Troubleshooting Slow growth and color loss (Seedling stage is all I know)

[bakEQuatorial]

Your soil looks too wet from the pictures. From my past experience, clay pots takes a while to dry out. I don't water my seedlings for at least 7-10 days. I only mist them daily and the mist will wet the top soil a little. But i do use a fabric 5 gallon pot. So your time may be lesser.

Your temps are like mine. Only mine is pretty much the same all year round. My humidity is higher than yours though, reaching late 80s at times. Anything below 65 is a rare occurrence and only happens in the day.

With such conditions, you'll find very little reference if any, online. I tried with very little success when i first started growing. Pretty much gotta trial and error cos most grow guides are based on the common climates in North America or Western Europe.

My suggestion is to let them dry out a bit. Only water when top soil feels dry to the touch. It probably does not need to be 2cm dry. I would water again slightly if the first 0.5cm feels dry. That would be good enough imo. Then leave them alone and you should see progress.

How's the air circulation situation like? If there are no air being exchanged, it's easy to stunt growth or damp off, especially since you also water often with high humidity.

 

[Dummy Grower]

Your soil looks too wet from the pictures. From my past experience, clay pots takes a while to dry out. I don't water my seedlings for at least 7-10 days. I only mist them daily and the mist will wet the top soil a little. But i do use a fabric 5 gallon pot. So your time may be lesser.

Your temps are like mine. Only mine is pretty much the same all year round. My humidity is higher than yours though, reaching late 80s at times. Anything below 65 is a rare occurrence and only happens in the day.

With such conditions, you'll find very little reference if any, online. I tried with very little success when i first started growing. Pretty much gotta trial and error cos most grow guides are based on the common climates in North America or Western Europe.

My suggestion is to let them dry out a bit. Only water when top soil feels dry to the touch. It probably does not need to be 2cm dry. I would water again slightly if the first 0.5cm feels dry. That would be good enough imo. Then leave them alone and you should see progress.

How's the air circulation situation like? If there are no air being exchanged, it's easy to stunt growth or damp off, especially since you also water often with high humidity.

Thanks @bakEQuatorial very interesting stuff!

I switched to clay pots as my first grow was in plastic pots and the result was disastrous as water didn't dry out at all. I will defo switch to fabric for my next.
So I am letting them dry out like you all advised me. It's been 4 days without water now and they don't seem to be too bothered. The second set of leaves show a few little brown and white patches, so maybe the roots are not too happy. We'll see soon enough.

The air circulation is not great as I don't have intake or extract fans. However I open the tent twice a day and shake the door in a wavy movement to force new air in. Not the best solution but the best I could find so far.

If I understand this right:
In early vegetative state, the plant does not sweat and does not feed much from roots so RH must be pretty high to provide it with just enough water. However if temps are too high, the plant will sweat more and lose water, so RH must be raised further. Hence the higher risk of over watering. Is that correct?

Thanks to everybody for their time..

 

[bakEQuatorial]

Thanks @bakEQuatorial very interesting stuff!

I switched to clay pots as my first grow was in plastic pots and the result was disastrous as water didn't dry out at all. I will defo switch to fabric for my next.
So I am letting them dry out like you all advised me. It's been 4 days without water now and they don't seem to be too bothered. The second set of leaves show a few little brown and white patches, so maybe the roots are not too happy. We'll see soon enough.

The air circulation is not great as I don't have intake or extract fans. However I open the tent twice a day and shake the door in a wavy movement to force new air in. Not the best solution but the best I could find so far.

If I understand this right:
In early vegetative state, the plant does not sweat and does not feed much from roots so RH must be pretty high to provide it with just enough water. However if temps are too high, the plant will sweat more and lose water, so RH must be raised further. Hence the higher risk of over watering. Is that correct?

Thanks to everybody for their time..

First of all, some pics will help and please insert them into post. For some reason, I cannot open attachments. It only loads half a pic.

The air circulation is likely to be your problem. Plants need air, water and light for photosynthesis. You cannot deprive them of either. I'm not familiar with your sweating theory. To my understanding, cannabis growers usually lower RH during flower to prevent bud rot. Opening the tent twice a day is definitely not sufficient imo. You also gotta consider air circulation of the room that the tent is situated.

Read up on ventilation buddy. I'm sure an easy solution is available especially if it's a small space.

 

[Dummy Grower]

Ok I get you. Everywhere I look seems to say I need intake and extractor fans, of which I'm not a big ... but well

As for RH and evaporation, I don't have a theory, there are scientific facts on that but I'm just trying to understand them really.

I'm not even counting days no more, just know they above the 30 days. Gutted.

 

[fauxnacho]

Suggest you pull em and start fresh bud, its no biggie. Just use drier soil and the next run will take off as it should

 

[Dummy Grower]

Yeah I guess I'll put em on the balcony and start a new one. Still curious to see what they'll do.

Thanks for all your help @fauxnacho and the others!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Ok I get you. Everywhere I look seems to say I need intake and extractor fans, of which I'm not a big ... but well

As for RH and evaporation, I don't have a theory, there are scientific facts on that but I'm just trying to understand them really.

I'm not even counting days no more, just know they above the 30 days. Gutted.View attachment 1218232View attachment 1218233

That looks like root rot or metal toxicity. Are you using a metal can to fertigate?


Someone mentioned over-watering. It can cause root rot. There are many theories on watering here is mine. 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.

If you have any Botinicare HydroGuard on hand you might try an application of that before giving up on the plants. It is a 50/50 proposition that they would ever snap out of this but it could happen.

 

[Dummy Grower]

Geez @Mañ'O'Green thanks for that!

I didn't get the technical details but I understood your watering theory.

I just transplanted the photo into a pot I don't really use, and noticed the soil at the bottom of the pot was well humid, like it hasn't dried for ages..
The soil at the top of the pot dries out very quickly but the bottom never does.

I'll work on all that

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Geez @Mañ'O'Green thanks for that!

I didn't get the technical details but I understood your watering theory.

I just transplanted the photo into a pot I don't really use, and noticed the soil at the bottom of the pot was well humid, like it hasn't dried for ages..
The soil at the top of the pot dries out very quickly but the bottom never does.

I'll work on all that

Put some hydrton or pebbles in the bottom to help the drainage. Maybe ad some coco or other easy drain media on the bottom.

If the soil has been wet a long time it may have developed anerobic microbes and that is not good. They are the ones that cause root rot. It is important to use fresh or refreshed soil in your grows.

 

[Dummy Grower]

Hi peeps,

It's been a while since this grow, and after autopsy and a few more tests, I have discovered the problem. As @Mañ'O'Green mentioned, my soil became hydrophobic after my first stunted batch by overwatering. I got so paranoid with overwatering that I let the my soil dry out to the point it did not take water anymore.
Hence the impression of overwatering on the pictures (due to excess of water on the top).

When I took the plant out, roots were white, but underdevelopped. Most important is I noticed that the deep end of my pot was still nicely wet but the middle was completely dry and refused to keep water. Result: loads of water top and bottom, nothing in the middle.

My soil seems to be drying very quickly and is hard to keep moist enough, but not overwatered while rooting.

At least, my new one seems to do better.

Take it easy!