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Seedlings dying

subspacegrow

New member
Hi folks.

Last ten years never had these kind of problems with the seedlings.
I had some thrips at my plants but this is something else.
I just use soil (from gardening store) and water, no ph correction or nutrients.
Soil was wet the hole time, but not too much i think.
Light is 15W Led lamp.

For the first 2 weeks they looked healthy, roots developed fast. then it started with some brown spots and took over the hole leaves. At first the lower ones, then the upper ones too.
Some have these brown spots at some random place at the leave, others startet browning at the tips. Could these different spots indicate different problems ?

Could it be some fungus related problem, rootrot maybe, fusarium ? Or nutrient blockade causes by too wet soil ? nutrient burn ?
I you have any ideas or suggestions, maybe seen the same problems too, Please tell me :)

Its really frustrating seeing the plants dying and don't know what to do.

thank for reading.
subspace








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Last edited:

Creeperpark

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
Hi folks.

Last ten years never had these kind of problems with the seedlings.
I had some thrips at my plants but this is something else.
I just use soil (from gardening store) and water, no ph correction or nutrients.
Soil was wet the hole time, but not too much i think.
Light is 15W Led lamp.

For the first 2 weeks they looked healthy, roots developed fast. then it started with some brown spots and took over the hole leaves. At first the lower ones, then the upper ones too.
Some have these brown spots at some random place at the leave, others startet browning at the tips. Could these different spots indicate different problems ?

Could it be some fungus related problem, rootrot maybe, fusarium ? Or nutrient blockade causes by too wet soil ? nutrient burn ?
I you have any ideas or suggestions, maybe seen the same problems too, Please tell me :)

Its really frustrating seeing the plants dying and don't know what to do.

thank for reading.
subspace








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Sorry you're having problems friend. Most problems with sprouts and small seedlings are caused by water management issues. IF you weigh the cup with dry soil and then weigh it again after watering you can learn what the water-holding capacity is. I write both weights on the cups and always weigh the cups before watering. Many times I noticed I would have over-watered if I had not weighed the cups.
 

subspacegrow

New member
Thank you for your reply !

I always thought overwatering would be like a plant standing in water, so called waterlogging.
I used for the first time some potting soil from a strore, which is very tight and stays wet for a long time.
Before this i used Biobizz grow soil and had never problems, and therefore never thought about too much water.
I will let the pots dry out before the next watering. Do you think thats a good idea ?

greets
 

Creeperpark

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
Thank you for your reply !

I always thought overwatering would be like a plant standing in water, so called waterlogging.
I used for the first time some potting soil from a strore, which is very tight and stays wet for a long time.
Before this i used Biobizz grow soil and had never problems, and therefore never thought about too much water.
I will let the pots dry out before the next watering. Do you think thats a good idea ?

greets
Let them dry out before watering. I hope you have good drainage holes in the cups. When you're not sure gently tip the plant out of the cup and get a closer look at the root ball. The substrate may be too heavy and hold water too much. Seedlings need dry and wet time for the roots to grow.
 

Tynehead Tom

Well-known member
First things first..... I tell every grower I have mentored that PH is EVERYTHING.
You gotta know your PH and correct it if needed. So start with testing your plain water PH and then your nutrient mix PH and adjust accordingly. In soil you never want it lower than 6.2 and preferably in the 6.3 to 6.8 range. You must provide those seedlings with the correct PH range or they will suffer poor root development and succumb to root rot way easier.

Next is watering.... here is what I tell every grower I have mentored. Take the container you will be growing it depending on the life stage of the plant. Put a plastic bag in and fill the container with water up to the height the soil will be filled to. Then pour that into a measuring cup and see how much water that comes out to. Then do some simple math .... divide that volume of water by SIX and the resulting number is the amount of water or nutrient to feed that size of container without over or under watering. I swear by it and have been practicing this method since my mentor taught me back in 1989. Same goes for PH.... my mentor taught me about PH before I learned anything else. PH is EVERYTHING...... he drilled these methods into me and I still practice them today.

As a plant gets larger in a well areated soil or soilless mix, the ratio may change to 1/5th the volume of the pot depending on the particular plant and how much water it likes to process but generally 1/6th volume.
 

weedobix

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
probably nute burn but it could be light burn too, maybe both. A light mix compost is fairly foolproof for seeds. You could maybe try taking them out of the light and observe the reaction also.
 

