Need help fast! Problem with seedlings in coco

[WonderWoman]

Hello all, i got 8 seedlings that are now 19 days since sprouting in jiffy coco pellets.

after like 2 days the roots started to come out of the bottom of jiffys so I decided to transplant them into my 15l pots with biobizz coco (ph 6.1 ec 0.3). I thought this may have been too early to transplant to such big pots but I've heard of people planting straight into the container that will be used throughout the whole grow.

the seedlings had stretched rather badly (almost 6 cm after few days, I know ) so I had to plant them rather deep so I could cover some of the stretched stem in the coco. I use 4-5cm of hydroton in the bottom, which was flushed with ~6 ph water before use. I then started putting the coco in inch layers misting it with 6 ph water to premoisten it before transplant. After transplant I proceeded to mist the top layer of coco for few days to keep it moist and to not to overwater the small plants with not so developed roots in big containers.

Everything seemed fine the first week in new pots expect for some strange curling in some plants leaves and one seedling that had deformed/mutated leaves. One leaf that never grew a pair for it and another that for some reason stopped growing whilst the pair of it is still going bigger.

After 14 days since sprouting, I started to give them mild 1/4 dose of AN Grow + Micro + Bloom PH perfect series with 1/1/1 ratio. It is suggested to use 2ml per liter but as I said, I used aprox 1/4 of it ~0.6ml per liter of each of those nutrients.

I fed the seedlings this light nutrient solution and after that day they haven't looked that healthly.

Specs: Some seedlings have leaves drying (brownish colour, bottom leaves) and some leaves are curling/twisting. Curling up and down randomly really. One seedling that seems to have it the worst has had it's first multiset of leaves, aka the second pair after cotyledons turn lightish brown spots from the beginning of the leaves. Both pairs of the leaves are affected with this. It is drying the leaves rather bad and the seedling seems to be drooping a bit. it also has some strange redish/brownish spots all over randomly. most of seedlings have this same problem too with drying/ random red/brown spots on both old and new growth. I'm thinking my ph meter is bugging me out resulting in the water ph being a bit off. maybe over 6 resulting in some sort of overfertilization of some things? maybe P?

I'm new to coco i grew in dwc bucket with rockwool + hydroton for some time so I'm not very familiar with handfeeding.

Im hoping i get this shit sorted fast so my little feminized ladies survive this and get to their automated autopot feed system so I can forget handfeeding from then on. I'm not even sure if I've maybe overwatered or maybe even underwatered them. the coco seems to be somewhat moist when I stick my finger 4-5 cm deep in it, but no coco sticks to my finger realy. is that sign of underwatering maybe?


And about flushing. If these little ladies are overfertilized cause of ph imbalances, can they be flushed with plain water till runoff? ive heard mixed theories on coco with runoff water. and we must keep in mind the plants are very small and undergoing stressful times and they dont have that developed roots yet so maybe hard flushing can harm them as in overwatering them?

help please :<

 

[WonderWoman]

oh by the way. i started with 100w esl at first but progressed to 400w hps after two weeks. ive since then turned the hps on and sticked to 100w esl cause i thought it might have been cause of high temperatures and low moisture (30-45% moisture 26-32 celsius) but i have since then thought it may not be cause of heat.

going with the esl at the moment to reduce stress of maybe too intense light..

but really, the seedlings have 4-5 sets of leaves and I havent really given them that much water after first signs of these drying/browning/curling problems.. the top layers are 100% dry on some pots and some are somewhat moist on the top.

All of the new growth seems to be ok for now but the bottom leaves brown/red spots keep appearing after each day.. I have one seedling that seems to be completely fine but I have given them aprox same amount of feed/water imo so that is strange right? :x

 

[WonderWoman]

edit: wanna say too that one plant seems to have dark green veins but it's getting light greener all over the leaf but the veins.. this plant has the most curling and some red/brown spots and drying bottom leaves too. using distilled water with ph of ~6.8 which I reduce with GH liquid ph down but I today checked the ph again of my last nights reduced water and it has drifted back to 6.5!!!! can this ph drifting in the nutrient/water solution be the cause of these hardcore burning / drying / curling?

 

[willyweed]

do you have any pics of them please? it is a must to keep the ph between 5.5- 6.2 you could also check the run off(the water that comes out of the bottom of the pot)
with coco it is important to have some run off with coco ie water until some water comes out of the bottom,the 2 reasons why we do this that i can think of .to stop nutrient build up in the coco and to check the ph .also the water that comes out of the bottom throw in down the drain,this is a bit wasteful but better in the long run .good luck willyweed

 

[al70]

it could be that ph meter, get a new one or get some test strips, I find them better, the ph doesn't need to be perfect all the time, slight variations in ph when you feed can be good for your plants which I find is what you get when you use strips, goodluck, hope ya get it sorted.

