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Stretching Seedlings. Pictures help please

S

Sinisterzane

Member
hi all,

I have planted 20 cheese seeds and have done it in the following way...

(all the root riots are kept moist rather than too wet using a spray bottle to spray the cubes rather than soaking them in water and trying to ring them out)

1st January:

I put the 20 seeds straight from the packets between 2 plates with moist kitchen towels above and below then put them in a warm dark place

2nd January:

About 25% of them had split

3nd January:

All had split apart from one so I soaked the root riots then rung them out using PH 5.6 plain water. I put them inside the root riots so the heads were just below the surface and pushed the tap root loosly inside the cubes. I then put them in a heated propogator with the lid slats closed and left them in the dark

4th January:

They had shot out the tops of the root riots and seem to have stretched massivly due to looking for light...I am pretty sure I should of put them in the light rather than in a dark place the day before? I then put a 400W vertical metal halide above them (Using a vert was a mistake?...I had no horizontal reflectors as its a built vertical NFT system and the lights are already in position)

5th January:

They had grown upwards a bit more and stretched more to the point where 2 of them had folded over. I then put another 400W vertical halide above them to try and stop the stretching. I was getting 30+ degrees internal propogator temps so turned the heated propogator off and it held at about 25 degrees. I opened the propogator slats more also. I also hooked some garden twine around a couple of the really stretched ones to support them and the ones that were folded over.

6th January:

They seemed to stretch a little bit more so I realised I needed to get a T5 fitting or CFL...Due to the bottom of the vertical tubes currently being directly above the propogator.

7th January:

Didnt notice a lot of difference although I could see a few more roots coming throught the sides of the root riots. Bought a 2 foot 4 tube t5 fitting, pulled the verts back up to the ceiling, turned them off then put the t5 about 6 inches away from the propogator lid. I had to turn the heated propogator off as the temp was 30+. Once turned off its staying at about 22-25 degrees.

8th January:

Again I havent noticed a lot of difference although theres a few more roots through the sides of the root riots. Lowered the t5 so its a couple of inches from the propogator lid and opened the propogator slats to about 3/4 open

Here are the pics...can anyone tell me how far ive gone wrong here and if they think they are going to sort themselves out?....I havent messed with seeds in the best part of 20 years but I know its not cool for them to be stretching like this...

Is the 2 leaves at the top where the first set of branches are going to start from or will some form where the stretchy part is?









 
944s2

944s2

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
hiya,,another thing you could do is put seedlings into small pots with light or seed mix[soil] and pack the soil around the stem,keeping as near to your fluorescent as poss,,water when needed,,those cubes are fine for germination but get them into small pots asap as cubes dry out very quickly,,dont worry all will be fine,,your babies just need a bit of tlc and support,,good luck,,peace and regards s2
 
S

Sinisterzane

Member
the plan is to almost root bound them in the root riots then put them straight into the NFT trays with lots of roots hanging out of them...without putting them in a 3" rockwool cubes...ive seen this done before and it makes them fly as soon as the low strength nutes hit them. They will go into 2 x DR90 2.1m NFT trays (already set up) and have about 6 or 7 per side of the 3 x 400W vertical halides in a line.....once they go into flower I will have 3 x 400W HPS and 2 x 400W halides between them....the NFT tables are within a frame down the outsides with strings and yoyos hanging ready to train them. Above the row of 5 x 400W vert lamps is a 10" 1 metre long carbon filter connected to a 10" 3250m3 box fan sucking the heat out. There is a room stat at canopy level that turns on a heater should the heat drop below 20 degrees (lights off)..this heater mixes with the in fan intake pushing the warm air into the canopy using a desk fan. The intake fan is on another stat of which increases in speed dependant on the room teperature using modifed variac controllers...I am able to get the enviroment spot on....feel like a total bacon letting them stretch like this from the off!
 
S

Sinisterzane

Member
how quickly are the cubes likely to dry out if i take the lid off?.....I can only get to them once or maybe twice every 24 hours. Because I have only been able to take the lid off once or twice a day and wipe the condensation out has this condensation been blocking the light or is it where they have shot out and stretched from the start?
 
