Where did I go wrong? First time grower .. Please help

So this is the first time growing for me. However, I have done a massive about of research to prepare for this as well as I can. Obviously nothing beats trail and error and experience to be a top grower. So right now I am in the error phase and I am hoping some one could help me improve my system and tell me where I went wrong. The plants look not like they are in bad shape and some have even died and the rest stopped growing. So first I will start with my setup and how it progressed. Please keep in mind that I am in a location some where in the world where growing supplies are very limited.

19/10
I started by seeds : 10 Pineapple Express , 10 Pot 'O' Gold (both from flying dutchman) and 5 LSD (from barney's farm) We lost a seed in the sink we started with 24. Soaked in distilled water for 24 hrs (they all sank within 1 hr) then moved to a moist paper towel on a plate. Next day sprouts started to appear and third day the looked long enough to move them now to rock wool cubes.

22/10
I soaked the rockwell for a few hours in water with Ph 5.2 (tap water is about 8 i brought it down with vinegar. I then took the seeds and started putting them in the rockwool. To do that I split the cubes from the side and placed the seed in there with the sprouts pointing downwards. One seed looked bunk so we were down to 23 now. All 23 were placed in a tray and kept moist the whole time.

24/10
Next day the green leaves started to appear and looked great by the next two days they were all out with the exception of 2. (down to 21). I had them under 3 36w CFL lamps but that raised the ten to 29C so I changed the light to LED (warm). I used an LED flood light of 170W which according to the store is equivalent to 700w. The plants took a pretty nice step forward under the LED. Temp was 25C.

28/10
Now it was time to put them in the soil. We are very limited on the types of soil we have where I am. I used a mix of 85% Peat Moss and 15% Perlite.
I transplanted the 21 plants in 28cm pots and moved them in their new room. LED wasn't able to cover the new area now so I changed the lights to TWO HID MH 400W with reflector. Each plant was getting between 9000 to 15000 lux.
Temp was 27C when lights on and 22C when off.

30/10
At that point the plant started to stop growing then started to get droopy and in bad shape. Some have died even. I was left with 17. I moved the setup into a Secred Jardin DII120 since I was able to stick all 17 in under one MH 400w lamp about 60cm from the plants. All plats we getting about 10,000 lux. However plants were going the wrong way one after the other. Temp was 28 with light 22 without. I then switched a 24hrs of light @ 27C. Plants were getting worse.

4/11
We started thinking it was the soil or maybe we over watered so we decided to experiment with a new soil made of a mix of perlite, peat moss, sand, wood shavings, and mud. At this point we had lost another 5 plants. Down to 12 now.
While we were transplanting the plants we found that the root wasn't able to get though the rockwool cube and was stuck in there we opening the rockwool and the roots did not look good at all they were light brownish almost yellow. So we took out all the rock wools and founds that was the case with everyone. So I guess that's the reason why they were going bad.

4/11
Now we transplanted all 12 some in peat moss and perlite and some in the other mix. When we transplanted the plants we just took off half of the rock wool cube so the root was now exposed and not trapped in the cube. Lights are on 24hr and i got a fan for the HID so temp now is 24C. I also added two of these LED floodlights to add light to the ones on the edge of the tent.

4/11
I watered them with a combo of water, nutrients and rihzotonic. These is how I prepared the water. Fill the watering jug with 10L of water Ph was 8.5. I added vinegar until it was down to 5. Then a added 40ml of Bio Canna Rihztonic. Followed by 20ml of BIOCANNA Bio-Vega and mixed it all up. Ph was 6.0. Soil Ph is on the high side around 8.

7/11 (17 days)
Today plants look a little bit better or at lease not worse. Lights are on for 24 hours and temp is 24C

So where did I go wrong? Obviously it was the root stuck in the rock wool. Can some one please criticize my method and tell me how to improve it.

My main questions are :

Is a soil mix of 85% peat moss and 15% Perlite ok? Only other additions in the market where I am are Vermiculite and a fertilizer mix of mineral to be added to the peat moss. Also we have sand, wood shavings, mud etc.

Should I stick the seads in the soil directly instead of the rock wool next time?

Is the watering mix of H2O + Bio-Vega + Bio-Rhiztonic correct?

Each plant gets about 750ml of water is that enough?

Anything else that you think I should do differently ...

Sorry for this long long message but I am really disappointed with my first try hopefully I can still save some

I attached some pics of them

Phew! Long post..I don't think you had enough drainage, try soil/vermiculite/perlite in equal measures, it's always worked for me.
Helped a little I hope..

Just using Peat moss and perlite is no good. Peat moss really does nothing for you other than take up space and hold water. Get some good potting soil and stop experimenting. Just my .$02, long time gardener, 1st. time rookie pot grower...

Well like I mentioned in my post I am not in the US and where I am we have very limited growing mediums to use. Its all mainly peat moss. I can also get perlite and vermiculite and of course just dirt from the ground etc.

dont know where to start, firstly next time i would just put seedlings straight into soil, if your having problems with rockwool dont use it. also check the soil you are using does not contain nutes already which it probably will if its commercial. the seedlings wont need nutes until they are a couple of weeks old, just use the rhizo for root growth. dont over water the seedlings, 750ml might be a bit much. i water a little around the seedling and then water around the edge of the pot, to promote the root growth, so they go looking for water.
if you have tap water of 8.5 ph then invest in some ph down, you may have to order online but it does last a long time. you want your ph to be about 6.5-6.8 or as near to that as possible. if your soil has a ph of 8 then mix in some lime which will bring the ph to around 7.
i personally think the rockwool,nutes, soil and ph was off on this attempt but they can all easily be put right. dont lose heart after your first attempt. keep things simple and you wont go wrong.
as already said if the drainage of the soil is pretty bad then add a little more perlite and make sure the pot has plenty of drainage holes.
good luck with it!
also if your having trouble with light coverage then put the germed nuts into small cups then transplant into the pots you have now. also get a small fan on them aswell to keep the air moving. cant think of anything else.

