Help With Seedlings

I wish I had a dollar for every thread I've viewed in the last year or so

blaze13 said:

I seem to kill seedlings in my tent no matter what environment/light/pH/humidity/temps I give them.

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that light is too hot for seedlings.

baby plants are intended to sprout in the cool spring sunshine, not that blasting scorching desert sun youre subjecting them to.

sprout em under a single 24 watt CFL running 24/7 set 5-10 CM from the seedlings.

youre giving those little baby plants terminal radiation burns.

dont put em under that light till they have 3-4 sets of true leaves.

BTW +rep to majek

I agree with Dr Kynes but I start my seeds under a 250w hps without any problems, just as long as its kept far enough from the plants and it's not too hot inside the tent.

Dr Kynes said:

that light is too hot for seedlings.

baby plants are intended to sprout in the cool spring sunshine, not that blasting scorching desert sun youre subjecting them to.

sprout em under a single 24 watt CFL running 24/7 set 5-10 CM from the seedlings.

youre giving those little baby plants terminal radiation burns.

dont put em under that light till they have 3-4 sets of true leaves.

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Thanks for the post Dr. advice taken. I've done the CFL deal before in fact I think that's how I started my last successful run. I ran it under the CFL for two weeks or so then the CMH. I have a 40 watt and a 20 something watt. Never had luck putting it that close tho had to back it off to about a foot. It seems to be one of those issues that people are divided on. One site says "give your seedlings as much light as you can give, put them under HID lighting 3 or 4 feet away" and the next one says "don't give you're babies too much light, use a CFL".

majek said:

I agree with Dr Kynes but I start my seeds under a 250w hps without any problems, just as long as its kept far enough from the plants and it's not too hot inside the tent.

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I just measured they're 4 feet 2 inches away from the light and its never been over 80 degrees in there.

More light is always good its never a bad thing, it's heat that becomes an issue. I give them lots of light in the seedling stage to help them grow strong branches and close internodes.

I'm going to try shutting off the CMH and putting the 40W CFL on them to see if they recover.

blaze13 said:

Thanks for the post Dr. advice taken. I've done the CFL deal before in fact I think that's how I started my last successful run. I ran it under the CFL for two weeks or so then the CMH. I have a 40 watt and a 20 something watt. Never had luck putting it that close tho had to back it off to about a foot. It seems to be one of those issues that people are divided on. One site says "give your seedlings as much light as you can give, put them under HID lighting 3 or 4 feet away" and the next one says "don't give you're babies too much light, use a CFL".

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I like T5s or T8s personally, ive had plants grow right into the t 8s many times with no burns. Dummy proof which can be a good thing. Also when your screwin around in the grow room and you crush one of those cfls against the roof and mercury coated glass and vapor flies everywhere it sucks. I dont think t5s or t8s have nearly as much mercury in them. Fun fact for today

I've had them die under the CFLs too we'll see I guess.

Stopped by the grow shop today and picked up a few goodies. I got a bag of FoxFarms Ocean Forest and a bag of Light Warrior, plus some perlite. Wondering now if I should try transplanting these ones or start some new ones.

I ended up transplanting one of the two bagseeds, it had just popped the surface and was starting to open the cotyledon. I'll be interested to see if it takes to this mix better. For my soil mix I used 60% FF Warrior/30% FF Ocean Forest/10% perlite. Its a nice mix, I weighed it up against a dry cup of my other stuff and it weights about 60 grams less.

They are all under the 40W CFL now, temps steady around 73-75F.

Well I know it's early still but you can't help but notice the improvement already in the seedlings.

If you came to this thread looking for info on how not to kill your seedlings, then here's what I learned:

1) Be careful with watering in soil grows, especially when they are in their first week of life, VERY easy to over water in small cups. Err on the side of less watering.
2) Don't waste your time on the cheap soil. Just stick to the handful of good brands, it will save you time and money.
3) Don't use HID lamps on baby plants, especially in a tent. You can probably get away with it in other settings but in a small, stealth tent its just too much.

These are the before and after pics of the Aurora Indica after its transplant. These pics were taken about 40 hours apart.

Looks like you figured out the problem...amusing thread

How fast will the seedling roots grow compared to the top of the plant?

Good transplant job she should recover just fine. Soil still looks a little dry though keep it moist but not muddy. I usually water my seedlings once per day but not enough water to drain out the bottom until they are about 1 week old.

majek said:

Good transplant job she should recover just fine. Soil still looks a little dry though keep it moist but not muddy. I usually water my seedlings once per day but not enough water to drain out the bottom until they are about 1 week old.

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Thanks majek. I gave them a couple oz each today with the dropper. That soil dries out much quicker than the first soil. Seems like they're liking it tho.

blaze13 said:

Thanks majek. I gave them a couple oz each today with the dropper. That soil dries out much quicker than the first soil. Seems like they're liking it tho.

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For the little guys? A dropper? interesting.

Krondizzel said:

For the little guys? A dropper? interesting.

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Ya its a little syringe like the ones youd use to give your dog medicine. Works pretty good.