Extremely slow growth. Help please!

[chris0321]

Hi everybody, this is my first grow, so I have absolutely no experience. I got 4 bag seeds about a month ago and they germinated just fine but as soon as they reached around 3 inches, all growth basically stopped. It's day 34 now and they still look like seedlings.
My setup: Soil: 20% perlite, 80% Whitney Farms organic planting compost. Ingredients: aged and processed softwood bark and sawdust, composted animal maure, dried poultry waste, and feather meal
Lighting: 4- 23watt 5000k CFLs. They've been on 24/0 up until day 30 then I switched them to 18/6.
I water about once every 3-5 days. I didn't start fertilizing until recently (which was probably a mistake) because my plants looked so young that I figured they hadn't used up all the nutrients already in the soil. I tested the soil pH at about day 30 and it was slightly alkaline so I added 2 tbs. of distilled vinegar to half a gallon of water that had been set out for chlorine to evaporate from. I also added 1/4 tbs. of Miracle grow (I know, I know) to the water. Ventilation in the room is pretty good.

 

[1212ham]

What do they look like, pics? Temp and humidity? Pot size?

 

[Hobbes]

.

By soil do you mean dirt or something like pro mix?

20:80 seems like a pretty rich mix in perlite.

.

 

[ALPHA.GanjaGuy]

I think you two are reading that wrong, kind of written weird.. @MannyPacs @Hobbes

Soil: 20% perlite, 80% Whitney Farms organic planting compost.

OP is saying 20% perlite 80% compost

 

[hotrodharley]

“Lighting: 4- 23watt 5000k CFLs. They've been on 24/0 up until day 30 then I switched them to 18/6.”

What is the temperature around the plants? What size container?

 

[MannyPacs]

I think you two are reading that wrong, kind of written weird.. @MannyPacs @Hobbes

Soil: 20% perlite, 80% Whitney Farms organic planting compost.

OP is saying 20% perlite 80% compost

I am reading it now and it indeed clearly says just that lol if you would have asked me before I reread it I would have testified under oath that it said 80 perlite. That's what I get for reading the post too quickly. I will delete my post and wash the egg of my face real quick lol thx 4 pointing it out!

 

[tstick]

Hi everybody, this is my first grow, so I have absolutely no experience. I got 4 bag seeds about a month ago and they germinated just fine but as soon as they reached around 3 inches, all growth basically stopped. It's day 34 now and they still look like seedlings.
My setup: Soil: 20% perlite, 80% Whitney Farms organic planting compost. Ingredients: aged and processed softwood bark and sawdust, composted animal maure, dried poultry waste, and feather meal
Lighting: 4- 23watt 5000k CFLs. They've been on 24/0 up until day 30 then I switched them to 18/6.
I water about once every 3-5 days. I didn't start fertilizing until recently (which was probably a mistake) because my plants looked so young that I figured they hadn't used up all the nutrients already in the soil. I tested the soil pH at about day 30 and it was slightly alkaline so I added 2 tbs. of distilled vinegar to half a gallon of water that had been set out for chlorine to evaporate from. I also added 1/4 tbs. of Miracle grow (I know, I know) to the water. Ventilation in the room is pretty good.

1.) Lights are not strong enough

2.) 2 TBS of vinegar to a 1/2 gallon of water is too acidic -waaaay overcompensating for the "slightly" alkaline condition. Wild pH fluctuations for a small plant isn't good.

3.) Too much fertilizer for a plant that isn't big enough to process it.

My advice:

Get a better grow light

Get some Fox Farm Happy Frog and Ocean Forest soil

Check the pH of your water and get it in the 6.5 range. Water thoroughly and evenly so that you get good drainage and run-off.

Get a small fan and create constant air movement around the plants

Try to get the "lights on" temps to be in the 70-80 degree range and the "lights off" temps to be reasonably cooler.

This is just a stab in the dark because I have no idea what your plants look like or what your grow space looks like. Without more details, this is just a general guess at why you might be having problems with slow growth. Best of luck!

 

[chris0321]

Hi everybody, this is my first grow, so I have absolutely no experience. I got 4 bag seeds about a month ago and they germinated just fine but as soon as they reached around 3 inches, all growth basically stopped. It's day 34 now and they still look like seedlings.
My setup: Soil: 20% perlite, 80% Whitney Farms organic planting compost. Ingredients: aged and processed softwood bark and sawdust, composted animal maure, dried poultry waste, and feather meal
Lighting: 4- 23watt 5000k CFLs 10.0.0.0.1. They've been on 24/0 up until day 30 then I switched them to 18/6.
I water about once every 3-5 days. I didn't start fertilizing until recently (which was probably a mistake) because my plants looked so young that I figured they hadn't used up all the nutrients already in the soil. I tested the soil pH at about day 30 and it was slightly alkaline so I added 2 tbs. of distilled vinegar to half a gallon of water that had been set out for chlorine to evaporate from. I also added 1/4 tbs. of Miracle grow (I know, I know) to the water. Ventilation in the room is pretty good.

I got this,...