Some seedlings growing slower than others

Hey guys just a question on seedlings im growing. So in a 6 pack i sowed 3 seeds from an outdoor grow i grew last year from bag seed. And then planted 3 girl scout cookies seeds that i got from Nirvana. One of them got chowed by a snail lol didnt think they would get to it on a table in the middle of paving, anyway lesson learned i put down snail bait pellets after that. So i now sowed another seed in a separate pot. Now i have 3 seedlings of gsc, they are growing way slower than the normal bag seed?

The gsc seeds were quite small when i got them so hoping they will catch up and they not just shitty seeds? has anyone had an experience like this? Im using pre mixed soil thats really good, no other additives, watering sparingly to let them dry in between days. Also i sterilized the container before putting the seeds in

Good question, wish I knew the answer for sure.

I've hypothesized the roots (tap root?) can sustain damage in some seedlings, enough to slow it down, but not enough to kill it. Recently germinated my last LSD seed when I popped a lot of older seeds and got a slow growing runt. It looked like a normal plant, just lots smaller and slower growing than others germinated at the same time. Same light, same bag of soil, etc. as other seedlings.
I took a clone and the clone looked and performed like a normal clone, increasing my suspicion that it wasn't a plant genetic problem, but possibly a root problem with the original seedling.

The other thing that's a possibility is something in the particular cup of the runt seedling causes it to be slower. Maybe a physical obstruction in the soil, like a piece of bark or a perlite chunk situated so it is literally preventing the tap root from developing. I don't fertilize seedlings until they're able to handle it, but it's possible the chemistry of the soil a seedling is in could be preventing normal growth patterns.

It could also be the seed itself was a bit of a premature seed, maybe formed enough to create a plant but not formed enough to give the plant everything it needed to grow as fast as it would if that particular seed had been more robust. It happens with humans...why not plants?

And of course, some fully formed seeds just produce shitty slow growing plants.

Thanks for your input much appreciated! Yeah man i also put some wooden ice lolly sticks in for labels and suspect those could have caused a problem too. The list of possibilities is long, i figured maybe those sticks were made of pine, and pine gives off a chemical think its called an auxin if i remember correctly from my Horticulture studies, that prevent growth of other plants around their roots. Maybe this is in the stick. I took them out so lets see. Cant help but feel annoyed as this is the first time iv used proper genetics. But hey its still early lets see what happens

Joncoh101 said:

Thanks for your input much appreciated! Yeah man i also put some wooden ice lolly sticks in for labels and suspect those could have caused a problem too. The list of possibilities is long, i figured maybe those sticks were made of pine, and pine gives off a chemical think its called an auxin if i remember correctly from my Horticulture studies, that prevent growth of other plants around their roots. Maybe this is in the stick. I took them out so lets see. Cant help but feel annoyed as this is the first time iv used proper genetics. But hey its still early lets see what happens

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You're welcome. Your post reminded me of other things that could happen.

I've used lots of ways to germinate seeds, but I often use the paper towel method. I mark the paper towels of the different strains with an abbreviation using a black permanent marker for identification and place the pile of damp paper towels in a covered plastic container. I suspect some dyes or chemicals could bleed into / onto the emerging seedlings roots if you use the wrong or too much permanent marker. Might be a source of problems...hmmm.

Concerning wooden sticks, I try to use uncolored birch sticks for plant identification. Probably should use plastic, but old habits are hard to break.

I'll have to look into the pine sticks preventing competitors, it sounds interesting!

These are my babies at the moment. Is it bad that they are quite light green? I'm worried about potential nutrient lock out. I'm literaly just using a pre mixed soil for cannabis so duno why It would be a mess up. A friend said I should perhaps use Epsom salts

The two smaller ones in the front of the six pack are the gsc seedlings

I tend not to fertilize seedlings when they're tiny and I like to bottom water seedlings trays when I do start feeding them well diluted nutes initially. Seedlings can get torched if you overdo it.

Is the larger one on the left , the same age as the tiny ones? What kind of soil are they in? Is it preloaded with nutrients ?

Also, it's not uncommon for different strains to express more vigor than others, so it's quite possible you may need to wait a bit and see how they come along.

