White spots in seedling 5 days old

[bamdamhigh]

Hello I just started my first grow just a week ago after germination, yesterday I found weird white spots on the top of my 5-day-old plant I'm using a Spiderfarmer sf1000d full grow kit (not dimmable) with a humidifier. Light used to be 30'' away from my plant today moved to 24'' away from the plant. I'm planting gorilla cookies from fast bud in 5 gallon fabric pot half of it all-mix from biobizz and the top half is light-mix from the same company. temperature is between 20-24C humidity between 60-85% max it happened once that it spiked to 90 for a few hours. could that be the problem also I have a non-oscillating fan. Any clue what is the problem and how can I fix it? I added the first dose of 0.7cal-mag yesterday with a liter of water, also my plant is overwatered most probably so I made holes everywhere with a long stick to let it breathe, is this a smart or dumb idea?.

 

[Billy the Mountain]

I don't see anything that would concern me.

You should raise your temps though.

 

[bamdamhigh]

@Billy the Mountain I can't handle temperature a lot because I live in very dry cold weather, so I mostly depend on the light and humidifier to control the environment. Also maybe the picture wasn't cleared or I'm a bit paranoid about my first grow? also what could be those white spots if they're fine? some people talked about light distance, others said it could be mold?

 

[Fangthane]

My eyes aren't great, but they look kinda like hard water stains to me. Have you been misting it?

 

[bamdamhigh]

@Fangthane yes I did, do I have to do something to fix that up? or just let it be. I already stopped misting the plant itself and misting the soil more.

 

[Billy the Mountain]

@Billy the Mountain I can't handle temperature a lot because I live in very dry cold weather, so I mostly depend on the light and humidifier to control the environment. Also maybe the picture wasn't cleared or I'm a bit paranoid about my first grow? also what could be those white spots if they're fine? some people talked about light distance, others said it could be mold?

Maybe add a small heater or an incandescent bulb for some additional heat?
One immutable fact: growth will be dramatically slower at low temps.
I assumed, like @Fangthane, that the leaf spots were simply dried water marks.

 

[Fangthane]

Yeah, very likely just little calcium deposits left after water evaporated from the leaf. If running a humidifier with hard water, it can sometimes look like the leaves have tiny white specks all over them. Doesn't seem to hurt anything, except maybe the humidifier.

 

[LeoRavus]

If you're not using distilled or RO water in the humidifier, it'll make white powdery spots. It's from the minerals in tap water that don't evaporate and settle on things.

 

[MickFoster]

I see no problem........carry on.

 

[bamdamhigh]

Thank you guys a lot!
@LeoRavus Speaking of RO or distilled water for humidifiers, If the tap water is safe and drinkable, is it fine to just leave it for 24 hours before using it for the humidifier or watering plants? or it has to be RO or Distilled? I'm not planning to do it but just curious if it's crucial.

 

[LeoRavus]

Thank you guys a lot!
@LeoRavus Speaking of RO or distilled water for humidifiers, If the tap water is safe and drinkable, is it fine to just leave it for 24 hours before throwing it in the humidifier? or it has to be RO or Distilled?

It's safe to use, but leaving it out for 24 hours just lets the chlorine dissipate. It won't get rid of the minerals and you'll still get the spots.

I use distilled in mine. It's like $1.25 a gallon here and I've only used 1 gallon in 6 days since germinating the seeds. Keep it at around 70% right now in early seedling stage.

 

[Fangthane]

Unless you're getting your water out of a swimming pool, it's a needless extra step. The trace amounts in drinking water aren't enough to even kill off the microbes in the soil; and chlorine is a micro nutrient that the plant needs anyway.

 

[bamdamhigh]

@Fangthane My current nutrients plan is cal-mag and advanced nutrients ph perfect Grow-Micro-Bloom and pH down (https://www.advancednutrients.com/products/ph-perfect-grow-micro-bloom/). Do you think that I need to get something for microbes? Also, do you recommend to use something specifically?

 

[Fangthane]

I don't usually pH my water in soil. Mine comes out of the faucet at 8.5ish, but I rarely adjust it. I bought pH Perfect several years ago and never really bothered to use it, so I can't really comment about it.

This is what I use for a microbial boost:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BKLTDZKT/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_6?smid=A180LM8GXNKVVV&psc=1

 

[Budzbuddha]

Maybe stop being a “ helicopter mom “ with such a young plant.
Misting ain’t the end of the world - however sweating every minor thing about this baby plant will drive you to do foolish things like adding Calmag or overwatering ( which you admit ). Just let the plant find its way.

Tap water is fine - if your lawn didn’t explode in fire watering with same , then it’s fine.
That crusty white stain is indicative of ( hard water ) which ironically has calcium / magnesium so using Calmag is kind of moot.

Not sure if your fabric pot is on floor but suggest raising up on a simple riser / crate so it doesn’t sit with a soggy bottom.

Kind of like this.