No Progress In Hydroponic Medium

[bobhead]

Hi, new grower here.

I've planted 5 seeds.
2 In soil and 2 in STG cube and 1 in rock wool.

They all sprouted and I put all of them under CFL.
The ones in STG and rockwool cube got to the point where I could see 2 small serrated leaves, but they have not made any improvements for over 3 days!
BTW, the ones in the STG cube are all twisted bent and deformed looking.

I'm concerned because the 2 soil plants are making progress everyday and are looking very healthy. I used miracle grow seedling starting mix with them.

Any suggestions.

[bronc76]

make sure your useing the correct cfl's and they are close enough. Sounds kinda like not enough light. :rasta:

[bobhead]

Lights are an inch above them.
Like I said, the soil plants are growing just fine.

The soil is .05-.01-.05
Perhaps it's because the hydroponic medium has no nutrients.

But everyone keeps saying seedlings don't need nutrients for the first 2 weeks, some even say for a month.

[SmokeMyPiece]

until they get to their third set or so, MJ from seed only need ph-adjusted water and some distance from light til they get bigger.

ur prolly stunting them with too much light too soon.. get 1 CFl 3-5" above and wait for new growth. :thumbsup:

how are you watering your cubes? are they in the tron already? they need to root well before that.

Get us some pics! U'll get way more replies :thumbsup:

[bobhead]

The soil plants are in the exact same lighting position. So I don't think it's a lighting problem. BTW, they are all the same strain.

It could be watering. I wait until the surface dries out and then water it.
They are in one of those trays with a humidity dome. I took the dome off once they sprouted though.

And I'm using distilled water from the store.

[SmokeMyPiece]

ahhh there may be the culprit.. distilled water. are you adding anything to it? there is a sticky up top about using it.

also, nutes (miracle grow especially) can hurt seedlings.

[bobhead]

So I need calmag plus.

[tinytoon]

Aye and a couple pics wont hurt either. Descrptions can be given all day long but seeing is the best way. I have not had the chance to use STG but I have used RW and I hope you soaked them in PH'd water before use.

[bobhead]

Well, I just did a lot of googling and it seems that all the information is pointing to nutrient deficiency.
Yellow lower leaves, red stems, deformed, stunted growth.

I used ph test strips and tried matching the colors.

[SmokeMyPiece]

Gooogle :thumbsup: well that SOUNDS right to me. prolly the most common problem around here. Would have been noticed if there were a pic... ok, ok not bringin that up again :jointsmile:

So what PH level did the strip match to?

[bobhead]

Well I tried to match it between 5 - 6 but those color strips suck!
So it probably is off. But after some more research, I realized the hydroponic medium requires a more acidic PH, and the PH affects the uptake of nutrients.
I think this explains why my soil plants are doing much better, because soil can be between 6-7.

But it's still confusing, because if seedling don't need nutrients to begin with, why would having a proper PH be so critical at this stage?

I just ordered a digital PH meter on ebay and a TDS meter.

[bobhead]

Pictures, sorry my phone sucks.
As you can see the one in soil is looking good.

I forgot the one in rockwool, but that one is green, but it's elongated and drooping super thin stem, almost about to fall over.

[SmokeMyPiece]

Ya the strips suck, and your info on ph uptake is on the right track :thumbsup: Correct ph at this stage is a precaution, but they can grow this big on the energy that is stored in their shell alone.

They are stil waayy young. Keep everything scaled back at this time.

soil looks compact. needs a good 50/50 mix of sterilized soil and perlite. (Never gone wrong with 50/50)

oscillating or just indirect fan air will stregthen the stems. again keep it light right now.

these are in peat pellets cut in half. warm water is pooled from the bottom, and excess is poured out. The ones on the sides were just dropped in, and the middle was ready. This is roughly what a well rooted seedling looks like on water only.

[bobhead]

I see. Should I throw these seedling out? It seems like they're dead.

[tinytoon]

Your choice they were your beans