What did i do wrong? 6 day old seedling burnt.. (Pictures)

^6th day after being planted under 2 34 watt 6500 CFLs on 18/6. Potted in sphagnum only (insert a noob aside here). Subsequent 2 mixes have been 80-20% Peat-Perlite (getting there), but it's this one that i'm worried about. On the 4th day i come home to this.


My wife noticed it while i was at work. She doesn't remember seeing anything when she put it in for the dark but when she took it out it was cooked (Or at least looked cooked). The lights have been about an inch away (i've just moved them to 3") and temp's at 30*C~86*F, not sure about the humidity (Tomorrow).


Soil was thoroughly moistened on the day sowing and i've used a spray bottle on the soil around the bottom of the stem, nothing much just 2-3 pumps on the 3rd day. I use bottled RO water but haven't checked the PH on this baby yet (tomorrow). No nutes have been added other than really diluted seaweed extract with the spray watering that i mentioned.


What am i doing wrong guys, cfls too close or not enough water?

Oh and.. Ten thousand glorious salutations RU denizens!!!

...it looks to me like a ph issue, peat doesn't buffer ph very well so learning to grow in coco might be an option.

...keep in mind that this is a skill and seedlings in particular can be fragile so new growers kill a LOT of seedlings, ...i popped 30 beans my first try and managed to kill them all within a couple weeks.

so don't sweat too much over these particular seeds and instead begin researching threads on germination and the care of seedlings so you can begin learning some of those skills. ...and so just keep popping beans, learn your chops with the free bagseeds and in very short order you and the mrs will be ready for some quality genetics.

if you need any links to threads worth reading let me know and i'll post them up for you.

peace, bozo

Hey Bozo,
Will be getting the meter hopefully by tomorrow and seeds are a bit tough for me to come by right now and i have 4 more feminized Super Skunk pods left of a very cool gift..

What's it look like to you guys, is PH up or down? Can it be saved, Can you even tell by looking at a picture? heh...


And of course, links for a freshly cherry popped initiate would be much obliged sir...

I promise its really not that hard, and coco is awesome bro. My first seedling grow months back was 7/8 sour. I killed 3 but it was stupidity after my second time around I had a 100% growth rate. I just get metickous as fuck with it. Plant seedlings, water with spraybottle 2-3x a day. Let go u til dry, respray. Prop up with tooth picks as needd. After 2 weeks (2nd set of real leaves for me) I add full strength lucas method for coco. Under 50w of t5, then 100w, now 200w till I eventually turn all 8 bulbs on. Looks like a ph issue. Seedlings are fragilr. But people make it (seem)more difficult than it really is. All those 7/8 sours died. But it wasnt my fault my gf and I broke up. She gave everything away to her friend, who is the grower for thier dispensary they work at. She subsequently killed the rest off some how. And the plants that werefull grown now have PM. That I got back and are flowrring and trying to fight it. Just water em with tap water for a while. Should be fine. When tbey start yellowing add nutes. Do quarter, half full strength. Whatever you want if you wanna be cautious. I juat go for it. Full strength. Looks to be a ph problem though.

RedEyeJedi8 said:

Hey Bozo,
Will be getting the meter hopefully by tomorrow. What's it look like to you; is PH up or down? Can you even tell by looking at a picture? heh...

Click to expand...

...yeah man, i can't tell just from a pic and like i said, seedlings are touchy so it's unlikely you will ever get 100% to survive, ...and some of this is determined genetically and totally out of your control.

...with that being said though the most common cause of seedling death in the hands of new growers is they are 'loved' to death, ...you have to remember that this is a living organism so there will almost always be blemish's and imperfections in the leaves and such and that is not something you need to freak out about and then struggle to find a 'treatment' for your 'problem'.

which is why it's so important that you begin to become proactive in your hunt for knowledge, ...asking questions is a good thing and i in no way wish to discourage you from asking them, BUT, when you ask questions you receive relatively real-time responses and too often the responses you'll get will be from other, well-meaning noobs who only parrot what they have heard and too often those responses will be conflicting and as a noob yourself you won't know which response to follow.

