aspiring first grow, plant dying... with pics

trying to learn by just jumping in and going for it. very small set up here and from the reading ive done i think it could be over watering of mg soil or too cold or both

1 plant 7 days old... yellowing, purple stem, slight purple on leaf edges, curling.

from bagseed
was transplanted on day 5 from extra small seed planter to planter shown in pic
miracle grow soil
water from tap 2 to 3 times a day either by pouring or by spray bottle
1 100w equiv cfl about 1 inch away
day 6... yesterday... moved to home made box temporarily for better heat and light... i was concerned that plant was too cold. see pics

Wow man she's hurting alright but you can turn it around. First off watering 2-3 times a day is way too much. You want to water it thoroughly then let it dry out a bit to make those roots look for water. You can check the dryness by either sticking your finger in the soil an inch or 2, if it's dry, water it, if not don't. Or by weight which saves you the risk of damaging any roots. Just lift your pot when it's dry and take a mental note of how light it is. Then water it and feel how heavy it is.

Secondly, I dunno if that's mulch on top of your soil but thes some sorry looking soil even for miracle grow. What kind kind of miracle grow is it?

What are the temps in your room?

thanks so much... as sad as it sounds, because of my inexperience your few words give me hope.

...soil is mg regular potting soil
...temps are 73 to 76 i believe
...i will do as you say for watering, using the pot weight method

as of now im gonna let it dry out today

i think it was shocked from an early transplant and then new mg soil and over watering plus too cold!

q: what temps should i aim for?

you may have a fungal disease from over watering called Damping Off

If I am not mistaken the Purple stem is a sign of over fertilizing...I think its the Miracle grow potting soil..almost all of the miracle grow soils I have seen have added nutrients.. with phrases on the bag like.. " feeds plants up too three months!". I have never even seen what I would call regular soil from MG..I don't even like to use that stuff for tomato's..

Haha thank you, im an optimist.

Your temps aren't too bad, I aim for 75-85. But with lower temps your plant isn't drinking as much. And after a transplant they get stress and tend to drink less as well, just take it easy on the water and see if she perks up. If not hit me up I'll be around.

xtract44 said:

If I am not mistaken the Purple stem is a sign of over fertilizing...I think its the Miracle grow potting soil..almost all of the miracle grow soils I have seen have added nutrients.. with phrases on the bag like.. " feeds plants up too three months!". I have never even seen what I would call regular soil from MG..I don't even like to use that stuff for tomato's..

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Purple stems can come from colder weather or a phosphorous deficientcy. I have used miracle grow for my first couple of grows and only had problems when I got a lil over zealous with the nutes when I first started. Miracle grow is fine, I later tried fox farm due to all the hype and it wasn't much better if at all. I have since gone hydro and that's really where it's at!

The plant in my avatar is a miracle grow baby!

Yeah i am not a soil guy either, I do DWC . I was not aware that was a sign to phosphorous deficiency as well..I knew about the colder weather, but did not say anything as his temps seem pretty mild. I really just don't trust any medium that says it can feed my plant for 3 months..I guess I have just gotten spoiled with the control you have in Hydroponics lol. Nice plant btw!

wow, your plant (and others ive seen) really lays to rest the misconception that you cant grow beautiful buds with miracle grow.

im going to hold off on watering for a day and water either late tonight or tomorrow morning.

if she is gonna bounce back how long till you see changes in these sorts of cases usually? should she be greening and getting visually more healthy in a couple hours, a couple days, a week?

thanks in advance for your comments!

thanks to you huys, im also now looking into really small hydro set ups.

A day to a couple days depending on how long it takes the soil to dry and oxygen to get to your roots. The damaged leaves won't heal just make sure the condition doesn't worsen. Just watch for the new growth to be healthy.

If you decide to go hydro I recommend a waterfarm or as xtract said a dwc bucket. I use a waterfarm with wonderful results. Definately beginner hydro friendly!

is your cfl, its shitty, you need sun or diff light

KDiaz said:

A day to a couple days depending on how long it takes the soil to dry and oxygen to get to your roots. The damaged leaves won't heal just make sure the condition doesn't worsen. Just watch for the new growth to be healthy.

If you decide to go hydro I recommend a waterfarm or as xtract said a dwc bucket. I use a waterfarm with wonderful results. Definately beginner hydro friendly!

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KDiaz - Is this the waterfarm you are referring to? http://generalhydroponics.com/site/index.php/products/systems/waterfarm/

It seems like this system requires a lot more space for something I can achieve in a small apartment. Not sure if its because of being a small woman or just my sensitivity to the meds but I use very little herb compared to most smokers I've known so I am most interested in a system that can be effective for small quantities and inconspicuous rather than super strong potency or high yields. So, any thoughts or suggestions are welcomed.

I recently discovered the auto-flowering strains and they caught my eye because of their small size and seemingly easy to grow. What are your thoughts on those?

