Wilting and drooping leaves on a cannabis plant are usually a result of too much or too little water arriving in the roots. For the plant to continue growing normally, the problem has to be fixed right away, otherwise plant growth can be compromised. To learn how to fix a cannabis plant that has begun wilting or drooping, read this article.
A cannabis plant with wilting or drooping leaves is quite a sad looking one, and it’s important to keep your plants looking happy. A case of wilting cannabis leaves can happen to any grower and there are ways out of the situation if you find yourself in it. These two problems are generally caused by overwatering or underwatering your plant and are easily avoidable if you pay close attention.
So new growers should have no fear. Wilting cannabis leaves are not the end of your cannabis garden, but if you want to ensure a good yield, you should attend to the problem straight away.
The difference between drooping and wilting cannabis leaves
It’s important that you don’t confuse wilting cannabis leaves with drooping leaves, because they have completely opposite causes. Wilting is what has happened to your leaves when they have begun to curl at the tips. The tell tale sign that your leaves are wilting is that they have also started turning yellow on the tips that are curling under. On the other hand, drooping is distinguished by the droopiness of the entire leaf, rather than just the tips. When your plant is drooping, you will not see yellow tips on the leaves. Drooping leaves are also firmer than wilting leaves, which just look tired and lifeless.
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Before you go on trying to fix your cannabis plant, it’s important to know whether your plant is wilting or drooping. The action you take to rectify this will all depend on this factor, so observe carefully.
Overwatering cannabis plants
Overwatering cannabis plants is a common mistake among growers, and it results in drooping leaves. However, overwatering has not occurred as a result of using too much water, but rather that the plant has been watered too often or it is being grown in a pot without appropriate drainage. In this scenario, the problem is actually at the roots, where they begin to rot. Too much water stored at the roots can impede the access of oxygen within the soil to the plant, causing rot and drooping.
This problem can also be caused by the kind of pot and potting mix used. It is essential that there is proper drainage in the pot you are using to grow weed and the same should apply to your potting mix. Actually, it is common to let cannabis plants dry out a little bit between waters, and drooping is a clear sign that this hasn’t happened.
If drooping has occurred to your cannabis leaves, lift up the pot and make sure that water is draining out from the bottom. If not, you might have to move your potting mix around a little to ensure that it is not too tightly packed in there, disallowing the flow of water. You don’t need to lower the amount of water you are giving it, but rather the frequency of waterings needs to drop. You will know when your plants need watering by the first couple of inches of soil. When they are completely dry, it’s time to water it again. However, while the soil is still dark and moist, the plant does not need more watering.
Addressing this issue quickly is best, and it will usually happen overnight. When your plant is over watered, it becomes much more vulnerable to other diseases, so it is important to get your roots back into shape quickly.
Underwatering your cannabis plant
Underwatering your cannabis plant is usually the reason that the leaves begin to wilt. Wilting cannabis leaves look much sadder than drooping leaves, have curled at the ends and have begun to turn yellow. In fact, they look lifeless and it can make a grower completely freak out. Wilting means that the roots of your plants are bone dry. They will grow much slower under this condition; so the sooner this is fixed, also the better.
At this stage, you should consider watering your plant more often, and at the beginning perhaps giving it a little bit of extra water to compensate. Be careful not to throw the plant off balance again by continuing to overwater it. Don’t mix any of this water with fertilizer, as it won’t assist with the problem of wilting. You just need to ensure that the water is pH balanced, and use it purely for the purpose of rehydrating your plant. After some time they will start to look happy again and you can go back to using your nutrient-rich water.
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Hydroponic growers
For those that are growing hydroponically, it is basically impossible to be underwatering. However, some hydroponic grow systems are still subject to root problems which could be the cause of drooping. It is probably a sign that the roots have begun to rot and are disallowing oxygen into the roots. This can be solved with an air pump to provide the water with more oxygen.
Hello. yea i deffo overwatered my plants.. DAMN IT.Qickest way to fix? new grower. Thanx in advance.