...on the other hand, if you go hunting for threads on the topic and intentionally look for older and longer threads you will get information that has stood the scrutiny of time, you'll still see much bullshit but it won't take you long to figure out the truth if you take charge and go HUNTING, actively, for your answers.

...as to which ph meter to get, well, all i use is this one, General Hydroponics GH1514 Ph Control Kit
, it's plenty accurate enough for my purposes and it's very cost effective, i've been using the same bottle of drops now for nearly 5 years.

...i would recommend one of these though because it's important to have a decent handle on how strong your nutrient solution is and these truncheons are the best, no calibration needed and it measures in EC and PPM's in both of the common scales.

Blue Lab Commercial Truncheon PPM / EC / CF Meter

RedEyeJedi8 said:

And of course, links for a freshly cherry popped initiate would be much obliged sir...

Click to expand...

...i have many links i can share with you over time but i'd not like to squash your mind with information overload so i'll just share a few, lol.

keep in mind that each of these links will lead you to information that changed my world but i didn't find that information in the first posting, i had to go digging and in fact i have read each of these threads in their entirety and i continue to follow along with the continuing discussions while adding to those discussions from time to time as well. ...the point being that it'll be up to you how deeply you dig, all i can promise you is that the deeper you dig, the faster you learn.

...this first is to a long standing discussion on the use of hempy-buckets which are a passive form of hydroponics adapted from ancient Roman technology and this thread is also a perfect example of the need to read the entire thread because the original poster starts out using a perlite/vermiculite mix as a growing medium but he later upgrades his setup and switch's to straight coco which is what i use.

The Official Hempy Bucket Thread

...this next is to a very simple and inexpensive feeding regimen that gives awesome results.
The KISS method

...this next is to a discussion on the virtues of vertical growing that will help you see exactly WHY this is a superior approach.
Benefits of Vertical Growing

...and this last is to a very innovative implementation of vertical growing and i post it more to illustrate the orange fencing he has stapled to his walls to provide anchor points to secure the plants and not to show you his VERY cool DIY light mover.
THE WoW THREAD.

...these should keep you busy for a bit, lol, and remember to cut yourself some slack, this is supposed to be fun after all and if you stick with it you WILL succeed, it's just not that hard.

btw, i'm a firm believer in simple, most especially when you are new, but even now, i've been at this for some years now and i've spent the last couple of years simplifying my operation to the point where my plants almost grow themselves it's so freekin' easy, lol.

here's a few pics to illustrate what i'm doing now.











...i grow in 6liter coco hempy's now but here's a shot of a couple White Rhino's i grew a couple years ago in 2liter Coke bottle hempy's and together they yielded just shy of 4zipz, not too shabby in a couple cut down Coke bottles, lol



peace, bozo

That looks like it got too close to the cfl. I had a fan leaf I tried tying to make room for a 65w cfl that eventually loosened the bond and touched the cfl. I had the same thing, the tips that made contact wilted and changed to that dark green color with that tan edge. Maybe seedlings can get it at a distance.

I can try to get a picture if you'd like, if the dead part hasn't already fallen off my fan leaf.

Thats what it looks like to me also

Its leaning the same way as that burnt tip and its the tallest one, easy to do with cfls

Holy nectar of the Gods Mr. Ganja! Those are some beauties right there!

Been lurking around this place a month or two now trying to soak up as much as i can before signing up and plunging in. I do intend to get my hands on some Coco but this takes a bit of doing where i am (Pakistan). That info is enough to make one do a double take and maybe think 'but marijuana is so synonymous to that region, surely growing supplies should be abundant'.... it is and they are somewhat, but growing indoors isn't really a big thing here. This should tell you something about stereotypes eh? heh...

