2nd attempt

This is my 2nd attempt... My first lot died due to over watering and being unprepared. This time I was sure i did everything right -_-, but my sprout seems to have fallen over still.

I'm using calloways premium potting soil. The strain is Something Special,70-83 degrees F, 175watt MH, 3 fans for airflow, I mixed the soil and about 100-125ml of water with the dirt before putting it into the plastic cup, I didn't water for about 6 days, and it was growing quite nicely, I figured after 6 days I should water at least a bit, so I tried not to repeat past mistakes and i put about 20ml if that on the top of the dirt. about 30 min to an hour later she falls over... So im thinking it could be overwatering again (which seems insane since i put so little.), can someone point me in the right direction... thanks.

Also I noticed a few other sprouts that are about 5 times the size of mine, over the same amount of time.

g1zmo

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/151372-1-week-old-sick-need.html

just looks like a weak stem, doesnt look dead, put a stick to tie it to and put a little fan on it to strengthen. or am i missing something.

I have three fans on it, the light is about 11 inches from it. maybe im just in a panic a bit early. That plus mines still trying to get out of the seed, and ive seen peoples that are a nice size after 6 days...

i agree, mayb duff seeds,give it a few more days to c if pick up, i really dont think u have over watered,perlite mixed in would help make sure there is good drainage.

del66666 said:

i agree, mayb duff seeds,give it a few more days to c if pick up, i really dont think u have over watered,perlite mixed in would help make sure there is good drainage.

Click to expand...

Ok, Im putting a piece of coat hanger next to it and tying it now, thanks for quick reply.

Id just start over. Keep the light as close as you can without burning. It sounds like maybe you didnt water enough? Feel the cup. Does it feel light or heavy with water? I mist my seedlings daily and lightly water them daily. You shouldnt have stretching like that. Also, I have had a few seedlings with the seed shell stuck to their little faces and I very carefully remove the shell. If you do not remove it it will probably come off on its own but may not and then will kill your plant

g1zmo said:

I have three fans on it, the light is about 11 inches from it. maybe im just in a panic a bit early. That plus mines still trying to get out of the seed, and ive seen peoples that are a nice size after 6 days...

Click to expand...

3 fans for a little mite like that might be overkill?? a light breeze is what you are after.. I'm sure it'll be fine though - you can build up soil around the base of the stem and that may help but your coathanger should do the trick.. and as mentioned above, get your lights close but not so close they burn - looks a bit stretched...

Good luck

???? Definitely stretched but that shouldn't happen with an HID unless it's too far away.

herbose said:

???? Definitely stretched but that shouldn't happen with an HID.

Click to expand...

I like that you got the small HID as I don't like CFL grows particularly, BUT for seedlings I usually start with a CFL. It sounds like you have your seedling in a bit of a harsh environment with 3 fans blowing and an HID light blasting it. Try starting seedlings with a CFL and mix some perlite and vermiculite in your pottings oil mixture. Also I assume this isn't potting mixture that already has the nutrients like MG Potting Soil?

This is my setup, I moved the fan in the back so that only about 2 or 3 inches of the fan is blowing into the area, and I removed the orange an all together to outside the area and just have it blowing in. Now that i look at it, probably way overkill -_-

I'm actually not sure about the soil... I have a cfl i can switch to... Should i stay with the MH now that ive been going with that, or go ahead and switch? Also Ive been running the light 24/7 forgot to mention that in my first post.

24-7 is ok, give the cfl a try, cant do n e harm m8, if you get time check my albums.

I didn't wanna start another thread... I started my 3rd attempt, its been about 3 days, and the sprout is doing ok. It has 4 leaves, and its starting to curl up... the humidity is about 30 %, temp is 85 degrees and its under 5000 lumen cfl (space is like 2ft long 8inches wide). its about 2-3 inches away. I did some googling and it looks like it could be to close to the lights or have an Mg deficiency? Trying to confirm. Im going to move it away from the light a bit and try and get the temp back down under 80. I water it with a couple of mists every 6-8 hours, and i only spray the water at the base of the sprout (didnt wanna burn the leaves), water is left out for 24 hours. My 2nd sprout that died did the exact same thing before drying up and dying... Any help is appreciated as always!

Thanks

g1zmo

g1zmo said:

I didn't wanna start another thread... I started my 3rd attempt, its been about 3 days, and the sprout is doing ok. It has 4 leaves, and its starting to curl up... the humidity is about 30 %, temp is 85 degrees and its under 5000 lumen cfl (space is like 2ft long 8inches wide). its about 2-3 inches away. I did some googling and it looks like it could be to close to the lights or have an Mg deficiency? Trying to confirm. Im going to move it away from the light a bit and try and get the temp back down under 80. I water it with a couple of mists every 6-8 hours, and i only spray the water at the base of the sprout (didnt wanna burn the leaves), water is left out for 24 hours. My 2nd sprout that died did the exact same thing before drying up and dying... Any help is appreciated as always!

Thanks

g1zmo

Click to expand...

Don't get discouraged, this is just the learning curve that you are dealing with. You didn't add any specifics about your soil. That could be the source of all of your problems. The CFL setup is DEFINITELY going to be better and 2-3" is about right. You don't want it to be hot on the top of the little guy yet, but you don't want him stretching out all weird either. Just watch'em grow and you can judge.

It really sounds to me like you have something going on w/ the soil. What kind of soil are you using? What did you mix in there?

As for watering I would stop with the misting thing whatever that means. What I like to do is:

1) Pick up the pot when it's dry and I have just filled it.

2)Completely water the soil until it's draining out of the bottom.

3) Pick up the pot and note the difference in weight. (You will use this as a reference for when to water throughout it's time in that pot).

4) Let the soil mixture dry out for 2 days and see how much water is gone. (This gives me an idea how much evaporation I'm going to be dealing with and how much watering I can expect to do).

Once I have this information and 2-3 days has gone by my seed has usually germinated and it's ready to go also...great coincidence huh? (sorry, stoned).

Moisten the soil in the middle of the pot where the seed will be going and plant the little bugger. Then don't water again until it's quite dry, like completely dry (this shouldn't take long as we didn't soak the soil, just moistened it before planting). Maybe the next day or so and just continue on moistening that little spot every day or every other day depending on evaporation.

As far as nutes and defeciencies you really shouldn't be dealing with that yet. If your soil already has nutes in it like MG soil you might want to get away from that.

Check the ph of your water and G/L!

- Like I said, don't get discouraged, everyone goes through this, then has some success and as long as you can remember what you did that worked you'll be fine for life.

Thanks for the reply,ph is in range (water is between 7 - 7.5ph, I'm using calloways premium soil, nothing mixed in. n-p-k is .1 - .05 - .1 Ive been reading, and im thinking about trying perlite and/or rockwool cubes, maybe lava rock... I mean the way the soil is now, if i watered it till it drained out the bottom... its like not possible, which i guess should tell me something. it cant be aired out enough. the water just kinda sits at the top and would just run over the sides instead of drain quickly. maybe the roots arent getting oxygen or something, my girl seems fine right now, Im germinating a couple more for practice(swag -_-), this time ill try better soil for sure.

thanks again.

btw, how fast should the water move through the soil? when i water it, is it pretty fast generally, or should i have to sit for a bit and wait for the water to drain into the soil then add, then wait, then add, or should i air it out so well its like really fast, never having time to collect on the top of the soil if i just water and water? lol, trying to get a feel.