From a fellow grower: I’m having some trouble with the seeds. They are germinating perfectly with 100% germination rate (germinated 14 so far) but 4-5 days into the grow the seedling stalks become dry and thin and the plant stops growing all together. I’m seeking advice because I’m quite lost with what’s going wrong… I’m growing out doors in Perth Western Australia
Strain: white widow
Type (fem/auto/reg): auto
Climate (indoor/outdoor): outdoor
Medium (soil/hydro/details): store bought potting mix (which I have grown many plants in before )
pH of runoff or solution in reservoir: ph is sitting at 6
Nutrient mix strength (EC/TDS): I have not used any nutrients yet
Light type & schedule: outdoor grow
Temperatures day & night: temperatures hit 32 in the day and around 15 at night
Man. Only thing i can think is do they get enough water to them to not dry out?? Never had one go and the stems dry out. Kinda got my mind boggled lol.
One of my plants was thin and tall. I’ve determined she wasn’t getting adequate light.
Explain. Do you mean they die? Sometimes it may seem like they’re not growing but that’s just cause their being checked too frequently so it appears like there’s no progress. We need pics.
Yeah it’s hard to say without pics, but I suspect either the temperature, humidity, not enough water, or not enough light… So basically anything can be wrong… Also not using nutrients won’t get you far…
Need to know more about the medium… Store bought potting mix can be anything… Just because it worked with other plants does not mean it’s good for all plants. Cannabis needs a well draining medium… I recommend using that soil with your other plants and get either FoxFarns OceanForest or HappyFrog for your cannabis. And for God’s sake don’t use MiracleGro.
Can’t get Fox Farms in Oz, but could try the Canna Terra Professional potting mix. Also, it’s been very hot here - have seedlings had full sun exposure all day? Might have been too much combined with a hot soil.
Gday mate , I’m the grower in the topic here… my plants keep stretching and then they dry out completely and die. I’m growing in well drained soil but the temperatures here in Perth can sometimes hit 42 degrees celcuis , do you thing this may be the issue? I water every few days depending on how much water is in my pot because from my understanding the roots require oxygen ? Am I doing this wrong or is it just too hot ?
I was gonna say damping to or to high humidity @Not2SureYet told me this when I dropped some seed a couple weeks ago and sure enough damped one off from not letting humidity to breath adequately domes need holes
Welcome to the forum @Declan1 I have to wonder why you are not starting these indoors in a solo cup to get them going. You can control the environment easier. I think @fano_man might be right with out knowing how much you are watering. It is super easy to over water seedlings. I personally don’t feed till after day 10. It just works for me.
This is how I start my little ones indoors. You could do the same for just a couple dollars if you wanted.
I use a small clear tote. I have the CFL in there to keep heat in at night since it cools down a bit. I use this little light here above it. I have it about 1/4" off the top of the lid. The tote can be any color. but needs a clear lid. I keep a little water container in there to help keep the humidity up.This has been working great for me for a while. The little ones in there are a week old. Starting these indoors and the moving them out side seems like the easiest solution for next time you start seeds.
For what you have now. Is there any chane you can post a picture of them and how much water you are giving them. That would help others help you out.
Thanks for the advice mate, I’m very new to this and appreciate any advice I can get so thanks for the response . With my plants I start them bye sprouting them in damp paper towels , then transferring to small
Plastic
Cups to grow… With this technique I’ve had 2
Successful grows (But these seeds were non auto-flower ) do you think I would be better for growing a non auto flower that’s suited to hot / dry climate ? Thanks again for the response
You seem to be starting them right. Photo seeds are easier to learn on since you can make up any time lost in starting them. Autos almost have to be done right the first go. just so I am getting this right.
You start them in small cups. Then transfer to a bigger pot one they get going right. I grow mostly autos. And mine seem to like the warmer temps. I average in the 84 range indoors. I switched to the nursery bags you see there a while ago. They dry faster than solo cups. And are easy to tell when to water. Are your little ones still in a small cup?
They are still in small cups now, 2 have died and 2 are still going , 1 of them a lot stronger then the other. I am growing in temperatures that hit around 35 Celsius somedays which tend to heat up the soil a lot. Do you think this would make the stalks dry and shrink ? Also I was wondering if I start my plants indoors under lights and then move them outdoors, will they be more likely die then if I start them outdoors ? Thanks
There are alot of outside growers that start plants indoors. They will veg indoors til they r nice sized then transplant outdoora to finiah up. Makes for a bigger plant and makes it a little easier on the plant for deficiencies. The bigger the plant the less it will take on deficiencies so easy. Vegging insode lets u have complete control of the plant also where as outside u dont have that option it all open nature there. Ive not watered clo es beca i se of not thi king of them being shoved off in a corner of the room and still ive never had dried stems unless they were hang drying. This is a bit weird lol
Lets see what @Big123 thinks. I know he starts his indoors and then moves them out doors later. He is also a soil grower. So a double win I agree with @Mark0427 I would also start indoors if it were me. I can’t grow out side here
I have to wonder why you are not starting these indoors in a solo cup to get them going. You can control the environment easier. I think 
