First Time Grower: Help Making Sure Everything Makes Sense! Detailed

[parrajara]

that’s light bleaching, it’s probably cooked. It could make it so keep trying but no worries if it don’t. Good call on the new germination and solo cups. We use successive upcans to maximize rootball growth on photoperiods .....The upcan thing can be done on autos but it can also stunt them if done wrong or too early or late

I'm actually happy that at least I got to learn from this. So would you say it's pointless continuing to try growing these seedlings? I was planning on adding the new seedlings along with the current ones, thinking I can attempt to save them - just out of curiosity to see how it plays out. If it's pointless, I can just get rid of them now.

 

[013]

Sorry man I forgot to stop back in... No you will learn by keeping them going but if no recovery in a week or two yeah its ok to move on

 

[013]

Any progress?

 

[parrajara]

You were burning the midnight oil! They will grow more when it dries and roots have to search for water. I know it’s a fine line because we were taught that water must be given to keep them alive but because of wicking the soil holds water in suspension. Try this..... hold the cup so as to support the soil & seedling. tilt the cup to a 45 degree angle & hold for 5 minutes (or carefully prop it up so it won’t tip over) over a saucer and see how much water drains out.

This is the perched water table that just drained out, and there is plenty more water still being held in suspension.

Sorry for my late response, I've been busy. So my two seedlings never grew and when I took them out of the soil the root was almost the same length as it was when germinated... It almost didn't grow in a week.

The two new seedlings I germinated are in the exact same position right now. They germinated fine, and sprouted from the soil fine... but after a week there is still absolutely no signs of growth. They look the exact same. This time im using solo cups. My buddy started his seeds 2 days before me and he has seen some noticeable growth, already going onto 8 leaves... This is really frustrating because I have everything optimal, and I really don't understand where I'm going wrong. At this point I'm really convinced its the shitty soil that the guy from the hydro store sold me.... Im not sure if I should even continue to waste my time with these 2 seedlings, or if i should start again and do it with happy frog. How can I easily germinate and spout healthy seeds and BOTH times the issue is stagnant growth, even with adequate lighting, temperature, humidity and watering only when soil dries to the first knuckle.

 

[013]

Hey Parra,

No worries, didnt want you to get lost in transition. How about a pic of those cups? Watering too often is very common mistake. Ok first knuckle isn’t right especially on new plant but even on big plants that doesn’t work. When top is dry the bottom is still carrying water. Every container of soil has a perched water table - it’s water that’s being held in suspension by the soil.

Take that cup and hold it or prop it at 45 degree angle for 5 full minutes over a saucer to see how much water the soil holds..... the cup should pee - make sure it don’t tip over or spill soil out.

Starting out - do not water to run off... maybe use a spray mist bottle every 2 to 3 days but just 1 or 2 pumps. Make her work and earn the water. If you make water readily available then she won’t grow - these plants build tiny root hairs when it’s totally dry. In order to grow a plant you first need to grow roots... lots of roots.

 

[SoGnotSOG321]

Do you both have the same seeds? Do your solo cups have drain holes?
The first has to do with genetics, his strain, the seeds are more mature and tougher and yours is less mature and weak. Yours could grow like his if they're the same genetically, unless..something is different..
The second is too much watering early on from saturation in the cup stopping the tap root going down to the bottom, now you dont water it till its dry on top but that's where the main tap stopped once it hit that saturation a knuckle deep.
Use two solo cups, cut the bottom off one and slice it top to bottom. Now put that in another solo cup with some/few holes in the bottom for drainage and fill it with your soil mix.
One time, after the sprout/seed is planted and covered, water it slowly until it drains and the soil is wet (not flooded) THEN leave it TF alone. Use an eyedropper full right at the stem when it pops AFTER the soil on top dries out in a couple days. When its three fingers tall (a few days) check to see if there are any roots poking out of the bottom of the second cup. If not slide the inner cup out gently on its side, until you can see the bottom where the dirt is. If you see nothing at all, worry about it later, is the soil there wet or moist or saturated? It's been several days so that initial saturation should've been used by the plant and the dropper fulls by the stem would keep the tap root from drying out.
Would anyone second the idea, take the seedlings out, and get the taproot to the bottom of a new container? GG

 

[parrajara]

They're both dead, Im sure of it. Im going to buy happy frog for my next attempt. Just wish I made more progress than last time, but they died around the same stage. Frustrating but I already knew it would be

 

[013]

Drive by... parra its all good.

