Seedling soil and depressing seedlings

gazja420

gazja420

Active Member
Okay everyone, popped my seeds and planted them a few days ago in seedling soil with added fertilizers, and I didn't add perlite due to being way too stoned and eager when starting up. My little babies are droopy as fuck and have gone yellowish on the little round leaves... I have moved the light very far away for today and I have only watered them once when planting the seeds.

Is it worth me trying to save these or should I simply start over with decent soil with perlite? Thanks for the advice.
 
hermex

hermex

Active Member
Leave them be and they'll likely recover. Next time skip the fertilizers until the plant is well established.

Over watering can be a huge problem with young plants - they don't have the root structure to absorb a lot of water - and droopy leaves is what over watering looks like at the beginning stages. At the later stages, over watering looks like root rot, which you can see during re-potting if it occurs. If you are not Ph'ing your water, then you need to.

Feel the weight of your cup or pot now, when it is wet. When it is dry and needs to be watered, it will feel light like there is nothing in it.

Seedlings do not need a lot of light - basically enough to say, "this way is up". A regular pigtail CFL would probably power seedlings for the first week or two.
 
gazja420

gazja420

Active Member
Okay, so would the browning of the leaves be due to putting them close to the lights? I am using 2 90w LED UFO lights and they were about a foot away. Now I have placed them about a meter away just to recover, and added a bit more dry soil on the top to absorb any excess moisture at the moment. I didn't add any nutes to the soil, it just stated it had nutes in the soil to help germination and seedlings.
 
hermex

hermex

Active Member
Just leave them be.

I can't say what the discoloration is from at this point. It is possible that the soil is too "hot" - or has too many nutrients for a small MJ seedling, commercial products will tell you whatever is necessary to make you think that the plant needs what they are selling - or it could be that the light was too hot. Pictures would help a lot if they are available.

When I have seedlings or small clones, my t5 is about 36inches away from them

At this point though, just leave them be. Chances are that they will struggle and then thrive. Let them dry out and then water with clean water at a PH of 6.5 Let them go dry between waterings. You can use just clean water until they are well established.

if you are a beginner, then pick a simple regiment and stick to it. Promix HP is an awesome growing medium (soil) that is easy to maintain. It doesn't have nutrients, so you add the food every other watering. It does have perlite...and just the right amount. Just when you think you've found every person's opinion on how to grow, you develop your own and there is one more in the world. Simplicity, consistency, and love is about all it takes though.
 
MD to NC

MD to NC

Active Member
gazja420 said:
Okay everyone, popped my seeds and planted them a few days ago in seedling soil with added fertilizers, and I didn't add perlite due to being way too stoned and eager when starting up. My little babies are droopy as fuck and have gone yellowish on the little round leaves... I have moved the light very far away for today and I have only watered them once when planting the seeds.

Is it worth me trying to save these or should I simply start over with decent soil with perlite? Thanks for the advice.
Click to expand...
Yea not much you can do now, just hope and wait. Hot soil may be to blame.
 
gazja420

gazja420

Active Member
Thanks for the great help. I have been using Growell Surestart which may be the issue. And the grow closet was rather warm (about 28c) so I have added a fan on low speed which is hitting the plants pots. I will leave them be at the moment and let them dry out some more before watering and keep the lights a fair distance away until they perk up. I am currently at work at the moment so I will upload pictures a little later when I get home, hopefully they have sorted themselves out. Just my first grow, so kinda feel a right noob at the moment. Is painting the pots white a good idea as they are black ?
 
hermex

hermex

Active Member
Sounds like a recipe for success! If you do paint the pots let them dry for a couple weeks before putting your girls in or putting them in the room, the fumes can be killer and they do linger. I don't think they have to be white though, my smart pots are black....smart pots, or another breathable type pot, can do wonders for root health and they readily release moisture to prevent over watering!
 
MD to NC

MD to NC

Active Member
gazja420 said:
Thanks for the great help. I have been using Growell Surestart which may be the issue. And the grow closet was rather warm (about 28c) so I have added a fan on low speed which is hitting the plants pots. I will leave them be at the moment and let them dry out some more before watering and keep the lights a fair distance away until they perk up. I am currently at work at the moment so I will upload pictures a little later when I get home, hopefully they have sorted themselves out. Just my first grow, so kinda feel a right noob at the moment. Is painting the pots white a good idea as they are black ?
Click to expand...
I doubt the color of the pots matter much. The reflection benefit would be so minimal that I don't think it would be worth it. Definitely wouldn't paint em if they already have plants in them. 28c which I think is around 82 degrees should be just fine. I will send a prayer to the Ganja Gods that they pull through. Good luck!
 
gazja420

gazja420

Active Member
About to go home now, we shall see what they are like!
Will update everyone when i get home :)
Thanks a lot.
 
gazja420

gazja420

Active Member
Okay, so the tips of the leaves seem to be going a yellowish colour. I am going to try transplant the seedlings into proper compost tonight. Hopefully they will benefit from soil that actually has some kind of nutrients
present.
 
moving_shadow

moving_shadow

Active Member
I don't think you took note of the comments, you need to lay off the nutrients which could probably be causing the discolouration. Let the plants grow for the next week or so and then make an assessment.

And pictures would help.
 
dannyboy602

dannyboy602

Well-Known Member
Don't use pre nuted soil mixes for starting seeds. The yellow tips are probably burn from the hot soil. Use a sterile mix like ProMix. It's just peat and perlite. Wait for about three weeks before you fertilize and use a very diluted rate at first then gradually increase the rate.
I wouldn't trash the grow but realize that they may or may not survive because of the mistake.
 
gazja420

gazja420

Active Member
I haven't added any nutes at all and only watered once with distilled water, and using seedling soil that has next to nothing added. The soil is only slightly above room temp so I wouldn't of thought that is the problem? I have been told to transplant them into standard compost and get rid of the seedling soil, would that be the best bet or should I just wait now?
 
moving_shadow

moving_shadow

Active Member
my humble view is that a transplant will just cause more stress

the soil they currently in may be hot, but just watering them on a regular basis should "cool" the soil, so my recommendation is to leave them and see what happens.

I'm sure others would have more considered opinions.
 
gazja420

gazja420

Active Member
Okay sure, watered them about 5 days ago and it is slightly moist still so I will leave it until tomorrow morning before watering again, I think I over over watered on the first day. I will perhaps put them on the window shelf for a day just to let them chill a bit. Sorry If I am unclear with the soil and nutes, pretty new to all the lingo :P
 
hermex

hermex

Active Member
Definitely just let them chill a bit before trying to transplant. "hot" soil refers to having too many nutrients, not to the temperature of the soil. For future seedlings, do what Dannyboy said above.
 
gazja420

gazja420

Active Member
Okay, they are being left :)
I'll upload some pictures tonight if I can get online.
In a new house and get the net installed on Saturday.

And thanks for the tip about "hot soil", ive been feeling the soil and being like... what are they on about, it isn't hot at all! ;)
 
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