My 14 day old seedlings need help

This is my first grow so please bear with me. I noticed the leaves starting to change colors and slowly withering away a few days ago. I had to wait for my PH UP/Down to arrive. Once it did, I found that the PH level was pretty high so I ended up doing a flush on them. I am wondering if this is strictly a PH problem or is this a lighting issue? I use LEDs that I keep about 16 inches away but also bring them outside for a few hours to soak in some sun. I live in Michigan and we had one hell of a heat wave this month so I am unsure what the exact issues are. I want to correct this problem fast but don't know if these are too far gone. I am growing in a mixture of jiffy starter and Mother Earth Groundswell. At first it looked like a mild case of calcium deficiency but am leaning more towards nutrient lockout due to PH imbalance. Thanks in advance folks!

Not too far gone, you still have healthy new growth on top. I’d pluck off the fried leaves to save plant energy and just wait a couple days to see if remaining leaves get fried too. It’s likely your flush fixed the issue.

Michigander also and wouldn’t recommend leaving them outside, our weather is too unpredictable, especially this year. Also you’ll likely bring bugs into your room doing that. Being your first grow I’d say do it 100% inside just because it’s more consistent and easy to control conditions while you learn. Never used an LED myself but as long as it’s not a super high wattage I think you can get closer maybe more like 6 inches, just keep a close watch on them and experiment and see how they handle that. Good luck!

Minerva said:

Not too far gone, you still have healthy new growth on top. I’d pluck off the fried leaves to save plant energy and just wait a couple days to see if remaining leaves get fried too. It’s likely your flush fixed the issue.

Michigander also and wouldn’t recommend leaving them outside, our weather is too unpredictable, especially this year. Also you’ll likely bring bugs into your room doing that. Being your first grow I’d say do it 100% inside just because it’s more consistent and easy to control conditions while you learn. Never used an LED myself but as long as it’s not a super high wattage I think you can get closer maybe more like 6 inches, just keep a close watch on them and experiment and see how they handle that. Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! Yup fellow Michigander here. I am only about 20 minutes from the Mackinaw Bridge. I will keep them inside from now on. Should I clip the whole leaf off or just cut away the parts of sick leaves? I was going to give nutes once I transplanted but should I lay off the nutes until the PH problem gets fixed? Thanks for your help. I figured it would be smart to learn how to grow especially since the dispensary up here charges insane prices. Why pay for good bud if I can learn how to grow good bud myself lol...

Always better to grow your own than buy from a store. I wouldn’t transplant or feed more yet. Do get rid of that foil around them and make sure you have good drain holes on the bottom of pots. Completely remove the leaves I circled in the picture. It was easier to show than explain which ones to pluck. Don’t worry about the PH, for now. Do your normal watering and things I’ve suggested and just see how they react.

I really appreciate your help. I went ahead and did what you suggested. The reason why I have foil around the cups is because I used clear solo cups. I was trying to keep light from hitting the roots but yet it gives me a chance to see exactly how the roots are doing down there. I have a water softener connected to my tap and it tested out to be over 7.5 PH. I am thinking PH was the main issue. I flushed it on Saturday and the new growth is looking much healthier. The leaf growth slowed down a bit but I am noticing the stalks are getting much stronger and wider. I have a pond in my yard and was wondering if it'd be better to use that instead of the tap because the PH is dead on and probably has more natural nutrients in it. What would you do? Thanks again for all of your help. It is really hard determining what to do by myself especially since I am a novice hahaha.

mikeyroot1 said:

I really appreciate your help. I went ahead and did what you suggested. The reason why I have foil around the cups is because I used clear solo cups. I was trying to keep light from hitting the roots but yet it gives me a chance to see exactly how the roots are doing down there. I have a water softener connected to my tap and it tested out to be over 7.5 PH. I am thinking PH was the main issue. I flushed it on Saturday and the new growth is looking much healthier. The leaf growth slowed down a bit but I am noticing the stalks are getting much stronger and wider. I have a pond in my yard and was wondering if it'd be better to use that instead of the tap because the PH is dead on and probably has more natural nutrients in it. What would you do? Thanks again for all of your help. It is really hard determining what to do by myself especially since I am a novice hahaha.

Click to expand...

Good to hear they are doing better. I wouldn’t use the pond water since you don’t know what chemicals in the environment could have run off into it, or possible pathogens. You know what’s in the softened water and can add nutrients or adjust PH as needed. If you want natural fertilizers buy some worm castings and bat guano to mix into your water. Would you be willing to drink that pond water right now? I’m betting you wouldn’t so why feed it to your plants? Cannabis uptakes and holds onto any chemicals or heavy metals etc. in soil and water so you want to give it the cleanest environment possible to avoid that being in your smoke later. Garbage in garbage out, you know? A flush doesn’t typically get rid of 100% of nutrients or contaminants regardless, but you do the best you can to prevent them from being there in the first place. Hope this helps.

If I had to pick between lake water and soft water, my plants are getting the pond water.. I guess I live dangerously but my plants would thank me. Another option is setup a rain barrel if you want a better, more controlled water source other then your salted water, that can harm cannabis. Rain for the most part is soft but picks up the good stuff once it hits the ground. And use common sense when selecting a outdoor water source obviously, check the environment.

J232 said:

If I had to pick between lake water and soft water, my plants are getting the pond water.. I guess I live dangerously but my plants would thank me. Another option is setup a rain barrel if you want a better, more controlled water source other then your salted water, that can harm cannabis. Rain for the most part is soft but picks up the good stuff once it hits the ground. And use common sense when selecting a outdoor water source obviously, check the environment.

Click to expand...

