Day 10: Too small?

[revilo95]

Hi everyone, I'm a first time grower here and think I'm doing something wrong, but not sure what. I'm on day 10 from sprout and all my seedlings look much too small / stunted. I'm growing outdoors and temps have been a bit hot, high 70s low 80s.

I thoroughly soaked the medium before germinating the seeds directly in the soil - maybe I overwatered initially? I haven't watered them yet besides just keeping the soil moist while they were germinating.

Any idea what I should be doing differently?

Strain: Crop King Northern Lights & Fastbuds Blue Dream
Medium: 80% Happy Frog 10% coco 10% Perlite - 3 gal smart pots
No nutrients yet

 

[derek420colorado]

How many hours of direct sunlight are they getting per day

 

[revilo95]

How many hours of direct sunlight are they getting per day

They should be getting around 14-15. I'm growing in the Midwest so sunrise around 6:30 set around 8:30

 

[hope2grow]

I think they needed watered more than they have been m8. High temps and they haven't had any water in 10 days?? In those temps I'd be watering them daily small amounts increasing as they grow. Your soil looks bone dry. Get some water in there.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

The first week or so all of the growth is in roots. Do not worry about the size of the tops - roots first. Watering correctly is important to establish the roots and the pots need to be uniformly moist at all times.

What you need to learn about watering will come with practice. Here are the basic rules: Never let the soil dry out. Soil and or coco can become hydrophobic if allowed to dry. This means it repels water. This in turn will create dry pockets in the soil and roots there will die. If your soil - coco have accidentally dried out use a surfactant to help re-wet it. I like yucca powder. Don't let soil remain soggy by watering too much too often. Root rot, damping off, molds, fungus gnats and other problems start in soggy soil. When you do water water the entire pot. How to learn when to water starts before you plant the seed. Fill your container with fresh soil/coco and weigh it (heft it) this is the lightest weight and consider it a dry pot. Now slowly water until the soil/coco will no longer absorb the water and run-off begins; weigh the pot (heft it) this is the maximum water, the wettest the pot can get. The difference between wettest and driest is the maximum water weight, for ease of explanation lets just say the water weighs 20 pounds. When the pot loses 10 pounds (half of the water weight) it is time to water again. There is an art to watering.

 

[revilo95]

Thanks for the info! I've read a lot about new growers overwatering, and wanted to avoid this, but I guess I went too far in the other direction!

Fill your container with fresh soil/coco and weigh it (heft it) this is the lightest weight and consider it a dry pot. Now slowly water until the soil/coco will no longer absorb the water and run-off begins; weigh the pot (heft it) this is the maximum water, the wettest the pot can get. The difference between wettest and driest is the maximum water weight, for ease of explanation lets just say the water weighs 20 pounds. When the pot loses 10 pounds (half of the water weight) it is time to water again.

I weighed the 5 plants dry and they came in around 6 lbs - after a thorough watering, they're coming in around 15. Does that sound about right? If I understood correctly, I should be watering when they're 7.5lbs? I'll try to monitor the top 1-2" of soil, and pick them up more to gauge the moisture content.

 

[revilo95]

Approaching week 6 now and the plants have definitely rebounded, and are getting huge! (Compared to day 10 )

Overall they look healthy, but I noticed 2 things:
1. The blue dream plant looks like it has some purple stems and slightly lighter green leaves. Is this something I should worry about, or due to the strain?

2. I've found some smaller brown spots on some of the leaves throughout all 4 plants. Should I be worried about this? Using HF and fox farms trio at 1/2 strength since week 2.