 

[willyweed]

if you doubt your ph meter ,buy some bottled still water from anywhere, the ph will be 7 so you can test your meter with it,you will know one way or the other for less than a dollar,read the side of the bottled water just in case it is not 7 ph.good luck.willyweed

 

[Tony Montana]

It's hard to say exactly what the problem is without seeing pictures but more than likely your
problem is going to be your pot size. 15l is massive for a seedling and watering is going to be a nightmare. I got from a 0.5ltr pot to a 6.5ltr in coco but only after the seedling is an established plant. I would take the seedlings out of the 15ltr pot and repot into something more suitable until your root system is developed

 

[WonderWoman]

hey and thanks for answers.

i took the advice and repotted 5 of the 8 the ones that looked the worst to smaller, 3-4 liter pots. I used the same coco as I have in the bigger pots cause I didnt have any leftovers unused. I then flushed it with some ph adjusted tap water (5.8 ph) and the runoff came with 7 ph ??

I'm certain this high ph has locked out most nutrients resulting in these huge problems. I'm hoping this will solve the problems.

As I flush each pot with 20% runoff water, do I have to aim for 5.8 runoff water ph or what? it just doesnt seem to drop, lol.

And should I give them nutes 1/4 dose of nutes 15min after flushing, as someone said in this thread? even to the ones that have dried brownish bottom leaves? one of them looks like late stage calcium deficiency that has eaten up almost the whole leaf and it has dried a lot.. thanks

 

[ICbuds]

Put up a couple pics of the plant and coco. It could be heat or overwatering. Seedlings don't need much but the right light distance and a little food.

 

[WonderWoman]

And should I give them nutes 1/4 dose of nutes 15min after flushing, as someone said in this thread?

Actually that tip was given to me in another thread in coco coir growing sub forum.

I would flush well with water pH'd between 5.8 and 6.1, with lotsa runoff. Follow 15 minutes later with your AN stuff, medium strength, with same proportion as the AN feed chart. Apply a root stimulator product in your feed mix.

Thoughts?

 

[WonderWoman]

Put up a couple pics of the plant and coco. It could be heat or overwatering. Seedlings don't need much but the right light distance and a little food.

Sorry, I don't have the chance to upload pictures :|

but they aren't perky, not limping either.

some cotyledons have yellowed and curled hard

 

[justanotherbozo]

...first, you're unlikely to get much useful help without pictures, anyone with the skills to help won't waste their time, especially if you 'don't have the chance to upload pictures', most will think 'if she doesn't care enough to post pics why should i care enough to spend my time'.

...that being said i expect most of your problems come from overwatering caused by you potting seedlings into 15 liter pots, 15 liters of medium holds water for a long time if you don't have a plant in there drinking it up.

...anyway, growing in coco is easy peasey once you get a cycle or 2 under your belt and if you want similar results to DWC then i highly recommend coco hempy-buckets KISS style and grouped around a barebulb, vertical style, for me this has proven to be a winning combination.

...one of the greatest benefits to growing this way is how simple it is to setup and to maintain, ...it's also VERY ecomical, last year i bought a 25lb bag of Jack's Pro Hydro and a 25lb bag of Jack's Calcium Nitrate and, shipped to my door it was under $100.00, somewhere around $80.00 or thereabouts, ...in any event i've been feeding my op with those nutes for just over a year and i'd guess i still have enough for the next 2 years, hell, i even gave some to my growbro here in the real.

...so, to make a long story short, here are a few threads i'd recommend you read if you want to learn to kill it with coco, ...there is so much good info in these threads you almost can't afford to not read them.

(this thread starts out using perlite as the medium but this thread still has much you can learn and it will also lead you to threads by some VERY gifted coco growers)
The Official Hempy Bucket Thread

(this thread will lead you to one of the simplest feeding regimens around, cheap and easy and effective)
*The K.I.S.S. Method*

(this thread is to Marlo's Wall of Weed thread, take note of how he anchors the plants to the walls to maximize limited space)
THE WoW THREAD.

(and this thread i share just because you're new around here and this thread is so valuable every new member needs to give it a scan, if you need to build something look here first)
ICMAG'S OFFICIAL ~DIY~ LINK-O-RAMA

...and try to understand that in this hobby you'll get back what you put in so if you really want to succeed you won't shirk with the homework, the more studying you do the faster you'll succeed.

good luck, bozo