Sillysally's First Grow - Strawberry Blue & Blue Widow

[Dusty Kiefers]

Your perlite also looks yellow. Are you useing r/o water & are you using anything other than water?

 

[Rifleman]

I'll take a blind stab in the dark. Have your leaves been laying on the substrate while it is wet? Possible burn from light magnifying thru the water droplets?

 

[sillysally]

I'm just using tap water at this point. The strawberry blue's leaves do rest on the substrate a bit, but I haven't watered since 1/10 and it has gotten significantly worse since yesterday.

 

[Dusty Kiefers]

Is your tap water alkiline or above 7.5 in p.h.

 

[sillysally]

Is your tap water alkiline or above 7.5 in p.h.

I'm not sure I haven't been testing it.

 

[Dusty Kiefers]

it could also be chlorine in your tap water.
Try leting it sit in a container for 24 hrs before you use it.

 

[sillysally]

So things aren't looking too pretty over here. The new growth on both of the seedlings is looking good, but the older leaves keep getting worse. Does this look like a nute burn issue? PH problem? I haven't been testing my h20, but I think I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and get a ph pen.


The Strawberry Blue looks the worst. The leaves keep getting these brown spots that keep getting bigger and bigger.

The Blue Widow looks a bit better, but I've started to also notice some faint brown spots on some of the leaves along with some yellowing as well. The leaves are also curling around the edges and feel a bit "crispy."

 

[Dusty Kiefers]

Do you have drain holes on your solo cups?
I would also check the p.h. . Drops work o.k. if you dont want to get a meter.
Peace love and happy growing.

 

[sillysally]

Do you have drain holes on your solo cups?
I would also check the p.h. . Drops work o.k. if you dont want to get a meter.
Peace love and happy growing.

Yes, the cups do have drainage holes in them and I get a decent amount of runoff each time I water.

 

[SweetSue]

FFOF is notoriously hot on seedlings, so you may be dealing with a nute overdose. That's just a guess based on the leaf damage and crispness. I actually have no experience with it, so this is from studying other grows. You may be lucky enough that they will survive this stage, in which case it will ultimately get better. They will grow new leaves and your new growth looks healthy.

Sending happy thoughts for your babies.

 

[CO Finest]

Two things I see going on. First off the bottom damaged leafs looked to be burned from sitting on the soil and they will just die off in a few weeks. The new growth looks green and happy so I don't think it's anything else. The droopy leafs are not from over water if you say you are letting the soil dry. So that tells me you could have cold temps and that makes plant droop. When plant gets to much temp swing they tend to droop like they do when over watered. Now I see you said you were using tap water. Do your plants and soil a huge favor and let water sit 24 too 48 hours before feeding it to plants. Checking your ph will help.If you see it is high which should be 7.5 too 8 if from tap in most places. If you change ph to fast you will see the leafs start to twist. That is a sign of ph stress by dropping to fast. Lower by .2 at a time to keep to much ph shock from happening. Other then that just pick up solo cups and you should be able to tell when soil is dry or wet by the weight. I hope you get all back on track. I wish you the best.

 

[CO Finest]

6.5 too 6.8 works for me on my ffo soil

 

[SweetSue]

Letting your water sit for 24 hours works if your water is treated with chlorine. Many US municipalities are now using chloramines, which must be handled differently. To neutralize chloramines add a couple drops (about 1/8 tsp per gallon water) of molasses to the water and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before using. Your water company keeps data on their web site that will tell you which they use.

 

[sillysally]

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I need to buy some sort of test kit/device to test the ph. I do let my water sit out for 24 hours or so prior to watering but I think I'll try the molasses trick too.

 

[sillysally]

So I finally tested my water and I was around 7.5-8 so I'm hoping that adjusting that will help even things out. I adjusted the water down to 6.5 before I read that switching too quick will cause problems too...gah!
The new tops on both plants look good, but the damage keeps spreading to the other leaves...
I noticed today that the lights were a bit hot on the tops of the plants so I moved them up a little bit. My temps are staying around 70-80 so I don't think it's getting too cold in there. Is it possible that the ph is causing the leaves to droop as well?
Thanks

 

[SweetSue]

If your water is treated with chloramines instead of chlorine (more and more common throughout the U.S.) you will need to neutralize it by adding some organic matter. The easiest thing to do is add a couple drops of molasses to a gallon of water and let it sit for at least 10 minutes.

 

[sillysally]

According to my city's website they use chlorine, there isn't any mention of chloramines.

 

[SweetSue]

Yeah, I realize I shared that info twice. LOL! More and more cities are shifting every year and many weren't aware of the change. Sorry Sally.

 

[sillysally]

No that's fine don't worry about it. I wasn't sure so I looked it up in case!

 

[sillysally]

So after watering them with the ph-ed water last night they already look the best that I've seen them this morning. The new growth on top is finally standing up a bit better. For the past week or they have all been curled under. Is it possible to see a positive turn just after ph-ing the water, or have I been underwatering?
I feel like I'm just way overthinking things at this point.