Yellow Veins & Nutrient Burn

Finally got some photos of my grow for you which is 12 days old today (from being planted into the soil). This is my grow setup (note the lights are circled in red, so you can see the distant from the plants & note the fan, is pointing at the ground (so not directly at the plants)
Note the nute burn only came about in the last day or two, and I wonder if that might be due to residual nutes being left in the soil after previous grow attempts? On my next attempt I will try a completely fresh batch of soil, but for now I need your advice over why my plants are not growing and why there is yellowing around the edges.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

more photos....

Amazingly seed number 22 seems to be pulling through and is looking in a healthier state than I have seen her be, since day 7. The yellowness is starting to disappear and the leaves are now not curling and it seems to have grown a small amount. Usually my plants are at deaths door by this stage, so I am very happy & have you lot to thank for this!!!!

Having said that the nute burn has spread a little bit, but hopefully that will only affect yield rather than the health of the plant. Would you recommend I cut off the burnt tips of the plant (I read this avoids the plant spending energy of the burnt areas), or will this stress out the seedling?



Hope the nute burn is just down to the residual feed in the soil (from previous grow attempts) and will use fresh soil, when next potting up to see if that is the case because I've NOT give seed 22 any nutes yet. Also the plant is still very small for what you would expect but at least it seems to be recovering.

If I was to guess what the problem was which caused my issues, I would say it was either the cold floor & / or having my LED lights a touch too close to it. Because in the last couple of days I've put a warm blanket underneath the plant pot (whilst I wait for the heay mat to be delivered and raised my lights and the plant noticeably responded positively to that change most. But I did also re-implement a dome around the same time, so it could be a combination of those 3 things which have contributed towards the amazing turn around of seed 22.



I would also say giving the plant more of a fresh draft/air has helped but not as noticeably as raising the lights & heating up the floor & the dome. But I def did notice a perk up in the plant.


I will post pictures of the plant shortly (when I get a chance).

Below are photos taken just now.
The setup photo shows the warm blacket underneath the plant pots, raised lights & domes all which seem to help.


This is seed 22 at the end of day 13, which has a bit of nute burn...but seems to be on the road to recovery (fingers crossed)


This is seed 23 (I don't know the strain or whether it is an auto or photo seed....basically I was given it by my local "head shop" after telling them my growing worries. They said to practice with this). Again I will just feed this water for the first 4 weeks, but will be interested to see if this also suffers nute burn (again it is in previously used soil)

Honestly, seedlings in tiny cups have enough stored to go at least 10 days with absolutely no nutes, they'll go MUCH longer when you start in bigger pots & unless your soil is 100% stripped of nutes, the yellowing should be a very slow decline, your cotyledons should yellow out long before this even happens and if they don't then you are likely burning them with nutes,shocking them with excess temps or chronic over/under watering which is easy to do when starting in a big pot. Its not lack of c02 as that is near impossible without a fully sealed room.


Exactly which bag of soil do you have and have you looked up your water report?

Seed 22 was an autoflower, and I was advised to start it in its final pot to avoid stressing it out when transplanting it. But do you think this is incorrect advise, and I should start an auto in a tiny cup instead?

The soil I've used is Plant Magic supreme soil, however I have had a few failed grow attempts so I think the nute burn is just down to the residual feed within that soil (from those previous grow attempts). Next time I will use fresh soil, when next potting up to see if that is the case because I've NOT give seed 22 & 23 (both pictured above) any nutes yet.

Yes also checked my water its all fine apparently (which is what my local "head shop" told me) and being PH'ing my water between 6.0 to 7.0 to ensure the plant takes up different nutes.

ibsey said:

Seed 22 was an autoflower, and I was advised to start it in its final pot to avoid stressing it out when transplanting it. But do you think this is incorrect advise, and I should start an auto in a tiny cup instead?

The soil I've used is Plant Magic supreme soil, however I have had a few failed grow attempts so I think the nute burn is just down to the residual feed within that soil (from those previous grow attempts). Next time I will use fresh soil, when next potting up to see if that is the case because I've NOT give seed 22 & 23 (both pictured above) any nutes yet.

