First Time Growing Cannabis! Damaged Seedling leaves (1 week old)

Hi all,

I have been a member for a couple of months and have been reading on here occasionally. For the past couple of months I have been very fascinated and intrigued by all of you great people who are growing.

I love the idea of growing in general; it calms me and makes me feel closer to earth.

A couple of weeks ago I got my hands on a seed ( only one) that comes from a really strong strain (not sure exactly what it is but probably a skunk, the bud I had was very stinky and potent). I decided it was time from me to start growing so I set up a grow room as well as a grow journal with pictures every 2 days.

The grow room is 4 feet x 3 feet, which is completely covered in mylar. I bought the CFL lights from HTGSUPPLY on EBAY.

A 3-pack 35 watt 2700K ( 7,200 lumens)
A 4 ft 2 tube T5 6500 K (10,000 lumens)

I bought FoxFarm Ocean Forest soil and the FoxFarm Nutrient set and a PH balance set as well.

I managed to germinate it and it grew nicely and it has now been 7 days.

Now here is where my dilemma comes in:

Yesterday I noticed some white spots on the first set of leaves and later noticed that the seedling had been attacked by spider mites. I also noticed some black dots as well, which I assume is the spider mites eggs.

My STUPID NOOB-self shouldn’t have done anything other than spray the plant with PH-ed water but I couldn’t resist to research for organic pesticide online. I found that Orange Peel could possibly kill off some spider mites. I decided to squeeze some of the orange peel directly on to the first set of leaves and left the plant alone.

One hour later, the first set of leaves start to curl up and turn dark. Now in hindsight I assume it must have been from the ACIDIC orange peel (why didn’t I think about that?! Uugh!) Anyway, the next day, the plant was still alive and the stem looks healthy but the leave tips had hardened and crisped up.

Now, my question is: Do you guys think that the seedling will survive? There are some green left on the seedling leaves and a second set of leaves is developed too. I decided to cut approximately 1/3 of the leaves tips since they where completely dead.

Please share your thoughts I would really appreciate it.



The pictures start from the 6[SUP]th[/SUP] day up to the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] day where I accidently damaged the leaves.

Thank you

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Ok, first of all, congrates on the baby. Now... piss of with the voo doo magic medicine, it's to young to have that kind of stress. Next can you put you plant in a more sterile area that has less chance of bug infection, six days and you have bug, man your in for a grey hair grow at that rate. Damaged leaves or not when the plant is that young don't cut them off, the live tissue can still photosynthesis and with so little area to do so you need every last bit. Now if you got rid of your bugs and you have new growrth, which I see, you should be ok.... just try not to love your plant so hard. Its been stressed pretty hard you may have some slow growth for a few days but it should come around. Good Luck!

Keep it watered, but not over watered. Looks like the 2nd set of leaves have already started coming in. They should live with some care and attention. Light will really help encourage this too.

The 5th picture over, I would cut those burnt leaves in 1/2, or maybe even a little more. Then when a few more leaves have developed, remove it completely. Up to you though.

all you can do is watch and wait.flush the effected area with clean water, possibly a mild detergent like safer soap, very dilute. The damage looks more like thrips to me, but it could be mites. the soil looks too damp btw. The plant will definitely be stunted for some time if it survives. Ocean forest is way too hot for seedlings IMO.

Woah! Stop the clock! Before you use anything else other than water please do a comprehensive search/research in the internet. What are your temps? Seedlings like it warm and humid. I would say do nothing but water the poor thing until a couple more sets of leaves come out and then transplant into something bigger. Those party cups are way too small for a growing seedling. Most folks dont realize the roots are about 2x deeper than the plant is high. If this is your first grow, you will be amazed and astonished at how much more you will know at the end of it. You are the pupil your plant is your teacher. Take lots of notes. Good luck!

matt7835706 said:

Ok, first of all, congrates on the baby. Now... piss of with the voo doo magic medicine, it's to young to have that kind of stress. Next can you put you plant in a more sterile area that has less chance of bug infection, six days and you have bug, man your in for a grey hair grow at that rate. Damaged leaves or not when the plant is that young don't cut them off, the live tissue can still photosynthesis and with so little area to do so you need every last bit. Now if you got rid of your bugs and you have new growrth, which I see, you should be ok.... just try not to love your plant so hard. Its been stressed pretty hard you may have some slow growth for a few days but it should come around. Good Luck!

