New seedling first set dying

Corps.bud

Member
Soil is mixture of garden soil 80% and coco peat 20%. On a 18/6 schedule w/ 3 cfls only. No nutes applied yet. What's wrong with them?

I water every other day and make sure there's plenty of run off. Please help!
 

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sworth

Well-Known Member
Way too much watering, wait until the soil is dry before adding water....and some perlite or similar in the soil would help :bigjoint:
 

sno capz

Well-Known Member
Soil is mixture of garden soil 80% and coco peat 20%. On a 18/6 schedule w/ 3 cfls only. No nutes applied yet. What's wrong with them?

I water every other day and make sure there's plenty of run off. Please help!
What kind of water are you using?
What is your pH?
 

sno capz

Well-Known Member
Way too much watering, wait until the soil is dry before adding water....and some perlite or similar in the soil would help :bigjoint:
This is incorrect.... Some of it anyways. If the plants were overwatered they would show signs of overwatering such as drooping leaves. These show no sign of overwatering. However, you are correct about adding perlite. This is necessary for root aeration and adequate drainage.

Soil should NEVER completely dry out! Wait til the pot is around 80% lighter than when you water it. Too little water can cause roots to dry out and die... Too much water will cause roots to rot and die
 

jwreck

Well-Known Member
thats a nice size pot to be watering that much as stated above. i pop seedlings in 16 oz cups and water like every 4 days and increase the watering as the plant progresses
 

jwreck

Well-Known Member
you want the roots to search for water by keeping the soil that saturated your slowing their growth as well. dont let it get bone dry but wait till the top soil is dry before the next watering.
i had a similar problem when i tried to grow autos and was told to put them directly in their final pot, they where showing similar symptoms and the cause was over watering.
are you using distilled water or tap?
 

Corps.bud

Member
snocapz - I use purified drinking water.

I have no ways of finding out the run off pH.

Also perlite here in our country is a bit hard to find. There's no whatsoever a shop with just for gardening. Coco peat is said to be good in aeration and drainage though.
 

sno capz

Well-Known Member
snocapz - I use purified drinking water.
This is OK. Although even though i would suggest RO(reverse osmosis) water, your purified water will be fine but i would suggest getting a TDS(total dissolved solids) meter and testing your waters level.

I have no ways of finding out the run off pH.
Well then you better get yourself one and get it quickly! pH is DETRIMENTAL to nutrient uptake required by the plant. You are on the internet right now which means you have access to supply shops via the internet correct? Amazon... $20-$300 for one... Just depends on the quality of meter you'd like. I suggest a decent one and not a cheap one... Although a $20 pen meter will "get you by" but think about quality and longevity. Growing is not a hobby in which shortcuts should be taken unless you only care about minimal results... Buying cheap equipment USUALLY results in having to replace it which means added unexpected costs. Get yourself a good pH meter, 4.0 and 7.0 calibration solution, pH up solution and pH down solution to properly adjust pH as needed. Research this topic as it is of utmost importance to growth.

Also perlite here in our country is a bit hard to find. There's no whatsoever a shop with just for gardening. Coco peat is said to be good in aeration and drainage though.
Peat is great stuff but it is also a water retainer. Since perlite isn't readily available to you you could use small stone or rock both in your soil as well as a layer at the very bottom of your pot for drainage. Keep your mix but replace 30% of it with small rocks or stones. If this is the way you are going to choose... Be sure to boil a few pots of water, place small rocks or stones in a big planter or pot with drainage holes and pour a few pots of the boiling water over the stones to clean them. Then rinse with a few pots of cold water to cool them down before mixing into the soil. This will prevent making your soil to hot for the plants roots and give you the necessary drainage...
 

jwreck

Well-Known Member
you can use hydroton, rice hulls, pumice, you can even use those small river pebbles, coco has good areation but not having anything in the medium to prevent it from compacting and watering as much as you do you are going to suffocate the roots.
forget about the runoff ph. coco has a natural buffer since you arent adding nutes water with a ph from 5.4 to 7.0 should be ok. what you do need to find is what the ph of the water that is going in is.
and stop watering so much, seedlings dont need that much water, clones on the other hand do need a very wet medium the first 3 days
 

