Where Did I go Wrong?

4 Strawberry Cough feminized. i germinated in small cups. Three of them popped. Developed first set of leaves and all seemed well. Woke up this morning and 2 of the 3 look crispy ! Like they were just dehydrated. I do not have any pics.

I am using FFOF as it has worked in the past. in my experience not too hot for seedlings.

My light is an 8 bulb T5 (6500K). Total 400 watts/40,000 lumens. On a 20/4 cycle. Too much on time?

As these were seedlings i kept the soil a bit moist up top but not waterlogged.

Light within inches to avoid stretch. Soil this morning was bone dry on top and temps were 88 degrees (a bit too warm?) Humidity was for sure too low at 30%

I did not check moisture below surface as seedlings were delicate i did not want to disrupt them.

The third seedling seems to be O.K.

So too much heat, too dry?

Sorry no pics but leaves just looked dehydrated and a bit pale.

I can shut off 4 lights and go with just 200 watts till seedlings are a bit larger or keep light further away but i wanted to avoid stretch.

Yes I do have drainage holes in the cups and like I mentioned the soil on top was so dry the small fan was kicking up dust.

I guess with seedlings it's a fine line between too dry and too moist.

FFOF is notorious for being too hot for many strains as seedlings. Combined with your high temps... no real surprise. If you start your seedlings in a starter mix (very little nutes) and put them under good old fluorescent bulbs (zero heat) for two weeks with indirect air movement you will do fine. 30% RH really not a problem.

200 Watt T5 for a few seedlings do sounds a bit like overkill to me, I usually just turn on two tube`s until they out grow them then turn on the rest, but I don't believe the T5s/too much light are the problem here, more like a combo of small seedlings with a small/delicate root net and a low humidity and too high temperatures

seedlings like a high humidity around 60% (I don't have any problems as long as I keep it above 40%) and a temperature under 80F (found that 78F is close to perfect at least for the strains I grow, but anything between 72F and 82F works) if you have a low humidity a humidifier could be the answer (I got one for winter time as I experience a RH under 30%)



but a spray bottle to mist em under the leave`s a few times a day can also work ok



lower your temps if possible, maybe place a bowl of hot water in there wile they are seedlings to raise RH a few % and mist em a few times a day doing lights on until they got some growth to em and have had a chance to develop a nice big root net to support the plant

best of luck

Slip

Bugeye said:

FFOF is notorious for being too hot for many strains as seedlings. Combined with your high temps... no real surprise. If you start your seedlings in a starter mix (very little nutes) and put them under good old fluorescent bulbs (zero heat) for two weeks with indirect air movement you will do fine. 30% RH really not a problem.

Click to expand...

I was gonna say the same thing. Good info.

seedlings need zero nutes for the first couple weeks or so. i'd back that light up a good bit too.

Is it ok if the top soil is dry but right under that the soil is wet ? Im not shure if i actually waterlogged my seedlings.

If you use a good stater soil mix that has adequate drainage, you won't run the risk of over-watering. I will hit mine once or twice a day with a few drops of water from a syringe so I can direct the water everywhere except onto the stem. Getting the stem wet in the first couple weeks invites root rot or damping off. Some people advise misting or putting domes on them. From my experience, this is a mistake. I try to keep the stem bone dry until it hardens off.

is the stem bone connected to the leaf bone, lol???