Complete newbie - failure.... babies are in trouble... yet again :( HELP!!!!

[Peace63]

Hello fellow growers....

I am a complete newbie... and so far a complete failure despite having tried 4 times.

I am having problems even getting my grows off the ground... my seeds germinate perfectly.... then my little seedlings do ok.... then it all goes wrong and they begin to die/struggle... its heartbreaking and I seem to be having the same issue every time

last year managed to get some seeds further than the seedling stage but still they struggled and never reached anywhere near maturity. Autoflower seeds did autoflower and got tiny buds, most success Ive had...

So... I have tried many things at first it was thinking it was perhaps my medium which was an organic coco fiber based with no nutrients/ph neutral... I mixed it with perlite and some worm castings...

so latest seedlings - are Grapefruit (feminized) ... germinated perfectly...
I tried one on above medium, one with half soil from our field and another with pure soil (although all with a bit of perlite but no worm castings) - they all did OK and seemed to be doing well... strong little seedling with dark green leaves... all good.... but tiny...
But then they started to struggle with leaves going a bit yellow and the dark green fading... so I repotted them into grow bags thinking perhaps they needed more room (perhaps too soon. bags maybe too big)...
all bags are filled with a mixture of organic coco stuff, perlite and nice field soil.

Now I'm thinking maybe they are overwatered? tried letting them dry out and see what happened but they are just getting worse so gave them a little water this morning....
Lights are on 24hrs... at 40%.... ???

No idea whats going on ... am hoping that some of you knowledgeable folks will be able to say/see what Im doing wrong....

Honestly my heart breaks every time... I am good with plants normally but the weed is killing me... I am useless apparently when it comes to this.

Sorry I know this post is a bit rambly and I don't really know what I'm talking about, but please any questions and I will try and answer as best I can.
Any help much appreciated <3

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Tent used: Tent 120x120x200

Light used: 300w LED light has an efficiency of 2.4 μmol/J and a useful power of 720 μmol/s

Nutrients used: Biobizz Grow (+ PH up)
Not used yet - Biobizz Bloom
and Biobizz TopMax

 

[GenericEnigma]

Hello!

I don't know what is in your field soil, and your mix could be too strong already (especially if you disc in manure). Still, I'm all but certain using that soil with other nutrients is too much when the sprouts are that small. They are burning up.

I suggest water only for that soil. If the sprouts do the same thing with water only, try a different mix to sprout (like coco and perlite only) until you have true leaves. Start them in tiny pots and transplant.

 

[Peace63]

Hello!

I don't know what is in your field soil, and your mix could be too strong already (especially if you disc in manure). Still, I'm all but certain using that soil with other nutrients is too much when the sprouts are that small. They are burning up.

I suggest water only for that soil. If the sprouts do the same thing with water only, try a different mix to sprout (like coco and perlite only) until you have true leaves. Start them in tiny pots and transplant.

Thanku so much for getting back to me so quickly <3

As far as I know there is no manure.... just soil....

thing is results with previous seedlings were the same with just the coco and the perlite and some worm castings....

So I should transplant them to smaller pots with only the coco and perlite?

Also what should my water PH be? Tester is a bit iffy (maybe) but normally make water about 6.2 but reading maybe it should be higher at 6.5?

Thanku again

 

[Growium]

Hello fellow growers....

I am a complete newbie... and so far a complete failure despite having tried 4 times.

I am having problems even getting my grows off the ground... my seeds germinate perfectly.... then my little seedlings do ok.... then it all goes wrong and they begin to die/struggle... its heartbreaking and I seem to be having the same issue every time

last year managed to get some seeds further than the seedling stage but still they struggled and never reached anywhere near maturity. Autoflower seeds did autoflower and got tiny buds, most success Ive had...

So... I have tried many things at first it was thinking it was perhaps my medium which was an organic coco fiber based with no nutrients/ph neutral... I mixed it with perlite and some worm castings...

so latest seedlings - are Grapefruit (feminized) ... germinated perfectly...
I tried one on above medium, one with half soil from our field and another with pure soil (although all with a bit of perlite but no worm castings) - they all did OK and seemed to be doing well... strong little seedling with dark green leaves... all good.... but tiny...
But then they started to struggle with leaves going a bit yellow and the dark green fading... so I repotted them into grow bags thinking perhaps they needed more room (perhaps too soon. bags maybe too big)...
all bags are filled with a mixture of organic coco stuff, perlite and nice field soil.

Now I'm thinking maybe they are overwatered? tried letting them dry out and see what happened but they are just getting worse so gave them a little water this morning....
Lights are on 24hrs... at 40%.... ???

No idea whats going on ... am hoping that some of you knowledgeable folks will be able to say/see what Im doing wrong....

Honestly my heart breaks every time... I am good with plants normally but the weed is killing me... I am useless apparently when it comes to this.

Sorry I know this post is a bit rambly and I don't really know what I'm talking about, but please any questions and I will try and answer as best I can.
Any help much appreciated <3

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tent used: Tent 120x120x200

Light used: 300w LED light has an efficiency of 2.4 μmol/J and a useful power of 720 μmol/s

Nutrients used: Biobizz Grow (+ PH up)
Not used yet - Biobizz Bloom
and Biobizz TopMax

Probably best to start again Are you able to buy a bag of biobizz all mix if so use that and just water no ph for about 2-3 weeks and get small pots to start with, you want to pot up the plants at least 3 times before flowering so can get a good root ball. You may be useing to much light and is to close for how big they are to. And instead of 24 hr maybe try 18/6 being new to it.

