Seedling not growing.

redivider

Well-Known Member
I don't know what Promix HP is, so i looked it up.

It seems to be a high porosity medium that's not peat based - whatever the hell that means. if that's the case and this doesn't have a lot of substance in it - then yes - you might need a light feed.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
I am using a 800 lumen screw in bulb. It is a 3000k spectrum.

My temps constantly stay around 24 degrees Celsius as I have a heater in my tent as well. That’s the equipment I’m using and am having great success. I had a real rough start all of January and was not happy.

Solo cups are also the way to go.
You should swap that light out for one with a higher K number. A 6400K CFL works really well but they are getting hard to find and the LED bulbs only seem to go as high as 5000K which is not as good but better than a 3000K which is more of a flowering spectrum. The higher levels of red is supposedly good for sprouts tho. so a 3000 and a 5000 together should work really well. CFLs or regular LED light bulbs should be as close as 3 - 4" from the tops with an oscillating fan wafting air back and forth so heat doesn't build up on the sprouts. That will limit stretch and the motion of the air will strengthen the stems. I flick the tops around with a finger to make the stems stronger too unless they are so stretched they fall over but by exercising them they don't get so tall and thin.

Yours is looking OK and didn't stretch much.
 

Skoal

Well-Known Member
You need nutrients if you are growing not in soil.

If growing in soil you do not need nutrients. Soil has it already in there.

So yeah it’s a stoner myth but also not a myth. Depends on the medium that is being used.

As for my bulb yeah that’s all I had. She’s doing fine under it. She’s going to be transplanted into 5 gallon soon and then go under my 400 watt MH. If I could find a diffeeent spectrum I would. Just don’t wanna buy a multi pack of bulbs when that’s all I had haha.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
It seems to be a high porosity medium that's not peat based
It is peat based. 65 - 75% Canadian sphagnum peat moss, lots of perlite, dolomitic and calcitic limestone, (pH adjustment but supplies Ca and Mg too), a wetting agent with mycorrhizae, (endomycorrhizal fungi of the Glomus intraradices genus).

I use it straight out of the bale. Feeding hydro nutes so it doesn't need anything added but it's a great base for growing organically. Almost too much perlite and doesn't compact. I have a couple of 107L/3.8cf bales on hand.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
You need nutrients if you are growing not in soil.

If growing in soil you do not need nutrients. Soil has it already in there.

So yeah it’s a stoner myth but also not a myth. Depends on the medium that is being used.

As for my bulb yeah that’s all I had. She’s doing fine under it. She’s going to be transplanted into 5 gallon soon and then go under my 400 watt MH. If I could find a diffeeent spectrum I would. Just don’t wanna buy a multi pack of bulbs when that’s all I had haha.
For guys growing in a rich medium like FFOF then you may never have to feed until flowering if you keep up-potting as the plant grows but growing soilless they need something added for good growth. Maybe the first week is OK with nothing but something from the start works a lot better.

What bulb are you using for your 400? I've been using the same Hortilux conversion bulb for 17 years but it's not so good anymore. Gives MH light from an HPS ballast. A buddy recently sent me a Philips 400W CMH that I'm dying to try on new plants. Really intense light and I'm using it right now to finish flowering my girls. It runs off a 400 HPS too. Running a 400W Hortilux super hps beside it. Had a 1000W going but the capacitor blew on my MH/HPS ballast so I had to improvise. 53 days at 12/12 now and I think I'll start chopping one of the CBD plants tonight. Hopefully picking up a new ballast on Friday when we have to go to the city.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
What kind of heater are you using? I have a oil filled heater but I'm abit hesitant to put it in my tent . What's your humidity at? I noticed your from ontario like myself its fking cold and dry out here
An oil-filled heater will work but a regular one is better and here's why.

When the oil-filled kicks on it takes 10 min or so before it really starts putting out heat so the temp can drop further than you want before the room starts to warm up. When it finally turns off it gives off heat for another 10 min so can raise the temp higher than you want.

An instant on heater keeps the temps a lot more even but you need to make damn sure there isn't anything that can melt or burn right in front of them. A small shelf on the wall where the circulation fan can hit it is a good place for those. All electrical stuff should be off the floor anyways tho. Those little ceramic heaters work really well and should have a hi/low switch and for a small room the low setting is perfect. I see them on sale for around $20 quite often.

I use a baseboard heater thermostat wired into a standard electrical box wired with a few feet of cord on each end to plug my heater into. Gives better control of the heat than the ones on the heater themselves. That one is left on max. A hi/low digital thermometer lets you dial in the temps nicely.

For better climate control a temp/rh controller on the exhaust fan is great. A speed controller between that and the exhaust fan keeps the noise down and I made one of those like I did with the thermostat using a ceiling fan controller NOT a light dimmer.

