Ok well everything is dead now going to tr again.

hmasonb34

Member
Well I started a grow about a week ago everything looked good. Started the bag seeds in a paper towel got a root to pop out placed it in Sunshine advanced rain forest blend soil. watered every 2 or 3 days as needed. No nutes or anything the plants lasted a week had 4 little leaves then everthing went wrong and now all but 2 are dead and the last 2 look sick waiting on them to die and going to start over. FUCK I cant believe i spent all this money on equipment and supplies and although weeds grow great in my back yard i cant grow shit in my closet. Anyone wanna buy any barley used equipment. Seems to me and my lack of a green thumb it would just have been cheaper for me to Keep buying weed.

Sorry so pissed right now gonna give it another shot till after Xmas. Glad i didnt waste my good seeds on my first grow.


Any help would be greatly apprecieated.....
 

calicat

Well-Known Member
Not familiar with that medium. Might want to consider looking into Fox Farm's light warrior for seedlings. Thats what I have used for years. Head up and learn from this experience. And crack some more beans :-).
 

bowlfullofbliss

Well-Known Member
take some pics and lets see what happened. this is a learning process, and unfortunatly everyone has to learn the hard way at some point. there isn't a guy on here who hasn't had major problems. it happens.
 

kryptoniteglo

Well-Known Member
Yes, post some pics so that someone might be able to tell you exactly what happened so you can avoid it the next time. It really does help to accumulate knowledge from every learning experience -- you cut problems virtually in half from grow to grow because you've learned to see what's going on and how to deal with it.
 

hmasonb34

Member
thanks for the support guys. Just so let down right now. Theres still 2 that are alive ill go get pics now and maybe yall can see something i don't.
 

Randm

Active Member
My guess is that the soil was to 'hot' for young seedlings. ( hard to tell without pictures). I generally use a half coir / half soil mix for my seedlings . I use fox farm ocean forest as a general growing soil, so by cutting it with the coir I give the seedlings a better growing medium. Or you can purchase mixes that are made for seedlings.
Another reason that seedlings can go bad is due to over watering. Moist but not wet soil. Damp to the touch. Damping off as its called when refering to plants suffering from to much wet.
Other factors are temperature, humidity, bugs, etc....
if they are drying out too fast ( high temps or low humidity ) place them under a humidity dome.
The only times that I did not have success with sprouts was from over watering them. My fault, not the seeds fault.

Hope this helps
 

drizzlej

Active Member
Sorry to hear that man...I had alot of problems with my closet grow..soil..and heat for some...so I waited a month bought a tent n other things using bag seeds to test different soil mixes and now I'm going onto. My 3rd week in keep your head up and troubleshoot ur problem better this early than dead and worthless half way threw flowering.
 

MJG420

Well-Known Member
Sounds to me like you are overwatering your little babies! Don't feel bad though it is a general newb mistake and a simple one to cure just water them less. A good rule of thumb especially for seedlings it to let the top of the soil begin to dry out before you water. You have to remember that the main goal of a seedling is to establish roots, before doing so the amount of water actually being used is very little if any for about the first week or so. Hope this helps you out any you can revive your babies.
 

Beansly

RIU Bulldog
Well I started a grow about a week ago everything looked good. Started the bag seeds in a paper towel got a root to pop out placed it in Sunshine advanced rain forest blend soil. watered every 2 or 3 days as needed. No nutes or anything the plants lasted a week had 4 little leaves then everthing went wrong and now all but 2 are dead and the last 2 look sick waiting on them to die and going to start over. FUCK I cant believe i spent all this money on equipment and supplies and although weeds grow great in my back yard i cant grow shit in my closet. Anyone wanna buy any barley used equipment. Seems to me and my lack of a green thumb it would just have been cheaper for me to Keep buying weed.

Sorry so pissed right now gonna give it another shot till after Xmas. Glad i didnt waste my good seeds on my first grow.


Any help would be greatly apprecieated.....
I'm sorry about your misfortune buddy, I know the feeling myself.
I was doing great on my first grow. Plants were thriving, growing an inch a day at least; beautifully green and vibrant. I couldn't have been a prouder pop.
Then one of my best friends from high school broke in my house and stole them. I was so upset that I almost thrashed everything and threw it int he garbage, but I knew I would regret it because I love growing and giving life to little plants. I love the potential energy of a seed. I could garden all day if I had one big enough and no job.
I think you're at a crossroads. You need to ask yourself why you're doing this. Do you just want cheap buds? Cause you could probably do that a lot easier., but if you know this is something you wanna do for a while and you're willing to take the chances, then dust yourself off and try again.

As for why your plants died.; that early, I'd say it was either a watering thing or a fertilizer burn thing. I went to the sunshine advanced website and saw that they add compost to the rainforest mix. That could have burned your seedlings...maybe. IF you could post a few pics of your set-up or maybe describe it in better detail so we can better access what might have happened.
 

Beansly

RIU Bulldog
View attachment 2453079View attachment 2453080View attachment 2453081 heres what i got. Sorry there blurry daang camera phone....
That soil looks absolutely soaked. And now in the winter, if your room isn't temperature controlled they're probably freezing too. You usually don't have to feed seedlings every 2-3 days because the roots system is so small that they don't suck up water fast enough. Get yourself some beneficial bacteria (mychorrizae etc..) in a product like Great White or Voodoo Juice so you can get the roots healthy early.
 