I am the reigning king of killing shit, beans, seedlings, even whole plants. A few months back I accidentally bumped my timer pins which in turn sent my clone mother into flower, then after a long slow reveg she was doing ok, then I top dressed soil with what I though was diatomaceous earth but later discovered I had grabbed the wrong bag and had put silicone dioxide with bug killer in it..... which killed my 8 month old clone mother.

I just dropped beans other week a few days later I found my freshly cooked soil was full of larvae.

Get back to the drawing board, I know you will do much better staying with photos for now, autos are so freaking picky. Cut your teeth on photos and lock in a few harvests, then once you get the hang of things play with a few autos if you like.

all right now!

 

[parrajara]

Drive by... parra its all good.

I am the reigning king of killing shit, beans, seedlings, even whole plants. A few months back I accidentally bumped my timer pins which in turn sent my clone mother into flower, then after a long slow reveg she was doing ok, then I top dressed soil with what I though was diatomaceous earth but later discovered I had grabbed the wrong bag and had put silicone dioxide with bug killer in it..... which killed my 8 month old clone mother.

I just dropped beans other week a few days later I found my freshly cooked soil was full of larvae.

Get back to the drawing board, I know you will do much better staying with photos for now, autos are so freaking picky. Cut your teeth on photos and lock in a few harvests, then once you get the hang of things play with a few autos if you like.

all right now!

I appreciate you man! Always so helpful and kind. I'm sorry to hear about your clone mother... that must be devastating! Glad you're taking it well haha.

I went by the store today and picked up happy frog. Hopefully the soil is the issue, because I am running out of ideas. Last thing I can try is switching my seeds provider, although they seemed well reviewed. I'm going to last my last 2 out of 6 seeds, and see how it goes.

Unfortunately I am pressed on time on a daily basis, so I may not be able to update this as often as I would like, but I will do my best!

 

[parrajara]

I will be traveling to visit my mother for a week, so I have to postpone my next growth until after November 15th. I will start fresh then.

 

[013]

Hey Parra,

Thanks yeah hated to lose clone mom and clone sister are not doing so hot. I’ve got mites & possibly root aphids still. I have good plans for solid IPM program but it’s not integrated pest managementif I’m too busy or distracted to follow the pest management protocols


Hey, no worries.... we all live in the real world too and at times our garden plans have to take a back seat to more important events. I hope your trip to visit with your mother goes well and please shout out when you get cranked back up!

just as a heads up - found out my soil bin is / was spawning white maggot looking larvae so don’t feel like the Lone Ranger there on plant problems, bad luck or whatever.... I’m still the official seed slayer - so chin up and we will look forward to your return!

 

[parrajara]

that’s light bleaching, it’s probably cooked. It could make it so keep trying but no worries if it don’t. Good call on the new germination and solo cups. We use successive upcans to maximize rootball growth on photoperiods .....The upcan thing can be done on autos but it can also stunt them if done wrong or too early or late

Hey friend,

I hope you're doing well

An update:

I got rid of the other soil and started my grow with a mix of Happy Frog and perlite. It seems like my issue was likely the soil, because that is the only thing I changed from my previous 2 grows. I'm so mad the idiot at the store recommended that soil when I already went in there with my mind set on Happy Frog - which proved to work.

The seedlings are about 2 weeks old now, and up until today I was soooo happy with my progress.... But I woke up to my lights being off during it's light cycle. My gf set up a timer for them and clearly it was setup improperly. When I plugged in the light to the timer, the lamp was still until I went to sleep close to midnight. I have no idea at what point during the night it went off, so I don't know how long it was for. Could have been 5 minutes or 8 hours for all I know. I tried looking through the timer's settings to determine what time it shuts off at, but can't figure it out.

Anyway, this morning I turned the light on immediately, but I don't know what to do now. If I should resume it's regular schedule right away, or if I should leave it on 18hrs then resume it, or if I should just switch it to 24/7 light.

