Need Help - advice - What am I doing wrong?

[sec0pz]

Greetings all,
I am very new to growing. This is my first grow. I have been reading 420 since Dec. and have started germinating and (attempting to) grow some seedling from bag-seed. I seem to be having some problems with the seedling part of the grow. I cant get anything to come out of the soil, and when it does come above ground, the seed "shell" stays attached to the seedling. I have posted some pics to look at of botht e plants and my setup. I will try to give as much info as I can so the experts can give me good advice.
My DIY / Ghetto grow box is 4ft tall x 3 ft wide x 2 ft deep. I am using 8x 5700k CFLs. I germinate in damp papertowels then slip into ziplock bags to keep moist. When the beans pop, I wait til the tap root is approx 1/8 to 1/4 inch long before I plant in soil (FOX FARM OCEAN FOREST). I give it a few "spritzs" of water when I plant.

Now here is where I could (prob am) screwing up.

The water I have been using is well water with very high sulphates and manganese. Its "smelly" (smells like rotten eggs) water. Safe to drink and bathe in with a 6.0ph, but I dont know its effect on plants. Also, I have been giving the plants / seeds a few spritzes of water each day. Enough to keep the top of soil moist, but no more. I dont think I have been over watering, but I will leave that for someone to tell me.

Additionally, the seeds I am using are old. As in 3-4 yrs old and have sat in a baggy in my smoke box all that time. I need to order some good seeds but figured I would "learn" on the seeds that I have before I dropped dime on something new.

Anyway, thats it. I have one seedling above ground now and he /she has a deformed leaf set (in the pics) but looks strong.

Can some pls help me?? What am I doing wrong? I have since (48 hrs. ago) changed the water to melted snow water (room temp, 5.5 ph) and stopped watering everything.

Any advice is good advice and I will answer all questions.

Thanks in advance for your kind review.

==sec0pz

 

[Buddy Ebsen]

Re: Need Help / advice....What am I doing wrong?

Soil looks very dry, looks like they died of thirst. Was the soil moistened completely before dropping the seed? A shot glass of water every other day would not hurt, as long as the soil is not overly moist they would be okay.

Also, is the seed doesn't fall off, moisten it with a sprayer, leave it alone for 10 minutes to soften the shell, then gently pull it off with a pair of tweezers.

 

[Graytail]

Re: Need Help / advice....What am I doing wrong?

I have two suggestions.

It might help a little bit if your soil wasn't so chunky - probably not a big deal, but if you can sort through some and get a smoother mix, it'll catch the rootlets more easily.

And try planting them deeper - as much as 3/4 inch deep. That'll solve the attached husk thing - it'll pull off naturally as it rises through the soil. I've tried it and deeper is better.

Other than that, I like what you're doing. Spritzing isn't really recommended, but it doesn't sound like you're overdoing it. You want to soak the soil thoroughly before you plant the seed, and keep the whole cup in a warm place. That's 3 suggestions - keep 'em warm. I have a spot on my CFL hood that's nice and toasty - they love it - come up in 3 days tops. Once they're up and spread their cateylons, they're ready to rip. Give them full light and stop misting them.

 

[sec0pz]

Re: Need Help / advice....What am I doing wrong?

SABO You were right. I gave everything and shot or two of water and made sure the soil is moist. The one plant I have above ground already looks 100% better. Thanks much for your help.

==sec0pz

 

[sec0pz]

Re: Need Help / advice....What am I doing wrong?

Graytail, I just dropped 2 germinated beans into a very fine (sifted) Ocean Forrest soil in 2 cups. I put them 3/4 inch down like you said and gave them both a nice dose of snow water. I added three more CFL's to bring the temp up to approx. 88 deg. F, so it should be nice and toasty inside the grow box for the seeds.
Thank you very much for your help. I dont know what I would do without it.

==sec0pz

 

[Buddy Ebsen]

Re: Need Help / advice....What am I doing wrong?

SABO You were right. I gave everything and shot or two of water and made sure the soil is moist. The one plant I have above ground already looks 100% better. Thanks much for your help.

==sec0pz

Glad it worked out, the trick now is to keep the soil moist without over watering it. Wait until the top soil dries out, then start normal watering. In those cups you have, you really don't need all that much. Once they get their true leaves, they'll tell you when they need watered.

 

[Graytail]

Re: Need Help / advice....What am I doing wrong?

Graytail, I just dropped 2 germinated beans into a very fine (sifted) Ocean Forrest soil in 2 cups. I put them 3/4 inch down like you said and gave them both a nice dose of snow water. I added three more CFL's to bring the temp up to approx. 88 deg. F, so it should be nice and toasty inside the grow box for the seeds.
Thank you very much for your help. I dont know what I would do without it.

==sec0pz

Nah, you're doing fine yourself. 88 degrees is a little high once they sprout, so be careful with that. And FFOF is a little hot for seedlings - my seedlings did "ok" in it, but if you see some leaf burn after they sprout, don't freak out, that's the OF - they'll be allright.

Please keep us posted. I hate it when I give advice that doesn't work.

 

[Dswinners]

I'm a new grow also. Here's what I have learned on here. You will want your RH at or near 60%. I noticed you are at 15%. Another thing to keep in mind is snow/rain water is great but doesn't have mag, cal nutes in it. I found out the hard way. Haha

 

[sec0pz]

Dswinners, I could not agree with you more. I have recently ordered a humidifier for my grow-box. I thought the rian / snow water would be better for the plants than our well water, cuz it is very high in mag., cal and sulphates, but the more I readt the more I think the well-water would be better for the girls than rain / snow water.
Thanks much for your help. Your advise is greatly appreciated. I will switch waters asap.
Thank again for stopping by.

==sec0pz