First grow - Lost 2 of 4 - Leaves curling - Seem stunted

[a2zunknown]

So, my first grow. I planted 4 seeds in a cheap germination kit. 2 days later 2 seeds sprouted. Next day the other 2. One was a cotton candy. One Samsara White Widow. Two Samsara Green Love Potion. The love potions both came up first. Then widow then candy. All within a day or so of eachother. I pulled them out of the room I had them in and put them in the house by a window for a few hours so I could clean and paint the room. They had been under one 13w daylight cfl. I put them back for 2 days then pulled them out again to do some caulking. I then realized iI've would be better off putting them in a more steady environment until I was finished with the room. So I put them in a separate room. The day before that I lost the cotton candy. It would hardly stand up. Leaves started to curl downward alot and leaves yellowed. So I scrapped it. After in the new room for 2 days I upgraded the lights to one 26w cfl and 3 more 18w. Total of 4 lights. I then transplated the into pots. Probably too late as it had been about 8 days. I noticed the widow had curled itself downward. And had a very thin part in the stalk where it bent downward. I must also include, when moving them into the new room, I dropped this one. :/ Well a day later it died too. So I'm left with the love potions. I used a mixture of nutes from the general organics go box and used this twice. Probably too soon and too much, so I have ceased from using any more. Water is ph'd to 6.0 and feed when the soil is dry. But the leaves are all curling down, and they dont seem to be growing at all. the stems, which previously had more of a purple/red hue now are lighter green/white with a hint of red near the base and just under the leaves. I have chexked for bugs and no sign whatsoever. Does anyone have any insight as to what may be the problem? One thing that may be of note is that the lights all are at a 45 degree angle about 6 inches from the plants. 2 on each side. Should they be closer, or pointing straight down? Please help.

 

[donpaul.p]

Re: First grow. Lost 2 of 4. Leafs curling. Seem stunted.

Hi,

lets see if we can get your grow back on track
if your growing in compost you have bought then you wont need any nutrients for at least 4 weeks, so stop all nutrients at this stage,
pics would give us a better idea of whats going on,

to me it either sounds like they have been overwatered which is very easy early on in seedling stage, they probably only need about 2 tablespoons every few days for the first week, so if you have been soaking the pots fully then the roots will really suffer as the plant is not able to use up the water and this stops oxygen getting to the roots,

so it could be over watered, it could also be the nutrients, you wont need any nutrients until the plant tells you it needs nutrients which if your using compost/soil you have bought then you will easily go 4 to 6 weeks without adding anything at all,

also using 1x low watt cfl is not going to be enough light, if its all you got then the cfls needs to be within 2 or 3 inches from the tops of the plants, if the stems are weak try using a stick to tie the stem to so it holds the plant up,
also make sure you dont have any fans blowing on the plants, this will cause the leaves to lose moisture to quick and they will wilt and die,

you can grow with cfls but you will need around 200 actual watts for 2 plants during veg, you need daylight cfls for veg and 2700k cfls for flower, ive grown with cfls and got good results but you need the lights close to the plants and many of them,

so stop with the nutes for now, check how often you water, make sure the pots have drain holes so the soil can breath. dont play with the plants at all just leave them to do their thing,
if you have a spray bottle then you can add moisture to the plants by spraying the leaves with a fine water spray once a day usually just after lights out,

id also say for seedling stage give them 18-6 light schedule as this is the best schedule for the most rapid root growth,

try and get some pics up of the plants and the pots their in, then we can give you a better idea of what the problem us, also check the temp of the room

 

[KingJohnC]

Re: First grow. Lost 2 of 4. Leafs curling. Seem stunted.

I agre with the advice donpaul.p has given you. You have most likely over watered your plants and given them too high of dosage of nutrients. You will need a lot more light then what you are providing your plants. Consider a purchase of at least a 3 watt LED panel or a High Intensity Discharge ballast with a Metal Halide for vegetative growth and a High Pressure Sodium light bulb for flowering.

 

[a2zunknown]

Re: First grow. Lost 2 of 4. Leafs curling. Seem stunted.

Awesome, thanks guys. Based in my research I had a feeling I over watered them. I havent watered them since my post. They look great now. And growing. No nutes either. Temp stays 72-78f. No fans. I have 4 cfls. A single 26w and three 18w. I have a 1000w HID mh/hps cool tube set up but can't set it up right away. In the process of changing some things in the grow room. Plants are in a temporary grow space at the moment. I do realize all these environment changes are not helping me in the long run but had some unexpected bumps in the road. Also this is my trial by fire grow. Done tons of research but new the best way was just to start a few seeds. definitely appreciate all the info. And I will post some pics soon. Considering starting a journal. Ill post a link to it here if I get one going. Many thanks!!

 

[a2zunknown]

Re: First grow. Lost 2 of 4. Leafs curling. Seem stunted.

I lowered my lights down so 2 are just above the plants and 2 more are facing the lower sides of the plants. I'm using 5000k cfls. 26w. Would anyone recommend using 2700k ones along with the 5000k?

 

[KingJohnC]

Re: First grow. Lost 2 of 4. Leafs curling. Seem stunted.

I have used T12 2700 kelvin along side 6400 kelvin for my vegetative area.