Slowly dying seedlings

[GrowW33D]

Yeah idk whats going on. Nitrogen deficient? Overwatering? Underwatering? The soil? The different strains? Usually seed to harvest no problems, and then sometimes I cant find the fix for a problem solo.

I germinated the seeds in water and then paper towel, waiting 48hrs for a taproot. I planted the seeds in soil 3/13 and they had all sprouted by 3/16. On the 22nd I have it marked down "seedlings looking great" and by the 30th I have "bottom of seedling leaves slighty discoloring".

Timer is 18on 6off. Ive used this same seedling light fixture multiple grows. 4 tube 100watt total florescent light.

Im using "ProMix Professional Mix" soil, nothing extra added for the seedling stage. Although just today(4/3), I added very little EWC to the top of each solo cup to water through, thinking maybe they want Nitrogen. Ive read many places EWC cant hurt and I add it after transplant, so I thought why not.

I've been keeping the pH of the water Im using between 6.0-6.3 and only watering when I notice the top layer of the soil has dried up and the feel of the cup has gotten lighter.

Temperature doesnt get below 65f at night, usually around 76f during day.

When it first started to discolor and begin looking unhealthy I thought maybe I was overwatering, so I backed off and took it easy, allowing the wet/dry cycle. The next time it dried up, I made sure not to overwater. Nothing changed during this and the seedlings continued to gradually worsen until the photos taken today.

(They are 18 days old. Every other day they want water and I didnt want to let them get too bad before asking if Im doing something wrong lol)

 

[Nunyabiz]

My guess is severe under watering.

 

[GrowW33D]

My guess is severe under watering.

Thank you for the response, I gave them an even watering this morning, hopefully they perk back up and make a healthy turn around.

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi @GrowW33D and welcome to the forum!
Let me check a basic... I have forgotten too. Are there drainage holes in the bottom of the cups? I think you do have, or things would be much worse. It does look like what you have going on here are the symptoms that result from overwatering by watering too often. You mention several key words that tell me that you are aware of my advice on how to properly water, but you also said something that keys me in to a common mistake made by people trying to establish the wet/dry cycle that I write about. You said you watered when the containers got lighter... that the surface "looked dried up", and egads... you do this every other day.
The containers however, were not light as a feather,
Your human senses would be able to tell a difference between that cup and one filled with new dry soil,
The containers are not what could be considered bone dry, as dry as the Sahara Desert,
They are not so dry that you would probably think that surely you are killing them,
and they had not gotten so dry that the slightest amount of droop could be seen.
No, you are watering well before that point, when there is still significant water in the bottom of the cups, and by doing so, you didn't wait out the entire dry part of the wet/dry cycle.

Plants this young need primarily Nitrogen, and Nitrogen in its many forms is readily available in any decent soil. You are not Nitrogen deficient. The pH range for mobility for Nitrogen is very wide too, so rarely is pH so severely wrong as to restrict Nitrogen... its one of the easiest elements to pick up. Until I am adding synthetic nutes, I never worry about the pH of my tap water, that doesn't kill me, my dog or my lawn. Ph is not the problem here.

The plants are unable to establish the lower feeding roots they want to because since they started there is a pool of water sitting down in at least the lower third to half of your cups and the plants are showing you their complaints in the leaves. As below, so it is above. If they can't establish the lower roots because its always too wet down there, you are going to start loosing your lowest leaves too. The longer this continues, the more leaves you will loose, going from bottom to top.

Every other day you say your plants want water... I say it is you who wants to water them, and they they are trying to show you that they really don't want the amount of love you are giving them. Your picture from yesterday showed moist tops on your containers... you had recently watered. Your message today says you watered again this morning. You are overwatering by watering too often. Water to the point of runoff, and then wait 4-7 days until your plants can actually create the conditions in the cup that I described above. Sit on your hands and do nothing until this happens. Accomplish this proper wet/dry cycle 3 times, and you will be amazed how big your plants are getting and how fast they are growing.

 

[GrowW33D]

Hi @GrowW33D and welcome to the forum!
Let me check a basic... I have forgotten too. Are there drainage holes in the bottom of the cups? I think you do have, or things would be much worse. It does look like what you have going on here are the symptoms that result from overwatering by watering too often. You mention several key words that tell me that you are aware of my advice on how to properly water, but you also said something that keys me in to a common mistake made by people trying to establish the wet/dry cycle that I write about. You said you watered when the containers got lighter... that the surface "looked dried up", and egads... you do this every other day.
The containers however, were not light as a feather,
Your human senses would be able to tell a difference between that cup and one filled with new dry soil,
The containers are not what could be considered bone dry, as dry as the Sahara Desert,
They are not so dry that you would probably think that surely you are killing them,
and they had not gotten so dry that the slightest amount of droop could be seen.
No, you are watering well before that point, when there is still significant water in the bottom of the cups, and by doing so, you didn't wait out the entire dry part of the wet/dry cycle.

Plants this young need primarily Nitrogen, and Nitrogen in its many forms is readily available in any decent soil. You are not Nitrogen deficient. The pH range for mobility for Nitrogen is very wide too, so rarely is pH so severely wrong as to restrict Nitrogen... its one of the easiest elements to pick up. Until I am adding synthetic nutes, I never worry about the pH of my tap water, that doesn't kill me, my dog or my lawn. Ph is not the problem here.

The plants are unable to establish the lower feeding roots they want to because since they started there is a pool of water sitting down in at least the lower third to half of your cups and the plants are showing you their complaints in the leaves. As below, so it is above. If they can't establish the lower roots because its always too wet down there, you are going to start loosing your lowest leaves too. The longer this continues, the more leaves you will loose, going from bottom to top.

Every other day you say your plants want water... I say it is you who wants to water them, and they they are trying to show you that they really don't want the amount of love you are giving them. Your picture from yesterday showed moist tops on your containers... you had recently watered. Your message today says you watered again this morning. You are overwatering by watering too often. Water to the point of runoff, and then wait 4-7 days until your plants can actually create the conditions in the cup that I described above. Sit on your hands and do nothing until this happens. Accomplish this proper wet/dry cycle 3 times, and you will be amazed how big your plants are getting and how fast they are growing.

Thank you Emilya. What you're saying is basically how its going on my end. Ive noticed I have a bad habit of watering right down the stalk of the plant into the center rather than watering the soil all over. I changed that with yesterdays watering and evenly watered the cup's soil instead of just the center. This morning I checked on them and they look WAY happier happy times again lol