whatsupdoc
Member
Get some (more) holes in those beer cups! At the lowest vertical point, spaced 1 inch apart, and a couple on the bottom of the cup. I use a soldering iron.
How to take care of my baby seedlings?
- Thread starter RobMarley420
- Start date
dancingroots
Member
baby seedling ah aren't they cute when their little. and then they grow up and think you should buy them everything ,ungrateful little runts
RobMarley420
Member
I'm thinking about switching to CFL's. Would it be okay to do that this late in the grow? Would it be bad for the plants at all?
Stdane
Active member
The first thing you should do as I've said in yer other thread,is get them repotted over to something less hotter than FFOF and back of on the nutes some days,what they need now is something neutral after been burnt all their childhood lol!You saw it in Pinecones post what happened when he grew directly in FFOF.It has nothing to do with light,other than imo it's overkill to hit seedlings with 600 W HPS.I'll go with 250 W or flouro's T5's or sumthin' like that.Good luck buddy and do sumthin' NOW!!
If you had a smaller MH lamp or some T5s that would be ideal, but given that you don't have these fixtures the HPS is probably better that the CLFs at this point. Two weeks ago it the CLFs would have been great. I really don't think the light is their problem.
Pine
Brand new seedlings are looking for the SUN. It's what they're built for. They blow their noses on your puny 600, kick sand in it's face and walk off with it's girl.
FFOF is known to be an extremely hot mix especially unsuited for seedlings. Many breeders specifically warn against it's use.
FFOF is known to be an extremely hot mix especially unsuited for seedlings. Many breeders specifically warn against it's use.
RobMarley420
Member
Okay, thanks for all the help guys!
With your personal experience, how often do these 16 ounce cups need to be watered?
I know they should be watered "when the feel light and dry", but what does that translate into days? Twice a day? Once a day? Once a week???
And if there are little water droplets in the bottom of the second cup is that a sign that they don't need to be watered???
Some of my plants are drooping worse and I want to make sure I am not overwatering them.
And some others that are not drooping have yellow leaves on the bottom....
With your personal experience, how often do these 16 ounce cups need to be watered?
I know they should be watered "when the feel light and dry", but what does that translate into days? Twice a day? Once a day? Once a week???
And if there are little water droplets in the bottom of the second cup is that a sign that they don't need to be watered???
Some of my plants are drooping worse and I want to make sure I am not overwatering them.
And some others that are not drooping have yellow leaves on the bottom....
If your feeding to runoff dont water for 2 days and then check 1" below the soil for dryness.
spunion
Member
I'm starting my first grow as well, except off clones.
It seems like you have to feel out your soil and mixture and go based on how moist it stays. I got a couple clones already in soil and they've retained moisture real well (basically using small amount of water every 2 days) and the other clone I have was in rockwool so I mixed my own soil (2-1-1 with potting soil, vermiculite, and perlite) and its not staying moist too well so far, but I may just not be adding enough water. I am pretty sure I read you want your young plants to stay in a dry > moist > dry > moist cycle so don't be afraid to let the soil dry up before you water it.
It seems like you have to feel out your soil and mixture and go based on how moist it stays. I got a couple clones already in soil and they've retained moisture real well (basically using small amount of water every 2 days) and the other clone I have was in rockwool so I mixed my own soil (2-1-1 with potting soil, vermiculite, and perlite) and its not staying moist too well so far, but I may just not be adding enough water. I am pretty sure I read you want your young plants to stay in a dry > moist > dry > moist cycle so don't be afraid to let the soil dry up before you water it.
Depends on conditions. Under ideal conditions maybe once every 2-3 days, and certainly not several times per day. If you really think you might be overwatering, let them dry out until they wilt. Then you will know what a too dry cup feels like weight wise and can water before they get to dry in the future.
Pine
The Sun from which positon/distance etc & at what time of the year. In nature do seedlings come in mid summer, is this the intended purpose! Can you please enlighten the OP& me on this light exposure
~& intensity. or are you saying it doesnt matter to seedlings & you cant give a seedling or plant to much light intensity exposure?? 200wpsf with a HID etc? this is something i cannot stiill get my head around based on your arguments bro!
I already know you can give a plant too much light! so how does this correlate!
Do i need to be educated, sounds like it to me? This does need explaining to me bro? i know you know your stuff! i just dont get it!
While you can certainly bake a plant from lamp proximity or overheating the grow box (aka the Easy Bake Oven™)neither is from the lamp being too strong but, how we place it or vent the box.
Seeds come from Mother Nature. They weren't designed to follow our schedule but rather the arbitrary schedule of nature. In nature, some sprout far too early and die of frost. Some are incased in rabbit poop or dead bird carcasses and sprout in summer, fall or winter. Mother Nature built them to survive the sun no matter when they sprout because it's the only light source she has to offer.
This doesn't mean you must sprout under the biggest lamp you have. Just that your biggest lamp is a pen light compared to what they're built to handle PROVIDED you keep things in the 50-100wsf range following the "back of the hand" proximity test with proper ventilation.
