help my wilting seedlings!

i am pancking... **I ADDED PICS** but i am sorry too i do not have a good camera.
i have a seedling a little over a week under lights and a new one i just put under yesterday.
the week old one was doing fine until the other day when it appeared to wilt because of being too dry i think. so i added water and it popped back up - but now it is wilting and falling over and turning yellow.

my little seedling is laying over and turned purplish, dark and the leaves look small.

i don't know what the problem is, the heat and humidity are never fluctuating terribly. it is difficult to up both of them in a basement but they stay around 65 F and 35% RH.

i was using a humidity dome until just a few days ago when i decided the dome wasn't doing much of anything to keep in heat and humidity.

what do i do?? i am watching my babies die in front of me!!

Would it be possible to post pictures of your seedlings? That might be helpful.

Wilting can be from a number of different causes so without seeing them or getting a VERY detailed description of them it can be hard to pinpoint a problem.

If you cannot post pictures for some reason tell us how old they are, what they are planted in, what type of lighting you use, what wattage it is, how far away from the plant tops your lighting is, how often you water and how much you water and pot size and if you have ventilation and if so of what sort, how tall are your seedlings, is there any discoloration of the stems at any point in them, is any point in the stem thinner than the rest, what are the pH levels of the water you are using and the pH level of your soil, are you feeding them any nutes and if so when did you start and what type of nutes are you using and what sort of mixture are you using (like a full strength mixture or a half strength mixture or a one quarter strength mixture) and anything else that you can add like if you are using soil what brand name potting soil is it, does it contain slow release fertilizer in it, does it have perlite in it or not or something else like vermiculite or sand or peat moss? Do you have any reflective material/paint on your walls and if so what kind/color/type?

The more details you can give the better the chance someone will have to give you sound advice instead of just shotgunning guesses.

Ok, I just reread your original message and you said your babies are turning purplish/dark. Where is that happening? The stems, the leaves both? If it is all over where did it start, where on the plants did you first notice the color change?

denverm4x said:

what do i do?? i am watching my babies die in front of me!!

Click to expand...

Roll a fat one and relax.

the stems on both of them are red/purple... i would not be able to post a picture unless i borrowed a camera from someone. this sucks. they are in rockwool. i usually give them about a bottlecap full or two of distilled water every other day or so... if i notice the rockwool drying out i'll give it a little. i don't have much in terms of setup, it is pretty jerry-rigged. cool and day fluorescent on them, about 3 or 4 inches away from them. 35W each or some shit. i have a space heater beneath giving heat because it is in a cool dry basement. the reading on the hygrometer is always around 60-69 degrees and 30-35% RH. i think this all started when i actually put a fan on it and i think the big seedling dried out and started to droop. so i took it off and gave it water and it seemed to recover the other day. now i am freaking out and about to lose 2 seeds. the big guy is just drooping, leaves yellowing slightly and just looking withered. the new seedling is laying on its side and is very dark, purple basically. i have no idea what it could be, as i haven't changed anything too dramatically and now both are going to shit.
can anyone help me? the only camera i have is a camera phone and it is cheap as hell and i am not sure i can even get the pics on here. i do not know if these babies have time for me to find a real camera! and i gotta go out for the day....
i am going to lose it

Its because your seedlings haven't got enough roots from being domed for to long.
When you dome seedlings for to long they don't bother to root as they just absorb the surrounding moisture.
Never just take them straight from the dome to the heat.
Put them back under the dome and leave the vents open and make sure that the soil is only slightly damp so that they will root well.
Leave the dome off for 4hours and then put it back on etc.. until you see it pick up

ok... here does nothing with crappy camera phone...

natmoon said:

Its because your seedlings haven't got enough roots from being domed for to long.
When you dome seedlings for to long they don't bother to root as they just absorb the surrounding moisture.
Never just take them straight from the dome to the heat.
Put them back under the dome and leave the vents open and make sure that the soil is only slightly damp so that they will root well.
Leave the dome off for 4hours and then put it back on etc.. until you see it pick up