Seed mat for seed try slidding it under the pot like as if you were germinating seeds. Or clones. On too of a towel. Worked for me! It’s prob gonna raise the rh in the tent or closet especially if it is a small space. Takes a while. After a couple days do the knuckle test. Stick your finger in the soil down to the 2nd knuckle. That’s when you water, water, feed. Unless you grow in coco
This was very helpful and straight to the point.
Thank you I’ve never had this problem before. I’ve been giving it water an nutrients all at the same time. This plant was the smallest one. It’s still little but I did miss a watering. Thank you I’ll do as you’ve suggested. 🙏 lol !! Thanks i was under the weather darn I hope I don’t loose it. Such is life! The rest are doing fantastic
I put plant food in my plant and the leaves and droop ing now
Check your pH balance and ppm of nutrient. But if drooping more than likely over watered. If it was a nutrient issue say to much nitrogen. Then you’d see signs of burning not drooping
My boyfriend did the same thing and I don’t know what to do.
Of course it’s his fault!! Is he still your BF?
Thank you for the information, I loosend my soil last night and added some dry soil because it was over watered. This morning she couldn’t be happier.
Ok so what do I do if mine are dropping AND wilting? Growing on my balcony in Crete. It feels like they ALWAYS are noisy even if I don’t water them for a few days. The drainage seems fine because when I water then a bit of water does come out. I give them around 1-2 cups of water every other day
Watering too frequently
Hello I’m a new grower on a weed plant i Transplant my plant from one house to another and my plant looks dropping idk what to do i don’t want it to die please help.
A change in location can cause a plant to get stressed. If it stays like that after it has had time to acclimate and if your not over and under watering, then i am out of my comfort zone. I hope things work out.
Hi thanks so much for the information. I’m a new grower and need some advice please!
I have two autoflowering plants which are around 7 weeks old. They were doing fine but the past week one of them has been drooping. It’s strange because the both get the exact same amount of light,water, same soil and pot. One is happy and growing fast and the drooping one is smaller.
Is it possible that it’s something else than the water amount?
Thanks so much!
Hi Sara, because of the law we are not allowed to give 1:1 grow advice. Sorry we cant be of more help. Good luck! Olivier
Go on YouTube Sara. You’ll be able to find the help you need. Good luck on your grow.
Steve
Don’t freak out, it may just be genetic. I had 4 Blueberry kush outside this summer and one just went crazy. Took 4 weeks longer to flower and just looked terrible. 9ther 3 were awesome. Same soil and same nutrition. If one is acting up, don’t worry.
hey! So my plant is about 4 months into flowering. All was fine then yesterday I noticed the leaves starting to droop. Once the light was off it was back up again. I turned my light back on this morning it was good then 2h later drooping again. So I poked some holes in my soil for extra oxygen and I think she may be overwatered but im not entirely sure. Shes my first plant and is close to harvest soon so I don’t want all that hard work to go to waste 🙁
My plant is doing the same thing. When I put it outside, its starts to droop. When I bring it back in, it perks back up. When I put it back outside, the entire plant, including the ends of the shoots, droops. Two plants have died, this is my last plant. Every time I put it outside, it starts to die. It seems heat related, but when it started drooping an hour ago, it was only 75 degrees outside. It is now inside, and I hope I didn’t wait too long to bring it back in.
I don’t know what is going on?
How did u go with it did you find a souloution to the plants wilting every time there exposed to full sun
Stop moving it back and forth. They don’t like change
Great article! I’ve been Googling for drooping cannabis for a few weeks but this one really finally make me figure out what was wrong. Exactly this: ”it is being grown in a pot without appropriate drainage. In this scenario, the problem is actually at the roots, where they begin to rot. Too much water stored at the roots can impede the access of oxygen within the soil to the plant, causing rot and drooping.”
I flipped the containers and got out the plants, the root system had completely covered the bottom and was blocking the drain hole. That was a mistake, just had one hole in the middle. I drilled more holes, poored in more hydro balls (the hard clay balls that are excellent for drainage), a thin layer of new soil and some extra fertiliser pellets, reinserted the plants and filled the newly created gaps around the side with new soil. They’re finally looking happy and healthy again, way less drooping.