Yes also checked my water its all fine apparently (which is what my local "head shop" told me) and being PH'ing my water between 6.0 to 7.0 to ensure the plant takes up different nutes.

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Starting in big pots can take some experience, the tap root grows quickly and from then on you need to keep it hydrated without over saturating the non-populated area of the pot with water, Watering from the bottom up can sometimes help with young plants in a big pot.

I'm not sure why so many newer growers get recommended autos? They are more sensitive and require more electric to grow, the priority here should be to at least make it to harvest.

With soil I don't pay attention to pH at all but if you feel the need, start at 6.5 and keep it there unless you show problems.

Btw, transplant shock is more rare then people make it sound, usually your greeted with fast growth within the next 24 hours, transplanting early is a different story and will increase the chances of root shock.

SPLFreak808 said:

Starting in big pots can take some experience, the tap root grows quickly and from then on you need to keep it hydrated without over saturating the non-populated area of the pot with water, Watering from the bottom up can sometimes help with young plants in a big pot.

I'm not sure why so many newer growers get recommended autos? They are more sensitive and require more electric to grow, the priority here should be to at least make it to harvest.

With soil I don't pay attention to pH at all but if you feel the need, start at 6.5 and keep it there unless you show problems.

Btw, transplant shock is more rare then people make it sound, usually your greeted with fast growth within the next 24 hours, transplanting early is a different story and will increase the chances of root shock.

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Thanks and SPLFreak808 you sir are clearly an expert grower - so I would like to get your opinion on whether photo seeds easier for beginners because if so I will def buy them next time around. I assumed auto's were easier for beginners, given the name (& from what I read you down have to switch the lights when flowering?), hence why I have been using them to date. Also can you recommend a good seed strain for a beginner like me?

ibsey said:

Thanks and SPLFreak808 you sir are clearly an expert grower - so I would like to get your opinion on whether photo seeds easier for beginners because if so I will def buy them next time around. I assumed auto's were easier for beginners, given the name (& from what I read you down have to switch the lights when flowering?), hence why I have been using them to date. Also can you recommend a good seed strain for a beginner like me?

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Photos are easier, you have complete control of their size and can yield more by adding extra time in veg.

You just need a timer to keep a stable light cycle, I can't really recommend a beginner strain? Just stick with known stable seeds, they all have pros & cons really it depends on how well they deal with your environment (light output,air quality,rh,temps,feedings etc)

Thunderfudge sour larry lime pebbles #9 is one of my favorites right now, easy to grow but cant have high humidity near the end, taste like grape pixie sticks.

Nlx5 is easy, barney's pineapple chunk & hso blue dream are also easy with a bit more flavor than nlx5.

Btw, no expert here, it was a long road and im still driving.

Thanks for all the advice SPLFreak808 and FYI I have just taken a picture of them now for you lot to give any feedback you (or others) can:



This is seed 22 (which has survived severe nute burn and stunned growth after day 7). This plant is now 18 days old and whilst it is very underdeveloped it is showing growing a small amout each day. Still not given this any nutes and not proposing to do so until week 4 (as I have 30% perlite so 30% less PM soil food).



Below is seed 23 which is now 11 days old. I have not suffered any yellowness on this plant, or nute burn after placing a warm blanket under the pot (to help increase the soil temps..whilst my heat mat is delivered). Is this a normal size for an 11 day old seeding, because it seems a bit small to me?



Another view of seed 23, which is a bit stretchy, but rather have that then stunned plants (as I was getting before). If more experienced growers here think seed 23 is too small for an 11 day old seeding, would they recommend I move the LED lights a tad closer (i.e say 4 inches or so, as it is currently 3 feet from the plants). Or should I not do anything, and let the plant grow taller, and therefore into the optimal lighting zone as it were?

Apologies for the late response, I've been busy at work. below is an update:


Seed 22: This is now 29 days old, and has barely grown since my last post 11 days ago. This is despite the pot being over a heat mat, and the temps & humidity being perfect, and me only giving it water every 5 days (300 ml). Since it is now week 4 with this plant, I am going to give this it's FIRST feed with nutes unless anyone has any other ideas?





