Frustrating

I have seeds in rockwool, which I have never used before, They look like they have popped and have the root coming up and/or out. My problem is that the leaves are not shooting up. Is there anything I can do? They are just laying in the hole and its like they went dormant. I tried to put them under flourescent lights. They are under the lights about 16 inches so I dont burn them off. What can I do to make them come up or am I just to anxious? It has been 4 days now

it SHOULD find its way to the surface, just wait or risk damaging the tap root trying to flip it over.

rockwool with seeds you've gotta make sure you dont get it TOO wet, it will rot out the stem of the new plant

mom205 said:

I have seeds in rockwool, which I have never used before, They look like they have popped and have the root coming up and/or out. My problem is that the leaves are not shooting up. Is there anything I can do? They are just laying in the hole and its like they went dormant. I tried to put them under flourescent lights. They are under the lights about 16 inches so I dont burn them off. What can I do to make them come up or am I just to anxious? It has been 4 days now

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Drop that light down to a few inches!

I tried with other seeds that popped out and it burned them, thats why I put it farther away.

General rule of thumb, if you can stick your hand inbetween bulb and leaf comfortably, they will be OK.
I have my 2 plants under some 23w CFL's in the evenings, and I have them about 2" away from some of the leaves.
Granted, you said seedlings, so you might want to stay 4-7" away, but I think 16 is too far, and will get you some stretching in a very short time.
What kind of flouro's are you using? I didn't even ask that.........
Do you have at least 5000kelvin bulbs?
6500k are better, but 5000's will work.
For veg, you want at least the 5000's, and for flower, the 2700's.
But as much wattage or lumens as possible.

Patients my friend as said just make sure they don't get overwatered.

Also you should pre-soak that rockwool in a low ph solution. I think around 5.5 or 6? Its not what I use so Im not exactly sure what the presoak ph is so do a little research on that. I know rockwool has a naturally high ph and that can cause some problems as well.

Moms you did this before I think. Right? Are you properly pH correcting these cubes before using them? The Grorite bag shows using lemon juice to lower the pH to remove residual lime from manufacturing the rockwool. I tried that one time and measured with my meter. The pH was 4.2 from a half-lemon. Obviously not what you want to do then. What is the pH of the water you are soaking the cubes in? If not properly corrected the cube will then be grossly alkaline and will kill a green plant.

IME rockwool needs a light nutrient solution more than it needs pH'ing.

But I agree with everyone about bringing the lights closer.
I have found once transplanted into larger cubes pH'ing necomes a little more vital.


J

Hey Moms, what is your room temperature? When I've germinated in rockwool (and I've germinated 6 seeds on three separate occasions), I found that in the summer, when the room was 80F or so, they popped in 2.5 days and shot up like rockets. But when room temps dropped to 65-70F, it took a lot longer and growth was not nearly as voracious. It took 4-5 days to break the soil (I thought they were dead) and then slow to grow thereafter.

My set up is this: germinate in rockwool (I don't have a heat mat, so I depend on room temperature to provide warmth), then put the little seedlings under a 40W CFL just for a little gentle light. Those don't throw off much heat. When the babies have developed their first set of true leaves (after the the cotyledons) and a root is poking out the bottom, then I move them to my grow tent with a 400W MH light and put them in the bubble buckets. That takes about a week.

So try to keep them warm and be patient! Good luck -- KG

Edit: Oh, and I don't ph my rockwool because I don't give them nutes for two weeks. I think the instructions on the rockwool package suggest nuting and phing the water when you soak them, but I've always thought that's really for clones.

mom205 said:

I have seeds in rockwool, which I have never used before, They look like they have popped and have the root coming up and/or out. My problem is that the leaves are not shooting up. Is there anything I can do? They are just laying in the hole and its like they went dormant. I tried to put them under flourescent lights. They are under the lights about 16 inches so I dont burn them off. What can I do to make them come up or am I just to anxious? It has been 4 days now

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And another thing...when you say "laying in the hole" does that mean you put the seed in the hole and didn't pinch the rockwool over it? In order to provide moisture and darkness, the technique is to soak the cube, put the seed in the hole and then pinch the rockwool over it to cover, or pull a little off the side of the cube and use it to fill the hole on top of the seed. You don't want to pack the seed in there, just make its environment dark.

The root needs darkness to grow...and the seedling won't grow if the root isn't growing.

Lighs should be a little closer, i have mine at 2-4 inches away with a fan on them so it doesnt burn my little babies.

And be watchful, I also hear those can dry out unexpectedly, and with teeny or no roots, it will shut you down in a hurry.

mom205 said:

I have seeds in rockwool, which I have never used before, They look like they have popped and have the root coming up and/or out. My problem is that the leaves are not shooting up. Is there anything I can do? They are just laying in the hole and its like they went dormant. I tried to put them under flourescent lights. They are under the lights about 16 inches so I dont burn them off. What can I do to make them come up or am I just to anxious? It has been 4 days now

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Sounds like you need to wait a few more days. Sometimes, it just takes longer.