Seeding problems! Poor Loretta!


This is poor Loretta. She is an autoflower LSD seedling. She sprouted in a Jiffy pot on 10/9, and I placed her in her 5 gallon cloth pot five days later. She stood up straight after several days, but she has made very little progress since then.

I have her in Brut potting soil, and I’m watering with distilled water. She’s under a Mars Hydro TS-1000 light.

She finally showed 2nd leaves two days ago, but they’ve stayed as you see in the picture.

Is she a dud? I have four more seeds and am willing to try again. IF I do, I’m going to use A Pot for Pot in case this soil was too rich?

Opinions for this rank newbie grower. Thanks in advance!

1 Like

Do not give up on her yet . A little more info can help .

COPY/PASTE the below list into your forum post.

Answer these simple questions the best you can.
If you do not know, or do not use something; Just say so; Or post
NA (non applicable)

-What strain, Seed bank, or bag seed (photo or auto)
-Age of plant
-Method: Soil w/salt, Organic soil, Hydroponics, Aquaponics, KNF
-Vessels: Type and capacity of container (fabric, plastic, etc)
-PH and TDS of Water, Solution, runoff (if Applicable)
-PPM/TDS or EC of nutrient solution if applicable
-Method used to measure PH and TDS
-Indoor or Outdoor if indoor, size of grow space
-Light system List brand and wattage/spectrum
-Actual wattage draw of lights
-Current Light Schedule
-Temps; Day, Night
-Humidity; Day, Night
-Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size
-AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier,
-Co2; Yes, No

If growing Hydro some additional questions:

-DWC? RDWC? Autopots? Ebb and Flow? Other?
-Distance of liquid below net pot (DWC)
-Temperature of reservoir
-TDS of nutrient solution
-Amount of air to solution

Always try to upload a clear picture in white light of any issues you may have to allow the community to assist you.

3 Likes

@Fiz , soil looks compact, like it needs perlite or rice hulls. Your girl is behind what it should be. Water her 10-20 ml a day in a circle around your plant forcing her to root outwards. Don’t give up on her , she maybe just rooting.

7 Likes

-What strain, Seed bank, or bag seed ILGM LSD Autoflower
-Age of plant 3 weejs
-Method: Organic soil, Brut potting soil (NOT the supersoil)
-Vessels: 5 gallon fabric
-PH and TDS of soil: PH 6.2
-PPM/TDS Have not measured
-Method used to measure PH and TDS: PH testing using wide range test kit
-Indoor or Outdoor if indoor, size of grow space: Indoor, 2x2x4.5
-Light system Mars Hydro TS-1000
-Actual wattage draw of lights Don’t know
-Current Light Schedule 18/6
-Temps; Day, Night 80 - 85 day, 70 - 75 night
-Humidity; Day 50 - 70%, night 50%
-Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size No - plan to add, but using a small high velocity fan
-AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier, Humidifier during the day, ultrasonic, distilled water
-Co2; No

1 Like

Thank you, I keep thinking that since she’s in such a big pot she’s only working on roots.

I was worried about the soil, it does drain well (I only drenched the pot prior to planting Loretta in there! I test the soil and bottom is wet, mid to top is moist.)

1 Like

My understanding is jiffy pots are somewhat hard for roots to actually get through. They don’t decompose as fast as a weed plant grows.

Give her time. The Jiffy pot :arrow_up: is slowing her down. They normally will slow waaaay down right now as they build out their root structure. It’s the most frustrating stage for me personally because I can see zero growth - but I have to trust that the roots are growing down and out as they are able to form her a nice stable base. With the jiffy pot in her way, it may increase the time she needs to get fully comfortable growing downward before she shoots upward.

100watts I think. Just so you know for the future. You may need more light if you’re looking for a big yield or really dense buds, but 100 watts can do okay for a single plant. They may be airy - not sure, I’ve never used Mars hydro personally.

Start thinking about a TDS meter (they have some for $5 on Amazon that will work. Not ideal but they are okay). And a good PH pen ($50-$75) from Apera or BlueLabs. You’ll need this to help be sure you’re giving her the right PH when/if problems start to show up.

