Seedlings appear to have stopped growing

[repobird]

Hi. Have four seedlings that are in day 8 from germination and appear to have stopped growing the past 3 days. The one in the top left looks the healthiest. The others have leaves that curl down and two have a little discoloration on the leaves. I am checking the moisture of the first layer of coco, seems moist. They are under 4x 25w CFLs about 12" up. Any advise? Thanks.

 

[repobird]

*Correction, under 5x 25w CFLs

 

[repobird]

Some other things that might be a factor:

On 24 hour light schedule. Should I switch to 18/6?
Room temp is about 80F
Water is distilled bottled water. Spray mist top 'soil' for the first few days after transplant. Yesterday I added a very small amount of maxibloom to the gallon jug. I havent fed since then since the coco feels moist on top still, but not heavy.

Thanks

 

[immortal]

They seem fine from the pics. I would lower the lights to about 6" and add a small fan to keep them cool.

 

[GreeeeN GRassss]

there only babies so dont be feeding them nutes. since your in coco are you phing the water ?

 

[NYUrbanFarmer]

Over Watering

Over Watering

Hi. Have four seedlings that are in day 8 from germination and appear to have stopped growing the past 3 days. The one in the top left looks the healthiest. The others have leaves that curl down and two have a little discoloration on the leaves. I am checking the moisture of the first layer of coco, seems moist. They are under 4x 25w CFLs about 12" up. Any advise? Thanks.

View Image

Repo if you look at your picture that you posted you will notice that the leaves are clawing on three of the four plants you have. Clawing means the leaves begin to bend and hook down and make the leaves look like claws. Heat, over watering, as well as other factors can make this happen. The potting substrate looks really moist from your picture. I stick my finger into the soil up to the knuckle and if it is dry all the way then I water and not before. Over watering will certainly stall seedling growth and eventually kill them if it isn't corrected. This is my opinion and it might not be what's occurring but look out for it and there maybe other factors involved as well. Also Immortal is right CFL's are most effective within 4-6". After that they become degraded and are less effective at creating a light footprint.

NYUF

 

[repobird]

Thanks guys! The coco is in fact moist but I havent watered today. I usually stick my finger in about an inch and if it is dry then I water. I also moved the lamps closer to the plants now. Seems a bit close so I put the fan on the lamp now to get some circulation.

I am not ph checking the distilled water. I guess I will need to pick up a meter this weekend. What about light schedule? How long do I keep them on 24/0?

 

[Apache Kush]

there only babies so dont be feeding them nutes. since your in coco are you phing the water ?

Yeah this man^ no nutes just h20 when there are super young and PH it
What are you doing giving them maxi at that age?

All coco guys do this newb move, just cause the coco has no nutes
and then they stress and kill them with additives,
no offense intended just an observation

I saw a thread just like this one already,
having problems with seedlings in coco here read:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=286388

They should have all the food they need in the cotyledons
or starter leaves from the seed germinating at that age

It puts the nutes in the basket or it gets the hose

 

[Coconutz]

Lights should be closer
18/6
ec 1.0
ph 5.8 or so
water erryday
Not sure if maxi is the best baby food though.
NEVER WATER COCO PLANTS WITH PLAIN WATER
Peace

 

[NYUrbanFarmer]

Thanks guys! The coco is in fact moist but I havent watered today. I usually stick my finger in about an inch and if it is dry then I water. I also moved the lamps closer to the plants now. Seems a bit close so I put the fan on the lamp now to get some circulation.

I am not ph checking the distilled water. I guess I will need to pick up a meter this weekend. What about light schedule? How long do I keep them on 24/0?

Repo I keep my plants on a 24/0 cycle until I begin to prepare for bloom then I switch them down from 24/0, 20/4, 18/6, 12/12 over the course of a week. Some growers will tell you the plants need down time. I read in a growers guide that MJ doesn't need a down time and grows 20% faster under 24/0. Some growers will say this is a myth and that its not true. So I do what works for me. If you want to keep them on 24/0 do it, if you see that something's wrong or your not getting the results you desire and want to switch them to 20/4 or 18/6 do it. Or you can test out how they grow at each setting. Just don't go below 16/8 until your ready to flower unless your gonna sex them because they will either begin to flower or grow very slow due to lack of enough photosynthesis to veg. But if your gonna wait to see preflowers just keep them going at a good vegetation schedule until they get to the size you desire. There are many different styles of growing and in fact I believe each grower has his own variation of growing. Each variation following one of the popular growing styles and it all depends on how you grow, soil, non-soil medium, Hydroponics, organic, etc. So you have to find the way that works for you in the style you chose to grow. You'll find that some advise works for you some doesn't. Although your growing a Cannabis plant each strain is different and each plant is different. They maybe genetically similar but not always the same. Some plants take to different light spectrums differently, some react to different nutrients differently, some react to heat and air flow differently, some to watering differently, even though they may be the same strain or seed batch. Each seed is its own living entity with its own characteristics and although you may groom them to what you desire, nature always follows its own course. Some may disagree with this thought but again its just my opinion.

NYUF

 

[repobird]

I checked the cups today and they looked dry and felt light. I did the finger test and while there felt like some moisture it was more dry. I misted 5 squirts of distilled water and dripped a small amount of water in to the coco. I really have no idea what is too much water or not enough. I am kind of just gauging from the dryness/wetness of the medium.

Photos from today. Day 9 from seed.

 

[immortal]

Looks like they perked up a bit. Dont worry seedlings grow slow at this stage, when in doubt doing nothing is the best option. Also when misting do not get drops of water on the young leaves, it can magnify the light and burn them. Looks like your discoloration is slight nute burn tho because it started at the tips. try turning the ones that are leaning into the fan it may straighten them out.

 

[repobird]

Will do.

I just wasnt sure if this was normal growth at this stage (start of week 2). I have seen photos around the internet of others week 2 grows, and they are like 5-10 times bigger. So I was like WTF. So this is normal size for day 9?

FWIW, The discoloration started before I did the 1/4 strength maxibloom. I am not using nutes now since it seems I dont need them yet.

 

[Mar-Tay]

hey repobird, good luck with the grow, feed them just water for a few weeks before you add food. good chance you'll burn them otherwise

 

[immortal]

yup its normal, they should start growing faster this week. What strain are you growing?

 

[repobird]

Good to hear. 2x blue dream, 2x trainwreak. I asked my wife to pick out some other strains; after all this is primarily for her use. If you guys have any recommendations let me know. We are hoping to this becomes an enjoyable hobby.

 

[Coconutz]

All my seedlings get 1.0ec erryday and never a problem

 

[repobird]

All my seedlings get 1.0ec erryday and never a problem

Thanks Coconutz. I read a post on EC. Wasn't sure of its importance. If I go pick up a meter that measures EC and find that the water is say lower or higher than 1.0, how would you adjust to make it optimal?

 

[Coconutz]

If your plain water is higher than 1.0ec it will be a major hassle to grow with.
You would need a filter of some sort.
If you use filtered water you can give them the correct dose of base nutes
1.0-1.2ec until chop

 

[weedlover_89]

Dude, you have 25w CFLs 12" above your seedlings?! Lower it to 4"!! I find astonishing the fact that they have not stretched like there is no tomorrow!