New to everything, Curling leaves 13 days in.

Hey everyone,
This is my 1st post and my 1st attempt at a grow. I have been following my plant for the entire cycle so far.. a whole 13 days. And this morning i woke up to the 1st set of leaves looking like this..
the leaves are curling quite a bit.


As far as watering schedule i have no set one yet as i am soo early i just keep it moist. I am using generic growing soil.
Any information would be a great help!
Thanks alot to all that took the time to read.

What kind of soil,whats the pH at, that plant is hating life.

You need to test ph 6.5 is best know yourchemicle release levels at different ph levels. Also are you using cfl's they should b 2 inches from the top of the plant change that and check ph you should b there with an answer

I used a "Juffy Windowsill Greenhouse Kit" It came with the pucks and thats what its growing in. The soil in the pot is a "triple Screened Canadian Sphagnun Peat Moss and Bentonite Clay" The bag title is magic seed starter. There is no other information on the bag except its a 10L bag.

PH i have no clue. I am using standard tap water from a residintial tap. I plan on gettin a PH tester as soon as i can afford one.

Any other questions Ill be glad to answer.


EDIT: I am using 4 X 65W 6500K CFL bulbs at approx 2-4 Inches away with reflectors.
Keeping tempurature between 76-79F

Just got some PH test strips.

My Ph. Is at the 6.4-6.5 area.

Any other ideas?

Move lights closer use very light nutrients if u have purchased them already if u need recommendations just write. Check water ph and soil ph. These are indeed two different readings. Write back w intel

mjh0817 said:

Move lights closer use very light nutrients if u have purchased them already if u need recommendations just write. Check water ph and soil ph. These are indeed two different readings. Write back w intel

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The water pH is 6.5

how would i test the soil with a strip?just stick it in the dirt? I apologize if im noobish at this. I am taking this very seriously though.
The lights have been adjusted to 2inches from the plant.

I have not yet gotten nutrients. any suggestions would be great.

That soil looks tight as a drum; roots need air. Bentonite clay is usually used to seal the tops of groundwater wells - that stuff has no business being in a pot with any plant. At that delicate stage, you might have to hope they ride it out but, as poor as that plant looks at 13 days, you may as well transplant it. Use Miracle Grow if your on a budget; Foxfarms if you're compelled to drop coin. Mix either with about 20% perlite to assure good gas exchange around the roots.

That plant is in no position to take feed right now, btw. It's at least two weeks of healthy growth away from that.

I have repotted the plant, and its very loose. luckily the soil from the peat puck still had kept its form. The leaves are not curled right back and touching the stem, but its still gronwing leaves at a pretty rapid pace.

Hey Buddy, My best friend and I had similar problems. Can you take a full sized pic of the grow area? What Lights are you Using, and how close are they?

The Soil may have Nutes in it already which could be a problem. I strongly think you should take a full 360o look of the bag see if you can find any other info on it.

Check out my thread in my signature, this may be helpful to you, i know it's helped others!

Hopefully, it can find its way out of that puck -- that might be the problem. Usually, the roots will be 2-3X as wide as the plant top, and 2-4X deeper at that growth stage. I'm surprised you were able to get the plant out that cleanly after 13 days.

I have included a couple pics of the grow area, I know its not pro but its what i came up with. The Pc fan managment system has thermal probes all thruout the box to monitor tempurature, and it activates the fans as needed to maintain temp.

I am NOW using 3 6500K 65W CFLs And 1 3000K 25W cfl Bulb.

There are 2 exhausts on top
and 5 intakes all near the bottom of the box.
I have attached 2 photos.

EDIT: I have scoured the net and the bag of soil, no information s is given. Other then the previous info supplied.

Kriegs said:

Hopefully, it can find its way out of that puck -- that might be the problem. Usually, the roots will be 2-3X as wide as the plant top, and 2-4X deeper at that growth stage. I'm surprised you were able to get the plant out that cleanly after 13 days.

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Scary thing is i have 5 more seeds starting. As i got ansy. nd jumped the gun. The roots my main plant
i can literally slide right out of the puck, they are only 1 inch or so and straight as can be.

That is odd - the short root and all - that's why the plants are struggling. That's way behind the curve for root development at 13 days. I transplanted some plants 7-8 days old a little while back, and they'd filled out a party cup by then.