Boo

Cabana’s bitch
Veteran
After reading what you’ve been going through it appears to be that when you went to a cheap garden soil that doesn’t drain properly he started having problems. First and foremost, always pH everything that goes into your plant, you’re looking for between 5.8 and 6.2. at least that’s where I like to keep my pH numbers. It appears that you just don’t have any nutrients at all in your plants because of the light color. I would at least give them some and change the soil to something that drains properly. When I put my cuts into the keg cups , I always water till it drains out the bottom and then wait for a couple days and repeat the process. My soil drains very well and that’s not an accident… I always wait until the cup is very light before I re-water it, you might be dealing with too much moisture on your roots
 

Boo

Cabana’s bitch
Veteran
I failed to mention that your plans at that stage of their lives don’t really require neutrons, but they certainly would be a whole lot happier if you gave them maybe 5 mL of calmag per gallon, then pH and apply…
 

subspacegrow

New member
Thank you all for the replies !!

since i let them dry out, some plants look a little better, at least not worse.
I will start again with biobizz lightmix and your recommendations.
My water Ph is 7,8. I read somewhere about biobizz and seedlings, that the first weeks the soil regulates (buffer) the ph?
Now i will regulate to ~ph 6,5
 

TanzanianMagic

Well-known member
Veteran
Hi folks.

Last ten years never had these kind of problems with the seedlings.
I had some thrips at my plants but this is something else.
I just use soil (from gardening store) and water, no ph correction or nutrients.
Soil was wet the hole time, but not too much i think.
Light is 15W Led lamp.

For the first 2 weeks they looked healthy, roots developed fast. then it started with some brown spots and took over the hole leaves. At first the lower ones, then the upper ones too.
Some have these brown spots at some random place at the leave, others startet browning at the tips. Could these different spots indicate different problems ?

Could it be some fungus related problem, rootrot maybe, fusarium ? Or nutrient blockade causes by too wet soil ? nutrient burn ?
I you have any ideas or suggestions, maybe seen the same problems too, Please tell me :)

Its really frustrating seeing the plants dying and don't know what to do.

thank for reading.
subspace

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What I would do, is:

- first, soak fresh seeds in R/O water, 1% hydrogen peroxide, and a little raw sugar. Soak them until they sink in upto 12 hours.

- Plant them a 1/4 inch deep, pointed side down and flat bracket side up. This way they don't get lost on the way up, and have enough space to separate from the seed shell.

- use bagged coco coir

- load the coir up with 1.0 EC (500 PPM) of the water's own EC, a coco specific nutrient like Canna Coco A+B, and 0.1 EC of epsom salt. PH'd to 6.0.

That gives the seeds a great start. The H2O2 adds oxygen and helps germination. The sugar fires up the beneficial bacteria in the soil, after the H2O2 killed the bacteria outside and inside the seed.

There is a misconception that seeds don't need fertilizer. They grow a lot faster with a low level of nutrients in the soil. And the magnesium in the epsom salt makes the nitrogen more available.

Coco coir is very stable regarding it's pH. It buffers to 6.0, and that's all you need for the entire grow.
 
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foomar

Luddite
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Had seedlings last year that looked identicle to those , same yellowing and spotting.

Turned out after lots of messing about that the seed compost i used had drastically changed its composition , now containing vastly more undecomposed wood material that was sucking the nitrogen out of the mix.

Carefull repotting with some decent peat based compost and they were growing away green and healthy in a week.
 

Janborrego

Well-known member
Hi folks.

Last ten years never had these kind of problems with the seedlings.
I had some thrips at my plants but this is something else.
I just use soil (from gardening store) and water, no ph correction or nutrients.
Soil was wet the hole time, but not too much i think.
Light is 15W Led lamp.

For the first 2 weeks they looked healthy, roots developed fast. then it started with some brown spots and took over the hole leaves. At first the lower ones, then the upper ones too.
Some have these brown spots at some random place at the leave, others startet browning at the tips. Could these different spots indicate different problems ?

Could it be some fungus related problem, rootrot maybe, fusarium ? Or nutrient blockade causes by too wet soil ? nutrient burn ?
I you have any ideas or suggestions, maybe seen the same problems too, Please tell me :)

Its really frustrating seeing the plants dying and don't know what to do.

thank for reading.
subspace








View attachment 19008549 View attachment 19008550 View attachment 19008552 View attachment 19008553 View attachment 19008554 View attachment 19008555
Too much water let them dry out in between waterings
 

Ca++

Well-known member
Is it a soil that states how long the feed in it will last? This almost invariably means it's no good for seeds. It might be possible with a lot of effort, but it's not worth figuring out.

I look at the downward curling as them slow release ferts getting toxic due to dry back. The soils surface doesn't speak of even watering. Something is taking hold during these dry times I think. When the plant's not happy. I only see this in dirt, where a wilting plant looses the battle, and areas of leaf die, or entire one's in time. It's possibly bacterial, rather than mold, but doesn't look great for the plants in question. I just chucked out a strain that did this when it's neighbours didn't. I had already been warned of it's susceptibility, but spots everywhere after a dry-out was not a keeper. Here though, we also see the curl. Likely from a slow release soil, but I don't really know enough to draw a better picture.
 
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