Sickly Seedlings

So…none of the sickly seedlings survived. I fought hard…no luck. The lesson learned is plant seeds in potting soil that is very very low in nutrients. I re-tried in .05-.05-.05 and got better results. It is made of moss, vermiculite, and perlite - Miracle Grow brand. Pictured below is Northern Lights on the left at 3 weeks. Gold Leaf in the center two containers - 3 weeks, and Northern Lights at 5 weeks on the right. A little yellowing at the bottom, but the new growth looks fantastic.

Steverino

We are back. Let us know how you are doing. :slight_smile:

Wow, I have a “green thumb” so to speak, but I have myself made mistakes growing other type of plants, just last year due to my excessive pain and worries, I made the mistake of over fertilizing my strawberry plants and blueberry bushes, I was throwing pellet fertilizer by scoop fulls, strawberry plants started dying immediately. Now, back in the 1970’s, as a kid, me and friends were trying to do what we saw older adults do, I mean, “so simple a kid can do it”, I was thinking, we paper towel germinated some seeds, then put them in pots of regular soil, probably forest soil, then later just dropped them in the soil and they grew, not great, but they got about four feet tall with watering, mixing with compost. But hey, we were kids, and seems like our older brothers or sisters came in and done smoked our weed, I never smoked any, but I sure helped a relative with the growing chores. It seemed rather simple, for outdoors, etc.

I mean, I always thought it was simple, I suppose thirty five or more years later, I hope when I get my medical license, I won’t screw up grows indoors, but hey, it is easy to do, too much fertilizer aint a bit of magic to get a lot of weed, not this style plant.

I sure have learned a few things bout my weaknesses since I posted this, like I too somehow screwed up five seeds in a row, by maybe improper germinating technique, two other seeds prior went to hell too, leaving me with five plants so far and I think I haven’t given then enough nutrients due to fear of burning, that once they sprouted, I waited for two weeks more before I even gave them half strength miracle grow indoor plant strength mix,(cause I still have booster in transit). I still don’t have much idea why five seeds wouldn’t germinate and sprout in peat pellets alone, maybe too wet, neutral water, etc. Then I germinated one seed by 24 hour soak like I did with seven three or more weeks ago that got me five living plants, barely, and it is sprouting thank goodness.

I’m pouring over all my free literature from this site to make sure I don’t nute burn my healthy looking plants, and decide when I take them away from the single t5 seedling bulb for a regular vegging setup. Outside last year I dropped suger peas singly in dirt around my porch and they all came up, like the peas I planted, outside, drives me crazy thinking bout it what I could have done, since water was neutral and so were the peat pellets. Frankly, I don’t trust peat pellets much anymore, thinking of taking my own peat I have in bulk and filling up small plastic cups with drain holes, maybe even mixing in dolomite lime and perlite, or maybe buying premix at a store without nutes of course, I mean, it seems easy to make a mistake early on.

Hey Bud, I always start my seeds with two wet paper towels and place them under my 40 inch screen t.v and with’n 18 hr’s 100% germ. rate never fails wet and heat very important. Not to wet and about 76 temp.
hope this helps.

Will

Yeah, will, I recently tried the paper towel method of germination after I accidently killed five seeds by germination in peat pellets alone and too cold, and almost screwed up where I found the paper towel dried out placed near a fan, but that plant got germinated in water for another twelve hours and it is alive and well today, two and a half weeks later, thankfully. Funny, in 1979 when I was twelve years old, a friend and me were shown what to do by his older brother how to germinate by paper towel being wetted, for all the pot we were growing, funny, when I think about it, I almost forgot how much “gardening” we were pulling off, as kids, can’t rightly remember if or how much we tried ourselves, what we were being paid for our “work”, etc, errr, must be brain damage they warned of in “Reefer Madness” the movie(I own that movie and several other bogus vintage comedies), maybe the damage finally kicking in, ha.
But yeah, like I said, the wet paper towel method worked wonders for me, as a kid in 1979! Just not these days.

Ya…the trick is not to let the paper towel dry out.
I go way back old school…lol
We grew a lot back in the day as I grew up on the farm so I guess I had a head start…lol
If that were my plant I would do what I said and you will see a bid difference in her in only a few days.

Be Safe

Will

How my wife gets nearly 100% germination rate.

  1. Soak a paper towel and fold it so it fits in a plate.
  2. Put the seeds between the folds, spread out far enough.
  3. Warm water soak a regular towel, fold it, and place it so it completely covers the paper towel.
  4. Put in a dark place that’s not too hot or too cold.
  5. Check daily. (this part usually ends up finding the next day they’ve already sprouted the taproot.)

Thanks for the input friends. I went back and tried my last 4 seeds in 1/2 inch deep holes, of low nutrient planting soil - lots of sphagnum, and perlite. I moisted with a spray bottle, put a 75 watt incandescent light about 24 inches away for warmth, and they all sprouted nicely, and I did not have to handle them at all after germination - already in the soil. The grow room had temperatures as low as 38 degree F, but the light provided the needed warmth.
I’d love to share a picture with you now - 4 1/2 months after germination. Nice buds forming - and they smell very potent. For some reason, I am not able to post a picture…

Hey Steverino. You out in high desert? That’s were I’m at. I would have sent a private msg but I’m not sure how lol.

Tom

Here are pics of my new babies. I mentioned seeing something on the edges again… clay pot picture is from last grow that got to be 2’ then started dying (Isent pics back then) am I watering to much? the water ph is good …miracle grow organic seed starter,…light with fan, mylar reflection, temp has been cooler 68-74…didn’t check humidity…am I over worrying?
Sammy

Yes, I think you are probably over watering. If the pH is good, over-watering can still make the leaves look like a pH nutrient deficiency and even make them droop, as if they don’t have enough water. the damaged and drowning roots will have a hard time taking up proper nutrients and even creates a pH problem right at the surface of the roots that might not be easily seen in various forms of testing.

When watering, it is always best to let the soil in the container nearly totally dry before re watering. You can judge this by the feel of the container with heavy water saturated soil and the same size container with totally dry soil, don’t water until your plant’s container feels totally dry by the feel of the weight. Then when you do water, you water to saturation and then let in nearly dry out again before re-watering.

Mac You are a DOLL! thanks for all the patience w/me. I really can’t afford anymore mistakes… ( till my ship comes in) :slight_smile:

No problem, it’s what I’m here for doll.

Happy Growing,

MacG

Hi MacGyver! well here are update pics I have been trying to back off the h20 But notice in the Plants lower leaves that yellow spot like thing is coming…

My thoughts are pH and nutrient and/or mineral salt build up in the soil. The burnt tips and other burnt looking edges do look like nute burn or nutrient slat toxicity.

You haven’t given me any info on your other parameters. A EC/TDS reading of the nutrients built up in the soil by testing the run off, or by otherwise testing the soil would help. Also the same for the pH of the water you give the plants as well as what is occurring at the root zone in the soil. The EC/TDS of the water you give it could also be relevant. As well as the feeding mixture.

Here is an article by Robert to help you understand what I’m talking about:

Happy growing,

MacG

BTW, as I said in the above statement, this looks certainly to be more than over-watering. I’m sure you are doing well and not over-watering if you are following my previous advice.

Something else to maybe think about in such small containers is the plants getting nutrient lockout form becoming root bound in such small containers.

Agree with @MacGyverStoner definitely a space issue