Well, I think the transplant was the right thing, then.

I took a very close look at it today and pulled the peat puck out of the soil, no root are even close to penetratiting it. the peat puck just fell apart and the rooots were exposed. i took a photo I embedded the photo to make it as easy as possible for you to see the root growth.

I immediatly planted the roots and gave it a good drink of 6.5 ph boiled off tap water.

I think your pot is too big for that plant. When you water the drainage will be shit, probably the roots zone is water logged & they are having a hard time finding air. You dont have to feed the plant nutes at this stage, there are plenty in the soil.There is no need to ph your water either. My ph is 8+ i've never had problems. If you must ph, never below 6.5, below this you are harming your plant & the soil.But like i said there is no need for it because the soil is a great buffer. Next time root it in a peet pellet or similar.They have just the right amount of nutes in them to get the fucker going, a few less things to worry about that way.
Another thought, if that bag of soil was stored outside & it was cold it can piss younger plants right off, if you dont warm the soil 1st.
GL anyways.

I'm no pro but I had the same types of problems you're having, and now have a very healthy little happy plant. I started out in a 2 gallon pot with foxfarm's organic soil. Bought a 105w (400w equivalent) 5000k 6200 lumens cfl. I keep the light about 2 inches from the plant. Every other watering I added superhtrive (hormones and vitamans). I water when the surface looks boreder line dried up and about 2 to 3 inches into the soil feels dry. After the first month I moved her to a 4 gallon pot and started feeding her shultz's expert 10-15-10 plant food. I've hit her once with some bat guano, and am slowly addind big bloom. The pics are my plant before I made all the changes and after all the changes. I also bought Mel Frank's guide and asked alot of questions here. I'm not saying that I have a blue print for a perfect grow but my plant seems to be doing great. Hope any of this helps

speeka said:

I think your pot is too big for that plant. When you water the drainage will be shit, probably the roots zone is water logged & they are having a hard time finding air. You dont have to feed the plant nutes at this stage, there are plenty in the soil.There is no need to ph your water either. My ph is 8+ i've never had problems. If you must ph, never below 6.5, below this you are harming your plant & the soil.But like i said there is no need for it because the soil is a great buffer. Next time root it in a peet pellet or similar.They have just the right amount of nutes in them to get the fucker going, a few less things to worry about that way.
Another thought, if that bag of soil was stored outside & it was cold it can piss younger plants right off, if you dont warm the soil 1st.
GL anyways.

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I began the seeds in papertowel and a plate. then movend them into a peat pellet, once they sprouted and leaves showed i put the peat pellet in the pot.

Ah, yes... good picture and dissection of the problem. There's no remaining doubt in my mind - a seedling like that would usually have a tap root 3-4 times its length going straight down from the plant.

Did you replant that sucker after you broke up the puck? I hope so -- she'll take right up. You'll be amazed how resilient these little bastards are. I dropped one of those 7-day seedlings in a cup -- shit splattered all over and the little plant lay there on the carpet totally exposed. Just packed 'er back up and in about an hour, you couldn't even tell which one got dropped.

BTW, I've run seedlings in 2-gal pots and in party cups. I do think that starting in cups is better, but I've had good success the other way, too. It doesn't matter to that plant, other than it's trickier to keep a consistent water regime in a big pot with a tiny plant in it.

Kriegs said:

Ah, yes... good picture and dissection of the problem. There's no remaining doubt in my mind - a seedling like that would usually have a tap root 3-4 times its length going straight down from the plant.

Did you replant that sucker after you broke up the puck? I hope so -- she'll take right up. You'll be amazed how resilient these little bastards are. I dropped one of those 7-day seedlings in a cup -- shit splattered all over and the little plant lay there on the carpet totally exposed. Just packed 'er back up and in about an hour, you couldn't even tell which one got dropped.

BTW, I've run seedlings in 2-gal pots and in party cups. I do think that starting in cups is better, but I've had good success the other way, too. It doesn't matter to that plant, other than it's trickier to keep a consistent water regime in a big pot with a tiny plant in it.

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Yes, i replanted Immediatly. And gace a good drink.
I am gettin a moisture meter today, and i hope that this guy will take off. Thank for all the info.Ill give a better Update once i wake up.