Help With Seedlings
I seem to kill seedlings in my tent no matter what environment/light/pH/humidity/temps I give them. I've spent a lot of hours reading and changed a lot of variables to no success really. I have grown one plant from seed to harvest in the tent in my waterfarm but all other attempts have been failures. I'm trying soil this time but my first plant to pop is now starting to slow down. I'd like to save these ones this time.
I'll try to describe what happens to the seedlings: They always seem to germinate well, I take care when germinating and have 100% success rate so far with every seed I've wanted to germ. The seedling straightens out, the cotyledons pop open and everything is great. Then after 2-3 days the growth all but stops and the plant stops progressing. It looks green and healthy to me, but it just won't grow. It looks like pic 1 below. The tiny baby leaves really never get much bigger than that and height is stunted. Back in the day we used to just take bagseed and put it in shitty walmart soil, shitty lighting, and use shitty un-pHed well water and the things would grow like hell. So it irritates me that I've spent all the time and money on this setup just to kill them. My seed stock is not the greatest but I do have seeds from a reputable online seller and tons of decent bagseed.
Here's some of the things I've thought were the problem and made efforts to change without much success: too much light/low humidity/damping off/bad seeds/germination methods....
Below is my current set up but I've tried it a lot of different ways.
Your Equipment:
1: Type and wattage of lights. 400W CMH
2: Distance from tops? 3-4 feet
3: Reflector type? Open air reflector
4: Is there a consistent fresh air supply? Passive air intake flap, circulation fans by intake, doors to tent open most the day
5: Do you have an exhaust fan and a circulation fan? Exhaust Fan: 4" 170 CFM, circulation fan
6: What are the bulb wattages, kelvin ratings, and schedule? 400W CMH 24/0
Your medium:
7: Specific brand and type of soil? Seed Starter Soil, (Burpee) and anything you've added to it. No additives to the seed starter soil.
8: Size of container? 16 oz. Red Solo Cup
9: Did you use peat pucks (or similar) to root clones or germinate seedlings? No
Your nutrients and water:
10: Source of water? (tap, bottled or filtered) What's it's ph before adjusting? Bottled distilled. pH: 6.5 right out of the bottle
11: Method of checking water ph? Hanna pH/EC/PPM test meter
12: Method of adjusting water ph? No adjustments
13: Specific brand and N-P-K ratio for each bottle. List dosages (quantity per gallon) and current feeding schedule. NO NUTES
14: How often are you watering between feedings, and how much per watering? I've been watering every day about 1-2 ounces per cup until top soil is uniform moistness
15: Any additives or tea's? (Superthrive, CalMag, molasses, Mother's Earth...) No
16: Are your ph levels stable, or do they fluctuate? Water is stable, have not checked runoff as there is hardly ever any runoff, soil is moist top and bottom
17: What is your ingoing water's ph? ...your runoff ph? Ingoing water ph 6.5 0 PPM
18: Do you foliar feed? If so, with what, how often, and at what time do you spray? No
Your growroom:
19: Indoors or outdoors? Indoor
20: What size of closet, room or hut? Mylar Lined Grow Tent 22"W X 36"L X 63"H
21: What are the temps and humidity levels while lights are on? 75F, 20% humidity ... With lights off? 24/0 light schedule currently
22: Have you seen signs of insects in the growroom? No
Your strain:
23: What strain are you growing? (Indica dominate or Sativa dom?) Aurora Indica, PPP, bagseed backups
24: From seeds or clones? Seed
25: Is this an autoflower strain? No
Pic 1 is Aurora Indica taken about 24 hours ago, Pic 2 is most recent AI pic. Pic 3 is PPP about day 4 and Pic 4 is bagseed day 2 or 3. Thanks in advance
Sorry to hear about your bad luck with seedlings, it might just be the breeder because your conditions sound fine. I had horrible luck with nirvana seeds I germinated 10 master kush beans and not a single one sprouted! I was a newb at the time but I've never had any problems since then. I did grow PPP once with a decent yield. What genetics were you growing before?
Last edited by majek; 01-22-2013 at 02:33 AM.
After looking at the pics again your soil looks too dense and spongy which is bad for water drainage. I also see little balls that look like time-released nitrogen capsules but I may be wrong. It's fine for houseplants but its a no-no for cannabis the nitrogen is too much for young seedlings.
Last edited by majek; 01-22-2013 at 02:31 AM.
Hey majek thanks for the quick reply. I always wondered about the Nirvana seeds from the minute I opened the package. They were tiny and a couple were a bit miscolored. So far I have yet to take a Nirvana seed out of the seedling state. The plant I finished was an unknown bagseed, took off like a rocket in the waterfarm, couldn't stop it. I started two, one was a male. It was a decent harvest all things considered, I would grow the unknown bagseeeds all day compared to these expensive duds. I do have a couple started now in the tent along with the two Nirvana strains, I guess I'll have to wait and see on them.
Hmmm it was seed starter mix it shouldn't be too heavily nuted. I'll check the bag.
You're right man, it says its slow release nitrogen, is that bad for starting the seedlings? Its 0.06/0.03/0.03
Well that doesn't sound too high and I don't know anything about Burpee brand but it looks similar to Miracle Gro. Water makes it expand and its too hot for young seedlings even though its labeled a seed starter mix. You want a rich black soil with lots of perlite for drainage. Can you get your hands on Roots Organic or Foxfarm soil? I've started seeds in both and never had a single problem.
I was looking at Foxfarm for transplanting after the seedling stage, I should have just gotten it from the start. Burpee is cheap Home Depot stuff. My hydro store is about a half hour drive otherwise I'd probably have the Foxfarm already. Do you put any additives in your soil?
I've used FF ocean forest for a few years now but I just recently switched to Roots Organic soil, it's half the price and retains moisture better. I always add about 10% more perlite to the mix and a thin layer of blood meal when I transplant. I also recommend a small amount of epsom salt or dolemite lime for cal/mag. The sooner you transplant the better you will notice a big improvement in growth.
Last edited by majek; 01-22-2013 at 03:11 AM.
Majek man knows his stuff, things look good, except the water situation. Soil looks to wet. I plant in soil that i wet by stiring it in a bowl so its not soaked but nice n damp. Then i water with a syringe only when it needs it. Plants that small dont need to be watered to the point of seeing run off. That sprout is an inch tall so how much water can it really use. You mentioned damping off so i assume youve looked into it. Over watering in most cases seems to be the number one cause of seedling death. This pea plant poped out of the seed in a rapid rooter and was moved to dirt three days later in moist soil. Its had one dose of 20 ml of water in five days. My 5 nirvana seeds sprouted 6 plants lmao seriously. Four male, two female unfortunatly. Youve got everything you need to make it happengood luck
Smoking pot gives me energy and makes me more productive. Its a crime against humanity to control this substance.I am not a criminal, im just a nice guy that gets high. The end of prohabition is near. Thank you to everyone that helped.
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