Seedling Problems

Hi All,

I am in the beginning stages of my first grow with white widow seeds bought from amsterdam seed co. I am growing in a grow tent using cfl lighting for veg stage and switching to hps 400W for flowering. I started with 10 seeds being germinated in paper towel. I had 100% germination success and then planted the seeds in Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil and watered. Out of the ten seedlings only 3 now are surving , only one iof which looks entirely healthy. The soil in my tent seems to dry out fairly quickly so I do not know if I did not keep things moist enough for the young seedlings. One of my remaining seedlings has its leaves pointed qalmost straight upward toward the lights. The CFL are Grow lights 6500k from HTG totaling 26500 lumens for a 5.6 square foot tent.

Any ideas on what I can to do ensure a better survival rate??

If more info is needed please let me know

I am thinking maybe I put the germinated in the seeds under the lights too quickly and the humidity was not high enough. ... the temps were between 75-80 degrees with humidity around 30% which prob caused the dryness. If I place saran wrap over the germinated seed container and put in dark warm place and wait till they sprout...would this help with seedlings sprouting through soil?

this is what i do and get almost 100% germ rate:i do the whole paper towel thing put into a bowl of some sort cover with saran wrap and i put on top of my modem.if you have a computer desk you should have some clearance from modem to shelf.almost everytime i get germination at 24 hrs or under.dark,warm!!

My problem isnt getting the seeds to germinate...its getting them to survive once I put the germionated seed in the soil

Oh - then yep, you're correct. When you place your germinated seed in your growing medium, always use something for a humidity dome - soda bottle cut off, lid for a throw away baking pan, humidity tray, saran wrap - something! Because if it dries out before it sprouts, it will kill the baby. You must keep it moist! Remove the humidity barrier as soon as the baby breaks the surface.

Another good idea is to use a spray bottle to keep the top of the soil moist all the time, until the plant is sprouted. The "let the soil dry out before watering" advice that you hear so often, doesn't apply to babies seedlings, because if that tender young root gets dry, it'll kill it quick. The plastic wrap works well, I do it too, sometimes.

Yeah. Make sure that you plant the seed only about a half inch down. And jawbrodt gave good advice. What I always do is put a ziplock bag over the pot and leave it under the light once the germinated seeds are planted. Try it out

DCarollolaw said:

I am thinking maybe I put the germinated in the seeds under the lights too quickly and the humidity was not high enough. ... the temps were between 75-80 degrees with humidity around 30% which prob caused the dryness. If I place saran wrap over the germinated seed container and put in dark warm place and wait till they sprout...would this help with seedlings sprouting through soil?

Click to expand...

has the seedling popped thru the soil yet ? u maybe overwatering ..even tho your soil looks dry uptop i doubt there was no moisture...all u need to do is wet the soil once then put your seeds in an spray the topsoil lightly everynight. once you put your seedling into the soil all it needs is ogygen to reach the surface because it takes enuff water in for the journey when its sitting in the pappertowels ...to much water u you seedlin cannot breath