sno capz

Well-Known Member
you can use hydroton, rice hulls, pumice, you can even use those small river pebbles, coco has good areation but not having anything in the medium to prevent it from compacting and watering as much as you do you are going to suffocate the roots.
forget about the runoff ph. coco has a natural buffer since you arent adding nutes water with a ph from 5.4 to 7.0 should be ok. what you do need to find is what the ph of the water that is going in is.
and stop watering so much, seedlings dont need that much water, clones on the other hand do need a very wet medium the first 3 days
Run off pH is important Just not as critical as the pH of the water you are using to feed. Also since the plants are so small i would suggest using a spray bottle and spraying the top of your medium with 5.9-6.2 pH(which is best for coco mediums) water until it is wet then give it 2-3 more sprays so the water has a chance to penetrate the top layer of medium down to the roots. This is an excellent way to be sure you do not overwater. When the top of the soil looks dry Just repeat the process. Some people think feeding more will increase rate of growth which is probably his case. Patience is key here. Over thinking it will lead him to drown his plants like you said.

Clones should never stay "very wet" they should remain moist which is why using a humidity dome is key to successful rooting everytime. A presoaked plug with a cutting, a small amount of water in the bottom of your tray sitting on a seedling heating mat, a humidity dome, low wattage light or partially shaded area outdoors and a spritz of water on the leaves is all that's needed. The plug being "very wet" will rot the stem before it gets a chance to root! Since a cutting only feeds through its leaves during this process that is the main focus area for feeding. Keeping the plug "moist" will allow cuttings to seek out water once they grow roots. I have ran this method of cloning for a while Now and have 100% success rates with this. I presoak my coco plugs in CloneX and a worm tea for 15-20 minutes then place them in a ziplock bag for a few hours then i take my cuttings, dip them in pH 5.8 water with a drop of CloneX in it for 15-20 seconds then dip it in Life Rooting Gel for 15-20 seconds then gently place them into my presoaked plugs and in the humidity dome they go!
 

jwreck

Well-Known Member
Run off pH is important Just not as critical as the pH of the water you are using to feed. Also since the plants are so small i would suggest using a spray bottle and spraying the top of your medium with 5.9-6.2 pH(which is best for coco mediums) water until it is wet then give it 2-3 more sprays so the water has a chance to penetrate the top layer of medium down to the roots. This is an excellent way to be sure you do not overwater. When the top of the soil looks dry Just repeat the process. Some people think feeding more will increase rate of growth which is probably his case. Patience is key here. Over thinking it will lead him to drown his plants like you said.

Clones should never stay "very wet" they should remain moist which is why using a humidity dome is key to successful rooting everytime. A presoaked plug with a cutting, a small amount of water in the bottom of your tray sitting on a seedling heating mat, a humidity dome, low wattage light or partially shaded area outdoors and a spritz of water on the leaves is all that's needed. The plug being "very wet" will rot the stem before it gets a chance to root! Since a cutting only feeds through its leaves during this process that is the main focus area for feeding. Keeping the plug "moist" will allow cuttings to seek out water once they grow roots. I have ran this method of cloning for a while Now and have 100% success rates with this. I presoak my coco plugs in CloneX and a worm tea for 15-20 minutes then place them in a ziplock bag for a few hours then i take my cuttings, dip them in pH 5.8 water with a drop of CloneX in it for 15-20 seconds then dip it in Life Rooting Gel for 15-20 seconds then gently place them into my presoaked plugs and in the humidity dome they go!
he said hes not using nutes yet.
i agree and disagree on the clone thing, ive notice many methods work, mines works all the time and i dont even use clonex just water,coco and a bag over them for the first 4-5 days under t5s roots 6-10 days later the key is a healthy mother and a good genetics, some strains are just a pain in the ass to clone no matter what you do
 

sno capz

Well-Known Member
he said hes not using nutes yet.
Never said anything about nutrients. And whether using nutrients or just water itself it is still important to use water with a proper pH to the plants liking.

i agree and disagree on the clone thing, ive notice many methods work, mines works all the time and i dont even use clonex just water,coco and a bag over them for the first 4-5 days under t5s roots 6-10 days later the key is a healthy mother and a good genetics, some strains are just a pain in the ass to clone no matter what you do
You are correct! Everyone has their own method and most are successful! And congrats on being one of the successful people! I do commend you for this response as knowing is half the battle and there are a lot of people that aren't in the same boat as us! If it works for you then roll with it! CloneX and worm tea is not necessary but IMO it helps! Especially the worm tea! Some people don't even use rooting hormone and successfully root cuttings. As i said its whatever method works for you as long as it works!
 
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