Chiggachamp

Active Member
We all have had plants die.
EVERYTIME i grow I always have a lesson I learned from my previous grow. It's all part of the learning curve.
Just remember presistance beats skill everytime
 

z0b

Well-Known Member
Fox farm happy frog to ft ocean forest or happy frog to roots organic. Roots is less hot less chance of burn
 

GreatwhiteNorth

Global Moderator
Staff member
Are there drainage holes in those cups ?
If not, that is probably your issue (coupled with over-watering and an excessively hot soil).
I second the request for more/better pictures.
 

Beansly

RIU Bulldog
Miracle Grow Seed Starter is a great product for germinating and starting seeds.


Fox Farm Light Warrior is another good product.
 

hmasonb34

Member
OK Well for all of you who chimed in thank you very much. Not so agrevated this morning. Ready to make another go of it.

Many of you had questions. Temps, Soil, Watering, Equipment, (lighting) and so forth. So here is where im at today.

My temps are usually pretty good. in in my house so its not in cold weather. Temps usually run from 72*F to 78*F.
Humidity runs between 40 and 60 as it should from what ive read.
The soil is what was recommended from the local nursery. (I will try something else next time.)
I have been using great white root promoter. (ive herd to much cant hurt its just a micro organism that promotes root growth. Basicly I have been using at 1/4 strength at every watering. I have canna terra vega for VEG growth but have not used it yet. I was told this soil has enough ferts in it for the first 2 weeks of growth and they have not made it that far yet.


Here is a few pics of my set up so you guys can see what im working with.



New Supplies.jpgeverything brand new in a box...
20121203_205740.jpgUpper chamber for flowering...
Stealth cabinet open.jpgCabinet with veg ccoompartment in operation...
Veg section 11 25 12.jpgHere is a clone I was given Hasnt grown much but still alive...
Stealth cabinet.jpgCabinet Sorry i cant rotate once its been posted here. LOL just lean your head to the left 90*....
Temps 11 25 12.jpgtemps being monitored. Cabinet runs about 3-5 degrees warmer than my closet most of the time.

Not pictured is a 440 CFM fan pulling air through the hood out of the top of the cabinet thought the fan then discharging up into the attick.
440 cfms is a bit over kill for a cabinet of only 22.5 Cu. Ft. of internal valume. But there is always good ventilation of the space. I have a fan speed controller on it and run it at under 50% most of the time. I can still feel a hugh draft comming under the door into the closet to replace the air the cabinet is drawing.

If you need any other info or pics fill free and ill get them for you.

Thanks alot HMB.....
 

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ASMALLVOICE

Well-Known Member
Looks like a very nice setup M8.

Looking forward to watching it in action, keep us updated.

Peace and Great Grows

Asmallvoice
 

toronjadeoro

Well-Known Member
I know others have mentioned the possibility of overwatering. A good trick to figure out if that's what you're unintentionally doing is to fill an empty grow cup now with the moist soil as it came out of the bag (I assume it is relatively moist). Put it on a scale and weight it (in grams, if possible--changes register faster than with ounces). Let's say hypothetically it weighs 70 grams. Now mist the soil in the cup 2-3 times with a few pulls of the trigger on your plastic plant mister. Weigh the cup again. It will likely have increased its weight now by about 3-4 grams (to just under 75 grams). Assuming your soil was relatively moist to begin with, this added 3-4 grams of water is a good amount to maintain in the cup--not a drop more, BUT....Do not mist/water the soil again until your cup weighs about 8-10 grams less. In this example, mist the soil again when it weighs 65-67 grams, and only enough to arrive again at 75 grams.
I know this method is really anal, and there is certainly room for error, but once you do it a few times, you won't be weighing anything at all. You'll know when your plant needs water by feeling the weight of the cup in your hand. If you're ever unsure, go back to using the scale. This is also a great method to use after transplanting. Weigh your new pot filled with moist soil and try to maintain that weight, but always let the soil dry out some before watering again.
Good luck, and don't give up!
 

dimebong

Well-Known Member
If you make sure you're not overwatering by pouring too much water meaning the soil takes too long to dry out, and raising seeds in seedling mix containing no npk, only micronutes
then you shouldn't have a problem.

Start them off under a cfl.
 

hmasonb34

Member
Well judging by the commets posted by TOROJADEORO i am drasticly over watering. I do wait till its really dry. I do stick my finger deep into the soil to ensure its dry but instead of just misting im soaking it till water runs out of the bottom. But with the lights on 24/7 and the 6 inch fan pushing air across it all day long it only takes about a 2-3 day period to dry out with this soil. Just for the record the soil is very dry right out of the bag. If what your saying is true to just mist it with a couple af squirts from a spray bottle then im way over doing it. On the solo cups im using i drill 4 holes one on each side about a half inch up the side of the cup then cut an X on the bottom with a razor knife all the way across. I then place a coffee filter inside the cup to contain the soil, then fill with soil. Then using the tip of a pencil poke a hole in the soil to the depth where the paint starts on a sharpend tip. Place the seedling root down with the top just below the soil. I then sprinkler a little soil on top and water till it runs from the bottom. Then after it drys i rewater till it runs from the bottom again.

So instead of actually watering it I should just mist it. I feel if thats all i do then I will have to water daily. This soil drys out fast under the conditions in my cabinet.

As far as lighting goes I have a couple of CFL's (2) that i could use but i was under the impression more lumens is better and the T-5s im using put out more lumens. It is a 2 foot 4 bulb fixture if you think thats to much I could use only 2 bulbs. It has 2 switches where i can run either the inner 2 the outer 2 or all 4 at once. Should I just use 2 instead of 4? If so its just a flick of a switch.


Just did a small experiment. I took out a set of digital scales. That has grams on it and comes with a small tray. After squirting 4 squirts from my garden squirter it weighed in at a total of 2.3 grams I'm thinking one more should make it to 3 grams and get it close to your recomendation.
 
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