Seedling not growing curled tips and turning pale-First grow help

stckyprp

Member
This is a first grow for me and I am having trouble with my seedling.

I germinated it in a papertowel and bag and then put it in a very small pot of coco in the window.
On April 6 it broke soil and it stretched a little bit in the window. On April 10 I put it in my 2x4x5.5 tent with a new 240w qb kingbrite and put her in a slightly larger but still small pot of coco/perlite. I gave her a first feeding on April 10 as well trying to follow the cocoforcannabis guide but using AN sensi coco A+B base nutes and calmag with a 130ppm and 6.0 ph. I fed it that once for a day and now have increased to 200 ppm at 6.0 ph twice a day. I used a syringe around the seedling and once or twice watered to 10% run off. I noticed that the seedling stopped growing taller but instead started getting thicker a little up top and the leaves causing it to fall over. I took it out and replanted it deeper. Then I noticed the tips started to almost look a little as if they were turning white and eventually the tips on the only two leaves curled and pointed upwards. I thought it might be light burn so I downloaded a lux app and turned the qb down to below 50% to 1300 lux 3" above. I had it above 50% and at 3" before I turned it down. Today she looks like she grew a little taller and leaves grew but she looks a lot more pale all over. Temp has been around 70-80F and humidity 60-82. Humidity dips low sometimes but I've been trying to keep it steady with a humidifier. Temp has also dipped slightly below 70 a couple times.

What do you think is causing this?
 

Attachments

peterstoke

Well-Known Member
over watered buddy. the roots haven't filled that pot yet. water them less when you water them and only water around the edges
 

stckyprp

Member
over watered buddy. the roots haven't filled that pot yet. water them less when you water them and only water around the edges
Think it can still be saved? Do you mean around the edges of the pot or edges of the seedling? I thought coco shouldn't be allowed to dry out.
 

peterstoke

Well-Known Member
Think it can still be saved? Do you mean around the edges of the pot or edges of the seedling? I thought coco shouldn't be allowed to dry out.
you never want to over water coco soil, you want to do the wet dry method just like soil. over watering will cause you a lot of problems. And yes around the edges of the pot. never water in the middle because that will increase the chances of getting rot in your main stem
 

peterstoke

Well-Known Member
Think it can still be saved? Do you mean around the edges of the pot or edges of the seedling? I thought coco shouldn't be allowed to dry out.
yes you can save it, just let the top soil dry about 1 inch and then water again around the edges. you want to treat coco like soil. watering it too much will drown it and kill it trust me i have about 10 years of experience
 

TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
you never want to over water coco soil, you want to do the wet dry method just like soil. over watering will cause you a lot of problems. And yes around the edges of the pot. never water in the middle because that will increase the chances of getting rot in your main stem
Have you grown in coco before? I haven’t, but what you said goes against everything I’ve read. Coco should never be permitted to dry out.
 

stckyprp

Member
you never want to over water coco soil, you want to do the wet dry method just like soil. over watering will cause you a lot of problems. And yes around the edges of the pot. never water in the middle because that will increase the chances of getting rot in your main stem
That's pretty confusing then. Like TreeFarmerCharlie pointed out from what I have read it seems to be the consensus from coco growers that coco shouldn't be treated like soil or allowed to dry out. The cocoforcannabis website that I have seen recommended a lot says to never allow it to dry out because that causes it to build up salts. It also says coco/perlite holds enough oxygen that it's almost impossible to overwater and it should be treated like hydro. I guess it is just finding a balance between wet and over saturated maybe at seedling stage? And do you think my light wasn't set too intense also?
 

peterstoke

Well-Known Member
That's pretty confusing then. Like TreeFarmerCharlie pointed out from what I have read it seems to be the consensus from coco growers that coco shouldn't be treated like soil or allowed to dry out. The cocoforcannabis website that I have seen recommended a lot says to never allow it to dry out because that causes it to build up salts. It also says coco/perlite holds enough oxygen that it's almost impossible to overwater and it should be treated like hydro. I guess it is just finding a balance between wet and over saturated maybe at seedling stage? And do you think my light wasn't set too intense also?
yes you can always over water when they are seedlings but once the roots fill the pots it's very hard to over water then of course :)
 

stckyprp

Member
sorry i never answered your last question how far is your light away from your seedlings?
That's alright. thanks for the help I appreciate it. I've kept it at 30 inches from the seedling but I had it turned up above 50% until I noticed it start to curl and point up and discolor more. Yesterday I changed it it's at 30 inches but I have it dimmed below 50% and to what my phone app says is 1300 lux now. Wish there was marking on the dimming switch to know what percentage it's dimmed to.
 

stckyprp

Member
unfortunately it looks like she got damping off I think. She got a lot more yellow and crispy looking and falling over. Pulled her up and it looked like half her main stem had disappeared and turned brown and shriveled. :cry: Got another that just cracked though. I'll try watering less and only around the edges this time.

Anyone know if it's ok to be using calmag that has nitrogen in it with my base nutes this early on? The coco base nutes already have some calmag in it.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
you never want to over water coco soil, you want to do the wet dry method just like soil. over watering will cause you a lot of problems. And yes around the edges of the pot. never water in the middle because that will increase the chances of getting rot in your main stem
That is completely false. Where did you learn that? Have you ever grown in coco? While a small seedling like the OP's doesn't need to be watered daily like a larger plant with a developed root system you never want to let your coco dry out completely.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
unfortunately it looks like she got damping off I think. She got a lot more yellow and crispy looking and falling over. Pulled her up and it looked like half her main stem had disappeared and turned brown and shriveled. :cry: Got another that just cracked though. I'll try watering less and only around the edges this time.

Anyone know if it's ok to be using calmag that has nitrogen in it with my base nutes this early on? The coco base nutes already have some calmag in it.
That's too bad. You don't need to water until runoff when the plant is still a seedling. You want to keep the coco damp but not soaking wet. While you don't need to rinse most coco these days I like to precharge it by soaking in a mild nutrient solution like 1/4 strength. That way there are already some nutrients available. Then when watering seedlings use 1/4 strength nutrient solution slowy bumping it up as the plant gets bigger.

Good luck.
 
Top