The seedlings have been in the rockwool for about two weeks now. They were doing good, about 1/2" above the rockwool (monday 12-15-08). I was out of town for three nights and had left everything to my automated system. When i got back (friday afternoon 12-19-08) the seedlings looked like they had grown a bunch but then ends were shriveled up on all of them and they looked dead. They had plenty of water, light, and air. However i had not hooked up the CO2 system yet. When i got back on friday i scrambled to get the CO2 going and hopefully revive them. I recently bought the newest issue of High Times and read about nutrient burn, so i thought that it might be something like that cause the water is staining the rockwool, as you can see in the pics. My water mix is a 10gal container with half solution of Fox Farm's Grow Big (6-4-4). The recommended solution is 1 teaspoon per gallon but i have been doing half that. Anybody have any ideas??? Please Help!
It's shitty to have to start over again but its only been two weeks. Does anyone have an idea as to why this may have happened?
god i love people who have endless money to spend on auto-systems and CO2 generators, but have zero knowledge on what to do with it all. big waste of money dont you think..? i researched for 2 years before i even tried to grow, and even then i had to ask a lot of questions. anyway, definitely start over with no nutes. earliest i will give nutrients is about 3 weeks after sprout, and it would be a very dilute solution. and those cubes look really wet in the pics, you dont really need that much water at all when you are starting.
I've researched for quite some time, however i have heard it a bunch of different ways as far as introducing the nutes. And just like you, I am still asking questions. As for the cubes being wet, they just got done watering. but thanks for your input.
You will know when your plants need neuts, and start them off with a 1/4 solution, especially if its chemical. and not organic, Never ever go above a 1/2 or at the very most a 3/4 strenght solution. and never give plants neuts unless they got 3 set of leaves or around there. But for the first couple weeks they have all the neuts they need. And as far as the Co2 goes....... you dont start introducing that shit until your in the flowering stage... But in all honesty, even veterans that have been growing for 10 yrs dont use co2, i wouldnt bother using it until you have everything else in your grow perfect. One thing at a time man. You gotta walk before you can run. Main thing you should be concentrating on right now, is temps, and the status of your grow medium, such as PH. Once you got that all down pat, move on to the next aspect. take care man.
Thanks noTasteaMEr. Thanks for your info. I have some new seeds in water now to get them going. I will definitely wait on the nutes this time around. It was an expensive mistake but its a learning process. As for the CO2 my justification for that is all plants thrive on CO2 whether they are in the vegetative state or flowering. I have access to 50lb CO2 cylinders at no cost to me, so i am just taking advantage of that. I am using DI water. and i adjust my pH to be around 5.7-5.9. The temp in the room is 68deg F and the humidity is around 70 right now. It stays pretty constant.
i think in soil you will want the pH to be more like 6.2 - 6.7. that lower pH range is for hydro. this is the first grow i have done pH correction from the start, and i am going about 6.5 or 6.6, and the plants are loving it. i agree with the CO2, if its free use it all the time. just out of curiosity, how do you have free access to tanks?
Its real easy to "over attend" to your plants when first starting out. Especially your seedlings. The plants have enough nutrition stored in the seed for about 2-3 weeks before any food is needed. ALWAYS use 1/4 strength nutes when feeding your young-uns. As they grow and prosper, they will tell you when they need additional nutrition. A light, or lime green leaf will tell you to kick it up a notch. You can increase your feeding ratios incrementally as your babies grow. (1/4 to 1/2 to full). Resist the temptation to water/feed them daily. Let your medium dry out a bit. This pulls o2 into root zone which makes roots . The number one newbie screw up is to over water/feed your plants. I know that you will feel like you should be doing more, but just chill and marvel at the beauty of what you are doing. The other point I might share, is that rockwool is very absorbent, and really soaks up the water, so be real careful not to leave the rooting cubes soaking wet. Less is more when getting your seedlings off the ground. Once you get a root system established....let er rip!!! ***side note...A small fan blowing over your area will help to keep rockwool cubes drying. Good luck and good growing!
My set up is hydro. Thats why i'm running a lower pH. I get the tanks cause i use CO2 in my welding shop so, really its not free but is business deduction. and one 50lb tank should last a long time.
haha, make sure it isnt argon, instead of co2 haha, just kidding, i have a couple argon bottles sitting in my place, fucking tig, i HATE TIG welding, fucking slow and painful. I'd rather just slap a 1/4" rod in my stinger and blow that shit 7018 in there lol.
he he he yeah there is argon laying around too. i actually like tig better though. it leaves such a nice bead!
Those are in rockwool? To me your stuff looks like that semi-hard dry flower arrangement foam... Rockwool:
hahahah it does... but it almost looks a little.. play-doh-y unless thats just from the excessive soaking
Assuming that really is rock wool, I didn't see anybody else mention it, but make sure to pH correct the rock wool before use. From what I've read that stuff is like pH 10 out of the package. I'm new at this myself, and my first attempt with rock wool cubes was pretty ugly even after I soaked them in pH 5.5 water. I also had to start over, but went for soil on the second try based on everybody's suggestion that it was easier to start with soil rather than hydro. My new babies at 1 week are way bigger and much healthier than my first attempt. Good luck