your plant is very stressed ... and that is why is drooping ... just like you might when you are stressed .. youve done a lot to it in one week ....

did you moisten the media before planting in it.. it looks very dry ...

if you did not ... unpot it.. wet the media ... replant ... water it in.. note weight of pot ... and dont water it again.. until the pot losses half its weight ... and doubole check by inserting finger and finding out ... its not a schedule thing ...

its stressed not hungry.. no fert ... until it settles down ...

no matter what media you use ... you CAN learn how to deal with it ... and learn how to water appropriately ... it really doesnt matter what others think about it ...

im not sure i would have added water crystals ... if you have extra media.. maybe do a redo.. without such ...

and pick a spot.. and leave it there.. moving it around can also be a stress ... btw.. light thru a window is already weakened .. so indirect light indoors might not be enough ... i hope its as close as can be to light ... even if not directly in it ...

ken

Thank you for the tips, I am realizing that I may have added too much perlite. The media dries too easily, but I don't want to switch it if it stresses the plant. All of the small leaves have fallen off and I realize it is because of lack of humidity. Even if I mist my plants, it seems like the house is still too dry! Would it be okay if I were to change the media one more time to be more uniform? And would you recommend a grow light? The winter is making my house very dark indoors.

My suggestion would be to compare your care regimen to this Overview of Good Growing Practices to see what red flags come up. Also, it sounds like your medium is going to be very water retentive, which makes determining an appropriate interval between irrigations a more critical factor than it would be if you were using a well-aerated grow medium that drains thoroughly.

Avoid advice to water when the top inch or two is dry unless the soil column height/depth is less than 5".

Using a "tell" to "tell" you when it's time to water can eliminate much of the potential for heartache.

Using a 'tell'

Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant.

Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor.

In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water.

Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'.

One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue.

Al