Lost my Seedling Mojo!

Hello all.

For some reason the last 6 months I have struggled with maximizing the first 2 weeks of life, and have ended up throwing away so many young girls. I guess it's to do with my watering. I start them under a couple of 3500k Autocobs about 35 inches above the pots.

I have started using Solo Cups to help but I still can't get it. I have no issues germinating, I use a shot glass of water when planting the seed and that carries them through. It's after this I struggle. I have no idea why I am. When after this should I next be watering? I spray the soil every day, between 5-20 times, depending on what I think...

I am considering @lunarman s dunking method which I saw yesterday, or possibly a method I've seen on YT that uses a string to wick moisture up to the cup, like a self-watering kit.

My thoughts on the self-watering method would be, wouldn't that drown the seedling in the first few days, as the soil would be moist all the way through? Maybe it wouldn't matter. I wonder if I could combine the dunk method with a way to seamlessly transplant into the fabric pots after a week or two...

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated, it's getting me down.

Cheers!

 

[lunarman]

@SmokexBreak Looked at all the pictures and did the math on how many days old they are. To me they look very small for their age. All of them. Esp chemdoggin and gwk. Why is the question. They look healthy. Just small and underdeveloped. Is it the medium? Is it temp at roots? Winter can really do a number on plants if your floor is cold or something. I'm not much of a troubleshooter yet. Just barely past being a beginner. Bet you others will have something for you though.

 

[SmokexBreak]

@SmokexBreak Looked at all the pictures and did the math on how many days old they are. To me they look very small for their age. All of them. Esp chemdoggin and gwk. Why is the question. They look healthy. Just small and underdeveloped. Is it the medium? Is it temp at roots? Winter can really do a number on plants if your floor is cold or something. I'm not much of a troubleshooter yet. Just barely past being a beginner. Bet you others will have something for you though.

I’m dealing with pretty low humidity. It’s like 30%... I’ve got a humidifier and I can only get one box to 50% at a time. I’m debating on killing off all these plants and starting a new run. I’ve got a ton of seeds. And if I start them at the same time I can keep them in the same box at the same time and get that box to
The humidity I need them at.


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[milkmann]

That sucks man. I know what its like. Struggled for a long time with the first two weeks. Germination wasn't good as in didn't work half the time. And any that germinated became seedlings that were over watered and oxygen deprived. I borrowed some bullet proof ideas on what to do about it all from @slowandeasy and the past is now ancient history.

First of all how do you germinate?

I soak the seeds in a shot glass with warm water and leave them in a warm place, for about 24 hours, then I put them in the soil and loosely cover, along with the water from that shot glass. I've probably had about a ~90% success rate with germination this way, showing above soil within 2-3 days usually.

What medium do you use? Let's start there.

A mixture of BB Light Mix, Buckwheat Hulls, perlite, and some organic amendments. I fill the solo cups loosely.

At the moment, they have been at exactly the same 'leaf development' stage for the last 3 days. They don't look over or underwatered - they're just sitting there, idle. Leaves aren't drooping but aren't 'praying' either. I can take some pictures if that would help? I'm terrified to add any water for fear of stalling them. I am thinking if I've overwatered then hopefully today or tomorrow I might start seeing some development again!

I have also ordered a soil moisture meter which I will be using today when it arrives to see what the situation is inside the pots.

 

[lunarman]

I’m dealing with pretty low humidity. It’s like 30%... I’ve got a humidifier and I can only get one box to 50% at a time. I’m debating on killing off all these plants and starting a new run. I’ve got a ton of seeds. And if I start them at the same time I can keep them in the same box at the same time and get that box to
The humidity I need them at.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I dont think your issue is humidity. I live in an arid climate and use a humidifier to get my tent's RH up to 60% now. I like to follow VPD. But I did not do this before and never had issues like dramatic slow growth.

I am not shy to aborting a grow myself. Been glad I did it when I have. I don't want to spend 70-90 days of effort and cost on something that isn't going to be good. But you have to know what was wrong before so you can do it differently and better next time.

Are you in a winter climate now?

 

[SmokexBreak]

I dont think your issue is humidity. I live in an arid climate and use a humidifier to get my tent's RH up to 60% now. I like to follow VPD. But I did not do this before and never had issues like dramatic slow growth.

I am not shy to aborting a grow myself. Been glad I did it when I have. I don't want to spend 70-90 days of effort and cost on something that isn't going to be good. But you have to know what was wrong before so you can do it differently and better next time.

Are you in a winter climate now?

Yes I am been having some wicked cold
Weather but my temps are spot on and for the most part my pots are raised.


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[AutoWonders]

I dont think your issue is humidity. I live in an arid climate and use a humidifier to get my tent's RH up to 60% now. I like to follow VPD. But I did not do this before and never had issues like dramatic slow growth.

I am not shy to aborting a grow myself. Been glad I did it when I have. I don't want to spend 70-90 days of effort and cost on something that isn't going to be good. But you have to know what was wrong before so you can do it differently and better next time. Are you in a winter climate now?

My tent floor gets about 32% humidity. That is pretty much the norm. Going up the tent, the humidity really falls. Near the middle of tent 9% humidity is the norm. Most of the time that is no problem and does not debilitate the plants to much. I bought three humidifiers in the past and none of them upped the humidity to become a factor. I have no desire to buy a commercial humidifier.

 

[lunarman]

My tent floor gets about 32% humidity. That is pretty much the norm. Going up the tent, the humidity really falls. Near the middle of tent 9% humidity is the norm. Most of the time that is no problem and does not debilitate the plants to much. I bought three humidifiers in the past and none of them upped the humidity to become a factor. I have no desire to buy a commercial humidifier.

I live east side of the rockies so its arid here. I tried some residential small humidifiers but they could not keep RH up in the tent high enough. Then I upgraded or upsized to a residential big console type. Its works fantastic. I can dial RH in to 40 or 50 or 60 or even up to 70%. I have found my plants are healthier looking if I follow VPD and use a higher RH. But if I don't use high RH they still grow pretty decently.

This is the one. And it does have a filter but I use RO water so I don't get that much water hardness buildup and the filter lasts a while.

Amazon product

 

[lunarman]

 

[AutoWonders]

Then I upgraded or upsized to a residential big console type. Its works fantastic.

Good to see. I might entertain the thought of buying one more humidifier.