The Struggling Seedling

P.Green

Member
Hello everyone :bigjoint: this is my first post on the forums here and it's also my first time growing without any fancy equipment. I've grown once before many years ago, while I was amongst a group of enthusiasts such as myself. It was a fairly high-budget project that turned out rather well, we used an LED (brand-new tech at the time) hydro setup which facilitated top-feed and DWC systems. This is my dream setup, one I hope to attain again in the future.

For now, however, a couple seeds found their way into my possession and so I germed em a few days ago as somewhat of an impromptu decision. Used the cup of water method with filtered water and 2/3 seeds split within 48 - 72 hours. The third one took closer to five days. I wet some paper towel with the same water, put it on a plate and placed the 2 seeds in it, I used a bowl as a humidity dome and waited a day or two before planting them. By this time they each had good long roots on them.

Now there was always this one seed that seemed the most promising... It sank and sprouted first, had the longest root, and even after it was planted, it surfaced after only a matter of hours! Although, when it did, it still had it's shell covering it's cotyledon. When I removed the shell, it was still rather white in color. This leads me to believe that it surfaced prematurely. Nonetheless, it turned nice n green within a couple hours after I put the light to it.

After another day or so, the second seed emerged and it was looking much better than the first did. It had this beautiful red hue to it, unlike the first which was white. Similar to the first, it was nice n perky and green within a couple hours.

I've taken some pictures of their progress, about every hour or two. Excluding the ones I was asleep during of course. Here you can see the first seedling after it recovered and the just-emerging second.

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About 30min - 1 hour later
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Another 30min - 1 hour
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Another 30min - 1 hour.
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Another hour
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After 3 more hours of light 6 hours dark overnight
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After 3 hours.
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Another hour or 2
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After another 2
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After another hour or 2
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So I guess I'm wondering why within a single day, the second plant surpassed and almost tippled the first one... While the first shows no significant changes... I haven't done anything different to one over the other, except the deshelling incident aforementioned.

Right now they're under a small white-blue LED lamp that is very close to them (4-6 inches). And I've been watering them every few hours with a dropper 2-3 milliliters at a time, this seems to keep the soil around them well moist and I'm assuming 3 ml isn't enough to over-water...

Any input would be appreciated, as well as any tips! I'm also open to suggestions as to what kind of lights I should switch to in the coming weeks, soil and nutrient suggestions, as well as anything else you think might increases the chances of success for these little ones :rolleyes: Please keep in mind that I am new to soil growing and also that I would like to keep this little project relatively low budget.

Thanks in advance!!:leaf:
 

P.Green

Member
Just planted the third one! Also here is a more updated pic:
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I've actually had to move the light away slightly because it's getting too tall...
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
I've actually had to move the light away slightly because it's getting too tall...
It could be stretching for more light. Moving the light away makes that worse.

What LED lightbulb are you using? Brand, watts, color temperature?

I use Cree lightbulbs and I do 3:1 to 4:1 cool:warm. If you have the wrong spectrum (using a warm white by itself) that could cause stretch. Cannabis likes more blue in veg.
 

P.Green

Member
Yeah, I thought about that... but I'm worried about temperature cuz unfortunately this cheap LED does give off a fair bit of heat when you reach an inch or 2 away. It's about 5w actually, 200 lumen. And it's not as cool as I'd like, I'd say probably a 2:1 but I'm not sure.
 

Igotthe6

Well-Known Member
I'm just wondering why 2 in 1 pot.They grow roots real fast and you really don't want 2 to a pot.I would set up another pot and very carefully transplant the little one before roots get tangled..
 

P.Green

Member
I can't look at the moment as it's in use and very hot!
I'm just wondering why 2 in 1 pot.They grow roots real fast and you really don't want 2 to a pot.I would set up another pot and very carefully transplant the little one before roots get tangled..
I did this because of a lack of adequate lighting. I do agree however, they should most certainly be separated as soon as I find a lighting solution. Like I said in the op I'm open to suggestions
 

luv2grow

Well-Known Member
you're better off with whatever you find around the house than a super hot led?! wtf is super hot led, i'm baked and really confused now haha
 

Igotthe6

Well-Known Member
If you have any budget at all you can just use drop cords with 42 watt cfls you can get for 4 or five bucks. It's not the best but better than nothing. you can get a 400 watt complete...hid for $89.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
I can't look at the moment as it's in use and very hot!
It won't hurt to turn the light off, let it cool, look for the color temperature number (I run 2800 and 4000, 1:3 to 1:4 ratio of each). Jacking around with the lights on/off during flower can cause problems. But, during veg you're ok as long as you give them 18 hours on.

as soon as I find a lighting solution. Like I said in the op I'm open to suggestions
You have a lot of things to consider. If you're not legal to grow, you'll need to think about odor control. That could be serious.
 

luv2grow

Well-Known Member
you gotta invest something if you want to grow the Mota in the winter time. " not sure where you live"
 

Igotthe6

Well-Known Member
Yea I'm sure some have wondered. I used to moderate the hydro section at overgrow.com.was years ago.
 

P.Green

Member
you're better off with whatever you find around the house than a super hot led?! wtf is super hot led, i'm baked and really confused now haha
Yeah I know! But I favoured the cool color over the cool temperature. Everything in my house is really warm in colour. Haha I really don't understand why it's so hot I was very disappointed when I found out.

If you have any budget at all you can just use drop cords with 42 watt cfls you can get for 4 or five bucks. It's not the best but better than nothing. you can get a 400 watt complete...hid for $89.
How many CFLs do you think I'd need to use at once?

It won't hurt to turn the light off, let it cool, look for the color temperature number (I run 2800 and 4000, 1:3 to 1:4 ratio of each). Jacking around with the lights on/off during flower can cause problems. But, during veg you're ok as long as you give them 18 hours on.



You have a lot of things to consider. If you're not legal to grow, you'll need to think about odor control. That could be serious.
Good to know, I'll take a look in a little bit. And yeah, my house usually danks haha but you're right I do need to find a way to keep the smell down.

you gotta invest something if you want to grow the Mota in the winter time. " not sure where you live"
Yeah it's cold af here at least for a couple more months.
 

luv2grow

Well-Known Member
you can grow bud plants in the cold. its just a fuck load more work..... keep on keeping on man, you'll get there
 
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