1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

[honest john]

first of all hello there my name is john, i live in the north east of ENGLAND UK..

i have just found this site after searching for answers and tips

i am a very very novice grower, very 1st time in fact, i basically know nothing (apart from reading up on the net) which still seems too much too take in haha

anyway to my question and possibly answer to my mistakes/problem..

my 1 week old lowryder seedling was doing ok untill i checked yesterday morning, which by then was drooping right back over to the soil, leaves looked like they were dying/yellowing, i done hours of reading up on the net to come to the conclusion i was over/under watering them (great i thought haha) i should be able to sort that, so checking the soil it was dry so i watered it checked again 4/5 hours later and it seemed to be perking back up...

today = NIGHTMARE i have just checked and its a no hope, the stem looked almost empty/hollow then to my horror noticed tiny little transparent worm like creatures around the base of the stem, i knew the little seedling had had it so pulled it out to notice the tiny little worms were coming out of the stem also, as if were eating the stem from the inside..

the compost i used has been sat in my shed since the summer (could this have been a factor with pests)
if so could anyone reccomend any of these in the link -- https://search.diy.com/search#w=compost -- as im on a very tight budget and cant afford to pay big $$$'s

i would really appreciate any helpful advice/tips that i am doing wrong for my next attempt as i will not be put off by this haha

thank you in advance

 

[honest john]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

after doing a bit of searching it seems these little critters may be my downfall...

here is what i copied from another thread on here..

Nematodes

There are hundreds of thousands of different species of nematode, some are harmful to marijuana but these are rare. Most often they attack roots but some attack the upper sections of the plant. Nematodes that are harmful to marijuana plants are for the most part microscopic, and the varieties that are visible are so rare you'd have a better chance being struck by lightning. If your plant is growing slowly, turning yellow and dying, or being slowly eaten away with no visible signs you MIGHT have harmful nematodes. Nematode infestation closely resembles nitrogen deficiency. Taking a soil sample is the best method of detecting nematodes. Take a small tube and punch a core sample out of soil, or inspect hydroponic roots carefully. Roots being attacked by nematodes will be soft, mushy, and beginning to fall apart. The best countermeasure to not contracting nematodes is to use clean soil every time. It takes a fair amount of time for a infesting nematode to build up sufficient numbers to attack your plant, re-using soil invites these circumstances. Nematodes can be eradicated with a neem soil drench and neem oil applied as a spray.

^ copied from another post on here..

any advice would be great

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

Have a look around for a hydroponic shop near your location they would more than likely sell biobizz all mix/light mix compost might even find some bat stuff all mixed up, i'm not aware of many american brands aviable in the UK tho.

Failing the above, a garden centre or a place like B&Q will have various compost which can be used, John Innes is popular brand name which can be used for cultivation of MJ comes in various blends e.g No 1 for seedling/cuttings etc for stages of plant growth

Ideal ph of soil compost is 6.2 to 6.8 iirc

You might even go cheap and get a grow bag for tomatos, bearing in mind PH value of peat based composts are more acidic which may require garden lime/dolomite lime to be mixed in with it to buffer PH value to a more suitable level


I also get fussy about where bags of compost are stored whether that is dryed stored with in a building reducing infection of bugs etc OR outside which may increase infection depending how long the bag has been standing E.G i might well avoid the last bag on the pallet if i know its been out side for a long time.

You might even fancy mixing your own blend of compost, but we will leave that for another day.

 

[honest john]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

thnx m8 i will take your advice on board

any idea of the cause of my seedling to die (ie: the little worms) im presuming by what i have read they are Nematodes & would all shop bought compost contain them ??

im totally confused..

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

thnx m8 i will take your advice on board

any idea of the cause of my seedling to die (ie: the little worms) im presuming by what i have read they are Nematodes & would all shop bought compost contain them ??

im totally confused..

I would suspect its an eelworm more than likely or nematode which can be very hard to identify with out seeing but specialist knowledge would be required for nematode indentifaction as their are some 28000 types of em.