Seed 23: This is now 22 days old, and also has barely grown since my last post 11 days ago. Again this seed has been getting a heat mat/ perfect temps & RH and a constant wet dry cycle. Since I have changed everything the only thing that I can think of that is causing my issue could be is the soil / and or putting the seed in such a large pot. But if that is the case, why did the seeding grow from days 1 - 7? My problems always start from day 8 onwards?





Seed 24: As the name suggests this is my 24th attempt (PLEASE HELP ME I AM DESPATE!) This is another northern lights auto from royal queen seeds (as I had brought a batch so have them to get through before I can buy Photo seeds), and as you can see this is starting off in a smaller pot, which completely FRESH soil, to see if that fixes my issue. My plan is only give it water every 5 days (300 ml) circled about 4 inches from the roots for the next few weeks. Please advise if you think this is wrong?

Any more suggestions on what might be causing my issues would be greatly appreciated. By way of an update Seeds 22 & 23 have not grown at all since Thrusday (my last post here) but they are not dying. They just look the same as the photos I posted on 10/7/2019 this is despite me regually watering them and ensuring their enviorment is as perfect as possible. Since they are now both over 4 weeks I have given them a nute feeding (1/4 strength) on 10/7/2019 for seed 22 and today for seed 23. The feeding didn't do anything for Seed 22 (i.e. no more grow or nute burn) but I did notice seed 23 was a bit more yellow today hence why I feed it.



Meanwhile seed 24 growth is now starting to slow down (it is now 7 days old) and frankly I am starting to worry



TBH I'm getting very depressed with all the hassle, time and cost i am encountering with these issues...and I'm not sure how much more I can take. Can anyone advise whether DWC grows are considered easier for beginners? As I have been doing EVERYTHING including my watering techinque now, by the book and still not getting any results. Frustrating does not even come close.

ibsey said:

Yes also checked my water its all fine apparently (which is what my local "head shop" told me) and being PH'ing my water between 6.0 to 7.0 to ensure the plant takes up different nutes.

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That was a good idea.

Sometimes the ph or content of the water is the culprit. Especially well water which may have fluctuating ph due to water levels, spring rains etc. When you say phing your water, do you mean you are adjusting it after it comes out of your tap?

Stick with it, you're going to get this figured out!

Rob Roy said:

When you say phing your water, do you mean you are adjusting it after it comes out of your tap?

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Yes, typically the water in my area is around 6.8, so have been occassionally adjusting it to around 6.0 to see if that helped...without sucess so far. Thanks for the words of encouragement & I'll keep trying different things to figure out what the issue is. Finding it massively frustrating though, as done tons of research on other forums, and seen a few people have the same issue as me, but never seen what their solutions were (assuming they found one).

Any more suggestions on what might be causing my issues would be greatly appreciated.

I like to start seedlings off in plastic beer cups with several holes poked in or near the bottom to allow drainage.

After planting the germinated seed, (use tweezers to hold seed with a root tail) I then place the cup (or often cups) in a plastic tray that serves as a nursery of sorts. I've found the cat litter trays from the dollar store to be a perfect seedling nursery. (sans cat shit of course)

I water the plastic tray and let the water be absorbed into the bottom of the seedling cups thru the holes in the bottom of the beer cup. They don't need a lot of water, but if it's particularly dry, I'll mist the seedlings with a spray bottle in between watering the nursery tray. I rarely fertilize until I think the seedlings have developed a decent root system. It won't take long and you'll see roots peeking out of the bottom of the beer cups.

Resist over watering and over feeding seedlings. After their roots are developed they handle fertilizer better. If you must fertilize, fertilize one of your seedlings with a light solution and see how that one handles it, before fertilizing others.

When transplanting from the beer cups to a grow container, make sure the soil in the beer cup is dry enough to hold together. That's also a good time to view your seedling's roots.

Thanks Rob Roy and that is some great advise

Just a quick note to say Seed 24 is now 12 days old and is already bigger than seed 22 & 23. I think the issue I had was having large pots which resulted in cold / damp soil for the roots.

Please to say all 3 seeds are growing now however seeds 22 & 23 are still tiny, to where they should be. Thanks everyone for your help