Stunted 10 Day Old Seedlings?!?

Two Short Stuff Onyx feminized autoflowers.

Cracked on 9/12 and planted into soil, final resting pots (3.8 gallon pots).

Above soil 9/14 - Day One.

Soil is a mix of MG organic garden soil, MG perlite, and Burpee Organic Seed Starter. Watering with tap water set out for 24 hrs. at least. Lighting two 26 watt CFLs. One above each seedling. 2- 2.5 inches from top of seedlings.

Temps are 77*F with 58% humididty.



Mistakes I made:
Soil obviously. I was under the assumption the MG organic garden soil was fertilizer free. The perlite and seed starter contain trace amounts of ferts. Next grow will be with Roots Organic or another quality soil.

I have been watering once the top 1-2 inches is 100% dry. However, below 2 inches they were slightly wet. I haven't been drowning them though. I am watering every other day. Sometimes every two days.

Lights were 1/2 inch away from tops so maybe light burn. Also, I was watering seedlings with spray bottle and getting the leaves wet. Not sure if they scorched.

Also, lights were on 24/7 until I realized I should switch them. Switched Day 7 to 20/4.


So in short, a lot of mistakes that I hope don't cost me too much.

Not sure if they have nute burn or just scorched from the lights. They seem small to me compared to other similar aged seedlings.

Onyx #1

Onyx #2

Are you testing your pH? You didnt mention that. Also, I would stop misting your plants. Although it probably wont burn under CFLs it could potentially leave yellow spots, and since there is no added benefit I wouldnt continue to mist. Also, I find it harder to grow from seed in a pot you will use your entire grow. Its harder to realize how much water you need. If you planted in a solo cup or similar size, you could lift the pot to tell when it needs water. Based on how they are drooping slightly you're probably over watering too. That 4 gallon pot is going to hold a lot of moisture. So pH, watering frequency, and misting would be three areas to keep an eye on in my opinion.

mrdiff said:

Are you testing your pH? You didnt mention that. Also, I would stop misting your plants. Although it probably wont burn under CFLs it could potentially leave yellow spots, and since there is no added benefit I wouldnt continue to mist. Also, I find it harder to grow from seed in a pot you will use your entire grow. Its harder to realize how much water you need. If you planted in a solo cup or similar size, you could lift the pot to tell when it needs water. Based on how they are drooping slightly you're probably over watering too. That 4 gallon pot is going to hold a lot of moisture. So pH, watering frequency, and misting would be three areas to keep an eye on in my opinion.

Click to expand...

No, I am not testing my pH (ducks and runs).
Would this meter work?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-pH-Meter-Tester-Pocket-Pen-Aquarium-Pool-Water-/290540125183?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a58a7bff


Autoflowers don't usually like to be transplanted. That is why I put them straight into their final pots. With photos I will start in party cups though.

Since I am not testing pH it could be a wonky pH messing up everything...

Watered until runoff the day before the photos. I will start watering less for sure. Thanks for your help!

bump

Next grow you may wanna try a different growing medium(dirt).
Your asking for troubles with miracle gro. It's goes like this
18 oz while their under the fluo's/cfl's then some grower go to
1 gallon and some go straight to 5 gallons. If you put'em 5 gallon
pots don't soak the dirt give'em just enough water to get going.
It's fresh dirt you don't have to flush it out the bottom. Like put
it in the pot and just pour may a quart just around the plant!
Even if you go with the 1 gallon pots you don't need to flush it
out the bottom either. The little babies don't use much water!

over watering will slow nutrient transport and stunt growth. this is not apH issue, but an over watering one. pH issues are rare in soil... even if you don't measure it.

I will water less from now on. Next grow will be Roots Organic or something else quality from a hydro store.

Thanks!

I think you should start seedlings in Roots Organic?
I now keep seedlings in rock wool or Light Warrior
or even sunshine mix 4 something with very little
nutes in it! I use one of these till my seedlings
out grow the 1 gallon pot actually it it only .75 or
whatever. I start'em in the 18 oz cups! You can
try it with out all that a lot grower do~
After the 1 gallons then I use ffof in the 5 gallon pots.

I think they show a tiny bit of improvement in 2 days from the lights being raised.

Yer the main improvement is coming from less heat on the seedling by raising the lights, they need very little light at this stage and even those small puny 18watter cfls will cause heat stress when too close, ventilation dude and move the light even futher away and let the seedling grow up into the light basically plus get a small fan going.

Seedling soil for seedlings is the easiest method to use, most makes and types from your local hardware or supermarket store will do some just amend it with perlite. Ph is not a factor till you start messing with it, ignore any pH worries its not happening here. Peace

Oh yer i forgot, autos and lowriders are not recomended for transplant solely because its good to have a big tap root, if the root hits the bottom of the pot straight away it will slow growth a little whereas if the tap root can grow straight down unimpeded then it will achive a slightly faster rate of growth.

Id rather you start in small cups and learnt to grow than worry about a small bit of growth difference from placing the seedling in the final pot, as someone pointed out seedlings in big pots are harder to water. Im starting my auto fem in a small pot and potting up for ease and screw the length of the tap root, small thing really which isnt worth the effort till you can grow a seedling good. Peace

Thanks everyone. Feel like such a dumba$$!!!! Everyone stresses how close CFLs need to be. Didn't think of in relation to a sensitive seedling.

seedling is like a whole dam stage in itself... imo... im having the same issues... but with hid