Saturated soil in newborn babies!

[mimistow]

Hello guys. Im growing some autos under a 180W led light .they are 12-14 days old and they have already been through a lot of trouble. After a day or two (from the point i burried them into the soil) they popped out easily looking gr8 but as the days were passing the got really lengthly with a narrow stem so i decided to reduce the light distance.After 2 days i realized that they suffer from a light stress so i moved the light in a further distance and playing with the dimmer i found a sweet spot where they were looking happy.In the same time i supported them a soft garden tie cause they tend to fall over.Although the main problem those babies are facing is that i overwatered the pots before placing the seeds and now the soil refuses to dry up and the plants are too small and stunt to drain all this water.Im two weeks in and im not even thinking of watering them, pots are really heavy and only some spots from the thin surface of the soil are starting to dry up.Temp is around 22-23 and humidity 65% when lights are on. I also got an A/C unit in the room if that can help somehow.Any ideas on how to resolve this problem? I was thinking of removing them and start a new batch but this mindset kills the beauty of overcoming the obstacles so i decided to give them a try assisted by your experienced eyes.
Thank you for instance!

 

[AgentPothead]

In the future I might start them in smaller pots and then up pot them once they are established. That works great for photoperiods but if those are autoflowers you shouldn't up pot. For now I might just let them grow, and when you do end up watering them, water around the outside edges of the pot so the roots have to spread a bit to get to it. If you water directly on the seedling, the roots don't have to spread to get any moisture. Once they are more established water like normal.

 

[Switcher56]

I use 4" squares pots until they have 4 sets of serrated leaves, then they go into 3gal pots (they are just shy of 5gal)

 

[troutman]

I think you can lower the light now. Just give it time and they'll take off in time.
Little plants transplanted into big pots sometimes seem to stall. It's nothing new.

Don't sweat it.

 

[mimistow]

I think you can lower the light now. Just give it time and they'll take off in time.
Little plants transplanted into big pots sometimes seem to stall. It's nothing new.

Don't sweat it.

I didnt transplant them ,this is their first and last hom from seed to harvest. What about the green mold starting to develop on the surface ? should i scratch it?

 

[troutman]

I didnt transplant them ,this is their first and last hom from seed to harvest. What about the green mold starting to develop on the surface ? should i scratch it?

That's not mold. It's most likely algae. It needs light to live. If you cover the soil with something that blocks light it will die.
Scratching the soil will only spread it. Once the soil dries a bit it will slow down also. It grows easily from overwatering the
soil. The plants shading the soil will help too once they get bigger.

 

[mimistow]

That's not mold. It's most likely algae. It needs light to live. If you cover the soil with something that blocks light it will die.
Scratching the soil will only spread it. Once the soil dries a bit it will slow down also. It grows easily from overwatering the
soil. The plants shading the soil will help too once they get bigger.

Oh just learnt something new. Thank you! What do u think on using the A/C on 25C? I ve tried this and it raises the closet's temp at 24.5-25C and drops the humidity by 10% (65 ->55)
Would that help to speed up the drying process or they'll get shocked?

 

[ReikoX]

Put the pots on a towel overnight, it should wick the water out of the soil.

 

[troutman]

No need for an AC just yet. Just leave things as is and give it time. Changing too much will stress out the plants.

I imagine if you leave your closet door open a little the humidity will go down a little on it's own.

 

[mimistow]

Put the pots on a towel overnight, it should wick the water out of the soil.

I haven't ever heard of that, is there any video on yt? Cause I didn't understand exactly how to do it.

 

[troutman]

I haven't ever heard of that, is there any video on yt? Cause I didn't understand exactly how to do it.

They'll act like a diaper.

 

[mimistow]

No need for an AC just yet. Just leave things as is and give it time. Changing too much will stress out the plants.

I imagine if you leave your closet door open a little the humidity will go down a little on it's own.

Ok I'll stay patient and keep you up to date. Thanks!

 

[ReikoX]

I haven't ever heard of that, is there any video on yt? Cause I didn't understand exactly how to do it.

It is just like it sounds. Fold up a towel and put the pot on top. Next day the towel will be wet and the soil dry, or drier.

 

[AgentPothead]

It is just like it sounds. Fold up a towel and put the pot on top. Next day the towel will be wet and the soil dry, or drier.

That might not work for his 2 airpots, just because you can set the bottom height when you assemble them, and they recommend leaving a good inch or two of open space if I'm remembering correct. Might have to ball the towl up to get it up in contact with the actual soil or make a few layers of towels or something. A handcloth on a dishtowel on a beach towel. Towel tower.

 

[ReikoX]

No holes in the bottom of those? Works incredible with fabric pots.

 

[AgentPothead]

No holes in the bottom of those? Works incredible with fabric pots.

Nah the whole bottom is holes, but it is also just a plate that you can raise or lower based on how you assembled them. I tended to keep them higher maybe 2-3 inches so any run off wouldn't soak back up into the medium. And fabric pots are what I ended up using because of ease of watering and just throwing them in a saucer.

 

[mimistow]

No holes in the bottom of those? Works incredible with fabric pots.

it has a plastic net but im not sure if there is a way for the towel to get in touch with the soil

 

[ReikoX]

it has a plastic net but im not sure if there is a way for the towel to get in touch with the soil

I see that now, guess you just have to LITFA (Leave It The F*** Alone)

 

[mimistow]

I see that now, guess you just have to LITFA (Leave It The F*** Alone)

You are right m8!

 

[mimistow]

No need for an AC just yet. Just leave things as is and give it time. Changing too much will stress out the plants.

I imagine if you leave your closet door open a little the humidity will go down a little on it's own.

Slowly but steadily they start to gain the upper hand