Stem looks purple/black, did I bruise my plant?

My plants are very young, about 2 weeks old. They started falling over like they were top heavy and the stems at the bend were turning white. So I lowered the light source and tied them up to a stick to hold them up. I thought I tied them up gently, the leafs still look green, but above the tie the stems look purple/black (I'm color blind/"deficient" and shades blend together). I think I may have bruised the stems! I loosened the ties, now what? Should I let it play out, clip at the bruise, start over?

I attached a picture of one of the plants. Again, note the stem is discolored (that's not a shadow), but the leaves look fine.

Thanks ahead for any advice.

looks fine to me

You will want to make sure the stem can get thicker without the twist tie hurting it.

Get some air circulating on it. That will strengthen the stem.

Alot do it sum is stress an it cud be strain dont warry just keep an eye on the plant as a hole it will tell u if its happy or not lol

MedicalGardens said:

looks fine to me

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Look at the top portion of the stem, it's a different color than the bottom. I'll link another picture.

GrowinDad said:

You will want to make sure the stem can get thicker without the twist tie hurting it.

Get some air circulating on it. That will strengthen the stem.

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melvduk said:

Alot do it sum is stress an it cud be strain dont warry just keep an eye on the plant as a hole it will tell u if its happy or not lol

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Alright, thanks. Just paranoid since it's my first grow. If the top were to die off, should I just cut it from the dark color up and hope it will regrow?

Purple Stems could be a result of that wonderful thing we call genetics, if this is the reason, you are to expect a purple stem throughout the life of the plant. It must be noted that purple stems aren’t a dominant trait, and are rarely genetically induced.

Young seedlings are still adjusting to their environment and may be slightly lacking in a Nutrient. If this is the case, healthy plants will regain their green/greenish-brown color within a few days to a week or two.

Purple stems are commonly caused by a Phosphorous (P) or Magnesium deficiency, if there is a P deficiency you may also notice symptoms such as brittle leaves or greyish spots.

in my case if I see purple stems, I know the ph is off, to high. im sure you checked that.

topfuel29 said:

Purple Stems could be a result of that wonderful thing we call genetics, if this is the reason, you are to expect a purple stem throughout the life of the plant. It must be noted that purple stems aren’t a dominant trait, and are rarely genetically induced.

Young seedlings are still adjusting to their environment and may be slightly lacking in a Nutrient. If this is the case, healthy plants will regain their green/greenish-brown color within a few days to a week or two.

Purple stems are commonly caused by a Phosphorous (P) or Magnesium deficiency, if there is a P deficiency you may also notice symptoms such as brittle leaves or greyish spots.

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OK, that makes me feel a ton better! Right now I don't see any grey spots, and one plant the leaves are a little droopy compared to the other. Other than the discolored section on the stem, they seem healthy.

kinddiesel said:

in my case if I see purple stems, I know the ph is off, to high. im sure you checked that.

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I do check the PH, but I didn't know that you would see physical signs like that. Thanks for that bit of info! I will start double checking the PH. Right now I use an electronic one, but along with that I will also use the "old fashion" sample + solution drops.

also noticed quite a lot of stretch in ur plant mate, maybe lower the light source or bury some of the stem?

Draconus87 said:

also noticed quite a lot of stretch in ur plant mate, maybe lower the light source or bury some of the stem?

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OK, you definitely confirmed something I was thinking. They were getting top heavy and falling, I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but the stems seemed too thin and lanky compared to the tops. After reading other comments about plants [over]stretching to reach their light source, I was thinking this was the issue, and you confirmed it.

As for burying the stem, how far up should I bury it? Is it one of those "until I feel comfortable" things, or just fill it up but not past the first set of leaves?

GingerGrower said:

OK, you definitely confirmed something I was thinking. They were getting top heavy and falling, I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but the stems seemed too thin and lanky compared to the tops. After reading other comments about plants [over]stretching to reach their light source, I was thinking this was the issue, and you confirmed it.

As for burying the stem, how far up should I bury it? Is it one of those "until I feel comfortable" things, or just fill it up but not past the first set of leaves?

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You can bury them up to the cotyledon

That's the word I was looking for!

Purple shmurple, you need to figure out why seedlings are bending. I have never seen that.

Trousers said:

Purple shmurple, you need to figure out why seedlings are bending. I have never seen that.

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From the comments I have read about bending, I was too cautious with the light. It was too high, so the plants basically outstretched themselves. I lowered it, tied them up, and put a better fan on them, so hopefully the stems will get stronger.

Thank you to all that helped me!

I lowered the light, lowered the PH to the 6.2-6.4 range, tied them up, buried them a bit deeper and put a bigger fan on them. The purple section is still there, but above it the stems grew in very thick and brightly colored. Minus a little dropping in the plant that got it worse, they are doing great!