I found a great spot to download FREE POT BOOKS. I downloaded a grow bible first and got lots more. Books look great and complete like the real ones I have here. No web site but just a page of links. Just right click on what you want and then "Save Link As" to download so they don't open first as some are 50+ megs. They got lots. Enjoy.
 

Skoal

Well-Known Member
For guys growing in a rich medium like FFOF then you may never have to feed until flowering if you keep up-potting as the plant grows but growing soilless they need something added for good growth. Maybe the first week is OK with nothing but something from the start works a lot better.

What bulb are you using for your 400? I've been using the same Hortilux conversion bulb for 17 years but it's not so good anymore. Gives MH light from an HPS ballast. A buddy recently sent me a Philips 400W CMH that I'm dying to try on new plants. Really intense light and I'm using it right now to finish flowering my girls. It runs off a 400 HPS too. Running a 400W Hortilux super hps beside it. Had a 1000W going but the capacitor blew on my MH/HPS ballast so I had to improvise. 53 days at 12/12 now and I think I'll start chopping one of the CBD plants tonight. Hopefully picking up a new ballast on Friday when we have to go to the city.
No idea what bulb it is. All I know is I have ballast that can only run MH. No HPS. So says the ballast. The hood and socket runs up to a 1000 watt bulb if I wanted. I don’t know much more than the bulb. I think it’s a Philips. It’s old and the branding has basically rubbed off.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
No idea what bulb it is. All I know is I have ballast that can only run MH. No HPS. So says the ballast. The hood and socket runs up to a 1000 watt bulb if I wanted. I don’t know much more than the bulb. I think it’s a Philips. It’s old and the branding has basically rubbed off.
Sounds like a standard MH bulb. Philips Ceramilux comes to mind. They work OK but not as good as one designed to grow plants better. Kind of like using a standard HPS bulb instead of something like a Hortilux Super HPS. Much better spectrum and my favorite brand of grow light tho expensive. The 1000W is around 100 - $120Can here but I paid $170 for the Hortilux HPS conversion bulb that runs off my MH only ballast, Got a deal at that and have seen the same bulb going for $299! Now that I have an MH/HPS ballast I'll be getting the regular Super HPS ones.
 

budsfordayz

Well-Known Member
When you grow in real soil there are nutes present from day 1. With a soilless mix like HP there is NOTHING for the sprouts to feed on other than a bit of calcium and magnesium so they need something to establish proper growth.

I've tried side-by-sides using nothing or a light feed and the fed ones always get bigger faster and look way better sooner so your opinion is just that. Your opinion.

One of my favorites for starting sprouts or clones is a decent seaweed fertilizer. It has all sorts of goodness in it that really seems to rock their world and get them off to a great start.

That stoner myth about sprouts not needing food for two weeks is just that. A stoner myth.
Just confused because some people are saying overwatering. But if I feed my plant wouldn't that make my situation worse?
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Just confused because some people are saying overwatering. But if I feed my plant wouldn't that make my situation worse?
Is it certain that it's overwatered or just an opinion?

You have lots of perlite in your mix so it's pretty good drainage and it wouldn't hurt to mix up some nutes and water them good. Just use a small amount of nutrients to start with. For instance my AN nutes say to use 4ml/L max so for sprouts I'd use 1ml/L of all 3 parts and that tests out at around 300ppm.

Problems from overwatering are caused when they are watered too often and the water further down goes stagnant. That allows bad bacteria, (anaerobic), to flourish and begins to rot your roots. Roots need oxygen and stagnant water has none. I use a small air pump and 6" airstone to aerate my RO water well before using it on my plants. Pouring water back and forth between pails mixes in a lot of air too.

If you mix up some nutes and flood the pots well allowing quite a bit of runoff you'll flush out the old water and replace it with fresh so the plants will be fine and start growing better with something to eat. Just allow them to dry out before watering again. None of that, 'They are dry an inch down so they need water!' crap. Roots are already down at the bottom so let the pots feel quite light before soaking them good again.

If you are using tap water do you know what's in it? You can contact your supplier and get a copy of their water analysis emailed to you usually for no cost. If they ask what you want it for, none of their f'n business really, tell them you want to raise fish and the guy at the store said to get a copy so you can tell if it's OK for the fish. My house water comes from a dugout on my property and is around 400ppm and pH 8. OK outside in the garden but not giving it to my indoor potted plants. All those minerals build up in the pots and screw things up eventually plus I have no idea what's in it. Much too expensive to send a sample in for proper testing so we buy RO water for drinking and my plants. Farm field all around me so who knows what crap Joe Farmer is spraying on his GMO crops that gets into my water. Lots of little fish and bugs living in there so it can't be too toxic. Used to be carp in there too that the previous owner had put in there but it froze over bad one year and they all died.
 
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