Right now, I'm just crossing my fingers that my first little girl can hold on long enough and that she hangs around so I can continue my learning process with her by my side

-Colortherapy

Water a seedling maybe once every two days, get seedling soil for those the miracle grow has nutes you just flat out blasted her period. With that said if you get her in some seedling soil and water every couple days you could save her. Good luck my man.

I use Seedmix with Rhizotonic only, first watering is after a week. I've done a 'start seeds' thread below in my sig if that helps. Good luck!

UPDATE: See pics

• Since last update, right serrated leaf in second photo has continued to be yellow and bow upwards a bit and these pictures below make my baby look greener and healthier (is that because of shooting pic with lights on?)
• Added second 100w equiv. CFL
• Watered just now - once in about 18 hrs (Felt two inches down, was totally dry.)

chrishydro said:

Water a seedling maybe once every two days, get seedling soil for those the miracle grow has nutes you just flat out blasted her period. With that said if you get her in some seedling soil and water every couple days you could save her. Good luck my man.

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I have generic, non-miracle grow (MG), potting soil. Should I transplant into this soil even though I transplanted the plant a few days ago into the miracle grow? If so, how do I do that without taking the MG with it?

Thanks everyone for your input.

For this young of a plant, nutrient deficiencies are really hard to come by so I highly doubt that is the issue. MG is known for being a hot mix because of the long care fertilizer (many times Osmocote). The fertilizer gets dispersed more rapidly at higher heats with water and can cause toxicities.

I see from your mix that it has a lot of bark or something around the top. Bark doesnt hold a lot of water as compared to peat moss (bark holds 1x its weight where peat moss molds something like 20x). With the seedlings root system to be in the top layer of the soil, it is possible that it just is not retaining enough moisture for the roots no matter how much you water it. Especially if you have a high powered fan in a small enclosed space. My advice is to just find a good water retentive yet free draining mix for the seedlings. I have started seeds in peat pellets before and left them in there for up to like 2 weeks.

colortherapy said:

KDiaz - Is this the waterfarm you are referring to? http://generalhydroponics.com/site/index.php/products/systems/waterfarm/

It seems like this system requires a lot more space for something I can achieve in a small apartment. Not sure if its because of being a small woman or just my sensitivity to the meds but I use very little herb compared to most smokers I've known so I am most interested in a system that can be effective for small quantities and inconspicuous rather than super strong potency or high yields. So, any thoughts or suggestions are welcomed.

I recently discovered the auto-flowering strains and they caught my eye because of their small size and seemingly easy to grow. What are your thoughts on those?

Right now, I'm just crossing my fingers that my first little girl can hold on long enough and that she hangs around so I can continue my learning process with her by my side

-Colortherapy

Click to expand...

That would be it. Yeah the unit does take up some space. Take your time and when you are ready, have a house, look into it. You won't be dissapointed. I too only grew in soil in my old apartment but my first grow in the new house was with that bucket. Haven't had a problem with it yet. I'm also doing a scrog with it using super lemon haze. The one plant is a foot tall and overfills my 3 foot by 20 inch tent, the things a monster. Using that bucket and scrog I think I could fill a 4x4 tent lol. I plan on posting up a journal when it's all over, I just hate keeping up with one everyday over months.

As for autos I have never used them, sounds like in your situation that they would be good for you. If I was going to use autos I'd plant one a week or 2 apart to get a harvest every week or 2.

And as someone mentioned about your cfl, they work, but they do suck. The right lights are expensive, especially since I'm a led grower. But if you must use the cfl at least make sure it's 6500k for veg and 2700k for flowering.

You can totally use MG and any hot soil, as long as you don't overwater it...I do recommend adding perlite to any and every medium you use...always helps with overwatering a good bit...
Just remember the MJ is made to tolerate droughts, so give them a really good one every once in a bit.

and stop feel test watering...the top can be totally dry while the bottom can be sopping wet...pick up the container...if it has some heft to it then put it back down...if it feels like picking up a produce bag full of packing peanuts then water it...
By this I mean when you pick up the pot and it feels like almost nothing is in your hands, then you can water...this is the case whether we are talking a 6 in pot, or a 10 gallon...no water til the pot is light...none...the roots won't grow to seek out water if it is always right there...and if the roots don't grow then the leaves can't grow...it is a vicious cycle...
So leave the plant to rest, make sure it is in a warm place with a nice fan and light and let it get super super dry...for real, I promise...then water with only water...if you are using a small enough container, just set it into another larger container full of water and let the pot with the plant soak up all it can, and leave it to get light like a cotton fluff again..
So good luck...it is not going to be pretty too soon, but it will happen, as long as you keep letting it dry out. DRY...I water once every 4 or 5 days...seedlings in solo cups get maybe every other day...never everyday, or more than once a day for heaven's sake.