First Ever for GardensGrow

GardensGrow

GardensGrow

Well-Known Member
So I have 3 seedlings now. The other two aren't showing any signs of life. I was hoping to get at least 4 plants in search of 1 or 2 females. I'm wondering if I should wait a couple more days to see what the other two do or if I should go ahead and plant two more seeds. Any suggestions?

 
RaulFarquhar

RaulFarquhar

Active Member
Looking good.

I would give it about 2 more days before replanting. You could carfully remove a bit of the soil on top of the seed to see what is going on & then re-cover it. Sometimes the seedling does not grow upwards correctly at this stage & you can straighten it if you are very careful. I lost 3 of 9 seedlings - most likely rotting due to too much moisture. Its a fine line in the warm plastic dome providing just enough and not too much moisture.
 
GardensGrow

GardensGrow

Well-Known Member
Thanks Raul.

It is definitely a fine line. I will heed your advice and wait until the end of today for any signs of sprouting. If I don't see anything I'll go in for "seedling surgery" and see what I can do.

The 3 that have sprouted so far are really going to town. I'm thinking they might even be a little leggy.... Anyone think the same?

 
GardensGrow

GardensGrow

Well-Known Member
Raul you were right on. On of my seeds was trying to sprout upside down and the other was too buried to have enough energy to sprout. I flipped the one and loosed up some of the peat on top of the other. Thanks for the advice! Hopefully I'll come out of this with 5 of 5.

On a side note, these other 3 keep stretching.... stems are at 2.5" at the moment. I'm not sure why it's happening though. I have a 6500K cfl about 14" above the seedlings. Maybe it's too high above and the little guys are stretching to get more light...
 
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ceestyle

ceestyle

Well-Known Member
GardensGrow said:
Raul you were right on. On of my seeds was trying to sprout upside down and the other was too buried to have enough energy to sprout. I flipped the one and loosed up some of the peat on top of the other. Thanks for the advice! Hopefully I'll come out of this with 5 of 5.
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This is unnecessary, and you risk damaging the tender taproot. They will right themselves and unfold as they break the surface.


On a side note, these other 3 keep stretching.... stems are at 2.5" at the moment. I'm not sure why it's happening though. I have a 6500K cfl about 14" above the seedlings. Maybe it's too high above and the little guys are stretching to get more light...
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How many watts is the bulb? In any case, you can move it closer if you like, say 6".
 
GardensGrow

GardensGrow

Well-Known Member
ceestyle said:
This is unnecessary, and you risk damaging the tender taproot. They will right themselves and unfold as they break the surface.
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The upside down one had grown the taproot all the way to the top of the soil and had just started to curve back down once it "realized" that it was going towards the light. I'm not sure the seed would have been able to provide enough energy for the taproot to reach back down into the peat and pull the cotyledons to the top; that's why I decided to flip. But you may be right and I guess we'll see how careful I was

labey87 said:
keep the cfl between 2 and 4 inches away. thats the best place for cfls
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ceestyle said:
How many watts is the bulb? In any case, you can move it closer if you like, say 6".
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crackbaby said:
Nice grow so far GG! I would lower the light a bit and see how they respond.
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Thanks cbaby. The bulb is a small 15 watts. I didn't want to burn them but it looks like I could have gone higher. I will lower it like you all are suggesting and keep an eye on the temps.
 
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ceestyle

ceestyle

Well-Known Member
GardensGrow said:
The upside down one had grown the taproot all the way to the top of the soil and had just started to curve back down once it "realized" that it was going towards the light. I'm not sure the seed would have been able to provide enough energy for the taproot to reach back down into the peat and pull the cotyledons to the top; that's why I decided to flip. But you may be right and I guess we'll see how careful I was
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Interesting. I have never heard of such a thing. Seeds know which way to grow independent of light. Fucked up genetics or something!
 
jayzero

jayzero

Well-Known Member
ceestyle said:
Interesting. I have never heard of such a thing. Seeds know which way to grow independent of light. Fucked up genetics or something!
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This is true of all plants - and not just of roots, but of stems too (but the other way around). It's called gravitropism, and simply means that roots will always grow towards the pull of gravity and that stems will grow up away from the pull of gravity. If you tip a straight plant on an angle, the new growth at the stalk will bend upwards, away from gravity, and the taproot will adjust to start going straight down again. Leaves will show phototropism - they grow towards light, but the structural bits of the plant have to consider gravity or they risk growing chaotically such that they topple themselves over.

Check it out : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitropism



edit: actually, I just read everything above again and I think I misinterpreted - I was thinking that the taproot came out of the top *while* it was upside-down, not before. If the taproot came out of the top of the soil normally then it could just be the case that the seed was planted quite shallow and upsidedown (pointy side of the seed up) - then the taproot has no choice but to go up to get out of the seed, but it immediately turns itself around as it grows out. If it's too close to the top and the seed is upside-down, then sometimes the root can pop out and turn around. The plant should still be fine, though - everything on the seed-side of that loop will eventually emerge and become stem/cotyledon, everything on the other side goes down and stays as root.
 
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RaulFarquhar

RaulFarquhar

Active Member
I placed my seedlings as soon as they sprouted directly under my 400 watt MH and had no stretching. I placed my light about 24 inches above the sprouts. Since your light is vented and you have a lens between the bulb and the plants, you are not going to burn them. As long as you keep the temps below 90F at the tops of the sprouts they should do very well.

I would suggest still keeping your unsprouted plants in the dome the way you have them though.
 
GardensGrow

GardensGrow

Well-Known Member
jayzero thank you for that bit of knowledge. You're "edit comment" is correct. I think I planted the seed upside down. Though the taproot never actually broke the soil; it got close and was starting to turn back down.

Raul I think I'm going to do something similar. My fourth seed is coming up (no signs of the fifth) so I'm going to take my now super-leggy 3 and place them in pots and then put those pots under the MH. This way I can use the soil to support the stalks and keep the top bit of seedling above ground and no one will no the difference. (not that anyone else sees these lol)
 
GardensGrow

GardensGrow

Well-Known Member
The 3 stretchers have now been placed in 6" pots (buried their stems for support) and are happy establishing their root system under the MH light (which is about 2 feet above the pots). The 4th seed popped and is developing well but slowly. Once I see a few more roots coming out the side of the 4th's peat pellet I will transfer it to a 6" pot as well.

Thanks everyone for the support so far. Questions/comments?

 
RaulFarquhar

RaulFarquhar

Active Member
Excellent move there GG! :hump: Your stretch is a thing of the past! You will be amazed at how fast your seedlings will grow now. The roots from your seedlings will be curling around the bottom of those cups in less than a week.
 
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