Hi Growing Gurus, Need some help. First seed grow. These babies sprouted three weeks ago and seem to be going nowhere. I’ve obviously got some kind of problem as you can see in the picts. Below is some info:
Strain; ILGM White Widow Fem Photoperiod
Soil in pots? Soil, Black Gold Seedling Mix (75% Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss / 25% Perlite
System type? N/A
PH of runoff or solution in reservoir? Spray Watering with 6.5 pH rainwater
What is strength of nutrient mix? None
Indoor
Light system, size? CFL (4) 26w at 4-5" above plants
Temps; 82*/74*
Humidity; Avg. 45-50%
All three plants looking and responding the same. At least I’m consistent
Ventilation system; Intake and Exhaust fans
AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier: None, using water pans to try and keep humidity up
Co2; , No
All three have been treated same and are responding the same. (at least I’m consistent )
Hope you guys can help. Don’t want to loose them. :disappointed
Your ph should be 5.6, what your using is considered a soilless medium, your temps are at least 5-7 degrees off, and you may not have enough light between the 3, you need Atleast 35-50 Watts per sq ft most people will tell you 25-35 Watts per sq ft
Well, above 5.5 pH for sure, and for hydro, a pH of 5.8 is optimal and about up or down, no more than about 0.3, so for hydro the range is from about 5.5 to 6.1pH. And since you are spraying directly on the leaves, this is pretty much like hydro.
Some soiless mixes can be treated like hydro with the same range, however it depends on what the soilless mix is made of, and if it has a lot of peat moss, this can run acidic and the water or nutrient mix applied to the soilless mix should be about 6.2, to keep things balanced.
Humidity could be a lot higher for such small plants, more like around 60%-70%, this could be slowing growth, but the yellowing and burnt like spots on the leaves leads me to believe the pH in the soiless medium is far from optimal and is contribution to nutrient problems.
Also, even though these are very small plants, they do have quite a few sets of leaves, they probably could use some nutrients by now, but only at seedling strength.
As Robert has said in the article I’m going to link for you below: “Your plant can remain a seedling for a broad range of time, anywhere from 3-6 weeks. The duration will depend primarily on environmental factors and the particular strain that you are cultivating.”
@Paranorman, they said they are spraying the leaves only, with rain water, so likely very little ppm in the rain water, which is almost like nature’s distilled water.
Thanks for the quick and informative reply @Majiktoker . I was not aware that the growing medium was considered a “soilless” medium. As this is considered soilless I assume there are no nutrients in the soil. Do I need to be supplementing with mild nutes or anything specific? I do have fan forced ventilation in the grow space and can turn on some more lighting. Are the symptoms the leaves are showing typical of a high pH? Do I need to transplant these into some FFOF I have to get them turned around and going?
Sorry for all the questions but first seed grow. Clones were much easier
All is well, @MacGyverStoner answered most of these questions, above, find a nutrient with a 1-1-1 ratio it should help them. Bio-root and bio-squid I think have these ratios they are general hydroponics nutrients maybe cal mag as well @ErnieX
@Majiktoker, @MacGyverStoner , @Paranorman Thanks guys for your replies and suggestions. I’ll get to sorting these things out. I’ll get some nutes and adjust pH. I’ll water them good and check runoff. Wish me luck
If I may add something 26 watt cfl can produce 1750 lumens at around 3 feet (1 meter) and 4 to 5 inch above the plant may be a little too close for your little ones. Kelvin as to be consider too, if you have a “warm soft light” 2700K it may also explain the slow growth, if it’s so, I will suggest you go for a 6400 K 26 watt cfl and put them at no more closer then 1 feet here’s a link for a cfl that has those specifications ( they are other model too)
I don’t think the color spectrum will change the speed of growth at all, it mostly has to do with how much stretch the plant will have, more stretch, more space between internodes with redder light, and tighter internodes with bluer light. And so actually with the redder 2700K light, because of more stretch between internodes, actually it might look the exact opposite and appear to grow faster as it would appear to get taller, more stretched out sooner.
However heat from a light being to close could indeed cause problems.
I suspect the soilless media does have a tiny bit of nutrients in it, most do. But they may be already used up, or more likely, the pH in the media is too far off from the ideal pH and contributing to the problems, as well as foliar spraying with an improper pH.
@MacGyverStoner@Niala@Majiktoker Just a little update. Plants looking better after adjustment to pH and adding small amount of nutes. As discussed above the plants are currently in a soilless medium. I wanted to eventually transplant these into FFOF. Is this going to be a problem? Or can I just move them and start up a soil grow regiment?