 

[HandyGringo]

Autoflowers = Start them in their final pot

Regular seeds = Transplant a couple of times, as soon as the plant exceeds the size of the container/as soon as the leaves stick out beyond the circumference of the container, that's the rule of thumb. I personally do: Paper towel > Jiffy pellet > 1 liter smartpot > 10 liter smartpot > etc.

Don't use any nutes at first. Also, 40% of 300w is too much for such small plants IMO. Mine are under 40-80W for the first month or so and they do fine. But it depends on distance .

Probably best to start again Are you able to buy a bag of biobizz all mix if so use that and just water no ph for about 2-3 weeks and get small pots to start with, you want to pot up the plants at least 3 times before flowering so can get a good root ball. You may be useing to much light and is to close for how big they are to. And instead of 24 hr maybe try 18/6 being new to it.

I was about to suggest Biobizz Light mix, I've had sensitive plants die from All mix being too strong. I start everything in Light mix, with added perlite. They don't really need any nutrients for the first few weeks/month anyway, maybe I'm just overly cautious or perhaps I just got unlucky with the All mix.

 

[MickFoster]

Just use coco and Perlite............70% coco and 30% Perlite.
Ditch the worm castings.
Start in solo cups and start feeding to run off around 3-4 days from sprout using a pH around 6.0.
Never use plain water and never let the coco dry.
I usually transplant to a larger pot around 2 weeks from sprout.
They look like this at two weeks old.

Feed daily to substantial run off in veg and at least twice a day in flower.
Good luck.

 

[GenericEnigma]

Thanku so much for getting back to me so quickly <3

As far as I know there is no manure.... just soil....

thing is results with previous seedlings were the same with just the coco and the perlite and some worm castings....

So I should transplant them to smaller pots with only the coco and perlite?

Also what should my water PH be? Tester is a bit iffy (maybe) but normally make water about 6.2 but reading maybe it should be higher at 6.5?

Thanku again

If you go to coco/perlite to sprout, I'd try to keep it near 6.0-7.0. My tap water is 7.0 and I never have issues, sprouting or flowering. Low ppm helps.

It's likely you're on a well, so let us know what your water is like.

If your water is 6.0-8.0 with a ppm of 200 or less, chasing pH will typically cause more problems than it will solve. I suspect soil growers have more issues from whatever is used to change pH than from water that is unmolested. I quit testing my water.

 

[Growium]

Autoflowers = Start them in their final pot

Regular seeds = Transplant a couple of times, as soon as the plant exceeds the size of the container/as soon as the leaves stick out beyond the circumference of the container, that's the rule of thumb. I personally do: Paper towel > Jiffy pellet > 1 liter smartpot > 10 liter smartpot > etc.

Don't use any nutes at first. Also, 40% of 300w is too much for such small plants IMO. Mine are under 40-80W for the first month or so and they do fine. But it depends on distance .



I was about to suggest Biobizz Light mix, I've had sensitive plants die from All mix being too strong. I start everything in Light mix, with added perlite. They don't really need any nutrients for the first few weeks/month anyway, maybe I'm just overly cautious or perhaps I just got unlucky with the All mix.

Yeah i used to think the allmix would be too strong and used to buy light with it. but been starting seeds the past month in it and all been good.

 

[HandyGringo]

Yeah i used to think the allmix would be too strong and used to buy light with it. but been starting seeds the past month in it and all been good.

Maybe I'll try that for the next run then! I mean as long as they're not getting burnt, more nutrients should beat no nutrients right?

 

[Peace63]

Oh my lawd... thanku all for getting back to me so quickly I really do need the help.... <3 thanku everybody <3

But getting some different advice.... and a bit confused about the way to go....

So my tap water is about ph 7.8 I think... other ph tester says 8.1 (might try calibrating them tonight) will get back to here is that changes
I have no idea what my ppm is though. It would be great not to have to test the water all the time tbh.

Ok so Im going to germinate some new seeds and start again...

So Ive taken from the advice...

stop testing and altering water maybe....

light might be too strong (although only put it up to 40% a few days ago) or might be too close.... how far should light be away?

Use coco plus perlite OR buy Biobizz Allmix (might be a bit tricky here) but it is possible but will take time.

@MickFoster good grief... 2 weeks :O ok all my seedlings are nowhere near that at 2 weeks.... they are all ridiculously tiny in comparison... something is severely wrong ... the all get to first new leaves, maybe a second set then something starts to happen... and they literally give up growing and start to wither and die....

Not sure if I feel better or worse now.... I am murdering all these babies somehow

Ok thanku peoples... I really appreciate the help and I hope you dont all get sick to death of me by the time Im finished.... please be patient I am obviously a bit useless at this... and I thought it would be quite an easy thing to do at least to get some results.

 

[MickFoster]

@MickFoster good grief... 2 weeks :O ok all my seedlings are nowhere near that at 2 weeks.... they are all ridiculously tiny in comparison... something is severely wrong ... the all get to first new leaves, maybe a second set then something starts to happen... and they literally give up growing and start to wither and die....

If you follow my advice they won't wither and die anymore, and yours will look like mine at 2 weeks.

 

[Growium]

Maybe I'll try that for the next run then! I mean as long as they're not getting burnt, more nutrients should beat no nutrients right?

Yeah i defo give it a go should be fine i’ve had no problems and saved myself having to keep buying the lightmix.