seedlings looking awful after 10 days in rockwool

[thcgenetics]

A friend has been guiding me along with my first grow, but it's not quite working out. It's been 10 days since first put in paper towel germ. They germed after 48 hours.

I've had decent airflow in the tent and have been doing 24/0. Switched to 18/6 last night. Tent temp has ranged from 68-80. Highest temp was today, peaking at 80. I put them in the rockwool and moistened the rockwool in ph 5.8 water. I re-watered with ph 5.8 water again 4 days later. It's been 8 days total since they were put in the rockwool.



I've been using one of these: http://www.verilux.com/desk-lamps/original-desk-lamp until a chord adapter comes in the mail for my ballast so I can switch to a MH bulb.

the row of 4 are chimera mental floss, and the other 5 are haze/skunk#1 x something random. the haze/skunk#1 look the best in my opinion
in the first pic, mf are on the top and haze/skunk#1 on the bottom. in the 2nd pic haze/skunk#1 on the left and mf on the right.

I'm not hoping for a miracle, but if it's possible to save these plants or you can point out what I did wrong I'd love to know.

 

[MIway]

I can't really see with the pics... you got some back lighting you can use w the camera flash?


But I think the stems have shriveled & died on some...??? That be damping off... too moist of an environment... went to rot. Looks like the entire row of 4 collapsed from this... tough w the pics bro.

At least 2 look to have survived though... on the row of 5.

 

[40AmpstoFreedom]

look over watered and seriously starved for light hence the whacky stems and extreme stretch for that size

 

[thcgenetics]

ah, my pal thinks they're OVER lit. i'll take some better pics. i think two of the mf, or at least one might be 'ok'

 

[RoachClip]

40AmpstoFreedom - look over watered and seriously starved for light hence the whacky stems and extreme stretch for that size

Right on the money 40 they look really wet & the light/bulb needs
to be closer and your shelf maybe put higher.

 

[thcgenetics]

hopefully these are more detailed

 

[MIway]

Much better... so, they just looked curled & have fallen over... thin stems... at least they aren't rotting!


What they said about the light... the desklamp isn't very much at all, but yours is coming soon enough. Put another bulb in there if you can... nother desk lamp.

Try some toothpicks and/or metal wire to fashion a stake & hook... you can at least stand them upright. Likely had some issues pushing through the cube too.

 

[supersmallgiant]

If that's the only light you have until you get your mh running put it right down on them. Just a couple of inches should be enough. How far away have you had the light?

 

[thcgenetics]

Much better... so, they just looked curled & have fallen over... thin stems... at least they aren't rotting!


What they said about the light... the desklamp isn't very much at all, but yours is coming soon enough. Put another bulb in there if you can... nother desk lamp.

Try some toothpicks and/or metal wire to fashion a stake & hook... you can at least stand them upright. Likely had some issues pushing through the cube too.

any tips on handling the plants? how delicate do i need to be? can i shove their roots back into the rockwool? i'm basically jst trying to build a base so they stand up straight right?

 

[MIway]

No dude... don't shove anything anywhere... ;-)


Be gentle... I like the plastic garbage twist ties... just make a hook on the top to put the stem into... the other side of the tie goes into the RW bout 1/2"... instant prop.

If you need to later... depending on how/what medium you use... you can worry about adjusting for height then. Right now, just get em upright.

 

[thcgenetics]

No dude... don't shove anything anywhere... ;-)


Be gentle... I like the plastic garbage twist ties... just make a hook on the top to put the stem into... the other side of the tie goes into the RW bout 1/2"... instant prop.

If you need to later... depending on how/what medium you use... you can worry about adjusting for height then. Right now, just get em upright.

so yo're just saying to prop them up? should i try and like push the root further into the rockwool?

 

[Lazyman]

How often are you wetting, misting them? What temp is the cube and what temp is the air? Humidity? I would say they look kinda dry and under lit. I would add the light as others have suggested, mist them and put a dome over them with the vents about halfway open. After a couple days you should be able to remove the dome and you will need to mist them more often after that.

 

[cody2white]

Like miway stated. Dont shove anything anywhere lol. Just let it ride man use the twist tie idea and I would soak some more seeds. Those were just practice

 

[BUNDY & COKE]

G'Day mate. Very interesting thread. Yes hard to say why they go like this but i have had the same issues.

After several attempts i found that soaking the rockwool cubes in water for 24 hours before planting the seeds helps a lot. It bring the ph level down in the cubes.

Just thought i would add this here mate. Good luck.

 

[Stress_test]

look over watered and seriously starved for light hence the whacky stems and extreme stretch for that size

Spot on man.
You can even see the weak area where it goes into the rw is damping off even on the seedlings still alive.

Too much water and light is too far away.

 

[epicseeds]

The seeds will plop up straight once you get some proper lighting on there.

A few tips:

- when you put the seeds in the rockwool make sure you are pinching the hole above. you want the seed to be very snug all around.
- to prepare the rockwool, soak/submerse them in PH 5.5 water with 3ml liquid karma/low dose of veg nutes for 24 hours. (if working with clones use low dose of BLOOM nutes, roots like high P.)
- dont take off the white sleeves around the rockwool - keep them on.
- i think the perlite can cause problems, just put them inside a humidity dome like this

- only water with PH 5.8 water with no nutes. only water after rockwool is slightly damp.

- keep the light only an inch or 2 away from the top of the humidity dome.

- open the vents on humidity dome to full when they pop, and take off the dome after a few days.

 

[thcgenetics]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I propped them up with garbage ties, just spiraled the tie around my finger and weaved the plant up through the top of it. I was _very_ gentle.. it took about 20 minutes to do all the really sickly plants.

should i put them back under 24/0 light? i moved the light much closer to the plants, it's about 8 inches directly above them.

Also, is the humidity dome a good idea for now or are the plants beyond that?

 

[SOTF420]

No need for humidity dome beyond now unless they are drying out way too fast which they shouldn't be really based on the conditions you gave. I personally HATE rockwool cubes for seedlings I think it sucks as a seed starter at least in my experience. You would be much better off at least in loose rockwool in small cups or by using COCO COIR which is my favorite for seedlings and always seems to get them started on the right track due to it's unique properties that surpass rockwool in many ways nutrient wise. Of course you already have your babies in rockwool cubes so it is what it is but just give them time they will grow slowly at first but will soon switch to a faster growth rate most likely and some strains take longer to do this than others as far as getting out of early seedling stage where they don't seem to do much & that is namely ones with alot of blueberry in their genetic makeup which I believe MF has. The fastest growing healthiest seedlings usually are not started in rockwool cubes but coir or organic soil in at least a beer cup size container so the early taproot has plenty of medium to contact and grow into.

For lighting, you could probably have that weak light within just a few inches of them if the temps are in order and next time for lighting try to get yourself some small HO T5's tubes in the 6400/6500k spectrum they work fantastic for young seedlings and are really cheap. Look for the strip light ones that can daisy chain together. LED lighting high in blue spectrum also works really well for promoting short healthy stocky and dark green seedlings.

When you do introduce that MH light to the scenario make sure you keep it up at least 2 feet at first to make sure they will not burn from the intense HID, it will take them a few days to get into the swing of things and adapt then you can slowly start to lower it 6" at a time as they start to actively grow and do not show signs of burning or stress from it.