Exactly right.

1 Like

I said Jiffy pot, I meant Jiffy pellet, and I removed the net from the pellet b/c I’ve had problems with root containment using these when growing beans with my students (retired teacher here).

3 Likes

Removing the net is a good move. I still think the pellet will be inhibiting root growth to a certain extent. No big deal, your girl will work through it absolutely. It just means an extra 2-3 days of patience will be key.

I have used rockwool and Root Riots, which are essentially also just peat moss cubes. It’s been my experience for about 20 Root Riot cubes and 12 Rockwool cubes that my roots have a much easier time getting through the rockwool. It takes my clones about 5 days less to start showing a visible root structure.

Moral of my tangent is peat moss sucks (in my humble opinion) and have patience. She’s working. :slight_smile:

1 Like

The day time temp is warmer than it should be . Ideal Temps 68 - 77 Degrees . And what’s the distance of the light to the plant . With the size of pot it could be underwatering & the soil could be to hot { Nutrients } . Have you look at the ILGM , Grow Guides , Seedling Problems .

I am having problems regulating the temperature, that’s one of the reasons for the humidifier. The daytime temp is at soil level, I have a thermometer right on the surface. The overall tent is somewhat cooler.

I ordered a ventilation kit the other day, and it will be here on Tuesday, I ordered a 6 inch setup rather than 4 inch. In the meantime, all vents are wide open. Surface soil temp is lower when I focus the fan toward the soil rather than toward the light.

Light is currently 18 inches above and at 100%.

1 Like

Oh, and yes I read the growers guide, and many forum posts.

And happy birthday, by the way!

2 Likes

Cooler temps slow down growth, water uptake, and changes nutrients needed. This is ideal for new growers . Once you get your grow dialed in . 82F moves you from that Buick to a Corvette. ( after saying all that every grow is cultivar dependent)

1 Like

Thank You .
I do a lot of reading on ILGM site a lot of good info !!
If the Temp at soil is 80-85 Degrees that to hot & the upper part of tent is cooler . The fan should be blowing across the Soil & Plant rotating side to side . Maybe keep the lower part of tent door open to draw cooler air & upper part open to vent warmer air out . Until you get your vent kit . The light height should be ok but maybe turn it down a little
.image

1 Like

Oh right now I have the door fully open, all vents open, and the bottom flaps removed. The fan is blowing over the top of the pot, and it blows the mist from my ultrasonic humidifier over the top too. I’ll drop the intensity of the light to 75%.

I have another thermometer in the corner of the tent, and it’s typically 5 to 10 degrees cooler there than at soil surface.

1 Like

I’ve had fine successes with “high” temps.

Increases the demand for moisture in the air, but with a seedling it isn’t a bad idea to have that humidifier running on high since the plants absorb the moisture through leaves and not roots while they haven’t got roots to use.

The real q here is the DLI of the lamp at the height it’s at. If it’s high DLI, then the lamp can be raised or dimmed or both. But truthfully I’m not worried about any temp that isn’t in the 90s.

Higher temps demand higher humidity to keep VPD in check - definitely not something I’d willingly impart on any new grower. If it happens it happens but man is the equipment to regulate the environment more expensive the hotter you run.

Highly recommend downloading “Photone” on your phone. It’s an app for measuring your DLI - daily light something. There’s an excellent thread about DLI here: Start using DLI

I downloaded the app, and checked at the top of the plant and got 53.3 DLI.

1 Like

Oh yeah, turn that waaaay down and maybe raise up a couple inches. You’re aiming for 15-25 DLI right now.

OK! I’ll get right on that.

1 Like

Had to turn the light down to 50% to drop the DLI to 22.8.

1 Like

The dark spots, twisting leaves, and burn on the cotyledons lead me to believe your soil may be too hot for seedlings, though I know nothing about Brut potting soil. Have you fed nutes at any point, maybe while it was in the Jiffy?

1 Like