Weed is rare here. What isn't though is hash, there's lots of it and it's mind numbingly good stuff from the northern regions (bordering Afghanistan). Wild marijuana is common around these northern parts but most of it is prepared into hash or a drink called 'Bhang' (where the -ang- is pronounced like -ung- in the word 'rung'). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhang. <-- Massive amounts of a good time if done right, a massive hangover the next day if not.. However by the time hash makes it's way down south where i am (Karachi), it's been cut, remixed, split and generally manhandled so much that there's very little left of the original. What takes it's place is an opium infused effect which im sure you'll agree is NOT GOOD!!!

Coming back to the point, i did find a supplier of Coco recently. He'll be getting his stocks in soon, till those get in i'll keep what's left of my seedlings exactly where they are (Hard to come by).... Meanwhile i can try to sort this one out and see if i can stop the other two from going down a similar route. Hopefully the PH meter (some generic Chinese make) should be here by today. I can test these babies and take it from there.

Thanks again for the help and links Bozo!

I have a stinking suspicion that the high precision jig i have for the lights (wrapped around a spiral staircase step under which the babies rest ) malfunctioned and the lights slipped down to right on top of the leaves overnight (Lights on 8pm, off at 2pm). I've pullled them back a bit and altered the design (duct tape) so lets see how it goes...

coco is great, but there's nothing wrong with peat if you got it. you just need some lime to buffer it- dolomite, crushed shells...
have to agree on the light burn, was it touching a bulb?

I have a feeling it did burn overnight when the light cord might have slipped an inch... Was in a mad rush to get to work that morning so probably missed it.

RedEyeJedi8 said:

Holy nectar of the Gods Mr. Ganja! Those are some beauties right there!

Been lurking around this place a month or two now trying to soak up as much as i can before signing up and plunging in. I do intend to get my hands on some Coco but this takes a bit of doing where i am (Pakistan). That info is enough to make one do a double take and maybe think 'but marijuana is so synonymous to that region, surely growing supplies should be abundant'.... it is and they are somewhat, but growing indoors isn't really a big thing here. This should tell you something about stereotypes eh? heh...

Weed is rare here. What isn't though is hash, there's lots of it and it's mind numbingly good stuff from the northern regions (bordering Afghanistan). Wild marijuana is common around these northern parts but most of it is prepared into hash or a drink called 'Bhang' (where the -ang- is pronounced like -ung- in the word 'rung'). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhang. <-- Massive amounts of a good time if done right, a massive hangover the next day if not.. However by the time hash makes it's way down south where i am (Karachi), it's been cut, remixed, split and generally manhandled so much that there's very little left of the original. What takes it's place is an opium infused effect which im sure you'll agree is NOT GOOD!!!

Coming back to the point, i did find a supplier of Coco recently. He'll be getting his stocks in soon, till those get in i'll keep what's left of my seedlings exactly where they are (Hard to come by).... Meanwhile i can try to sort this one out and see if i can stop the other two from going down a similar route. Hopefully the PH meter (some generic Chinese make) should be here by today. I can test these babies and take it from there.

Thanks again for the help and links Bozo!

Click to expand...

...you're welcome man, some day it'll be your turn to help someone else, that's how we do, one to another.

anyway, while i've never been anywhere near the middle east i did spend some time in Germany back in the day and it was just as you describe there as well with plentiful hash and weed nowhere to be found.

...i expect Amazon will ship to you? ...if so you can get your coco from them.

COCOTEK 5KG BAIL

...and i can't advise you on which ph meter to get because, as i said above, i don't need or use one, the drop tester is plenty good enough for my purpose.

keep in mind that mj is a weed so far hardier that you might imagine once you learn how to get them safely into the vegetative state, they are fragile as seedlings but VERY tough once they get past these early days and really, the only way to learn it is to do it, ...do your research too but don't stop popping beans until you are able to nurse them into the vegetative stage.