I say that because I’ve grown with softened water myself and it has been fine. Cannabis is a lot tougher and able to handle things than most people think. You can easily balance out the salt that’s in there. Rainwater is good but probably going to be hard to get as much as you need unless it rains all the time where you live.

I appreciate all feedback from you folks. It helps me out alot. The thing that worried me most about the softened water is the lack of calcium and magnesium. I did make my own PH balanced cal mag with egg shells and epsom salt that I will use as a foliar spray. The rain water is a great idea as well. I could always boil it to sterilize it maybe? I found another alarming thing today too... I found a few white maggots deep in one of my plants soil. That explains why the growth was much stunted than the rest of my plants. It looks like they chewed up the root system. I transplanted it outside. It will probably die but I figured I'd try. What are those white maggots from? Now I am in the process of sanitizing my whole grow room.

mikeyroot1 said:

I appreciate all feedback from you folks. It helps me out alot. The thing that worried me most about the softened water is the lack of calcium and magnesium. I did make my own PH balanced cal mag with egg shells and epsom salt that I will use as a foliar spray. The rain water is a great idea as well. I could always boil it to sterilize it maybe? I found another alarming thing today too... I found a few white maggots deep in one of my plants soil. That explains why the growth was much stunted than the rest of my plants. It looks like they chewed up the root system. I transplanted it outside. It will probably die but I figured I'd try. What are those white maggots from? Now I am in the process of sanitizing my whole grow room.

Click to expand...

The maggots are probably from being outside. A fly laid eggs in your soil. I bet the plants will live and thrive since you transplanted so long as you keep them inside now.

As long as you use a good balanced fertilizer you shouldn’t have to worry about adding much else. I am with you on doing things the natural way but for a beginner you might be making things more complicated on yourself than you need to IMO. I’d stick with worm castings and guanos since they are natural and easy to measure and work with. But if you’re set on completely natural then google true living organics to make a living soil.

mikeyroot1 said:

What are those little what maggots from?

Click to expand...

Fungus gnats, your plants look like they could have pest issues, the white larvae are most likely from that, a result of being too wet.

I appreciate all feedback from you folks. It helps me out alot. The thing that worried me most about the softened water is the lack of calcium and magnesium. I did make my own PH balanced cal mag with egg shells and epsom salt that I will use as a foliar spray. The rain water is a great idea as well. I could always boil it to sterilize it maybe? I found another alarming thing today too... I found a few white maggots deep in one of my plants soil. That explains why the growth was much stunted than the rest of my plants. It looks like they chewed up the root system. I transplanted it outside. It will probably die but I figured I'd try. What are those white maggots from? Now I am in the process of sanitizing my whole grow room.

Minerva said:

The maggots are probably from being outside. A fly laid eggs in your soil. I bet the plants will live and thrive since you transplanted so long as you keep them inside now.

As long as you use a good balanced fertilizer you shouldn’t have to worry about adding much else. I am with you on doing things the natural way but for a beginner you might be making things more complicated on yourself than you need to IMO. I’d stick with worm castings and guanos since they are natural and easy to measure and work with. But if you’re set on completely natural then google true living organics to make a living soil.

Click to expand...

I agree. That is what I get for trying to cut corners lol. I figured I'd save some cash on my electric bill by using the sun part time instead of running my lights all day long. But if it is ruining my crops and creating more work, then it isn't worth the hassle. I will learn as I go. I am just hoping I can get at least a couple of pounds off of this harvest lol..

J232 said:

Fungus gnats, your plants look like they could have pest issues, the white larvae are most likely from that, a result of being too wet.

Click to expand...

I sprayed them with Neem Oil and am refraining from watering them until they dry out. I am hoping that helps. I could use hydrogen peroxide mixed with water when I water next couldn't I?

J232 said:

Fungus gnats, your plants look like they could have pest issues, the white larvae are most likely from that, a result of being too wet.

Click to expand...

Yeah I thought they looked too wet as well.

What’s your plan for these? Your fighting a lost cause with 2 week old plants with pest and ph issues in cups. You should be planning on transplanting, nutrients and medium, pot size, light.

mikeyroot1 said:

I sprayed them with Neem Oil and am refraining from watering them until they dry out. I am hoping that helps. I could use hydrogen peroxide mixed with water when I water next couldn't I?

Click to expand...

No idea about using peroxide. I would just wait for them to dry out and put a fan on to help speed it up, should have a fan regardless anyway.

mikeyroot1 said:

I sprayed them with Neem Oil and am refraining from watering them until they dry out. I am hoping that helps. I could use hydrogen peroxide mixed with water when I water next couldn't I?

Click to expand...

Just let them dry out, those little flies I’m sure you have seen won’t live if it has regular dry cycles. They live in wet soil.

J232 said:

What’s your plan for these? Your fighting a lost cause with 2 week old plants with pest and ph issues in cups. You should be planning on transplanting, nutrients and medium, pot side, light.

Click to expand...

That is why I am asking man. I don't have all the answers which is why I am reaching out lol.

J232 said:

Just let them dry out, those little flies I’m sure you have seen won’t live if it has regular dry cycles. They live in wet soil.

Click to expand...

And that is when I was planning on transplanting. When the soil is completely dry. I wanted to flush them to get the PH under control then wait to transplant. These plants are experimentation only. I have feminized seeds germinating right now. I just wanted to toy around with spare seeds that I had from a bag I had. I don't even know if these are male or female yet so I am glad I am making mistakes with these so I can make changes for the plants I really want to thrive..

mikeyroot1 said:

That is why I am asking man. I don't have all the answers which is why I am reaching out lol.

Click to expand...

I mean you are moving them around right now, are you going to grow outdoors? Did you want to go organic? Budget? How much room do you have? You need to be able to grow a successful harvest before any hopes of how much you will get out of it.