I dropped 5 white widow seeds in water until they sprouted and then put them in seed germination soil in a small tray. I put it about 2-3 inches under a florescent light. 2 days later I had one plant poke its head up out of the soil. A week later I still only have 1 plant. Does it take longer for some seeds? I have since moved the tray into a grow tent under glowlight set about 3 inches above the plant. Am I doing something wrong? 1 plant out of 5 seeds doesn’t seem right to me.
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It is difficult to say what, if anything, that you are doing wrong.
I can tell you that the most common technique used to kill seedlings is overwatering.
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How deep did u plant them, i usually do 24 hours in water then straight to soil, 8 for 8 so far with sprouts after 3 days, i read onch the tails come out you have to be very careful not to damage them or touch then with your hands
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I have just been spraying them with water not really watering since they are in a small tray.
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I was very careful when putting into soil. I used tweezers to gently transfer them. I planted them approx 1/4 inch deep.
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The question is “how often did you spray them?”.
If the soil is wet, then you are overwatering. I am not saying that you are overwatering, just that overwatering is a prime suspect when seedlings die.
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Once each day. Just enough to keep the top moist but not enough to run through to the bottom tray.
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For what it is worth, that is about four times as often as I spritz my seedlings.
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Ok thanks. I’ll hold off on the water.
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The best practice that I have found is to use a clear plastic cup or 1/2 soda bottle as a humidity dome.
I mostly spray the inside surface of the dome. That keeps the humidity very high while keeping the soil just barely moist. This promotes root growth without drowning the delicate new roots.
This practice also minimizes the chances of the seedling “damping off” which is often fatal.
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I told myself that i wasn’t gonna be the guy that overwatered, well i was ,even ended up with fungus gnats keeping the top soil wet . You live and you learn.good luck
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Thanks. I do have a clear dome over the tray. How long should I leave it in place.
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Excellent…I leave them under the dome until they are transplanted to 1 or 2 gallon pots. They can be 15 to 20 days in the solo cups that I start them in. I know it is time when the leaves have reached the edge of the cup. If you are using starter cubes then that timing will be a bit shorter, I think.
They normally outgrow the second pots in a week to 10 days when I move them to 10 gallon fabric pots.
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What kind of lights?
3 inches seem awfully close.
I have found in the last year that if I go straight to the final pot and just use a tooth pick to make a hole, just enough for the tap root to go in and leave the seed shell exposed that my seed survival rate has been 100 %. I don’t use a humidity dome. lets face it in nature there’s no one around to bury the seed 1/4 inch under a humidity dome and plants have seeded themselves long before man was around. I used to kill a lot of seeds with to much intervention and love. Just give them soil and very little water and the roots will search for moisture.
One final note when I spray soil with water I usually I stay about 2 inches away from the area that the seed is planted the roots will find it just like a divining rod. plants are programmed to survive 9 times out of 10 our plants die from our mistakes or what we think they need.
good luck to you and maybe try planting 1 seed the way I do as a test you may like the results.
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Did you get rid of them I see like one two max every 5 days or so
And then I’ll kill em off but every once jn wile I’ll see one
Did they have a tap root before u put them in dirt or did you just soak em en drop em? I like to do it In a wet napkin and u can get it a get 2 inches in the napkin before u put in the soil and make sure it’s a light soil no heavily charged time release nutrients
Try taking your seeds out of the soil and place then in a paper towel and just moisten it amd place in a dark earm place AND KEEP MOST ONLY ok
You should have some thing going on in a few days
For the most part
Put the paper towel inna bag with the flap open