Grow Journal: my first grow with 600w MH/HPS

man... two of the seedlings died for some reason. i was gone for about a day and a half and the trainwreck and one of the SLH just didnt make it. the TW didnt even pop out of the soil. i was using these coco pellet things that you water that were for seedlings. so idk what happened. i went ahead and transplanted the other two into different soil and put a baggy over the cup for a humidity seal for them. hopefully they make it. id be bummed if they didnt make it and my damn badseed did

well where there is death there is birth... or something like that, anyways i went ahead and germinated a Feminized Kaya 47 seed and another SLH so hopefully these two bad ass girls make it. putting them in different soil though

i had some really bad luck sprouting in that MGOC and I have seen a lot of others with the same problems. Just get yourself a good seed starting mix something light. Home depot should have some seed starting mix by their seeds. Than transplant up into bigger pots and transplant last into the final pots. Try to get a good premium soil, doesn;t necessarily have to be expensive just check out the ingredients.

naw i didnt sprout these new seedlings in the miracle grow. it was in this seedling starter kit from lowes. it had coco coir things that you water and it fill a cell with this coco medium for seedlings. thats what i used for these 4 new seeds. but oh well. i germinated two more and and will hope for the best the other two survive. i put the in a good airy soil with spaghnum and peat moss. its half and half with MGOC. i know but it is lighter than my other soil mix( my own mix). i put sand in the others mix for aeration of the roots. they should take in it but who knows

Pine

You have run into the same problems I did when i started. First couple days of growth are when they should be kept moist but not drenched... At about day 5 when the first set of true leaves develop, you can start to let the pots really dry out before giving them water again. What you are doing is drowning the roots and they cannot get oxygen. The signs of over-watering all look nute-related but usually start as a "mag def" looking leaf pattern or just yellowing from the tip inward from the bottom of the plant upwards. I only water when my plants droop and the pots are light as can be(past day 5) When you water, water directly around the steam staying away from the outside of the pot. Plants 0-5 days need maybe 1-3 tablespoons of water. 5-10 days 1/4 cup. This is from my experience though and it all depends on temps,humidity, and how fast your pots dry out. Just water way less and less often and you will see growth in no time.

I have included a picture of the size of a plant when you can start letting it really dry out. This is when I struggled with over-watering for months and sadly RIU members told me it was all nute related.... Notice in the picture the yellowing of the bean leaves and damp soil which progressed through the whole plant and ended up looking as all your babies =/ Good luck man. Btw* Don't start in party cups... They make overwatering too easy

yup that was definitely it then. i had to go out of town and the top quarter inch or their soil was completely dry. damn oh well. ya i know party cup suck but i only filled them half full and cut holes in the bottom. and they are in a sandier soil for better drainage and aeration

Nothing against party cups, they just make problems worse for OW'ing because of their small width and tall height. Just keep your babies really dry and let them droop before you water them. Give them maybe 1/4 cup water directly around the stem slowly.... Don't go by "water out the bottom" for watering, that causes overwatering especially in party cups =/ I feel that's where this all begin. Mary jane loves dry soil after 5 days of life!! =D

ya it is. thats why i know i wont over water these new babies. i also only filled them half full so realistically now they are as tall as they are wide. and before i was waiting til it dripped from the bottom. but they are doing well now. ill post pics later today.

If you have new seedlings, they maybe need a tablespoon or two of water a day or every other day. The most important part of seedlings is making sure they don't dry out. After 5 days you let them dry out and they grow fast as hell. Ill check out the pics when you post them

ok. then ya thats definitely what happened to the other two seedlings. well the other two are about to crack so ill plant them in soil prob late tonight. along with pics and everything haha. oh and im keeping the other two nice and moist with the top layer wetish. i put a ziploc bag over the cup for increased humidity. i blew into the bag to add a lil co2

Haha c02 ftw Ya humidity domes are very helpful the first couple of days to prevent seedlings from drying out. I've had humidity domes on before and they saved my seedlings when the soil dried up =O Still, keep the soil moist until about day 5.

ok here are some new pics of everything


ok 1-5 are the bagseed.
6. white widow
7. Super Lemon Haze

Lookn good. Just keep the older ones very dry until they droop and no more water for the lil guys since they look moist enough

haha ya i have been. they just started to droop a little today so i water the big ones i added molasses to the water and a 1/8 solution of a high phosphorous organic nutes to help speed root growth. im wanting to transplant to their ending pots at the end of next week. im just making sure i have a good root ball to transplant. im probably only going to do that one application for the root growth. my jacks classic should be coming soon and ill finish veg with that. it has 20-20-20 with all the trace nutes and micro nutes i need.

Ya the roots don't get to develop well when they are overwatered since they dont have to go searching for water. So has growth seemed to pick up with the older ones?

ya they have started to spead up. two are working on their second set of 5 finger leaves and one just finished its first. i moved up my light today, so to get the older ones to stretch a little bit. im having really close nodes, which is good but i want them to get a little heighth as well, they are probably 6-7 inches right now with probably 5-6 leaf sets each hopefully they will explode in growth in the next week or two. i think i will start flowering all of them, including the new 4 fem i planted, late march. depending on how the little ones veg. im hoping they will speed up. im going to be transplanting them in 1 gallons with a 2-1 blend of ocean forest and light warrior with a little perlite added.

Sounds good =] I've had the best results with 40% OF, 40% LW, and 20% Perlite. But your mixture should work fine. Glad to hear things have sped up =D

ok so they have sped up and they are looking good. here are some new pics.

Beautiful =D The little babies are looking great too. Just let them dry out a bit cuz they look pretty wet. Remember after 5 days from popping ground try the watering only when they droop method as I mentioned and you should have healthy giants in no time! Cheers

ya im actually away from them for a few days. but i built them a box with a cool mist humidifier and some cfls and flouros. i stopped watering them and they should be good to transplant next week. im going to transplant them in a 50/50 mix of FFOF and some COCO fiber. oh and they big girls are looking great. right before i left i foliar fed them with a 1/8 strength jacks classic 20-20-20. its all soluble nutrients so the plants can get them all from foliar feeding. which i like in case if i ever have ph issues and get deficiency's. i think ill foliar feed with it twice to 3 times a week. im going to pick up some superthrive too. that should speed them up a little. going to give it to the little ones when they get a bigger. prolly in a week or two. im probably going to do th eone drop a gallon so i can always feed it superthrive with every watering. i want crazy roots