Not Growing!! need help!

[Minnesnowta]

A real common problem new growers have is that they're not used to thoroughly dampening their soil. Often times the soil needs a good soaking before it will drain/hold water evenly throughout the entire pot. And when watering with a spray bottle you're only watering the top inch or so of soil, and the water stays there if the soil wasn't prepped properly. Its a good idea to set your containers in a tray of ph'd water and let them soak through the bottom, that way roots will reach downward to catch the water.

I know from experience that when using that miracle grow seed starting soil you should fill up a bucket with it, add water and stir the hell out of it for a while, pressing it down and squeezing the water through it, grinding up the spongey little dry clumps of soil mix. When I've used that soil I have spent probably 20 minutes mixing up a 1 gallon ice cream bucket of that stuff to get it thoroughly saturated. A friend of mine recently got a permit to grow as well and went through the same issues for 2 weeks until I came over and noticed his moisture issues. Try that out and hopefully they'll do a little bit better.

[LunaticsPR]

i have all my plants already in the containers too late to prep the soil. since the day i opened the soil it seems really damp wet. i have never used soil before in my life so im not shure what to expect but i do remember the soils bag got rained on sice they sell all the soil in the open and every bag was soakin wet. there may have been a hole in the bag or something? anyway i took a pot a places each plant half way up to the container in water for afew mins and pushed down some on the dirt when i lifted it. the dirt seems really wet should i do it again anyway for a longer time?

When i transplant them into the normal MC SOIL should i soak it up with water too?

I dont have nothing to Read PH yet ill try and pick that up tomorrow or fryday. should i be buying PH UP and PH DOWN too? whats the normal ph for seedlings

[LunaticsPR]

i noticed the stem is starting to get brownish i read around afew places and some places said it was overwatering others said it was some type of bacteria and another place said Unstable Temp. at night my temp is from 76 - 81 F and when the sun is out my temp is at 78 - 84 F i cant manage to get it to a stable temp at all times because i cant have my AC running during the day. electric bill comes at $400 a month before i even started this grow. i only have control over the night temps should it be colder ? or should i leave the ac off to try and par it with the day temps?

I closed off the front and top half of the rack with cardboard covered with tinfoil now the part that is covered dont reflect light to the closet door not shure if that is helping any or if i even should have done that will see if i noticed any changes

[Minnesnowta]

Your soil shouldn't be soaking wet and dripping, but damp, the important thing was that it is moist the whole way through, and it sounds like that shouldn't be a problem for you. Soil PH should be somewhere between 6.8-6.3. And typically your tap water, if thats what you're using, will be slightly over the proper PH, however your soil may balance that out. As far as your temps go, they're stable enough, you don't need to be locked onto one specific degree measurement. Only other thing I could think of is that if your soil had been rained on a lot and then sat in the bag forever, its possible there could be some type of molding/fungus that is causing problems? Tough to say. Definitely get something to test your PH, its the most important part of growing. Nothing will work properly without first setting the proper PH levels.

[rattlingdags]

Shame about the earlier seedlings but great to see the new one's striking.
That photo of No3 on the 8th Feb show's an example of soil being much too wet. As Minnesnowta says damp not soaking. It takes much too long for soggy soil to dry out and stem rot could happen. With your new one's try to go much lighter with watering. Its hard to be patient I know, and many people think more is better, but never in growing seedlings. They will do well with minimum tweeking and over-loving
If you think there's the possibility of your soil carrying mould's etc, there have been threads here about sterilizing soil, but its not something I've needed to do (touch wood) so can't comment with experience.

[DeeDouble]

You need a propergator mate. They need to be humid not in dry conditions. What is you humidity like. Its all about your roots right now! Roots dont need light! They need to bee looked after. Kept warm and wet! Leave the light on its no biggie as they will need light very soon.

[LunaticsPR]

going to check wallmart and homedepot tomorrow for a PH tester 2 more started to grow and another 2 are about to comeup that meakes it a total of 5 that are hanging in there and 2 unknown

[Bluenote]

First thing , forget Miracle Gro *anything* , all of it. Next time you start seeds you want to start 'em in a tray under a humidity dome , if you have to use soil to start them then get yourself a bag of Light Warrior for that purpose , the rapid rooter type plugs should work well for you too. Rock wool cubes are good **if you PH them correctly** , and forget the soil ph meter for now , go get an inexpensive Milwaukee pen meter , make sure you get a bottle of 7.0 reference solution with it , ***check that calibration prior to every use*** , setpoints will vary with temp and other factors.

If there is the right kind of store around get yourself some decent soil and a small bag of perlite , depsite what some folks say the Happy Frog , Ocean Forest and Amazon Bloom are all fairly reliable and widely available , the various Pro-Mix and Sunshine offerings are very good but you may have some trouble finding them in anything but the larger bales. For Perlite get the large and chunky if it's available , you'll arrive at the mix that works best for you after a couple of go-rounds , perhaps start with 1 part Perlite to 5 soil.

If you don't have a hygrometer get one , you need to keep an eye on humidity , and you need a fan for air circulation.


And I meant no offense on the MiracleGro , but there's a *lot* better available for not much more money , a LOT better , you could do better with just straight MaxiGrow/Bloom , some epsom salts ( magnesium supplementation along with extra sulfur) and some molasses.

[Bluenote]

going to check wallmart and homedepot tomorrow for a PH tester 2 more started to grow and another 2 are about to comeup that meakes it a total of 5 that are hanging in there and 2 unknown

Seriously doubt you'll find what you need at either , you'll need a hydro store or heavy Ag trade store. Home Depot is a good source for do it yourself T5s for veg however , file that away. And check their garden remedy section , the same Organocide products for Mites , PM etc will be *significantly* cheaper than the hydro stores.

And actually you're doing pretty well as it is , just be patient , they're a lot tougher than you think they are in most cases.

[Bluenote]

Shame about the earlier seedlings but great to see the new one's striking.
That photo of No3 on the 8th Feb show's an example of soil being much too wet. As Minnesnowta says damp not soaking. It takes much too long for soggy soil to dry out and stem rot could happen. With your new one's try to go much lighter with watering. Its hard to be patient I know, and many people think more is better, but never in growing seedlings. They will do well with minimum tweeking and over-loving
If you think there's the possibility of your soil carrying mould's etc, there have been threads here about sterilizing soil, but its not something I've needed to do (touch wood) so can't comment with experience.

He didn't amend it for drainage , but then he didn't know any better. He'll be fine with some decent soil and a few minor tweaks , just as you said.

You brought up a good point , most folks shouldn't be re-using soils until they've got basic nutritional profiles and how to deal with the various pests down. That course of action can be fraught with negative consequences.