Iv made two attepmts and now germinating for attempt 3, i am a beginner obviously. I plan to grow hydro so im propagating in the small rockwools. After they have sprouted and are around 5cm i am placing them under 250w hps/mh dual spec lights, approximately 15inches from the plants. After germination they seem healthy but after just one day under light they are falling over and it looks like theyre shriveling up , i have no idea what the problem is but i am now relating it to the lights because im quite sure i have not overwatered/underwatered . I do not have a temp measurement however. Anyone know the problem? here are some pics of how they eventually look : - Imgur
That's way to much light for seedlings, you're frying them. Until they have a real leaf set, they need to be in a germination dome, and a single 26w cfl from about a foot away is plenty of light, they're rooting more than growing. After they have a real set of leaves you can ease them up to the hps.
I concur with what he said, mostly. Also, why are you growing through...straws?? Not sure I've ever see that before...I don't see that helping out your situation. Your seedlings should never be that lanky. Do you have any grows under your belt? Perhaps you should just stick with a nice, proven, organic soil until you've researched more on proper hydro growing technique.
I applied the straws there only after the stems got thin, lanky and tipped over, before i put them under light they were standing straight, besides my light set iv only got a table lamp , would that be sufficient? or maybe a windowsill until they have grown a bit more?
get a cfl to start your seedling under, use that for the first 4 weeks then the big light at about 24" above the seedlings.. It also looks like you are keeping the cubes saturated, Your drowning the young roots.. Let them dry out more and dont saturate when watering, It would also help to surround the cubes with some hydroton.. I raise young seedling in cubes all the time.. when you water them , take a bowl put the water in t he bowl, dip each cube for a 3 second count then put them back,... doing that you should be succesful on your next attempt...gluck man
A simple CFL power strip setup like the picture below is great for starting seedlings and can be had for next to nothing, especially if you have a spare power strip laying around. Just get a couple of those plug-in light bulb adapters and some low watt 5100-6700k CFLs and you're good to go. If you notice them beginning to get lanky, just move your lights closer and they'll stop stretching abnormally. IMO, one of the main goals of indoor growing is keeping them short and bushy so you get the most out of your lights.
So instead of watering them with drops i should pick the whole cube up and dip it? wont that soak them, i dipped the whole cubes for a few minutes before germinating however
just dip the bottom edge..not the whole thing under water.. just the very bottom, it sucks it up... when you soak the for germination, shake them out before setting your seeds.. you dont want them saturated...hope this helps
[quote name='"yones420"'] So instead of watering them with drops i should pick the whole cube up and dip it? wont that soak them, i dipped the whole cubes for a few minutes before germinating however[/quote] It will soak them but the excess will run off when you take the cube out, but if you drip water and overdo it the cubes sit in that excess water.
Thanks alot guys! , buying cfl today and i will try the dipping the cube in water method for watering , i was thinking about spraying before however? i was going to purchase an empty bottle and fill it with PH appropriate water then spray the cubes instead
you dont need to adjust ph when not giving nutes.. just water is fine.. dipping is the best method man.. I had these same issues when i started using cubes, try to get growdan cubes they work the best..