Should I help the sprout?

Should I help my little sprout get that shell off?

It's been above ground now for a day.

(sorry my hands are too shaky for macro shots)

Also when should I shove it under my cfl's?

-Demon_ds1

You can use tweezers.

na you should let it grow, i took the casting of once and the seedling didnt like it.

I'll let it try for a couple more days then? If it's not off I should probably assist it then shouldn't I

demonds1 said:

I'll let it try for a couple more days then? If it's not off I should probably assist it then shouldn't I

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I'm going to have to disagree with the other guy and say take it off.. I admit I don't have much experience, but about 3 of my plants needed help getting out of their shells and as soon as they did they seemed to be happy and began growing. It also might not make a difference, but i felt better taking it off so I knew they weren't dying inside the shell.


I say take it off. I honestly don't think it will harm it, after all it was meant to fall off by that point and it needs to in order to start growing.

Oh and I would put it under the cfls soon after the first tiny seedling leaves begin turning a nice green color. Some might say earlier, I'm not sure. I had mine on my windowsill until they were green and then stuck em under the light.

Calijuana said:

I'm going to have to disagree with the other guy and say take it off..

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ditto; it can actually die if it DOESN'T shed the helmet. use tweezers or forceps to crack and remove it (gently, or you'll snap the stem).

i do have experience, and i'm telling you that you should.

I used two thumb tacks because I didn't have tweezers on me, and gently seperated the shell, the joint that was holding the halves together snapped, and i just left the shell on, so the sprout can get rid of it when it needs too.

Hopefully I just didn't kill it, as it wasn't green in there. . .

Glad to hear you sorted it. I agree with the other guys that it is good to take it off, as it can die if you don't in some cases.

Also, get it under CFLs straight away.

Yes I put it under cfl's a few hours ago, and I placed my webcam with it, on timelapse!

I mean it's not the end of the world if my sprout doesn't make it, but being my first time
it would still mean a lot if my first seed lived

muahaha, i just set it up so you can view the current picture taken every minute.

If you wanna see how sad it looks....

Here: http://ds1.h1x.com/last.jpg

actually, there's one more step involved. the cotyledons (bean leaves) will have a membrane over them, preventing them from opening easily. you need to remove the husks, then gently rub the back of the cotyledons and the leaves will open right up, the plant will start growing. if the membrane sticks, lick your fingers, and rub again. be gentle.

if you wait, the plant could die. the husks are usually lost under the soil, where it's moist. above the surface, the husk and membrane are much harder for the plant to break through, as the dry shell and membrane are tougher than when wet.

So remove the husk and rub that sack?

That sounds so terribly wrong(naughty). And to make it worse I can't find any pics of anyone doing it to help.

**EDIT**

I upped two pics on how it is now.

Should the leaves be so white?

i would keep it in a dark and very moist place for the next 12 hours! seedlings like sprouting during night time and need high humidity 60% !! this happened to me too and i didnt follow the steps im telling u and it died!! in my humble opinion if it is as white as i think it is 80-90% its going to die!! try what i said i think if theres a way to save it thats the way!!!

it looks great. give it some light and let it grow

lol just let em grow... it'll come off. another thing... place that under your lights as soon as you see it break soil.... doit go go go doit lol

dude its pale white!! how does it look great??

got2loveit said:

dude its pale white!! how does it look great??

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dude, it's a normal thing as chlorophyll isn't there yet. why do you bother posting a worthless statement like that?

because as i said i had the same prob and mine died!! ive seen plenty of seedlings to know it is not normal for the sprout to be so pale and white!! exactly the same thing happened to one of my AK47 `and it didnt make the day under the light!! it dried up and died in a matter of hours!! all my other seedlings were much greener than this one and they straighten up on their first day and when the leafs pop out of the seed they already are green!!!!! in general it is not to the plants interest to pop out of the soil with the seed shell stuck on its leafs!! and it isnt like he let the seed drop by itself he forced it to open and as you see no green coloring in the leafs for that reason i gave him the advice i did!! im sure this has never happened to you so u just say grow on because u dont realize what is going on!!! and my friend the only time i saw pale white leafs on a seedling was because a seed shell stuck to its leafs and halted growth!! and the first leafs once they pop out of the shell ARE green maybe light green but GREEN NOT WHITE!!! if your seedlings leafs are white when they pop out of the ground then i dont think you are on a good road!!!!

demon please tell us what u did and report back the status of your baby i would really like knowing if your baby survived or not and how u got it to survive if you did!!!

i wouldnt take it off unless its been a couple days.. i had a plant that looked just like that pic, 1 day out of the ground and i took the shell off with tweezers and it looked like it just wasnt ready to come out yet and it died..