seedlings at 8 days ... worries

[unknownone]

Hello esteemed grow friends:

I have two concerns about my seedlings. One is that they are still small and growing at a very slow rate, and two is they have purple stems.

I am at day 8 from putting the beans in the ground. I list my growing specs below.

There is only one set of true leaves on the seedlings, the largest set being about 1" per leaf. Some are showing the start of the second set. In some threads I look at it seems people are up to the 3rd or 4th internode at 8 days, some it looks about the same as my seeds. I am scared that they are growing really slow. According to my journal for my last grow I started flowering after 2 weeks and at this rate they will still be babies at 2 weeks. The Cali orange have some drooping of the leaves, but otherwise the seedlings look healthy to me - bright green leaves, sturdy stems, etc. Should I be worried?

My second concern is that the shoots on some are purple. Is this normal, should they be green? Some are worse than others. The White Widows seems the worst, with a fairly dark purple near the soil surface and a light purple before the leaves start.

Grow specs:

medium: potting soil without ferts from Home Depot : Perlite, 4:1
site: closet indoors in Midatlantic US
light: 400W HPS used since start
temp: 81F pretty steady
pH: unknown
water: using city water left out 24h
ferts: none
strains: GreenHouse White Widow, Nirvana Cali Orange & NL
germed: paper towel method
time: 8 days from dropping seeds in soil
watering: kept soil very moist first few days as seeds broke surface, then stopped watering for three days and just watered again

I am not sure if I am being paranoid here and all these things are normal or not or if I should wait until they are older.

I have some BPB grow and bloom organic ferts on order, planning to give a light dose during next water because I read purple stems are N deficiency?

Sorry about no pics.

Any help is really appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

[I.M. Boggled]

What size pots you got those in? ...

What size pots you got those in? ...

What "brand name" of potting soil are you using?

Quoted excerpt is from a thread by "Capt. Crip", a tutorial titled:
Easy Growing 101
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=31181&page=1&pp=30

Once small plants get established you MUST let the soil dry between waterings.
Plants must have oxygen to the root system for rapid growth.
This is why I like to use extra perlite in my soil mixes because it allows the soil to dry faster which leads to faster growth!
Once plants are placed in 1 gallon pots you should be able to scratch down an inch or two before finding any signs of moisture before it is time to water again.
The pots will feel noticeably lighter when you pick them up.
If you pay close attention you will notice the bottom 2 leaves start to droop when a plant is desparate for water.
Once you figure out how dry they can get before drooping you will have figured out one of the hardest parts of growing for new growers.
The more time you spend with your plants the more you will begin to understand about the life cycles.
When you do water you want to make sure to let some drain out of the bottom.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Complete guide to Sick Plants,pH, and Pest troubles!
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=11688
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A low cost pH testing unit may be acquired in the aquarium department of many stores.
A liquid tester that uses a Blue "Reagent" solution and a color chart to determine pH values with will usually run about 5 dollars U.S. for such a tester.
Many succesful growers use this low tech pH determination method.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=966

 

[unknownone]

The brand is Parkis Mills potting soil by Jolly Gardener. Probably local so I would be suprised if anyone heard of it. Thanks for the reply.

 

[unknownone]

Oh and thanks for the quote on watering. I have done a lot of reading about seedlings, roots and watering so I definetly understand the problems from overwatering. I admit I may have overwatered them at the start, but I also read about preventing the seedlings from drying out when you first put them in soil. So it seems like a delicate balance with watering seedlings.

 

[glock23]

You might want to add a little dolomite lime to the soil before you pot up. I like to feed very weak ferts in the second week (like less than 1/4 strength). I usually give them a weak kelp and bat guano solution. Kelp works wonders for me.

 

[420KushMaster]

sounds like you need to do a little more reading

 

[unknownone]

Could you be more specific about what I need to read about or to do?

 

[glock23]

I have a question for you: What kind of containers are you using?

 

[unknownone]

glock: I am using a large storage bin from Walmart. I germ about 10 seeds in it. It is about 1' X 2', 6" deep. I had success with it before. Thanks for the interest.

 

[unknownone]

Guys:

Just a quick update on my thread that this problem was due to my potting soil. I went out and got some FFOF, transplanted all 15 seedlings, and after two days they started to take off. That old soil I was using weighed about 2X as much as the FFOF, which was my first clue it was crap. It was also full of bark and sticks and help water like a sponge.

It was neat to watch the stems - as the new healthy growth came in that dark purple color grew out and was replaced with healthy light green growth.

I also got a digital pH meter to make sure all was well.

My babies are off and running, see my thread in the Grow Diaries section. Thanks for everyones help.

 

[dre86]

Could you be more specific about what I need to read about or to do?

Cannabis Bible for example