First time grow, seedling problems...

[HiAsAKite]

Below is my very basic and somewhat bog-standard setup which i made in my attic. I am getting a bit concerned for my seedlings because alot of them have not even sprouted yet. As the picture shows, i only have 2 seedlings that are well on their way in each pot.

The setup consists of a radiator (its quite cold in my attic) and overhead cover to stop the heat from rising, two 27w reflective fluorescent lamps. I noticed that the seedlings in the centre were growing alot faster than the outer ones, i think this was because of the uneven light distrubtion so i decided to add another two 50w halogen lamps supported by a frame (spaced about at least one foot away from the pots).

One of the leaves i noticed has curled down a bit aswell.
Can anyone tell me where i'm going wrong?

HiAsAKite Reviewed by HiAsAKite on 12-10-2007. First time grow, seedling problems... Below is my very basic and somewhat bog-standard setup which i made in my attic. I am getting a bit concerned for my seedlings because alot of them have not even sprouted yet. As the picture shows, i only have 2 seedlings that are well on their way in each pot. The setup consists of a radiator (its quite cold in my attic) and overhead cover to stop the heat from rising, two 27w reflective fluorescent lamps. I noticed that the seedlings in the centre were growing alot faster than the outer Rating: 5

[HiAsAKite]

I forgot to mention that I used multi-purpose compost and grit sand to fill the pots. The temperature Ive maintained at a steady 20 degrees, and my attic already has a vent.
Ive had to spray my seedlings regularly because even after a few days the top 2 inches of the soil gets dry.
They get about 16-18 hours of light everyday too.

[Balkey]

You say you "spray" the soil ever few days? With my very recent seedlings I sprayed the soil as well but mine would dry out in a few HOURS....not days. Depending on how much you saturate the soil, they could be starving!!

I could be wrong but you might need to water them more than once every few days with a "spray". Also, how old are those seedlings? Did you germinate them before putting them in soil?

[HiAsAKite]

My plants are only about a week old, i know its early days but i dont understand why its happening. When i said i spray them i meant with a spray bottle, but im afraid of overwatering them and there is still plenty of moisture at the bottom of the pots.
I did germinate them, it took about 2 days. Maybe i should water them more often?
I just dont get why the outer seeds havent even cracked open.

[stinkyattic]

Only ONE seed per pot.
Smaller pots.
Finer soil.
Water gently, don't spray.
Seeds must be planted at a depth of 4x their diameter (in this case, no deeper than 1cm) and kept moist , not soggy, until they sprout.
Please read the link in my signature. It will help you with these basics.

[HiAsAKite]

Great...so now what? start over?

[stinkyattic]

Are those bagseeds or did you go out and buy seeds?
If they are bagseeds, go ahead and grow them for another couple weeks watering lightly but normally, not misting, and see if they turn yellow. That will tell you if your soil is no good.
If they are bought seeds, you can probably scoop them out and re-pot each one individually in a party cup with some holes punched in it, and good seedling soil. Take a good sized scoop of dirt out deep and around the seedling so you don't damage the roots.
Before you do anything else, familiarize yourself with the needs of the plant at each life stage.

[HiAsAKite]

They are bagged seeds, so does that mean i should just wait?

[stinkyattic]

Since they are just bag seed, you can use them to do a quick test run and see if you have any other problems before you use seeds you REALLY care about.
If you can grow a plant to 5 sets of leaves, which only takes a couple weeks, you will know what changes you need to make to your grow. Test runs are GOOD.

[HiAsAKite]

Thing is, I care about both of them, they don't come cheap. I think the sprouting may be just because the lighting was poor and unevenly distributed. But im not sure.