Hi all, I’m at day 21 of my first grow ever and I think I’m ready to call it a failure. All of my plants are still tiny (picture of best looking plant 5 pictures down). They’re only a couple weeks away from flowering and at this point I would be surprised if I got more than a gram out of it, if they’ve even got enough structure at this point to flower. Setup details below pictures. I’m looking for thoughts on what happened, and what I can do in the future to have better results.
I decided to pull up the worst looking plant to check the roots and see if I can get a clue as to what’s going on. Pictures of the plant itself:
There’s clearly a lot of discoloration and drooping of the leaves on this one, and it spread quick. Tips are absolutely sheer white with discoloration running up the leaf from the white tips.
Here’s some shots of the roots, both before and after cleaning:
Clearly there’s something seriously wrong here. My setup is as follows:
ILGM Banana Kush Auto germinated in water and put straight into soil once they popped, emerged and put under light exactly 3 weeks ago.
2x Viparspectra 1,200 watt LED lights run on veg setting only, hung ~40" above the plants
2 gallon pots
Growing medium is 1/3 peat moss and 2/3 organic potting soil without slow-release nutrients
450CFM inline duct fan for air movement
clip-on oscillating fan
ILGM nutes at half strength
Growing conditions:
75-85 degrees
40%-60% relative humidity
20 - 4 light cycle
What I can absolutely say is that they were chronically overwatered for the first 9 days. No domes on them. I’ve only watered them twice since then, when the top 2" of soil is fully dry. Did the chronic overwatering for the first couple days really do so much damage that they would grow this slowly and develop such a small root system? Or did watering them every day for the first week or so just saturate the soil to the point where the root system never had a chance, even if the chronic overwatering stopped?
What should I do next time to prevent this from happening and hopefully have a more productive harvest? I’m thinking of starting them in solo cups to avoid the issues with the overwatering that I had with this one, but I’m really not sure.
Looking for any and all advice, I really want to get it right the second time around.
I’m far from being an expert, but I think if you get a quality soil made specifically for this purpose you may have better chances of a good start. I have had pretty good luck starting out in solo cups of fox farms happy frog soil then transplanting into fox farms ocean forest soil. You won’t need to add any nutrients for the first month or so and the seedlings seem to take off in it. Hope this helps.
I’m going to say over watering and feeding too early, feeding nutrients to seedlings even at half dose will fry it I imagine, shouldn’t have given any nutes unless deficiencies appeared or you well Into veg stage, as a seedling they have stored nutrients in the cotyledons to last a little while then the soil will feed them until they’re a good few weeks old
Also try the 18/6 schedule, not every plant is the same of course but my first couple runs I tried 20/4 schedule and the autos didn’t like it too much, gave them couple hours extra dark every run so now I do 18/6 and they love it
I have good luck with starting out in there forever home and when they pop up keep the surface of the soil moist not water it for a few days and I keep the light on 24 for the first 2 to 3 weeks then back down from there to 18/6
Theres one thing i can think of that happened to ur plant and that is the soil was to hot another words it had to much nitrogen in it and ur plant started to burn ,but one question i have to ask were you watering with plain tap water or did you add nutrients aswell
@TinyMeatGang this is what I’m thinking. They’re suffering dampening off from overwatering. Drain holes will be needed in the cups and I water a shot glass every 2-3 days. Seedlings will absorb moisture through their leaves until they put down roots
Those who say they don’t water the plant when they’re seedlings, are you doming your seedlings after watering a circle around it? When do you start watering them directly?
I have two potential plans going forward here:
Start in solo cups, Fox Farms Happy Frog to start, transplant into Fox Farms Ocean Forest for vegetative stage. Two questions with this: How do I know when it’s time to transplant from the solo cup to the regular pots? And as a follow up, how do I know when to start feeding the plant once it’s depleted the soil? Just wait for signs of nutrient deficiencies?
Start in their permanent home in Happy Frog and start feeding when it’s time. Same question as above, how do I know when it’s time to start supplementing nutrients?
Which of these options is more “beginner friendly”? I am also open to alternatives, but those seem like my best two options based on the responses to this thread. I’m determined to get it right next time.
