Please Help me Get Past This Stage!

[Jane81]

HI everyone!
my seedling broke soil 6 days ago. Her first true leaves popped and she is standing about 2 inches tall. Today I noticed her cotyledons purpling and her first true leave margins are turning into a slight purple. My seedling pot is 3 inches tall, and it dries out everyday. I believe it dries out everyday because the top half inch of soil is very dry and the pot feels weightless by end of day. She is under 95W CFL, 18/6 cycle, and 2 inches away from the light. I have been watering her with a regular shot glass everyday. 1 shot glass of water per day. Should I water her every other day even though her pot dries out everyday or should I continue my watering schedule. By the way the water ph is 6.2 and soil is 5.8. I dont want to over dry and hurt the fragile roots at this stage but I also don't want to drown them in water, PLEASE HELP. Thank You

 

[stealthballer]

if soil then ph is too low, you should be watering till you have a bit of run off water the shot glass full of water is very likely not getting all the medium saturated.
if you are soiless your ph is good.

 

[TokeD]

what soil are you using jane? is it already ammended with things like kelp meal, bat guano, peat moss or some other addatives? You will notice on new seedlings that the little round leaves will yellow and die of as the plant gains its first set of "true leaves". at this point you want to start using a light dose of a "grow" based nutrient, (if you have questions reguarding nutrients we can discuss it later). Seedlings commonly have purple stems when they are new youngins, this is probably nothing to worry about as long as the leaves forming that LOOK like marijuana leaves are a nice green hue. Temps can be a factor, it's a good idea to have the night time temps in the 70's to encourage shorter nodes between your branches for your plants true potential.Are you going to be flowering under the current veg light your using?

 

[Widow Maker]

when you water make sure all of the soil is saturated with sufficient runoff. Water when the top inch of soil is dry. Get used to the feeling of how heavy they are when dry and you should be good. A problem lots of people tend to overlook is not wetting the entire contents of the soil.

Im guessing you need a larger pot. A good size for small babies is a plastic "beercup" transplant when they get 4 sets of leaves. Good luck.

As far as the purpling goes... you're not using any ferts are you? what kind of soil?

 

[SweetIndica2]

Yea, i agree on the watering. Water it completely until runoff, and don't water until it's dry. Sticking your finger in the soil isn't the best way too tell, the pot should be light when it's time for a watering. It takes time to get a feel for it, but you'll get it down.

On the purpling issue, i wouldn't worry much. It happens to alot of plants, especially when they are young. You don't need to worry about ferts just yet.

 

[Jane81]

Hi everyone .
Thank you for stopping by with helpful suggestions. I Really appreciate them all.
I havent started any nutes yet. The soil is scotts potting soil 60%, perlite30% and dolomite lime10%. There is a slight run off when i water them, a few drops, is that a sufficient amount of runoff? Temps are 79-80F during day, and at nite 70-71F. Im going to flower with a 400HPS, but I will continue to veg with my 95W Envirolite. Thank you

 

[Widow Maker]

seems fine to me, got any pics?

 

[Blackvelvet]

cotyledons purpling and her first true leave margins are turning into a slight purple.

Purple = phosphorus deficiency. Add a weak dose of ferts containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and the micros iron, manganese, zinc, copper, boron, and molybdenum.

Alot of liquid ferts like this will lack sulfur. This is an important element. You might try 1/4 teaspoon epsom salts from the drug store per gallon of water every once in a while along with the regular ferts (if they have no s like potassium sulfate, etc...) to provide some s. Growers often mix 3/4 teaspoon powdered gypsum per gallon of soil mix with the lime to provide s.

ph 5.8 is good.

Water till 20% of what you applied flows out the bottom. This is especially important when you are continuously applying ferts.

I hope 10% of your soil mix is not dolomite lime. Sounds like a misjudgement estimating on your part.

Good luck!

 

[Guest]

Ignore this post^^^^

 

[Verite]

Please post a pic because they tell us almost everything you dont describe well enough.

I would avoid ferting without knowing if it really needs ferts or if what you are seeing is probably normal.

I would also avoid advice from Blackvelvet because if given the chance he will have you killing your plants in as short a time as he can. Theres plenty of people here that actually do grow marijuana and to everyone elses misfortune Blackvelvet does not.

.. and no a soil ph of 5.8 isnt 'good' as Blackvelvet suggests.. your plants will like it much better around your watering level of 6.2

 

[Jane81]

hope this helps.

 

[Verite]

What kind of soil is that? Doesnt look right for some reason. Is there drainage holes in the cup?

 

[Jane81]

its scotts potting soil w/ perlite and dol lime. there r a couple of holes on the bottom. i just took the shot after i watered her.. i think shes dead or extremely sick. no growth or very s-l-o-w growth lately........ is she stunted for good? should i toss her or should i give her a week or 2 to get back up? i dont think its a nute problem, i havent given her any yet. the soil is unferted as well. thanks for all the posts, plz keep them coming.

 

[Guest]

She looks overwatered. I would start another and wait to see if it recovers before pulling. When they are stressed like that early in life they never perform like they could.

 

[Nikijad4210]

Definately ignore BlackVelvet. Feeding a week-old plant would NOT be a good idea, as the cotyldons have everything it needs to survive for the next week or so. Too much nutrition kills plants, we all know this.

When you're watering, make sure you have run-off from the drain holes, and wait until the soil's dry before watering again. Full soil saturation is what it really needs, a shotglass of water isn't much in a cup that size, and I doubt it reaches the roots fully.
Also, test the PH of your run-off, it's a better way to judge the PH of saturated soil. I aim for a run-off PH of between 6.2 & 6.5.

Keep monitoring it, start another one incase you can't salvage this one. I think you can salvage it, but it might be smaller than it could have been.

 

[stealthballer]

its a pretty little thing at least, never seen one that small be purple.
if your ph is 5.8 I still think thats too low for soil

 

[Charles Xavier]

Greetings Jane81

I gather from your thread that your medium contains ten percent Dolomitic Lime; this amount is too high. You are beginning to see the effects of a hormonal/enzymatic imbalance- particularly those responsible for the production of anthocyanins (purpling), due to an over abundant uptake of Calcium.

Also, to a lesser extent chlorophyll synthesis is not at optimum because Magnesium integration is suppressed by the overabundance of Calcium. The solution is to gently repot the seedling into a more adequate medium.

After the transplant maintain the ambient temperature between 80 and 84 degrees -to increase metabolism and promote the elongation of the stem in order to deplete the Calcium stores within the plant's tissues. In this instance the addition of an incandescent light source for 10 to 14 days, would be of benefit.

Pay particular attention to your watering schedule, as well. Water at the seedling stage should be applied weekly. If the seedling requires a more frequent application of water, then some other variable must be addressed and adjusted.

Usually, Calcium toxicity is not dire, however, the plant will fail to grow to its potential if the condition persists.

Sincerely,
Charles.

p.s. It should be mentioned that the manifestation of the 'purpling' is phenotypic; that is, not all seedlings grown under these conditions, will produce anthocyanin to the same extent.

C.X.