Seedlings with thinning stalks

Hey guys! 1st timer here. I'm sure I'm doing SOMETHING wrong, hopefully some advice from the many experienced growers here will put be on the right track.

I started by germinating 8 AK-47 seeds from Serious Seeds. 5 of these produced rootlets, and I planted them indoors in a Plantation Products Fiber Seed Starting Tray, it's filled with a soil-less medium and is made of something like egg-crate cardboard ("natural fibers" is how it is described by the company that makes it).

I'm lighting them with 4 32 watt 5000k t8 fluorescents (a bit of overkill for so few plants perhaps, but I'm also growing a few herbs & peppers from seed). I'm keeping the lights perhaps 4-6 inches from the tops of the plants, and I'm watering them with bottled water enough to keep the soil moist (probably a few tablespoons), pretty much whenever the top of the soil starts looking/feeling more dry than wet.

All five sprouted cotyledon leaves and a small set of true leaves. However, fairly quickly, the stems of two of the seedlings thinned to the point that they couldn't support the weight of the leaves, the seedlings doubled over, and died. I tried to support them with small wire-baggie-ties to no avail.

I figured that perhaps this was natural variation amongst the seeds, since the other three were looking good, but now the same thing is starting to happen to the one seedling that was looking strongest.

I'm attaching a picture to illustrate the thinning that I've described. Please help!

I left out an extremely important point! I decided to move the seedlings to styrofoam cups that I poked a bunch of holes in for drainage/breathability because the cardboard/egg-crate/whatever started showing signs of mold growth.

I haven''t ever seen the stem get thinned out like that but then again..I have only grown a few times before. I would try to repot her in a deeper pot and bury her up to her head in soil to prevent further stretching.

Thanks Cannaboy! I was considering that, it's just so young! Under a week... Is there any chance this is the result of the lighting? I could switch it to cfl...

yes, repotting them deeper is a good idea, just below the first set of leaves is fine.

Transplant and get the lights right on top of them. You will need a small fan blowing as well.

Thanks sparkafire, I wasn't sure if I should start using a fan from the get go or let them get a bit bigger before doing so. Get the lights how close, a centimeter? Forgive me being annoyingly specific, but I like to try & do things right, so I tend to ask a lot of questions!

My first seedlings did the same, not to the same extreme, but after reading here I realized I need to have my lights closer. After I put my lights close enough that the heat could barely be felt on my plants, I added a fan that was constantly blowing a gentle breeze over my plants. Now I have fat stems!

I also bought a bag of skewer sticks from walmart, was like $2 for 50 of them. They worked great to hold my seedlings up until they were strong enough to do so themselves.

brainalive said:

Thanks Cannaboy! I was considering that, it's just so young! Under a week... Is there any chance this is the result of the lighting? I could switch it to cfl...

Click to expand...

I think your lights are fine. Get them as close as possible to the plants without it burning them.

Thank you all so much for the responses, they are greatly appreciated.
I've repotted the thin-stalked plant, and lowered the lights. I'm still a bit unsure about how close the lights can be. I guess that the only way to be sure about how close to the plants the lights can safely be is to monitor the plants closely and make sure they're not responding adversely to the amount of heat they're getting from the bulbs?

Here are pictures showing the repot, how close plant1 is to the lights, and how close a 2nd plant is to the lights. Sorry for the crappy quality of the images (blackberry-cam), but I think the relevant details can be discerned.

Those lights can be touching and not cause harm so get them close as you can. You are looking good now.

brainalive,

it looks like you've got a case of damping off disease on your hands. i'm experiencing the same problem. from what i've read it's caused by a fungus that thrives when your medium is too wet and humidity is too high. like the others have said, a fan is the best method of preventing this problem. i've also read that spraying the seedlings with a very diluted solution of chamomile tea helps as well. try to cut back on the water in your medium though.

let me know how things work out for you. if things improve let me know and i'll do the same for you. maybe we can help each other. i'd hate to see those seeds go to waste. thats a fair bit of coin to lose in one one shot.

good luck buddy

vinnie,

thanks for the reply. I wouldn't be surprised if you're right. I have been concerned that I'm watering too much, but I'm at a loss as to how to I should estimate when to water & how much to water. Everything I've read about watering at this stage has said something along the lines of "keep the medium moist/damp" but it seems like the medium goes from damp straight to bone dry, and I've been worried about leaving the little ones in a completely dry medium.

Any more specific advice would be appreciated. I'm also going to troll the forums and try to figure out what sort of medium might be best to grow further seedlings in. As I mentioned initially, I bought a pre-fab tray, and I think I'd prefer to have more control in the future so I can at least nail down every detail of my process, even if I'm wrong, I'll know how to correct myself.

Thankfully, I only germ'd half the seeds to begin with (thank you Jorge Cervantes for that suggestion), so it won't be a total loss!

Just my two cents, I have one ak47 seedling almost at 2 weeks that I started in those 16oz red solo cups and I use Fox Farms Ocean Forest.. its for potted plants and has perlite and everything already in it... some other growers may say its too strong for seedlings and opt to use Light Warrior or a mixture of the two... I however have not had any problems with the FF OF as my medium for seedlings. Heres a pic of the ak... they are 1'' from the lights (2 t8 daylight flouros and 2 t12 sunshine flouros.) As for the watering... I spray 3-4 times daily (ph'd water only) to keep moisture in the soil, the top of the soil does get bone dry rather quickly, but this does not mean its underwatered... You want to avoid overwatering if you can. Hope this helps. Happy grown...

brain dont worry bout your light flouros should not burn the plant even just a few mill away from plant also looking at your stem on one of your pic looks really red i can see.
if that is red try giving some nutes to it only do 1/4 strength on the recomended dose and not too much of it see if that helps try a little fan also to strengthen the stem

what ever you do dont let it dry out. mist it often two three times a day every chance you get. humidity dome is best. keep the soil moist as the plant grows put it in a bigger pot. cover the stem all the way up to the first set of leaves. the long stem your covering will turn into a root mass. after you do this a couple times it should explode.

I'd just trash it what is it maybe a week oldAll ways start extras

All --

Thank you, thank you, thank you. You guys are the best. I'm so grateful that you've all pitched in your advice in response to this newbie's flailing around!

KMK, awesome that you have been growing the same strain, the specific watering and medium advice are calming my nerves already.

Coldigs, I'm going to post another (better) photo (can't find the charger for my camera just now), but until I do, I'll lay off the nutes and stick with distilled water, but if you're willing/able check back tonight & let me know if you think that some 1/4 strength action seems like the way to go.

Smoke, I love your attitude, you sound like the kind of stick-with-it stubborn dude that I am, and I am going to follow the advice regarding making sure these little ones eventually grow up to be big bad plants. Unfortunately, I don't think a humidity dome is really going to be possible, but I do have a humidifier that I can place in the room. I'm going to clean it with a diluted bleach solution and place it in the room in an hour or so. I haven't been spraying because I'm dumb & didn't get a spray gun, but I went out & got one this morning while walking my dogs, and gave everybody a spritz. I am fairly certain that I've been overwatering, so I'm trying to be restrained. Perhaps if I get really ambitious I'll post a bunch of pics of medium at varying stages of drying & ask people's opinions about watering.

MrGhetto, you sound like the pragmatic no-nonsense individual I sometimes wish I could be! Thankfully, I do have some more seeds that are starting to poke their heads out of the medium, and I am going to make sure they: (1) stay nice & close to the light, (2) don't get overwatered, and (3) that their leaves get sprayed (when I see them).