The perl, verm and plain dirt will work good, maybe a small amount of peat of the dirt has a lot of clay.

luciferateme said:

dont know where to start, firstly next time i would just put seedlings straight into soil, if your having problems with rockwool dont use it. also check the soil you are using does not contain nutes already which it probably will if its commercial. the seedlings wont need nutes until they are a couple of weeks old, just use the rhizo for root growth. dont over water the seedlings, 750ml might be a bit much. i water a little around the seedling and then water around the edge of the pot, to promote the root growth, so they go looking for water.
if you have tap water of 8.5 ph then invest in some ph down, you may have to order online but it does last a long time. you want your ph to be about 6.5-6.8 or as near to that as possible. if your soil has a ph of 8 then mix in some lime which will bring the ph to around 7.
i personally think the rockwool,nutes, soil and ph was off on this attempt but they can all easily be put right. dont lose heart after your first attempt. keep things simple and you wont go wrong.
as already said if the drainage of the soil is pretty bad then add a little more perlite and make sure the pot has plenty of drainage holes.
good luck with it!
also if your having trouble with light coverage then put the germed nuts into small cups then transplant into the pots you have now. also get a small fan on them aswell to keep the air moving. cant think of anything else.

Click to expand...

I agree....only thing I can add is start your seedlings in soil like mentioned above but start them in small containers...like party cups....and you have to get better soil before germinating anymore seeds....peat moss,perlite and vermiculite might work for starting seeds but wont sustain them once they require nutrients......even with you supplementing with bottled nutrients you will definitely have a lot of problems.....peat moss is a good soil amendment........maybe mix with some native soil if it isn't that bad if you don't have access to any potting soil..

SPHAGNUM PEAT MOSS

Peat moss is an excellent, long lasting, slow decaying organic material whose greatest value is as a soil amendment promoting moisture retention and improving soil structure. Peat moss can hold water and nutrients ten to fifteen times its own weight when fully saturated and can still hold 40% air. It has little nutrient value itself but is excellent at holding nutrients to prevent them from leaching iron the soil. It will then release them to the plant. Do not apply to the surface. Sphagnum peat moss will repel water when dry. However, once wet and mixed with the soil, it will readily take up moisture. It increases soil acidity, so lime should be added to the sphagnum peat moss at the time of application. Its good traits last about five years before it is decomposed.

"Peat moss is anti-microbial. Microbes don’t grow well in it. That’s just the opposite of what we want. Peat moss is good for storing bulbs or shipping food or other live material. Potting soil should NOT BE STERILE as some recommend, but alive and dynamic. It should be light, well aerated, full of microorganisms and have the ability to stimulate quick and sustained growth."
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Peat-Moss-Pine-Bark-Issues_vq3732.htm
"Peat moss is anti- microbial – the last thing we want to use to help build healthy soils. Plus, peat moss is much more expensive than compost. Store your bulbs and food in it - but keep it out of the soil."
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Peat-Moss-Con_vq1800.htm

FWIW

Well Thank you every one for your input. I think you have helped me save my babies. I now have moved all my garden out of the peat moss and put them in a mix of dirt, perlite and little bit of peat moss. The five plants that I had moved in that mix before posting have produced new leaves but didn't get any taller. The seven that remained in peat moss started getting yellow and didn't grow and two just died. I moved the remaining five in to the same mix but in smaller containers and watered them with water and Rihzotonic mix with a Ph of 6.5. Hopefully they will start moving forward now. I have the garden in a secret jardin D120 tent under 1 400W MH and 2 LED flood lights. I measured the light at each plant and they get about 15,000-20,000 lux each. Lights are on 24/7 and temp is 24C. I posted a pic of one of the ones that were moved 3 days ago and a pic of the garden (or whats left of it) I guess I can read about it all I want but the end its gonna be "trail and error" and good people like you that will make me a better gardener.

MY guy told me to steer clear of the peat moss on my first grow . He said the same thing it will throw the ph of my dirt way off as it starts to decay . I was also told to soak the rockwool overnight because it can have a high ph by itself too .

I find rockwool to soil can be a tricky transfer. The only way I have had success with this (i.e. 100% without any noticeable plant stress) is to grow the roots out the bottom of the rockwool cube and gain mass in a temp. bucket dwc . Once they have the mass, they root a lot faster when thrown into soil.

potting soil or something decent quality. I don't like the sound of the peat / perlite blend for young plants (older plants can sit in almost anything) .

Soak once with plain water and rhizo and leave it for a quite a while before doing anything again... you want those roots to get out of the rockwool and into the soil ASAP

i just did some clones that were in 2 inch rockwool the guy had the 2 inch inside a 3.5 '' or maybe it's 4 idk but anyway he must have moved up the rockwool because he had them longer then he expected i guess ? but anyhow i put them into 5 gallon buckets of soil and they are doing great .They were over 6 inches tall when i got them and had roots showing out the bottom of the 4 '' rockwool though .