Grey Tips on Seedling

Hi guys,
First time grower here and first time poster so please take it easy on me

I’m growing in a 3x3 tent with the plants in their final 5 gallon pots already. Have a Phlizon 2000W (430 true draw) Using 50%coco, 30% vermiculite 20% perlite mix. pHing my water around 6.2pH, temperatures sitting around 80 F and humidity solid 54%.
I haven’t given any nutrient feed to the babies yet, but I didn’t wash my medium before.

the plants have been growing well, getting good height on them. However 2 of them have been showing grey tips as of yesterday. I am wondering what may have caused this? Is it overwatering or does the medium have some sort of disbalance in it.
Thank you so much for all your help

when you say you didnt wash it, have you used it b4

go go kid said:

when you say you didnt wash it, have you used it b4

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No I haven't used it before, this is my first grow. Just got the bag of Coco, Vermiculite and Perlite and mixed up the ratios in a big tub then put the mix into the pots.

never used coco myself, but i understand washing is critical. i think ur gunna need to flush several times in order to get ur ph right. the pic doesnt show what kind of pots & if u have trats. you’ll need to measure your water runoff to know what the ph of the medium is. im guessing it’s nowhere near that 6.2 you’re shooting for. flush until it is. good luck, and stick with it. keep reading. keep trying. the results are only as good as the effort u put it ... and those results are soooo worth the effort

bprestoner said:

never used coco myself, but i understand washing is critical. i think ur gunna need to flush several times in order to get ur ph right. the pic doesnt show what kind of pots & if u have trats. you’ll need to measure your water runoff to know what the ph of the medium is. im guessing it’s nowhere near that 6.2 you’re shooting for. flush until it is. good luck, and stick with it. keep reading. keep trying. the results are only as good as the effort u put it ... and those results are soooo worth the effort

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*trays pots & TRAYS ***smh

bprestoner said:

never used coco myself, but i understand washing is critical. i think ur gunna need to flush several times in order to get ur ph right. the pic doesnt show what kind of pots & if u have trats. you’ll need to measure your water runoff to know what the ph of the medium is. im guessing it’s nowhere near that 6.2 you’re shooting for. flush until it is. good luck, and stick with it. keep reading. keep trying. the results are only as good as the effort u put it ... and those results are soooo worth the effort

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Thank you so much for the reply. I will take some photos when I am back, but I just have basic 5 Gallon pots which have a single (fairly large) hole at the bottom. Got some trays catching run off, but haven't measured the runoff water. I have read about problems with seedlings being drowned and have been afraid of overwatering (but I also read that you can't overwater Coco, lots of conflicting info out there haha)... Should I just try to flush it and see what happens? The leaves are still looking up and not curling so that's giving me hope that they're getting enough air, could it be that it's going yellow/ fading because of lack of nutes (its only 6 days since planting)?

you're not washing the coca id explain what you're really doing but this video explains it better then i could

thanx, great video. id feel happier useing coco myself now

outsiders said:

you're not washing the coca id explain what you're really doing but this video explains it better then i could

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Great information in this video, thank you. Basically what he's saying the Coco should have already come "pre-washed" from the Sodium, but I should buffer it with cal mag to balance out the Potassium. As I understand the seedling already has enough nutrients in its' seed for the first 2 weeks of growth, so therefore my unbuffered coco is overwhelming the seedling with excess potassium? Do you add cal mag to your seedlings in their first weeks? Cheers

I've never ever rinsed coco in years of use, I've never heard of it being required afaik when you buy canna it's ready to go.

A more likely issue is what have you been feeding it?

Star Dog said:

I've never ever rinsed coco in years of use, I've never heard of it being required afaik when you buy canna it's ready to go.

A more likely issue is what have you been feeding it?

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Hey, thanks for reply. That's a relief to hear. So far, I haven't been giving it anything other than pH balanced water (around 6.2-6.3).

BustedOvaries said:

Hey, thanks for reply. That's a relief to hear. So far, I haven't been giving it anything other than pH balanced water (around 6.2-6.3).

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If it was my plant I'd give it a mild feed, seeds do have sufficient to get a pair of leafs and a root down but then it requires some nutrients, I'd start it with a ec of 1.0.

Have you had a cloche/lid over the plant or maybe been spraying it with water regularly?

Star Dog said:

I've never ever rinsed coco in years of use, I've never heard of it being required afaik when you buy canna it's ready to go.

A more likely issue is what have you been feeding it?

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well ever since i started soaking my coca with cal mag and ph water before potting up i stopped seeing such issues even when its so called be buffered and ready to go out the bag. but yeah as you know coca has no food in it so you do need to start giving it feeds

BustedOvaries said:

Great information in this video, thank you. Basically what he's saying the Coco should have already come "pre-washed" from the Sodium, but I should buffer it with cal mag to balance out the Potassium. As I understand the seedling already has enough nutrients in its' seed for the first 2 weeks of growth, so therefore my unbuffered coco is overwhelming the seedling with excess potassium? Do you add cal mag to your seedlings in their first weeks? Cheers

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if the cation exchange sites are full of Potassium it will spit that out the Potassium and take up the calcium making it none available to the plant also hindering the uptake of other nutrients. but after a while if you water with feed and cal mag correctly it will stabilise it self idk about the last bit though but i guess it would but thats the main point of the information

outsiders said:

if the cation exchange sites are full of Potassium it will spit that out the Potassium and take up the calcium making it none available to the plant also hindering the uptake of other nutrients. but after a while if you water with feed and cal mag correctly it will stabilise it self idk about the last bit though but i guess it would but thats the main point of the information

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the coca is stripping the nutrients from the plant not overwhelming the seedling with excess potassium

outsiders said:

well ever since i started soaking my coca with cal mag and ph water before potting up i stopped seeing such issues even when its so called be buffered and ready to go out the bag. but yeah as you know coca has no food in it so you do need to start giving it feeds

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Maybe you have less cal mag than me.
As above I've never ever needed it?

Why on earth did you add vermiculite?
What brand of coco did you use?
Why did you start in large pots?

Star Dog said:

If it was my plant I'd give it a mild feed, seeds do have sufficient to get a pair of leafs and a root down but then it requires some nutrients, I'd start it with a ec of 1.0.

Have you had a cloche/lid over the plant or maybe been spraying it with water regularly?

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Great advice, I will do that today and will post result over the next few days!

outsiders said:

if the cation exchange sites are full of Potassium it will spit that out the Potassium and take up the calcium making it none available to the plant also hindering the uptake of other nutrients. but after a while if you water with feed and cal mag correctly it will stabilise it self idk about the last bit though but i guess it would but thats the main point of the information

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Thank you for the reply! That's a very good point, glad you answered you have some very smart info. For my next grow I will definitely soak the coco in cal mag. What kind of ratio are you using?

MickFoster said:

Why on earth did you add vermiculite?
What brand of coco did you use?
Why did you start in large pots?

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I added some vermiculite to help with holding water and nutrients and the perlite for aeration. Coco itself is decent at holding on to water but not as good as vermiculite. My light is pretty strong, I wanted to make sure the plants have food readily available for them while I sleep.