 

[013]

Hey ParraJarra! What’s happening?? I’m good - hope you are? I gotta roll out in a few minutes to work on something but no worries at all. You cannot harm that little one by switching light hours around obviously if you keep doing it that is not optimal & could create stress but the occasional slip - no probs! Go back to your regular scheduled programming. Even in flower it’s not a prob for one screw up but again you wanna be consistent as possible in flower.

I will say some of the new digital type timers have screwed me over more than once. I like them and they are fairly reliable but eventually I touch the thing and its all gone to the shitter. I stick with the old school push pin type and even that has screwed me over. I bumped the pins and clone mom went into flower. Good job on the new soil gear! Catch up soon

 

[parrajara]

@013 Appreciate all the support, always! I'm glad to hear everything is good with you.

All is well here. I'm very happy to hear that it may not be as big of a deal as I anticipated it to be. I will be testing the timer with the Christmas lights this week, and if it stays consistent I'll consider giving it another chance in the tent haha.

If there is anything this process can and should teach me, is patience!

 

[013]

Ah cool, I’m not much help but will try to keep you out of the ditch. Gosh knows I've muddled around killing beans and terrorizing plants. I know - right? Gimme patience but I need it right now!

 

[parrajara]

I'm not exactly sure when I started my germination/growth, but it was around November 19. Seedling was in the soil three days later by Nov 22.

I have to label them, but the one plant that has dirty leaves (thats dirt btw), has been through some adversity... I spilled it 3 times... Im pretty sure it's still alive and healthy, warrior.

I've topped off both plants with more happy frog. The one I spilt because it was missing soil and the other one because it was a bit stretched and I wanted to give the stem a little more support- hope that's not a bad idea.

Catelydons are starting to turn yellow now

Anyone's guess what should be a healthy amount of water that they should be consuming at this stage?

 

[013]

You did good by adding soil and I like the measured approach you are taking. I can tell she’s not being overwatered. Slow and steady wins the race.

Couldn’t say I don't measure water but probably should. I spray mist the water on the outer perimeter of soil about 3 to 4 inches away from main stalk to tease roots to spread out. Not every day or every other day or in a regular pattern but slowly trying to extend the days between waterings. Wait 2 to 3 days then give a little spray, then wait 3 to 4 days and give a little spray and so on. I widen the circle out and spray farther from center each time. See how her leaves are perky and upright, I wait until they start to droop and show me that she’s thirsty. There’s other ways to skin that cat too

 

[parrajara]

Thank you mate! I've been spraying mist too and a bit away from the stalk, but I didn't implement that gradual spreading out strategy that you mention. I'm going to start doing that now

I imagine you increase the amount of water you're giving the plant as you spread out the days? Since it's bigger and consumes more?

I've been trying to do it by eye and feel, like you said, waiting for the leaves to droop. I've also been poking the soil to see if it's wet, but to be honest I can never tell if it's dry enough or if I should wait a bit longer, so I end up going by look.

Really excited to see it start to take off

 

[parrajara]

noticing some yellowing on the leaves there. Perhaps the nutrient burn people speak about when using happy frog?
It also looks like nitrogen deficiency. Cant tell.

 

[parrajara]

Here with an update.

Lady 1 (Cannabitch) is doing good, but lady 2 (Marijuana) is still basically the same size as 1 week ago... Ive ordered some Sweet C99 seeds from PeakSeeds, so hoping to get those soon.

Should I even continue nursing Lady 2? I plan to start the autos in the new year. I will continue growing Lady 1 and switch it to flower with the autogrows, even if its a mini plant. Bad idea ?

If it is feasible, I guess I wouldn't top or LST Lady 1, just let it be, but I would top the autos to delay their flowering a little. The idea would be to let the photoperiod grow a little more before switching to flower.

Here are pictures taken minutes ago. As you can see, Lady 2 isn't looking awfully unhealthy.... but its just not progressing.

I watered both plants till run off on Dec 14 at night. I will be watering them again today. Hoping to see some improvements once they are on a better dry/wet cycle.

Special thanks to @Emilya for helping me narrow down my issue with the plants on the other thread.