Northern lights seedlings

Hey! my seedlings sprouted 7 days ago, do you think they are a little small? i haven't seen much new growth in the last 3 days??? I have them in a premium potting mix 40% perlite with a sprinkle of dolomite lime, in a flat white storage unit with a 250watt dual spectrum CFL. Watering every three days or so, PHing my water! I have had them on 12/12 since germing! Comments please!

N.L. generally grows short and squat. I agree they appear a little small but probably not for a short and squat strain under only 12 hours of light a day........ and why are they in flowering from seed? You'll be lucky to get 6-8 grams dried at this rate.

I have space and time restraints! I just wanna get some bud!! You don't agree with 12/12 from seedling?

I'm not so sure 6 plants under a 250w CFL will be enough. For 1-2 you would get a decent yield at 12/12. You want 100w per plant. With 6...6-8 grams is an understatement, but it's going to be pretty damn close to that. Nothing wrong with 12/12 from seed.

Thanks Clouds but that still doesnt explain the stunted growth over the last 3 days?

Sometimes seedlings "pause" and grow their roots.

In my expierences anyways. once they grow their roots for a few days, they'll start growing fast as shit. Just sit back and be patient.

Also, 12/12 from seed generally makes your plants grow stretchy/taller. You'll have to use some LST/SCROG/SOMETHING to keep them nice and even.

Thanks billybob, they have been around 12 inches from the clf, I was thinking I should make this around 2??? Would they be ok that close if not to hot?

I'm not sure with a 250w CFL. I'd say 12" is too far though. Just get it as close as you can without burning it and you're good to go.

I have moved it to around 2 inches, hopefully I will see some new growth! I wonder why some people are against flowering from seed?

Because it doesn't give plants enough time to establish themselves, plus you'll get shit for yield.

You should probably look into Auto's Danny, they sound like they would be right up your street, you're going to need better lighting though if you want any kind of yeild, for starters xD

It seems like I should get a bigger light for the long run but the 250watt light should still be strong enough to get the first true leaves to show, today is day 8 and still doesn't seem to be any new growth! I really don't know what I'm doing wrong??? The seeds should be good they were from marajunanseeds-nl, it's a little disheartening I have spent so much time and money into this and still I have what seems to be stunted seedlings!

8 days since sprouting, i moved them within 2 inches of CFL hoping this will spring them into action.

how often do u water them??

I watered tonight for the third time since they sprouted, could they be over watered?

And plus the mix has around 40% perlite

Yea they look overwatered. You need to water only when the first two inches of soil is dry. Normally I would say every 3 days should be fine, but the droop usually means overwatered. Unless the pot is noticeably dry whenever you water.

You are doing everything wrong.

1. 10-15% perlite works fine for me. Perlite is inert. It has no nutritional value to the plant. It's purpose
is to soak up water and keep it where it's needed. Try using MiracleGro Potting Mix next time. Half the perlite
and enough organic material to feed a plant up to 3 months if you are not comfortable mixing nutes with the
water.

2. Should have put the new seedlings into something way smaller, like a 16 oz. solo cup. New seedlings only grow
roots when first put into dirt. Until the roots hit the inside pot walls you won't see much or any growth above ground.
Next time put the new ladies into a cup for 10-12 days. Then transplant into a 4- or 5-inch pot for 10-14 days. If you TP twice early
like that the plant will grow roots to the pot sooner so they can start greening in up top. Anytime you can look straight down at your plant
and see that the widest leaves have not reached the side of the pot, you can figure pretty much the same growth pattern for the roots.
So, TP early and often and you won't spend 3 weeks watching nothing.

3. 12/12? Why? 18/6 or 20/4 or even 24/0 makes the plant grow. 12/12 makes the plant flower. Why flower plants so small? Trust me on this -
you want your ladies to veg at 18/6 for 3-4 weeks before telling the plant to flower by going to 12/12. Because you screwed up the TPing you will
have to veg much longer just to get a smallish harvest.

I don't know who you are getting advice from, you need to "Trump up". Tell that fool(s) "you're fired!".

Good luck, you'll need it, BigSteve.

What temperature is your grow space?

Thanks Big Steve, I will bear that in mind next time, the temps are around 55 lowest and peak at around 70 deg