...another thing to consider is that growing from seed isn't a requirement except in the beginning, once you find a 'keeper' you can then just keep cloning her for as long as you continue to enjoy her, that's why it's nice to have more than one keeper, so you can switch it up now and then, lol. ...i have 3 solid keepers plus a few that aren't quite good enough to be considered keepers but are good enough to add some variety and so to keep until a keeper comes along, lol, which is why i pop seeds, i'm always on the look out for new keepers.

...oh, and did you ever consider going out and harvesting any of the wild stuff you have growing in your area and making your own hash? ...the process isn't all that complex and there are a couple of different methods to choose from.

peace, bozo

Im way down south of the land but have family living in those parts. My cousin there gets his A grade sweetness from near the Afghan border, don't thing he'll be arsed enough to make his own.. lol

Cloning is on my to do. I'll plant more once i get these babies to the veg state you wrote about. Once i have those in my portfolio along with the first three, i'll be able to pick the prime of the lot for replication.

For now though i'll stick with the burnt seedling and see how it comes along...

Not necessarily a bump, just wanted to muse aloud how bloody good looking this plant is... The geometry of the leaves is quite stunning.

Hey everyone. Now into the third week, one of the girls (hopefully) is showing signs of nute burn/deficiency. Here is specimen number one. From the pictures i have seen online it seems this is a magnesium deficiency&#8230; Would appreciate if the learned here could chip in with their spare change.

From what i've read n seen it looks like a case of excessive magnesium.. If so, how do i go about balancing it out?

~~~Bump~~~

~~Bump Bump~~

mornin' man, as i said back on the 11th, it looks to me like a ph issue and i see you haven't re-potted into a better medium so i expect that is why your problem hasn't gone away.

...a ph imbalance will cause nutrient lockout issues that will appear as deficiency's, in fact the symptoms you see are signs of deficiency but the cause isn't a lack of those nutrients but instead those nutrients are unavailable because of the ph imbalance.

...what all that means is that the outward deficiency's you see are only symptoms and treating those symptoms won't fix the underlying ph issue so you'll need to fix that first before you will know if you have a nutrient problem, ...which i suspect you don't, just a ph problem, take care of that and i expect your problems will go away.

...also, at 3 weeks old they should be strong enough to re-pot so that is what i would recommend, ...and don't just pot up into another pot filled with the same peat or you won't solve your problem, ...peat does NOT buffer ph very well so it REQUIRES that you buffer it yourself with lime and while that will work, it may prove difficult for you to do it accurately, ...you can also try topdressing with lime without re-potting, but again, accuracy will be difficult.

...which is why i suggested you get yourself some coco, i even provided a link to Amazon which i have to believe will ship to your part of the world. ...coco is essentially ph neutral so you won't need to worry about your medium, just your nutrient solution.

...i also provided you with several links that, if you study them, will help you find a way that works for you, ...ultimately we are all alone together in this so 99% of the responsibility for your success falls on your shoulders, ...if you have a problem you can either continue to 'bump' and hope for answers or you can go FIND your answers yourself.

peace, bozo

Yeah I went through the links you gave me and they were helpful. The more I research the more confusing it gets, hehe. Guess that will go away with more practicals as opposed to just theory.

Getting to the point, I've managed to find coco locally and I feel a bit daft that I hadn't managed to do that sooner. It grows right here in South Asia, Sri Lanka in my coco's case.

I've gone and transplanted the 3 babies into 5" pots with 70-30 coco-perlite. Watered them with a litre (for all, not each) of bottled water containing weakened soluble fertilizer. I still have to get a ppm meter.

I can't get any fox farm or any of that branded stuff since indoor growing isn't really huge here yet.

I can get soluble (which i use) and basic hydroponic fertilizer though. I bought some seaweed extract which I intend to use as a foliar spray and the cal/mag supplement is is on its way to me.

Let's see how these three do over the week, if the peat moss that's already there with the root-ball plays well in the new mix or not. If not then its new seedlings all over again with coco-perlite from the start, and a lesson well learnt.