots.
You should also make sure you are allowing the soil to dry out a little between waterings. (But never drying out completely.) If the first inch of the growing medium is still wet, wait a day or two before you water your plant again. You can stick a finger in the growing medium to check how moist it is. An inexpensive soil sensor is an even more accurate way to measure the moisture in your growing medium. They only cost $10-20, so you won’t break the bank getting one.
To avoid overwatering your seedlings, place them in smaller containers and ensure they have superb drainage and aeration. This will ensure you don’t have to deal with cannabis plants wilting and leaves dying before they even have a chance to grow.
Nutrient Deficiencies
If the cannabis plant leaves wilting are caused by nutrient deficiencies, there are a couple of things you can do to help resolve the issue. As long as you’re doing it early enough to prevent the plant from sustaining major damage from the lack of nutrients it’s receiving, you should be able to help nurture your plant back into a state of quality health.
First, take the time to make sure your growing medium has the optimum pH balance. You can purchase a pH testing kit for $50 or less to test your growing medium and ensure it’s within the proper range to support healthy cannabis growth. If it is within your financial means, you can also tryinvesting in some nutrient-rich potting soils to help ensure your plants get the nutrients they need to thrive.
Finally, you should considercarefully pruning any damaged leaves to prevent them from spreading disease to the remaining healthy leavesof your plant. Although this will delay flowering, your plants will grow big, strong, and healthy, leading to good yields.
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