944s2

944s2

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
sinister,,cubes can dry out very quickly but each grow room is different,,taking in humidity,,temps,,imho i would concentrate on getting your seedlings much stronger before you start hitting them with nutes and or transplanting,,soil is much more forgiving then cubes and require less watering intially,,i wouldnt give your babies anymore stress or getting them to run before they can walk,,all seems well with your babies,,a little stretch is no big deal and try not to give yourself a hard time,,we all learn from our mistakes,,just keep a very close eye on your cubes and try not to let them dry out,,that could be fatel for your babies,,peace and regards s2
 
S

Sinisterzane

Member
944s2 said:
sinister,,cubes can dry out very quickly but each grow room is different,,taking in humidity,,temps,,imho i would concentrate on getting your seedlings much stronger before you start hitting them with nutes and or transplanting,,soil is much more forgiving then cubes and require less watering intially,,i wouldnt give your babies anymore stress or getting them to run before they can walk,,all seems well with your babies,,a little stretch is no big deal and try not to give yourself a hard time,,we all learn from our mistakes,,just keep a very close eye on your cubes and try not to let them dry out,,that could be fatel for your babies,,peace and regards s2
Click to expand...

The plan was to almost root bound the root riots then put them straight onto the NFT trays using some black/white lightproof covering over the top tray of the NFT's (pulled tight with big stationary clips), cut slits in then use aluminium tape to seal up the slits and support the stems...

Do you think I can get away with this or would it be best to put them into 3" ph balanced (let soak for 24 hours) rockwool cubes?...trouble is they are going to be harder to slip through the cut slits ?
 
S

Sinisterzane

Member
Just put them in 3" growell cubes...I soaked for an hour in 5.5 ph water then dunked them in new 5.5 ph'd water and shook them 20 times each so they wernt soaking. I then put them on a tray without lid with the t5 about a 1.5" from the top of the longest one...Where ive pushed the root riots into the 3" cubes they are not a snug fit and have slight gaps of which could let in light...do you think its ok to leave them like this?...would be a pain to try and make covers for them as 7 of them have supports and would have to put the covers round them...
 
N

noyd666

cut a bit of pool noodle up or firm foam and push into gaps, dont know about 3'' cubes but for flinging water out of over watered cubes, use a salad spinner, cheap works perfect. also it dous not crush and fuk your cubes by sqeezing.
 
Last edited:
highonmt

highonmt

Active member
Veteran
Humidity domes are not needed at all except maybe for cloning. They block a lot of light and can cause damping off ie fusarium mold. you can put t5's an inch away and they will not burn. Also that plant is not root bound, I just let them get a set of true leaves and pop em int the nft.
HM
 
S

Sinisterzane

Member
just had a look at them...I plugged the gaps between the root riots and 3" cubes by breaking up some spare root riots and stuffing in the holes

They havent shifted in 2 days although they all look pert and healthy apart from 2 that look like runts...I need 14 good ones out of the 19.

How do I go about watering them from here? They will need some tomorrow I reckon. They are to fragile for me to dip the cubes into water then shake in a downwards snapping movement as some of them are barely standing up on there own due to the stretch...I am thinking maybe dip the bottom of the cube in only about an inch and use a water spray bottle on the sides and tops (plastic still on cubes though)
 
S

Sinisterzane

Member
Some of them now have 1-3 roots starting to come through the bottom of the 3" cubes but nothing is happening up top..they havent changed at all in 3 days...is this normal?..will add a couple of pictures later
 
S

Sinisterzane

Member
Heres the current progress (11 days since i began germinating the seeds..2 days in 3" cubes)...nothing seems to of happened up top but I am getting some roots starting to come through....do they look ok? Also noticed the leaves are looking a little lighter green in places









 
N

noyd666

a work in progress matey, got a few reaching for the stars myself, but they work out ok. have you got small fan running between light and top of plants, will strengthen them up.
 
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