Help! Seedling withering!

[KenneyHo]

First time grower. My first seedling to break through 8 days ago began looking droopy last night and this morning woke up to this. The starter leaves are yellow. It’s in FFOF soil and have only been watering with 6.7 PHd water. I moved the CFLs a little further up last night. Temps are 77-84 and RH is 55-70.

 

[AngryBird]

Do you water it often? It looks dry, but maybe bottom is wet?
Look for bugs... Scratch surface of soil.
Maybe the soil is too strong for seedling.?
Too many nutrients?

 

[KenneyHo]

I have been spraying with 6.7 phd water once a day but trying to let them tell me when and not overwater them. I haven’t added any nutes yet.

 

[AngryBird]

I remember reading many journals and posts about FFOF soil being to strong for a seedling and actually can nuteburn one.
The Yellowing of first leaves could be a sign of just that.

 

[KenneyHo]

That stinks! Would a heavy watering with run off decrease some of the potency of the soil?

 

[Virgin Ground]

Ffof is pretty hot for seedlings. I usually mix it 50/50 with happy frog or just use straight happy frog for the babies.

You could do a flush at pH6.5.
3x amount of water the pot can hold.

 

[KenneyHo]

I think I’m going to try and flush them. Fingers crossed! Thanks everyone for the suggestions and keep them coming if you have other thoughts!

 

[AngryBird]

We are here for you

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Careful spraying seedling leaves, they can burn easily, looks like what you have there

Ffof is hot, but I've never had an issue with it for babies myself, just watch yer watering and keep those leaves dryer

 

[KenneyHo]

Careful spraying seedling leaves, they can burn easily, looks like what you have there

Ffof is hot, but I've never had an issue with it for babies myself, just watch yer watering and keep those leaves dryer

Thank you! Question, Would that account for the yellowing of the starter leaves though?

 

[BearY420]

Im having the similar problem. I just put more soil to cover the stem a little more and watered them with 6.7 water. Should i wait till they dry out or start flushing with what ph water??

 

[KenneyHo]

Here we are this morning. I’ve added pictures of the three that started around the same time. CFLs have been on 24/0 for the first week. Should I switch them to 18/6? Other Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[AngryBird]

A plant needs some night, just to take a breath.
Go down slowly
Autos do well at 20/4 and ok at 18/6.
Depending on what light you have.
A pheno is absolutely fine with 18/6.

 

[KenneyHo]

A plant needs some night, just to take a breath.
Go down slowly
Autos do well at 20/4 and ok at 18/6.
Depending on what light you have.
A pheno is absolutely fine with 18/6.

Currently have a 23w CFL for each seedling. I was planning on switching over to an 800w COB LED once they got a little bigger. They are pheno.

 

[AngryBird]

And I wrote pheno.... Auto spelling on phone sucks....
It is too little light, even in my eyes.
Maybe it is time to fire some bigger ones on them?

 

[CannaCola]

i dont bother with low intensity lighting. right from sprouting, straight to the HID. (keep it high enough that you dont feel the heat on the back of your hand, and adjust compared to how they react, ie. compact = good, stretch = lower it a bit)

to me it looks like your soil is too hot. Most if not all of them should pull through(theyre tough buggers) but in the future, i would go with your main light right from the start and either:

a) use a soilless mix so you have full control of nutrients
b) cut that soil down, or use something with less nutrients.

let those pots dry out to the properly level. and then flush the crap out of them for the next while. too hot will stunt them a little in the beginning, but given time theyll be able to handle that dirt and will carry on as if nothing happened!

edit: 18 to 24 hours is fine. I use 24/0 for autos until they start flowering. when they start flowering i move to 20/4 . Simply becasue i find they veg faster under 24 hour, and i dont notice a difference in yield once i drop them down in flower.

everyone will swear by something different, but nearly everyone will agree on a number between 18-24. So thats completely up to you

 

[KenneyHo]

 

[CannaCola]

hard to tell from the pics. any progress? or are they haulted? dirt still looks pretty wet. have you watered them at all yet?

 

[KenneyHo]

hard to tell from the pics. any progress? or are they haulted? dirt still looks pretty wet. have you watered them at all yet?

Gave them a flush on Friday and then nothing else until tonight. They are bouncing back and the new growth looks good so far. I also moved the fan that was closest to the two that looked the worst, as I think it was blowing too much on the seedlings.

 

[CannaCola]

just a light breeze is good. for seedlings i keep mine pointed away from them. its enough to get them to wiggle a little. thats about it.

as long as your new growth is looking good, thats what counts. the burnt leaves are a lost cause, dont even look at them

hopefully soon theyll blow up and be happy. make sure to add more drainage when you transplant.