GSC are notoriously slow growers, especially to start. After being inbred over and over, particularly, without male dna present, strains start to lack vigor. Your outdoor seeds are first generation, so they are as vigorous as it gets.

Rob Roy said:

I tend not to fertilize seedlings when they're tiny and I like to bottom water seedlings trays when I do start feeding them well diluted nutes initially. Seedlings can get torched if you overdo it.

Is the larger one on the left , the same age as the tiny ones? What kind of soil are they in? Is it preloaded with nutrients ?

Also, it's not uncommon for different strains to express more vigor than others, so it's quite possible you may need to wait a bit and see how they come along.

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Yeah the one on the left is also bag seed but was planted a few weeks earlier

R Burns said:

GSC are notoriously slow growers, especially to start. After being inbred over and over, particularly, without male dna present, strains start to lack vigor. Your outdoor seeds are first generation, so they are as vigorous as it gets.

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well thats good to hear lol. Any other reasons why the big one is lighter green? The soil doesnt have any other ferts in it. Just coco coir, worm castings, perlite, vermiculite and something else cant remember lol

Joncoh101 said:

well thats good to hear lol. Any other reasons why the big one is lighter green? The soil doesnt have any other ferts in it. Just coco coir, worm castings, perlite, vermiculite and something else cant remember lol

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Prob just more established. Better relationship with the soil and able to use nutrients better.

Another aspect im wondering about is chlorine. I usually just water straight from a hose pipe. I dont use pump water outside because i reckon its acidic as it has alot of iron in it. So what i am going to do now is use my filter in my kitchen that i use for drinking water and then still let that water stand in a bucket overnight? That and i want to water some epsom salts in and we will see if the leaves go darker green

Joncoh101 said:

These are my babies at the moment. Is it bad that they are quite light green? I'm worried about potential nutrient lock out. I'm literaly just using a pre mixed soil for cannabis so duno why It would be a mess up. A friend said I should perhaps use Epsom salts

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I have 3 Autos from Humbolt growing and 3 seedlings. 3 started flower ( small plants ) and 1 outta 3 seedlings are growing slow just like the one of my 3 that are in bloom. Do not pay attention to the CFL’s for the flowering plants I had to get them out of my grow room due to spider mites

Ok so its not only me with slow growing seeds lol, just worrying as its my first time spending so much cash on seeds

I’m on my first grow. Came out sooo good. 5 days away from harvest and I got spider mites. In the beginning I thought it was just frosting on the leaves until I looked more closely a week later because only two plants out of five we’re doing it and my prevail was spider mites. So I feel you, investment in Lights Seeds, soil, nutrients,Humidifier, dehumidifier, fans and timers. I panicked and hosed my plants off And the big ass buds just flopped even the ones that I had supported well so I seem to have got them mites under control now I’m going to finish out the week under lights and hit a dork period For 72 hours in harvest. One of the plants snapped at the main stalk which was hollow and supposedly a very good trait. I’m assuming that’s why my buns are so big because of the good nutrient uptake from the hollow stems

Take advice from me and at least once a week or as soon as you see any leaves getting speckled spots on it check for Mites with a 40X magnifying glass. It’s the only way you can see them they are so freaking small

I woke up to this. Never in my life. Spots & tear in leave

Yeah man thats why i think what im gonna do is spray my plants with neem oil and or fungicides just as preventative maintenance. Especially during veg phase with the idea that i keep the plants as healthy and pest free before they get into the flowering phase. Because you dont want to be spraying and trying to reverse insect infestations and or fungal issues when you have buds. Dont want to be spraying that shit on my sweet sensi

I sprayed my seedlings and my bigger grown out plant with a micro nutrient mix, as well as epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) and they are looking alot more healthier and greener. Im stunned tho, bought this expensive soil and it either has too little nutes in it, or it has too much, or it was just my water that i was using but my plants were this light olive green color instead of healthy green. I find it stupid to have to need to spray a micronutrient mix in the seedling phase but whatever.

When i plant them out im defos gonna mix some more compost in. It is a coco peat mix with worm castings etc, im wondering if its just a bad mix or something