I started my seedlings about 3 weeks ago using a Burpee auto-watered seed tray and Jiffy peat pellets. 3 of the 4 seeds sprouted fairly quickly. But within a week or so I feared I was overwatering so I cut back on the watering. The seedlings lost their first generation leaves but the new growth is coming back slowly. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I continue to water lightly, once or twice daily, yet the growth is not picking up very fast. I use a 16 hour light, and keep the room 69 deg F.
I’m now wondering if I just should have spent the extra $ and gotten Burpee seed pods to match the Burpee tray. Last summer it worked great, only the seeds were bogus and my entire harvest was for nothing. I’ve never used the cheaper Jiffy peat pods before, and they seem to be more finicky. Thanks in advance for any advice!
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When weed first starts it pops up with a couple leaves then takes a week or two and builds the roots when it starts growing on top again it will really take off don’t wait to long once the growth starts to repot them or the roots will get tangled and you’ll get another slow down while the roots get going again
I’m not too familiar with some of your supplies/medium but just looking at the pictures it looks like you are overwatering. Leaves look droopy and heavy, indicating over-watering. Seedlings this small barely need anything, less is more at this stage.
Also, how far away is your light and what light or how strong of a light is it?
I’ve been hanging around here for awhile now and I never knew to click on those blue numbers, I thought that it was there because your pictures didn’t finish loading SMH what a dumbest I am sometimes
Hah. Well as a software engineer clicking random links on the internet is usually not a good thing. Pretty sure ILGM uses Discourse for their forums, which is pretty good technology so not much to worry about here. Long story short, you weren’t as dumb as you thought. 
Thank you so much for that. I suspect overwatering too. This being my 2nd batch, the first was easy because it was the Burpee autowatering system. I now am using a different, cheaper pod and when I filled the tray with water as before, it was def overwatering so i went manual. The lights are an Aerogarden LED light, not sure the wattage, about 8" above the plants. Also a supplemental LED grow bulb, not too high wattage. Same lights I used last summer and it worked fine then. It’s gotta be my watering that’s causing the problem.
My bad! I removed the opening exclamation point before the embed code, thinking I inserted it by mistake but that ! allows the image to display in the post. Yeah, I will not let the roots get too far along before repotting, as I did my first batch. Thanks.
Got you. Ya I don’t think your lights are an issue, just wanted to eliminate that as a possibility.
As far as watering I’m not 100% sure how much to tell you to give them as I really only know outside gardening with raised beds using “mels mix” and hydroponics inside.
@Hellraiser might be able to give you some better insight on how much and where to go from here.
No doubt they’re stunted from over watering, kinda cold which doesn’t help and they’re probably starving as well at this point if no nutes given in 3 weeks. Any ph adjusting of the water?
I just checked the ph and it’s about 6 or 6.5. (We have an iron oxidation removal system, live in the Pennsylvania mountains). I could use our usual drinking water I get from a spring down the road, about ph 7. I believe the Jiffy pods are supposed to have some nutrients. What nutrients would you recommend? I have some hydroponic nutrients that were for the Aerogarden hydroponic system which the lights came from. That nutrient is called Bontanicare Pure Blend Pro. Last summer I used a spoonful or two per gallon of water but I was cautious since I didn’t want to overdo it. BTW this is the AK47 strain of seed I got from ILoveGrowingMarjuana.
The sprouts look hungry but could be ph lockout of nutrients rather than lack of nutrients, could be just another symptom of the over watering.
Thanks to everyone for the advice. It’s so nice to be a part of this community.
As a postscript, I found a solution. The Jiffy peat pods I was using were only good as starters, not for a few weeks of growing. My first batch from seeds last summer used a Burpee starter system, with tray and pods, and it was designed to allow fairly large growth before transplanting. In fact the roots were aggressively growing into the water tray when I transplanted. I decided not to reorder the more expensive Burpee pods and ordered the much cheaper Jiffy pods. 3 out of 4 seeds germinated, but they were not rapidly growing after that, and then I must have overwatered. I wanted to wait for them to rejuvenate before transplanting but they continued to do poorly. Then I posted this call for help. At that point I transplanted to small pots with real soil and plenty of vermiculite, and that made all the difference. Conclusion: don’t use Jiffy pods for more than a few days after germination!