lazy plant ++REP

ok heres the problem i got a seedling that i just started about two days ago and the leaves look good its just that its laying down is there anyway i could strengthen the stem
i dont think its too much water cuz ive only done that oce about 1/2 cup of tap and by the way its in a 3 gallon pot is that too big??

pics would help

use a bread tie to hold it up and keep a small amount of wind on it as well to strengthen the stem and make sure your light is close

ohh yea is the siz of the pot a problem?

esc420211 said:

... and by the way its in a 3 gallon pot is that too big??

Click to expand...

Yes, that pot is too big...next time you might want to use a 16-oz Solo cup (or a container about that size) for your seedlings....then transplant to the 3-gal later (some people even re-pot from the cup to a one-gal pot first, then 3 gal as the plant outgrows the one-gal).

ok i found out that the stem is bent way at the bottom so im gonna leave that for now to let it heal on its own then ill stand her up

the size of the pot has nothing to do with it. You can start off in a 5gal bucket if you don't have to resources to get different sized cups and pots.

Could be over watering
Could be heat issues
Could be to cold.

What kinda lights are you using?

This happens to me when I use an HP soil for a start or seedling in too big of a container. I would get a trowel and bury your plant 2 inches further down into the soil. any where the stem is covered by soil will turn into roots in a few days and your plant will be strengthened

just add some soil to right below you leaves. bring your lights closer. this shouldnt happen if they are getting proper lighting, temps, humidity, all that good stuff. make sure your environment is ideal for them. what kinda lights u using?

xebeche said:

Yes, that pot is too big...next time you might want to use a 16-oz Solo cup (or a container about that size) for your seedlings....then transplant to the 3-gal later (some people even re-pot from the cup to a one-gal pot first, then 3 gal as the plant outgrows the one-gal).

Click to expand...

pot size doesnt matter. the only reason people use 16 oz cups is for space issues. if you dont have to transplant that = no stress = faster growth

oh one more thing you have to worry about with big pots is over watering. you shouldnt have to water for a week or 2 at least. make sure the soil dries out between watering. that could be your problem too, but no one will ever know for sure without pics

Yeah jus put mor soil around the plant stem, or better yet put mor soil in the pot itself. So that the surface of the soil is higher to the first set of leaves. You can maneuver the soil around so that tha plant stands upright. If tha soil iz already 2 tha rim of tha pot, then you might jus hav 2 dig it up carefully and plant it in deeper.

sometimes you just have to let it do its thing, some of my seedlings will lay down for a few days at the beginning. They'll perk up if you're following the routine

This happens when the light is too far away from the seedling and the temps are too high. Could be one, the other, or both. A lack of wind is also the problem.

This is what I do when this happens to me: I stake the plant to a tooth pick or shishkabob skewer using soft garden tie or twist tie, I make sure that it is not going to fall back over again and that the tie is affixed LOOSELY around the stem, so that it does not choke the plant. I usually wrap one end of the twist tie around the toothpick several times so it looks like a flag, and then do the same to the stalk of the seedling with the other end.

Now we have our plant standing tall and proud, but she is still a wimp, so we put a gentle breeze on her with a fan on low so that she is dancing, but not rattling around. As long as your plants dance they will grow strong and stout, which is what we want in our plants. The bending from the wind creates micro tears in the stalk and as it heals itself, it thickens up to protect itself.

Problem Solved.

k i got two 50 watt cfls and a 13 watter on it about 3 inches awayyea and i just put a fan in last night and imm bury it a little bit more and imma checc bacc in later

You are going to flower with HPS right? If not you will want to consider a 200-250 CFL designed specifically for plant growth. I use HPS, but have used my 125W and 250W CFL to finish flowering plants that need to be quarantined from the indoor garden, or taken out of the rain from the outdoor garden. They make a decent product, and make very little heat. But my HPS buds are always denser with much more obvious trichomes.

i wouldnt recommend burying the plant more as this can cause rotting from the moisture of the soil. but i could be wrong...i suggest using a stake and tying the stem to it as Jozikins stated

asienk said:

i wouldnt recommend burying the plant more as this can cause rotting from the moisture of the soil. but i could be wrong...i suggest using a stake and tying the stem to it as Jozikins stated

Click to expand...

Young seedlings can usually root through their stems, but you are right, not always. I don't see a lot of danger in it, but I have personally found it to be ineffective. That and I'm super impatient.

sk8disgruntled said:

pot size doesnt matter. the only reason people use 16 oz cups is for space issues. if you dont have to transplant that = no stress = faster growth

Click to expand...

Well, I never said that the reason he was having problems is because of pot size...I only suggested that next time he might want to use smaller pots to start.

People use cups for seedlings for another reason: there's really no good reason to use a 3 gal pot for a plant that size. Why water with a gallon of water (or nutes) when you could be growing in cups and use a fraction of that volume? What if you're growing five plants? Or ten? You wanna use five or ten gallons each time you water/feed when you could use a quart instead? It's doubtful that the plant really NEEDS that much soil during the first several weeks...so why have it? To waste water/nutes? Might as well just dump it down the drain.

I also tend to think that plants actually LIKE to be upcanned once or twice during their life cycle...and if done properly the plant will experience very little stress during the process. Repotting from solo cups to larger containers is a really easy, and my plants always seem to THRIVE shortly after I transplant them from their cups.

I've never grown a plant from seed to adult in a 3-gal container, so I can't speak from actual experience...but I seriously doubt that you'd see any appreciable difference in growth by doing it that way.

was the stem just bent or was it actually broken? the stem being bent wont kill the plant, I tie my plants down pretty close to the ground and bend it right against the soil. the bend in mine actually make them grow bigger and nicer.

yea the plant died but thanks im pretty sure it died because the bent stem cut off water and it like turned to powder after i rubbed it in my palms but it was only 90 deg