Seedlings fizzle out, possible causes?

mudballs

mudballs

Well-Known Member
Moflow said:
You shoulda cloned them....... lol
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While working out i think i have come up with a hypothesis...perhaps my soil went bacteria dominant and stopped the roots from uptaking nutes. Idk. Im gonna dump the cup later and look at the roots.
 
mudballs

mudballs

Well-Known Member
Star Dog said:
Sometimes it's simply the seeds.
View attachment 5036144I've 5 seedlings growing away fine, 3 fk knows what and 2 duds.
View attachment 5036144View attachment 5036145View attachment 5036146View attachment 5036147
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At first that is what i thought, then when i got to my 6th and 7th seeds failing i knew something was up. Im 99% sure now it's grower error largely due to my soil. This soil is my local input mix. I did microwave the dirt but something could have lived, then latched onto my roots and stopped nute uptake. They should be long dead if it was something more significant we commonly run into. It's gotta be my soil :(
...but only these 10 seeds did it. Gah! Stupid hobby, which one of you got me into growing!?
 
zzyx

zzyx

Well-Known Member
mudballs said:
@Rurumo @JimmiP thnx guys, i have a CMH on em at about 100ppfd cuz in there with my clones. The spindly thing never bothered me, they have always hit the growth spurt, just a waiting game but these WC never hit that, just keels over dead. Ill try a higher ppfd and see...scared shitless to do it tho lol.
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Seeds pop up outdoors in full Sun. They like light.
Clones, much less.
 
jimihendrix1

jimihendrix1

Well-Known Member
Nothing to be embarrassed about. Shit happens. Some plants thrive in conditions that will kill, or stunt others.
I myself start seedlings by soaking them in distilled water, and when they pop, I plant them in Promix BX in the same type cups you use.

I plant them pointed tip down, and then cover the cups with Saran Wrap to hold moisture. I also dont soak them, but just have them moist. I also spray the saran wrap so it clings to the cup. I also mist the dry Promix BX before I plant the seed. I use a toothpick to make a small hole in the medium, insert the seed, and then slightly mist again. I dont plant the seed very deep. 1/4-1/8 of an inch. Just enough to cover the top of the seed.
I keep the temps about 80f, and have a 1000w Hortilux HPS 24 inches away from them. Ive used 1000w on my seedlings since they came out with HID in 1977-78. Though back then I use 1000w Metal Halide. I blast them with light from day 1. I figure they get blasted at the equator, and even more so if you add in high altitude like the Andes.
I also have a fan on them for a small breeze, and constant airflow/exchange. At this point I only mist them with a spray bottle.
When they pop I take off the saran wrap, and only mist for about 4 days to a week. depends on how fast theyre growing.
I then start wateering and add in weak fertilizer solution. I feed with each watering. Maybe a 10% soultion, and increase it usually weekly. Maybe every 5 days if theyre growing fast. But by only a very small increase.

But for me, Im a firm believer in blasting them with light from day one. They get it in nature. Why not inside???

I recently planted 105 seeds, and 103 came up.
 
mudballs

mudballs

Well-Known Member
I think @waterproof808 educated me...i just never worried about germs on seeds or in seed shell. Wouldn't the guy that i got these from suffered the same? My Fl Strawberry came from him and his garden and theyre outside right now in flower, they gave me no trouble.
This is how i do after popping in paper towel
4797936_grow-journal-by-mudballscustomafghan-kush_m.jpg
No mercy, out they go, live or die bitches...i do control the intensity they're exposed to by placement in my yard but this no fail for me. That's depleted soil from previous grows, works great.
Since the Fl Strawberry did fine, and only these 10 did it, it's either a pathogen that hitchhiked on seed, or one native in my soil that hammers this particular strain? Idk i know a fair amount about growing but this had me scratching my head. It's gotta be one of the two pathogen vectors?
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
mudballs said:
I think @waterproof808 educated me...i just never worried about germs on seeds or in seed shell. Wouldn't the guy that i got these from suffered the same? My Fl Strawberry came from him and his garden and theyre outside right now in flower, they gave me no trouble.
This is how i do after popping in paper towel
View attachment 5036437
No mercy, out they go, live or die bitches...i do control the intensity they're exposed to by placement in my yard but this no fail for me. That's depleted soil from previous grows, works great.
Since the Fl Strawberry did fine, and only these 10 did it, it's either a pathogen that hitchhiked on seed, or one native in my soil that hammers this particular strain? Idk i know a fair amount about growing but this had me scratching my head. It's gotta be one of the two pathogen vectors?
Click to expand...
Definitely germs.
 
Antidote Man

Antidote Man

Well-Known Member
they look like absolute shit. my guess is its the seeds. sometimes theyre just weak.. althouhg im sure its uncommon, you could go through 10 and have them crap out... and that 11th seed will grow fine. Ive gone through 2 or 3 of them looking like that and found a good one on the third.
 
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