Thanks!
Drill holes at the bottom and poke a thin stick to the bottom through the soil to help it dry out
My plant was drooping and I poked holes in the soil and it perked right up. I put it under the grow light and in a couple hours the leaves were standing back up likenormal.
The roots just needed Oxygen.
I add sand to my soil mixture for drainage. You can also add pearlite. Make sure there’s holes in your bucket or pot. Carefully poke holes from the top and never have your container sitting in water. Roots need oxygen to breathe.
Lol you gave advice to everyone but couldn’t help Sara… weird
I was thinking the same thing
Yeah I know, it’s a weird legal thing. We can explain stuff to an unspecified audience, but as soon as it’s one-on-one, it’s not allowed. We agree that it’s weird!
I know sara question was legitimate I don’t even understand the response but now she’s giving more information to the next person on actually growing ????
Unapologetically me! 😂 Someone better help Sara!
I thought the same
Yea everyone totally just ignored her and didn’t even address her.
Sara had a question about dropping, and so did Bella? But you could only respond to Bella’s same question about dropping
My plant is definitely wilting. Now I’m not doing anything crazy as far as checking ph balance or anything like that. Im just growing a plant inside my hime l, away from bugs and any hazardous environments. It was doing just fine but today I noticed it looks really sad. Based on this article it is definitely wilting. I water it every other day or every 2 days. I keep bugging a large window so it gets plenty of natural sunlight throughout the day. It has been super hot here in Cali. Do you think the heat has anything to do with it wilting?
What is most likely wrong with a plant when the leaves are turning dark brown at the tips
That’s usually nutrient burn..
Yes can anyone tell me what to do i have 4 plants growing outside in the ground and one of my plants is drooping how do i loosing the dirt to give the roots oxygen without harming the roots
why would my plant only at the bud look like its dying
I am growing Deepwater culture and my plants Have wilted but seem better in the morning but every day towards the end of the day they start wilting again what could be wrong
Fungus or pests,
If your in SE QLD then theirs this really fucked up cattalpilla, hollows out the main stem basically looks like wilting then drooping then disintegrating,
If you dig through the stem you will find that little fuckers,
And once they get a taste they will bring and army to wipe you out,
And they do Everytime.
I had up to 8 plants in a pot (average was around 4-5) and it would happen to 2/5 or 3/6 while the others thrive,
Everything is exactly the same, the seeds I blended Durban poison with gorilla glue and they were real strong great seeds, medium, nutritents, lights, environment everything was the same down to genes.
So I started cloning monster to get back numbers fighting a loosing battle,
After trying almost every trick in the internet,
I pored lemonaid instead of their weekly treat of soda water and voila.
The last 2 wild/droop/dust plants I disectected and nothing,
(I’d fed these things metho, coke, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, Neem oil mix, white oil, warm water bath with soap (lost heaps experimenting rather than just watch the remains lessen also learned a few easy tricks)
I’m not 100% sure if it was the lemonaid, carbon drops (for home brew beer) CO2 smothering, water blasting, cooking with light, vege dust,
But seemed to notice they were gone after 500-700ml lemonade flood feed.
What kind of lemonade? I have used some diabetes Earth in the past but don’t want that around plants during flowering
My leaves are dropping and dark green tips. And by leaves, I mean the four that are growing. Anybody?
Why are my friends plants wilting and not doing so well. Can anyone give me some advise on how to make them thrive again. I thort over water but dident water for 3 days and been on 2 feeds a day for 2 days no
Everyone overlooks that too much light can make them droop too.
Too much light will not make them droop….
So my soil was bad because it was infested with gnats I did the method of baking the soil waiting a few minutes or more and did a new mixture of part soil and actually part orchid potting mix. Have I shocked this plant too much by doing this? I’ve been trying to grow this plant for months and it hasn’t been growing flower like that. It has been doing well for the most part until now