What's wrong with my babies?

[jessica2]

Hello friends. I am new here. I just started growing for my own personal use.

Starting off with 2 baby plants grown from seeds. Cali Gold feminized.

They popped through the soil 5 days ago and having been growing so quickly. I am excited, but nervous about screwing this up.

I have them in a humidity dome between 60-90 % humidity...and that is inside a secret jardin tent (2 x 2 x 4.7)---to contain the light, which is a "Sun System" HPS 150 w. I am doing 16 hours on, 6 hours off. The temp in the tent is between 80-90 degrees.

I watered the soil BEFORE planting my seedlings, and have only misted them since (about 5 days)

But today at my sun-up , I looked at the new growth (they are about 3 inches tall) and when I misted them, they tipped over! To my horror!!
I gently tilted the babies back up, but I am worried. If this was a house plant, I'd tie it to a chop stick--but I am such a nervous Nelly about doing it wrong. I would rather know what mistake I made (if I did something wrong), so I can make sure not to repeat it.

What's wrong? Is this too much water? too little? Too much light? The dome is 7 inches tall, and the light is 17 inches above the dome.

I have been very impressed reading the forums here, everyone is so helpful and knowledgeable--I feel like the geeky new kid.

Help me dear friends, what have I done? eeeeeeeek

 

[TaylorMade420]

do you hve any pics?

 

[jessica2]

do you hve any pics?

I feel like a fool, how do i get the pics up?

 

[TaylorMade420]

this should help..... Photo Gallery Guide: How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

 

[jessica2]

Hooray! Thanks for your help. Here are 2 pics. One shows the set up, without the dome. and the other is a close up, after I tilted them back up.

Thanks again, and thank you for your patience.

 

[TaylorMade420]

i would leave the domes off now, once the seeds are sprouted they should have a little wind on them to help strengthen the stems, how far are you keeping the light from the seedlings?

 

[jessica2]

Thanks, the light is 20 inches above the plants. I have not turned on the big filter fan yet...

 

[jessica2]

I have been keeping some flaps open during light so it doesn't get too hot.

 

[FrankFoster]

Use a paper clip and treat them like tomatoes.

 

[TaylorMade420]

temps between 70-80 f are fine ive had temps as high as 89 f and the plants showed no sign of stress, do you have a small desk fan you could place inside the tent to stimulate wind? you dont need to point it at the plant just so there is movement in the air, should help strengthen your little seedlings, also if you notice the seedlings stretching u could move the light a little closer to the plants

 

[jessica2]

so is tying them to a stick a good idea? Like Frankfoster suggested?

Dome is off, and I have a small fan blowing wind past one of the mesh flaps...is that groovy?

 

[TaylorMade420]

you could use a stick to prop it up whilst it builds up some strength,i would put the small fan inside the tent.

 

[FrankFoster]

Best thing is a breeze. Don't overwater, and no nutes until they are way bigger.

 

[jessica2]

Wonderful. Thank you for your help. One last question (for now anyway) is how do I know if they are stretching? How do I know if the light is too far away?

 

[TaylorMade420]

they will keep growing untill they tip over, im sure you will be fine tho, keep up the good work

 

[jessica2]

Thanks!!!!

 

[TaylorMade420]

are you going to start a grow journal?

 

[The General]

Hi, I don't know if you have seen this link before How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know It sure helped me a lot when I first started out. Good luck!

 

[Vapedogg223]

Hey jessica2, I just realized you had some pics up on this thread! They are stretching because they need more light. I use CFLs for all my seedlings, cloning and vegging.

All you need to do is hang one CFL 1-2 inches above the plant... I use these:

They are $.99 for the six pack from my local Costco. They are daylight (5800k)/18 watts each. I seriously keep them no more than 2 inches away... I don't even use a reflector

The nodes will stack nice and tight, and hopefully will look something like this:

When you transplant, you can burry them a little deeper and the stem will root below the soil level, but you have to get them more light or they will keep stretching. Then I would switch to the HPS when they are much bigger, 20 inches is just too far away...and if you moved the HPS close enough, I'd be worried about the heat with seedlings. Here's a chart to give you an idea:

I also like this chart below because you can see what light the plants are getting in comparison to the sun.

You can see that with a 150 Watt HPS you would need to be about 7.5 inches away to provide the same light as the sun at the equator. Keep in mind these are just aids...there are lots of other factors that come into play, but It will hopefully give you a better idea going forward.

Well, that was my $.02.

 

[Charis]

Hi Jess, Try not to worry too much and just enjoy growing them and experimenting. Don't forget - they are just weeds after all. I usually use a 250w energy saving bulb (blue light spectrum) for the veging period and have it on for 18 hrs on 6 off (although I do know a fair few people who veg on 24hrs light) then move on to a 250w sodium bulb when going into flower. How many weeks in are you now?