Almost 3 week old seedlings, help?

[Ganja lover]

Hey guys well a little information should help, These are under 3 21 watt cfl's with decent ventilation. About 75-80 degrees at all times on a 18/6 light schedule. They've been repotted into these pots you see here from solo cups, mainly out of fear of rootboundness. Well, I am using Vigoro Organics soil with tap water. I also have some superthrive ive been using every now and then. I found out that the pH of the water I had been using the whole time was 6.2, maybe this is because of the super thrive, but I added dolomite lime on the top of my mix. It started with the first set of seedling leaves yellowing, now they are dead. The smaller plant is rotting away and the bigger one is not doing too well. Why are my plants growing so slowly? Why are they dying? I thought it was a N def, and it seems like it is, probably because the pH. Anyways any feedback or suggestions would be great. I have a few more seeds I can use but I want to try to revive these babies back to life.

 

[Roachman]

All those supplements/ additives to the soil isnt good for seedlings. Plain soil is good for seedlings, even if the soil is slightly too strong, it can affect them. Try flushing the soil with water.
Also 3x21W's of light isnt very much... may be enough to start the seedlings, but wont supply enough energy for serious growth, specially for 2 plants.
Good luck man.

 

[Ganja lover]

thanks a lot for the input i will flush them tomorrow just so i dont overwater. i will also go pick up more lights, maybe 3 more?

 

[Roachman]

I suppose.
To put into perspective, my plants are now about 1 foot tall, and the're under 2 105W CFLs (One bulb/plant). The're pretty bushy, however iv noticed the growth has slowed quite a bit over the past 2-3 weeks. Im getting two more of the same bulbs come week end, and gunna re-pot. Hopefully that should pick back up the pace.

Also, i dunno if you moved the bulbs out the way in your first pik, but if you're only using 21W CFLs, you can run them VERY close to the plant. The light energy lost is an inverse squared relationship of the distance btwn light and plant. id recommend 2-4 inches away, however they can be put as close as 1" - with a nice breeze to move the warm air away that is.

 

[Ganja lover]

Should I try to get better lights? Maybe 105W? as you can see im plugigng them into a socket that turns into a wall adapter on a extension cord. I am making a new box soon, I just have to invest some money into plywood and a handsaw. Thanks again.

 

[Jimmycricket]

I completely disagree about the 3 23 watt CFL not being enough for 2 sproutlings. I was using ONE of those 23 watt CFL bulbs per two plants. 4 bulbs total for 8 plants.

They where this big in about 2 weeks.

 

[Jimmycricket]

Your bulbs seem to be the wrong spectrum though. They are making orange light meaning they are probably 2700k or 3000k You want 6500k or 5000k.

That alone isnt your problem however. As your plants should be much bigger even with the wrong spectrum of light.

Make sure you are letting the soil go nice and dry before rewatering. It would take minimum 3 days and probably more like 5-7 days to get as dry as it should before you water again given the size of your pot and the plant size.

Also stop giving them nutes. You should wait to give any nutes at all intil they are at least half the size of the plants in my pics above. and even then go VERY VERY LIGHT.