Slow Growth - why, Why WHY!?!

[InterestingPie]

Can anyone pin point the cause of slow growth I'm experiencing?

I've always grown outdoors with no time frames and expectations so I never pay attention to initial growth knowing that down here in the bottom hemisphere if I plant in September by harvest in March they will be 5'+.

Indoors I can't help but check them every day and then compare them to the great growth I see all over the place in people's grow diaries - by comparison to other soil grows they seem terrible and when matched up against coco or hydro of the same age they seem pathetic.

First 2 plants are 15 days old in premium potting mix with the tiniest amount of bone/blood, maybe a cup to several bags of
potting mix, and a couple cups of lime to raise ph.

Second shot is a 7/8 day old plant for comparison in only premium potting mix and also slow growth

Air exchange is good. I'm not over watering. Water is distilled. 2x55w cfl.

I just can't figure this out. Are my expectations too high?

I'm on the brink of scraping them (or at least switching straight to 12/12 for experiments sake) and looking into beginners hydro options.

 

[Herborizer]

Don't switch to 12/12.
They are probably shocked.

That soil looks really dry. What is your feed/watering schedule?

Were these seeds or clones? What medium were these in before if they are clones?

Don't use distilled water. Probably adding to the shock.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Distilled water is dead water. It provides nothing of value and robs plants of essential nutes.

Potting soil is often too hot for seedlings. Soil with heaps of lime even more so. I'd consider leeching the soil rather than amending it. Soak in a bucket of water, pour water out and refill everyday until runoff is close to clear.

 

[pinecone]

You have a small plant in a big pot. When the roots start to fully colonize the container it will grow faster.

Pine

 

[exploziv]

I'd go with FreezerBoy's advice!

 

[stonedar]

Don't switch to 12/12.
They are probably shocked.

That soil looks really dry. What is your feed/watering schedule?

Were these seeds or clones? What medium were these in before if they are clones?

Don't use distilled water. Probably adding to the shock.

I think you must be stoned if you can't tell from the pics they are from seed
Just busting your balls...

 

[John Deere]

You need more light. 2 x 55w CFL's isn't going to give you much, especially if you're used to outdoor grows.

 

[self]

I think if you water and wait a week things will pick up. They look to be just entering the real veg growth phase, and sometimes it seems like plants pause a bit (growing roots) before launching into full on veg.
pretty much what pine said, it takes longer for the roots to fill up that big pot.

is that a beer bottle cap? if they're that small than they may be stunted, and it may take more like three or four weeks to really get going, but if that's not a beer bottle cap, and those are normal sized seedlings, than go back to what I said before.

 

[pinecone]

They look to be just entering the real veg growth phase, and sometimes it seems like plants pause a bit (growing roots) before launching into full on veg.

I've observed this a lot in my own grows, but never had a good explanation for it. Now I think it has something to do with the implications of the pots' perched water level resulting in lack of sufficient oxygen for explosive growth. Roots fully colonizing the pot will aid in drainage, eliminating the perched water level, and allowing for greater levels of oxygen in the root zone. This is why I think we see much faster growth after a plant has grown roots into a container with potting soil type mixes.

Pine

 

[InterestingPie]

Don't switch to 12/12.
They are probably shocked.

That soil looks really dry. What is your feed/watering schedule?

Were these seeds or clones? What medium were these in before if they are clones?

Don't use distilled water. Probably adding to the shock.

Distilled water is dead water. It provides nothing of value and robs plants of essential nutes.

Potting soil is often too hot for seedlings. Soil with heaps of lime even more so. I'd consider leeching the soil rather than amending it. Soak in a bucket of water, pour water out and refill everyday until runoff is close to clear.

Every other day was the schedule but not a large watering. In the last two days I've given them two large waterings in an effort to flush and they seem to have picked up growth ever so slightly (next set of leaves coming along quickly).

I might have had too much lime - a couple cups to three bags of mix. However I dunno because I made it up a month in advance and gave it several soakings over the weeks before putting it into use.

Using words interchangeably, my bad - not distilled but spring/drinking water, which I assume isn't as bad? The tap water here could almost be considered lethal so I'm avoiding it at the moment.

I think if you water and wait a week things will pick up. They look to be just entering the real veg growth phase, and sometimes it seems like plants pause a bit (growing roots) before launching into full on veg.
pretty much what pine said, it takes longer for the roots to fill up that big pot.

is that a beer bottle cap? if they're that small than they may be stunted, and it may take more like three or four weeks to really get going, but if that's not a beer bottle cap, and those are normal sized seedlings, than go back to what I said before.

Yeah that is a bottle cap - highlighting just how runty these things are going.

You have a small plant in a big pot. When the roots start to fully colonize the container it will grow faster.

Pine

No doubt Pine unfortunately they were the only ones at hand when they germed.

You need more light. 2 x 55w CFL's isn't going to give you much, especially if you're used to outdoor grows.

Cool - does anyone else want to weigh in on this? I thought these CFL's would have been good for the fist fortnight assuming that I experienced more growth than I currently am, should I put under 250w MH?

 

[stihgnobevoli]

you're fine with everything cept the water like freezerboy said and from what you say i think you might be overwatering them a might. if you watered them recently the whole pot i mean then wait till the pot dries out. as the moisture evaporates the plant sends out new roots downward to get moisture, if you keep watering the top while the bottom is wet the roots wont grow and will just sit there. if you didnt just soak the pot recently then water a tiny amount like 1/4 cup of water pour it right at the base of the plant and check every day till you see the plant look a little wilty then water again the same way with the same amount of water. as the plant gets bigger you can water more, always right at the base of the plant. by the time its up to like 4 nodes you should be ready to water the whole pot. it will be a while before they use up that water when you water the whole pot so just watch and lift the pot to know when to water again.

 

[e_24]

a 250mh V. 2x55w? are you thinking straight? of course a 250 is going to be sooooo much better for the plants. OR, add more cfl's. plants need light to grow, and insufficient light will only hinder growth, and youll end up with a tiny end result.

 

[Oregongrow]

seeds are slow to grow. less is more.. go away and stop checking on it