Not Sure Of My Seedlings... Need a trrained eye... 1st CoCo Grow

dante.

Active Member
Hello all,

This is my first indoor grow and i am using coco coir. I have my little guys underneath a 400w Metal Hallide Bulb on a 18/6 light cycle. They are also in small biodegradable peat moss pots. I germinated them in a a paper towel and then placed them in the coco and put them under a clone dome until they were about 1.5 inches tall. They are 6 days, 4 days, and 3 days old respectively (i counted from the day they first sprouted out of the coco medium). I also have a tomato plant that is about 18 days old in there with them and that is growing great. The problem is that the tomato plant is looking very vigorous and healthy; and the seedlings are looking small and stunted with some leaf deformations/discoloration (see pics below). My oldest seeding appears the most stunted, while the other two have thin leaves that appear to be growing abnormally. They all appear to have yellowing/brownish tan spots on their leaves. The two oldest seedlings have a tan/yellow color on the ends of their serrated leaves. I've attempted to keep my ph (5.8-6.0) as consistent as possible, whether i'm watering with nutes or just plain water. I believe it's either a ph issue or a nute issue (burning or lack of), but i'm not sure. What do you guys think? I greatly appreciate the help.


Key:
(First Picture - 4 day old seedling
Second Picture - 3 Day old seedling
Third Picture - 6 Day old seedling
Fourth Picture - 4 day old seedling
Fifth Picture - tomato
Sixth Picture - 6 day old seedling)

IMG_0494 - Copy.jpgIMG_0495 - Copy.jpgIMG_0499 - Copy.jpgIMG_0501 - Copy.jpgIMG_0503 - Copy.jpgIMG_0497 - Copy.jpg
 

*BUDS

Well-Known Member
Well the tomato plant can handle the heat and lights ,the dope plants cant. The temps are high arnt they? they are stressed seedlings, put them under a cl in a cooler environment asap and then they could still take up to 2 weeks to recover from this shock.
 

dante.

Active Member
My room temp is about 73-74 degrees Fahrenheit, temp inside the box is about 4-6 degress hotter. So it's about 77-80 degrees in their environment. They were doing fine in the cone dome until i brought them out and started a mild nutrient solution. Does it look like they're nute burned to you?
 

kenny ken 77

Active Member
I agree with buds, the radiant heat from the M/H is too much for girls so young, use florescent light until they have at least 8 sets of leaves,good luck mate
 

dante.

Active Member
I agree with buds, the radiant heat from the M/H is too much for girls so young, use florescent light until they have at least 8 sets of leaves,good luck mate

So, could i just put them under a 10 watt CFL? about 5-6 in. away? I have been misting them to keep them cooler the past two days.
 

keep it real.

Well-Known Member
Misting them under a mh or hps will cause burns. To me they look wet and hot, not the kind of wet and hot you want to see from These girls.
 

dante.

Active Member
Misting them under a mh or hps will cause burns. To me they look wet and hot, not the wet and hot you want to see from Thea girls.
Damn, well i guess that's enough of that lol. Do you think it's possibly nutrient/ph related? Or does it look like simple heat stress?
 

dante.

Active Member
Here's a more comprehensive pic of my set up:

IMG_0496 - Copy.jpg

Maybe put them on the floor of the box to lessen up on the heat? My ballast has a dimming option too, so i'll utilize that. Thoughts?
 

keep it real.

Well-Known Member
Ph may be an issue by they look fine I would not do anything about th ph they look fine I would for sure let them dry up very well and let the roots get some air before you do anything else.
 
go to your local lowes or home depot they should have a soil ph meter for like a dollar it gives you a good idea of the ph of the soil but like the others said its probly not the ph but it would not hurt to have the ph meter
 

420medical

Member
I agree with buds, the radiant heat from the M/H is too much for girls so young, use florescent light until they have at least 8 sets of leaves,good luck mate
I agree with BUDS and Kenny ken 77... definitely use the fluorescent If you use four foot tubes, run a cool white tube and an aggro grow tube. The best thing now are the new T5 florescent One of those does great. I actually had eight plants under one bulb and grew my babies to about fifteen inches tall!

But yes for SURE get them out from under the MH immediately. Room temp means nothing.

Good luck bro!
 

420medical

Member
So, could i just put them under a 10 watt CFL? about 5-6 in. away? I have been misting them to keep them cooler the past two days.
That's just like misting outside in the direct sun. What happens are the water droplets magnify the light like a little magnifying glass. Then you'll start getting burn holes in your leaves.

The CFLs should work. I know I have heard of people using them.

Again... Good luck bro
 

dante.

Active Member
go to your local lowes or home depot they should have a soil ph meter for like a dollar it gives you a good idea of the ph of the soil but like the others said its probly not the ph but it would not hurt to have the ph meter
Haha, Growing in COCO.
 

dante.

Active Member
I agree with BUDS and Kenny ken 77... definitely use the fluorescent If you use four foot tubes, run a cool white tube and an aggro grow tube. The best thing now are the new T5 florescent One of those does great. I actually had eight plants under one bulb and grew my babies to about fifteen inches tall!

But yes for SURE get them out from under the MH immediately. Room temp means nothing.

Good luck bro!
Thanks man, But you really think that the MH is frying them? I have two that are doing alright. You think it (metal hallide for seedlings) may be strain dependent? That would an interesting discussion.
 

dante.

Active Member
Ok I am having huge issues with my seedlings. Two of the aforementioned ones died (day 6 and day 3). The one that survived (day 4), however, is doing wonderfully. I let it dry out and then i gave it some mild nutrient solution and it appears to have bounced back (almost on it's 3rd set of leaves). I just transplanted it to a larger container yesterday though, so we'll see.

Moving on, to replace what I lost, I germed 5 more seeds and all 5 came up great, looking strong (keeping them in styrofoam cups with the coco this time). But yesterday morning, I went in and 2 of them were bent over (stem was real thin and appeared snapped at the bend) and 2 more have small twisty leaves (but with a slender stem). Only 1 looks normal and healthy. Then this morning one of the others that had small twisty leaves bent over and appeared "snapped." So i counted it another loss. So i am left with one healthy looking seedling and one that's slender, has small "twisty" leaves, and appears to be yellowing a bit. I did nothing different for either of these. Kept them wet and heated for germ and took the lid off when they popped out.

I have been looking into Damping off, and that seems to possibly be my problem. What do you guys think? I've kept the pH at 5.8 and have used next to nothing in nutes (maybe 12th strength).

basically, i need some more advice. lol
 

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
^^^^stop giving them nutes/none! .......they all show signs of overfeeding(twisted growth/claws)...the 400wMH is fine , just keep it "around" three feet for seedlings:)
 
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