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You are right. The whole cause of the infestation was because of the Basil plant that I had in there. I sterilized everything and tossed the plant out.
The seedling doesn't look pretty right now but its still alive so I really hope it will perk up soon! And I will try not to love my plant to much!

420Trix said:

Woah! Stop the clock! Before you use anything else other than water please do a comprehensive search/research in the internet. What are your temps? Seedlings like it warm and humid. I would say do nothing but water the poor thing until a couple more sets of leaves come out and then transplant into something bigger. Those party cups are way too small for a growing seedling. Most folks dont realize the roots are about 2x deeper than the plant is high. If this is your first grow, you will be amazed and astonished at how much more you will know at the end of it. You are the pupil your plant is your teacher. Take lots of notes. Good luck!

Click to expand...

The plant was doing great before I used the stupid orange peel on it. I started with the party cup with an intention on transplanting the plant after a two week period. Thank you for you reply, much appreciated

XRagnorX said:

all you can do is watch and wait.flush the effected area with clean water, possibly a mild detergent like safer soap, very dilute. The damage looks more like thrips to me, but it could be mites. the soil looks too damp btw. The plant will definitely be stunted for some time if it survives. Ocean forest is way too hot for seedlings IMO.

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I've read on line that the ocean forest soil tend to be too hot for some phenotypes but I didn't have any issues until I caused the problem.

lol well you sure fried those mites eh?

Theres nothing wrong with growing in a party cup as long as you transplant when the roots have filled in. Obviously indoor growers cannot give their plants root systems twice as tall as the plant itself.... unless you have a 20 foot ceiling of course.

I think it will live. The orange peel thing might even work... but not directly sprayed onto the leaves from the peel lol.
Hope its a female!

Thedillestpickle said:

lol well you sure fried those mites eh?

Theres nothing wrong with growing in a party cup as long as you transplant when the roots have filled in. Obviously indoor growers cannot give their plants root systems twice as tall as the plant itself.... unless you have a 20 foot ceiling of course.

I think it will live. The orange peel thing might even work... but not directly sprayed onto the leaves from the peel lol.
Hope its a female!

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I know right lol and I wasn't even high when I did it . I really hope it will live too because its the only seed I had.

Here is an update on the plant's status.

It’s the 8th day and the damaged area looks like it has yellowed and dried up but its STILL alive. The stem looks pretty healthy and there is some green tissue for the plant to produce photosynthesis.

It doesn’t look like there has been any growth ☹

for future reference neem oil is 5 bucks at most lowes and home depots. Mix it with water and it kills most pests and molds and wont hurt your seedlings

Day 10.

The seedling is still stunted and I haven't notice any new shoot growth since the incident. The dead tissue on the leaves is yellow and dry but the seedling is still alive and the stem looks pretty healthy.

I wonder if it will ever make it or ever grow!?

How long do you think I should wait until I toss it?
It has been 3 days since I accidentally acid fried the first set of leaves and the new shoots of the second set of leaves with orange peel.

It has now been 5 days since the incident. The plant is still alive and the stem looks pretty healthy. One of the damaged leaves has curled up even more.
There hasn't been any sign of new growth yet! I wonder when the little seedling will come around?

Update Status:

It has now been 10 days since I accidentally acid fried my 1 week old seedling leaves with orange peel. I tried to kill off some spider mites but instead burned the first and second sets of leaves. The plant is 18 days old.

The plant is still alive but there has not been any sign of growth and I'm starting to wonder if the plant will ever grow. The stem looks healthy but I noticed a crack/ or peeling on the base of the stem.

I have been watering the plant every 2-3 days when the soil dries. Should I give the plant any nutrients or just keep watering with PH-ed water?
What do you guys think? Will the plant ever get over being stunted?

Here are some pics that I took today.