New here - New CFL Grower - Already having issues with seedlings. Please help!

[Indimaniac]

Well I use ocean forest but again its too strong for seedlings bla bla bla but I use fox farms happy frog(soil not nutrients) and fox farms light warrior but for all intensive purposes and easy access you could go to any near by Lowes or walmart or any department store like this that has a gardening center or supply and get any soil you can find that says seedling mix, light mix, seed/cutting mix etc right on the bag your good to get u through this time until your ready for nutes then I'd transplant them into ocean forest or what u use now...

Indimaniac Reviewed by Indimaniac on 02-28-2013. New here - New CFL Grower - Already having issues with seedlings. Please help! Hello! I am a new grower from Colorado and I am definitely trying the cheapest route possible when it comes to materials, etc. I'm not wealthy and I'm not looking for a huge yield. I am going to go the CFL route as I've heard and seen people do it before with great results. I am mostly interested in the journey and I want to log my experiences to hopefully help others out in the future. I have tarped off a corner of my room that I will soon line the inside with white reflective panda liner and Rating: 5

[haoleflip]

Thanks for your help Indimaniac! Anyone else have anything to chime in?

[polishpollack]

That soil doesn't look good. Big chunks of bark in it. Geez. Can't they make a better product?

[Indimaniac]

Lol ya that's exactly what I was thinking!

[haoleflip]

OK, so I just went to the store and got some new soil: NK Lawn and Garden Organic Starter Mix. The only ingredients are Sphagnum peat moss, horticultural vermiculite, perlite and an organic wetting agent. It doesn't mention anything about fertilizers or nutrients.

I then transferred them like you told me to as carefully as I could...

Attachment 290017

I also got some Jiffy cubes to try on future grows!

Attachment 290018

I do hope everything turns out OK now!

[haoleflip]

Everything seems fine today. No drooping of the plants or anything!

[Indimaniac]

That's awesome!! I'm glad it worked out for ya! Keep us up on ur progress!:thumbsup:

[haoleflip]

I don't know if I am just paranoid, but I have noticed the new leaves coming in were pointing upwards. I've tried to do research before I posted this time, but I found a lot of mixed results. I have found some people saying they are "reaching for light" so bring your light closer, others say it is an Nitrogen deficiency, others say that they don't have enough water so they go into that "mode" where their leaves turn up and they somehow ration the water they have available by doing that, some say that they are too hot and "perspiring" by putting their leaves up, and others say it's because they have been watered too much lol I don't know which it is! I would like to hear from you guys. There is also some yellowing present, but I think it is the leaves getting over the old soil. The new leaves popping in are green for the most part. Let me know what you think. Dammit I just want to grow healthy plants! I might have to suck it up and spend a bit of money after all...

Things I have already checked/done:

1. Finger 2-3 inches down into soil check? A little dry to be honest.
2. pH check? 5.8ish was the last I checked when I had runoff.
3. Temperature/Humidity? 76°-81°F / 50-60%
4. Airflow? I have a small 5" fan I added last night to get the bulbs closer and keep them cool. It is constantly providing a very slight breeze.

Attachment 290102
Attachment 290103
Attachment 290104

[low_rdr]

Fan on seedlings won't really do you much good aside from increase the strength of the stalk. Make sure your cups have holes in the bottom for drainage, and hit each cup with 1/3 of a cup of water every 2-3 days as needed. If your soil looks that dry on top, its too dry, but it shouldn't look muddy

So far, so good. The yellowing is remnants of the nute burn, right now they're just dry. I can't show you a pic of my seedlings right now (entire grow is under renovations) but it' about 1" above my seedlings/clones

Everything else your doing is fine

[polishpollack]

I have to disagree with low_rdr, sorry pilgrim, but I think what's going on here is low nitrogen. The first structures, the cots, are yellow along with the first leaves yellow and what is needed here is a small shot of nitrogen. I think your ingoing water pH is a little low. If that's out of the tap, I'd be surprised. Anyway, get some distilled water from the store and you can use inexpensive fert like Schultz brand you can get pretty much anywhere that fert is sold. It's strange because MG is known for putting out hot fert soils, but I guess their organic soil isn't so hot. Just a few drops of the Schultz 10-15-10 in a gallon of distilled water will make the difference. I don't think it's fert burn because there is a lot of yellowing like the nitrogen is too low. So give some fert. If you want a better fert, go to a hydro shop and get something like dynagro 7-9-5. Just follow the directions on the bottle. Keep us posted here on how things go. don't water/fert too much, just enough to keep the soil wet for now.