I start mine in double solo cups inner one clear (holes drilled in it for drainage) outer solo colored, I have used peat pellets too (In the past)…Last two seasons I use FFOC and this year Happy Frog…I water by using a spray bottle to moisten the soil around the seedling…(don’t get it on the seedling!) Last two seasons I never used any nutes as FF can be hot…But this season I used Bergman’s seedling food…Seedlings seemed to like it with no issues (just go easy) Most members and through ILGM (and other sources) suggest that Autos don’t need any food for a few weeks with FFOC and again Ive strayed from that and “lightly” used nutes… I usually transplant around two weeks or so.You will get to know ,through trial and error whats what ( Im still learning too) ILGM site has most of if not all of these methods too…So look at the sections to really retain what you need to do and of course everyone on here is really cool and will help! keep us posted on your grow.Good Luck!!
for autos I transplant at day 14 above ground to their forever home. Photo periods you can let go longer.
this will depend on the run off numbers. Around week 2ish of veg after the seedling period they should be ready to water to run off and sometimes sooner depending How vigorous the plants are growing
General rule of thumb that has done me well starting in cups, is to wait until leaves extend over side of cup to transplant. 2 weeks from breaking soil mentioned above is a pretty solid timeline to expect this.
Reason you see a lot of different ideas here is because they can all be successful, but usually come down to fine details. If you’re going to start in big pot you need to have a pretty good feel for early waterings to be successful. Too much water and soil never dries out, then roots don’t develop like they should. Starting in a cup makes this a little easier, but you have to be careful transplanting autos not to stunt them.
Same can be said for using stuff like miracle gro with time release nutrients. If you have your shit together you can easily make this work. If you’re looking for beginner friendly, this stuff is definitely not your friend lol. Imo ditch the ff stuff too and try roots organic original blend. Ph and nutrient charge are more consistent, and its much more airy blend to help with watering early.
Hello! As far as I can see I would cut back on the water and nutrients.
The watering can absolutely stunt your grow. The way i was explained about watering is that. The bigger the pot and smaller the plant means it will hold water longer so there for would need to only be watered every 3-5 days depending on size plant and medium being used. So for example if you were to saturate the 2 gallon pot and with that size seedling i would think you wouldnt have to water till about 4-5 days later. I usually start mine in solo cups with tons of holes in the bottom for drainage and water the whole cup. I usually don’t have to water again for a few days.
No nutes for seedlings! They carry enough nutrients to sustain itself for a little. I def wouldn’t be adding any nutrients to a pre amended slow release soil so early in the plants life.
Your not far from having yourself a good grow. Your just doing exactly what i did first time around. Too much love! Lol less water, and less nutrients and they will be happy!
My 2 cents. Seedlings do well in anything thats not loaded with nutrients.
Personally, i use peat moss, loosely watered a few days before sprouted seedlings are placed.
The seeds have enough vitamins themselves to live good enough for 10 days.
When planting germinating seeds, make sure the soils in the cup has some moisture (but not wetted).
Place a clear glass over the sprouting seedling for the first 7-10 days, or until the 2nd set of leaves hits the cup. You will notice the humidity within the clear dome. Seedlings need this.
The first several days, the more heat the better.
When the leaves on the seedling hit the dome cover, i’ve found its a perfect time to transplant, but if the seedling soils are too wet, let them dry, that way when they are tilted upside down, the dryer soils tend to hold together better than wet soils (that can cut a root or two)…
I have pulled the trigger on restarting the grow. I have come to the conclusion that my biggest problem was the soil used, which, when compounded with the early overwatering, left the plants with no chance to thrive. In removing the old plants, it became clear that even after over two weeks of no water, the soil below the top 1" was still very damp - akin to a freshly watered plant. Not mud by any means, but this stuff clearly has an extreme water retention rate.
I’ve started some new seeds in one of those germination kits consisting of peat tablets in a plastic tray with a clear dome on top. They were germinated on the 18th under the grow lights and I already have some extremely healthy looking seedlings starting to form their first sets of leaves.
The current plan is:
Keep the seedlings in the germination kit with the dome on until I start seeing roots starting to come out of the peat tablets.
Transplant into solo cups filled with 20% perlite 80% Happy Frog. Dome them and avoid watering other than keeping them moist with a spray bottle every couple of days
Transplant into their full-size pots once the leaves start going over the edge of the cups. Full-size pots filled with a 40/40/20 mix of Happy Frog, Strawberry Fields, and perlite for aeration/drainage. Only then start watering with straight up water no nutes.
From there I’ll just supplement nutes when the plant starts showing signs that it needs it.
I’m still a little unsure of when and how much to water, but I’m going to err on the side of caution this time - no traditional watering whatsoever until they’re in their final pots, and once that happens I’m going to wait until I start seeing signs of underwatering before saturating the soil to runoff, then waiting until the plant tells me it needs water before watering again.
Absolutely open to critiques and advice regarding the current plan, and thanks again to everyone who took the time to help out!
this is what I’m thinking. They’re suffering dampening off from overwatering. Drain holes will be needed in the cups and I water a shot glass every 2-3 days. Seedlings will absorb moisture through their leaves until they put down roots 