Seeds come from Mother Nature. They weren't designed to follow our schedule but rather the arbitrary schedule of nature. In nature, some sprout far too early and die of frost. Some are incased in rabbit poop or dead bird carcasses and sprout in summer, fall or winter. Mother Nature built them to survive the sun no matter when they sprout because it's the only light source she has to offer.
This doesn't mean you must sprout under the biggest lamp you have. Just that your biggest lamp is a pen light compared to what they're built to handle PROVIDED you keep things in the 50-100wsf range following the "back of the hand" proximity test with proper ventilation.
RobMarley420
Member
I transplanted my plants into 3 gallon pots a couple days ago and they seem to be doing okay. The yellowing and drooping hasn't gotten any worse and the top sets of leaves are looking pretty happy and healthy.
I transplanted them into FFOF soil but this time I cut it with 25% perlite hoping that that would make the FFOF a little less "hot" with nutrients. 25% less soil in the pots equals 25% less nutrients then, right??? I also figured that the perlite would help with drainage which would help stop overwatering.
And one of my strains, "White Dwarf", is already starting to flower. When I look real close I can see "hairs".
These 3 gallon pots I'm using have big drainage holes in the bottom big enough to fit my finger in. Should I wait till the soil at the bottom of the pot is completely bone dry before I water my plants? Or should I water them when the soil is dry about 1inch below the surface?
I transplanted them into FFOF soil but this time I cut it with 25% perlite hoping that that would make the FFOF a little less "hot" with nutrients. 25% less soil in the pots equals 25% less nutrients then, right??? I also figured that the perlite would help with drainage which would help stop overwatering.
And one of my strains, "White Dwarf", is already starting to flower. When I look real close I can see "hairs".
These 3 gallon pots I'm using have big drainage holes in the bottom big enough to fit my finger in. Should I wait till the soil at the bottom of the pot is completely bone dry before I water my plants? Or should I water them when the soil is dry about 1inch below the surface?
RobMarley420
Member
Right now I am feeding them plain distilled water with no nutrients. I figure there is plenty of nutes in the FFOF so additional nutrients aren't necessary right now.
And I was wondering if I should trim those dead leaves or not. Should I cut them off or just pull them off? Does this hurt the plant at all?
And I was wondering if I should trim those dead leaves or not. Should I cut them off or just pull them off? Does this hurt the plant at all?
FWIW, Hydro is hundreds of years old and one of the first things they learned was that distilled water was dead water and gave the worst results. Any reason you're not using tap?
RobMarley420
Member
I read somewhere that the cholorine in tap water kills the "micro-organisms" or whatever in organic soil.
Would I be better off using tap water than distilled water???
I've currently got a couple jugs of tap water sitting out to let the cholrine evaporate...
Would I be better off using tap water than distilled water???
I've currently got a couple jugs of tap water sitting out to let the cholrine evaporate...
I think you have to decide what you want to be. It might take a bit of research.
Chlorine isn't bad per se. It is only bad in certain circumstances. In fact hydro growers use chlorine to maintain a dead reservoir (no bacteria, fungi, ect). You could use chlorinated water to grow some really nice plants in that cut FFOF with a salt-based fertilizer line. This said, you probably will run into problems if you are relying on plant-insoluble (i.e. organic) fertilizers which require bacteria and protozoa to be transformed (mineralized) into plant-soluble forms.
Freezer Boy grows in rockwool which is an doesn't contain any minerals. If you are growing in this type of medium then you need to supply minerals. This is done by using lowish PPM tap water or by supplementing RO water with Cal Mag. In soil the minerals aren't a big deal as they are a component of the soil. If you look at your bag of FFOF you will see it has crushed oyster shells, crab meal, kelp meal, and other sources of calcium and magnesium. Other soils contain dolomite lime and/or gypsum. All are sources of necessary minerals.
Solutions
- Tap water with a salt-based fertilizer
- Bubble your tap and use organic fertilizers
- Use RO with organic fertilizers
All can work well. You just have to decide.
Pine
I think its important to establish what type of tap water you have first, in some parts its perfect!
Chlorine will evaporate out of tap, chloramine wont, if you bubble tap that will help remove the chlorine, good for mix use after 24 - 48 hours.
Establish your water hardness first(GH/general hardness) in EC, that reading will give you an understanding of the carbonates(ie-Cal/Mag) in the tap, as Ca/Mg is what makes up most of that reading. RO has no Carbonates & no buffering capacity for PH, soft water has little buffering for PH, midrange hardness is about right, really hard will cause problems. If you have really hard, mix RO & Tap 50/50. or if you gotta use RO add Cal mag.
heres a good thread for the OP:https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=23357 understanding h2o is pretty important!
Chlorine will evaporate out of tap, chloramine wont, if you bubble tap that will help remove the chlorine, good for mix use after 24 - 48 hours.
Establish your water hardness first(GH/general hardness) in EC, that reading will give you an understanding of the carbonates(ie-Cal/Mag) in the tap, as Ca/Mg is what makes up most of that reading. RO has no Carbonates & no buffering capacity for PH, soft water has little buffering for PH, midrange hardness is about right, really hard will cause problems. If you have really hard, mix RO & Tap 50/50. or if you gotta use RO add Cal mag.
heres a good thread for the OP:https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=23357 understanding h2o is pretty important!