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i don't think that is it. i haven't domed the bigger one for several days now. and i just put the seedling under yesterday. besides, my dome/setup doesn't allow for excessive humidity anyway, so i think doming them is mostly inconsequential due to the dry, arid conditions of the basement. they were doing fine under the dome to begin with! now it has all gone to shite

can you see those pics btw?

bump.... i am dying

I have similar problem right now, so I got more seeds germinating so I can start over again. But my problem was that they were too hot (up to 105) because I am doing a closet grow without good ventilation. I feel your pain buddy!

so nobody here can tell me what the problem is? i just want to know so i do not repeat it... all of a sudden they died and they seemed so well until then... any help?

dark purple stem = overwatering.

looks like its suffering heat stress aswell, whats the temp of your grow spot?

dude forget what everyone said

your plants are damping off. look up that term on google: damping off

It's caused by a fungus and affects plants in their early stages: germination

I used ground cinnamon and it seems to have worked, although I cannot guarantee it cause I also did an entire soil flush. Cinnamon is definitely not going to kill your plant though. Just make sure you dont put any on the leaves, just on the soil right before watering.

You can use garlic as well. There is also another chemical which you can use and which is non-organic but more effective. Just look it up. It's a very common problem.

Yo your seedling stem looks really long, is it not a distance problem with the light? Are you watering regularly.

Im not a pro but seedlings dont require nutes or anything like that which leaves only a few factors that can affect its growth:

Temps (70 - 80)
solution pH (6-7)
Water (keep medium moist)
and light (6500K)

Thats all i can actually think of. So you doing all these?

thanks for the replies guys. well i have a hard time raising temps where it is, but it stays between 60-70 degrees, this is probably too low but it is difficult to raise the temp. any suggestions are welcome. damping off sounds plausible, although it isn't particularlly hot and humid - 30-40% RH, 60-70 F. i have added a fan blowing nearby but i may need to rethink how to keep heat in, if that is in fact the problem. i guess overwatering is the only thing i can think of that would make sense... i thought i was pretty judicious with my watering but i will try and take it easy...

what distance should you keep new sprouts at? like first days under lights?

Im currently on my 5th day and i have a 200w 6500K light 3" above the light. I was told to keep it at 2" above but this raided temps through the roof. I have a fan blowing the air between the plant and the light to maintiain a temp of 80F (this is as low as i can get it). I mist my plant with water via a spreyer prob once every 4-5 hours but only cos the fan and light dry it out.

I just read this:

http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/damping.htm


It says to use chamomile tea when fungal rot occurs.

DJR said:

Im currently on my 5th day and i have a 200w 6500K light 3" above the light. I was told to keep it at 2" above but this raided temps through the roof. I have a fan blowing the air between the plant and the light to maintiain a temp of 80F (this is as low as i can get it). I mist my plant with water via a spreyer prob once every 4-5 hours but only cos the fan and light dry it out.

I just read this:

http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/damping.htm


It says to use chamomile tea when fungal rot occurs.

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if you water pot plants properely you wont get root rot.
you should always keep the water away from the stem area and water round the sides of the pot working inwards leaving a dry spot around the base of the plant stem this way the roots will work outwards in the soil to get the water from the sides and the base of the stem is not soaked.
if you do get root rot you are better throwing the plant away and starting again.

you god damn idiot, damping off has nothing to do with humidity

its a fungus

denverm4x said:

thanks for the replies guys. well i have a hard time raising temps where it is, but it stays between 60-70 degrees, this is probably too low but it is difficult to raise the temp. any suggestions are welcome. damping off sounds plausible, although it isn't particularlly hot and humid - 30-40% RH, 60-70 F. i have added a fan blowing nearby but i may need to rethink how to keep heat in, if that is in fact the problem. i guess overwatering is the only thing i can think of that would make sense... i thought i was pretty judicious with my watering but i will try and take it easy...

what distance should you keep new sprouts at? like first days under lights?

Click to expand...

throw them away mate and start again as they are only sprouts its no big deal as they are dead from what i can see in your pics another 4 days and you will have sprouts again (done right).

Maybe try placing a seedling heat mat under your setup to try and increase the temps??? While germing mine like it between 85-90F, and when moving to the super cloner the water temp is around 72F.