Most fresh batchs of shop purchased compost will be pretty clean tho, but can happen if stored badly/incorrect conditions.

 

[honest john]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

I would suspect its an eelworm more than likely or nematode which can be very hard to identify with out seeing but specialist knowledge would be required for nematode indentifaction as their are some 28000 types of em.

Most fresh batchs of shop purchased compost will be pretty clean tho, but can happen if stored badly/incorrect conditions.

so the bag i had stored in the shed most probably picked up pests ??

im going to research them eelworms now to see if there similar haha

thnx again much appreciated

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

so the bag i had stored in the shed most probably picked up pests ??

im going to research them eelworms now to see if there similar haha

thnx again much appreciated

Ye most compost bags are not 100% air tight so to speak & with it kicking about in the ol shed for a fair few months could lead to an ideal new home for creepy, crawlys may of even crawled in their to over winter or stay out of the cold.

You may find a host of different types of eelworms which effect many types of vegetables.

 

[honest john]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

Ye most compost bags are not 100% air tight so to speak & with it kicking about in the ol shed for a fair few months could lead to an ideal new home for creepy, crawlys may of even crawled in their to over winter or stay out of the cold.

You may find a host of different types of eelworms which effect many types of vegetables.

i will learn the hard way rushing in eyes shut haha

its a shame as it seemed to be doing ok then gone

if you dont mind could you reccomend 1 of these composts from B&Q B&Q - Search

im going to order some more seeds and give it another go, this time with alot more research

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

Multipurpose Compost should do just fine.

Just need to look at getting some nutrients, avoid miracle grow, tomato based feeds their really not that good for MJ.

Nutrients is where you could spend just a little extra even if it just grow & bloom feed, i would imgine ya could get both for about £20 ionic, hesi, vitalink, biobizz normally come with in that price range whether that be for 1L, 500ml bottle.

 

[honest john]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

would organic & peat free do the job, sorry for all the questions only there is too much info to take in and everyone seems to choose different methods, but thnx again

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

Ye i must admit of the wealth and some times over whelming information about whats best to grow MJ, soil is more forgiving for the new grower tho

Organic & peat free is a good choice, which i would imagine to be in the realms of 6 to 7 ph, some of the good brand names do list PH value on their bags so have a look at the ol label.
It may have a very low NPK value including trace macro & micro elements depending on whats its made from ?

You can get soil testing kits to see what the ph is also, which is kinda handy if you like mixing you own up !

Worm casts, perlite, sterlized top soil, Bat guano etc are other options if your train of thought goes down mixing your own blend.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

Just thinking as ya up North i believe thats a soft water area ? ya gonna need to do some more research on that !!!

If i remember correctly...

Soft water is more acidic.
Hard water is more alkline.

Most good shops/hydroponic shops will sell suitable nutrients for soft/hard water areas.

 

[honest john]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

Ye i must admit of the wealth and some times over whelming information about whats best to grow MJ, soil is more forgiving for the new grower tho

Organic & peat free is a good choice, which i would imagine to be in the realms of 6 to 7 ph, some of the good brand names do list PH value on their bags so have a look at the ol label.
It may have a very low NPK value including trace macro & micro elements depending on whats its made from ?

You can get soil testing kits to see what the ph is also, which is kinda handy if you like mixing you own up !

Worm casts, perlite, sterlized top soil, Bat guano etc are other options if your train of thought goes down mixing your own blend.

thnx mate, all i learning curve for me

 

[honest john]

Re: 1 week old lowryder seedling dead (little transparent worms) help

Just thinking as ya up North i believe thats a soft water area ? ya gonna need to do some more research on that !!!

If i remember correctly...

Soft water is more acidic.
Hard water is more alkline.

Most good shops/hydroponic shops will sell suitable nutrients for soft/hard water areas.

thats great advice thnx, i never thought about that haha sorry for my inexperiance again, i did however fill empty water bottles and left them to stand for 2/3 days with the lid off, which i did read somewhere, (apparently to let chlorine evaporate) ??

before watering..

thnx for your advice & time to reply, cheers