my sick seedlings :(

what kind of soil are you using? what kind of lights? how close are they?

 

Wow I have never seen anything like that. And there only a week in? They should be a little bigger than that. Nay alot bigger. The process of germination would be a factor. Were your hands and apparatus clean, did you over germinate (meaning you let it soak in water for too long). Is the soil you have to high or low in PH, or fertilzer. Are you using pure watersuch as bottled or distilled? These are the questions that need to be answered before an accurate aswer to your question is given.

 

Firstly, lets address the water issue. I am a strong believer in distilled water, ppl may say thats too expensive but you can buy a gallon for 95 cents and it should last you awhile depending on how many plants you have. Tap water is bad because of the fluctuation of PH, caused by the impurities in municipal water , and pipes in your home. If you absolutely have to use it, let it sit out for atleast 24 hours before use.

Secondly, you need to find out what kind of floro's ure using, difference in wattage could make all the difference.

Thirdly, you still havent said what you did during the germination process. Thats where the life of the plant starts. And where i believe it is most crucial to be sanitary.

And lastly, your soil should be a even mixture of vermiculite, perlite, fertilizer ( anything with a good NPK with high nitrogen) and base soil.

 

If you have anymore seeds I would suggest you stop planting them in that soil and go out and get some new soil, like potting soil. I like it because i can add fertilizer to it and it has a nice balance of perlite in it to help with drainage and aeration. I dont like the preset fertilizer in my soil. I also suggest while your there to get a fertilizer with a NPK of 9-5-7 or 7-5-5 or something with a high nitrogen level. Your plants are going to want alot of that in the early stages of germination and veg growth. Less of nitrogen and more of phosphorus in flowering but thats a different time. STOP using tap water, just stop using it. Im telling you Distilled water or purified water is the best way to maintain a balanced PH and keep unnecesary elements out of your plants.

 

I can have mine a few cms away but go for a few inches to be safe. Also I have only ever used tap water in my dwc. I don't even let it sit and have had no problems. Might just be where I live.

 

All water supplies are different, but i never trust them anyway. I keep my light about 4 to 5 inches away, not to far so they grown lanky but not too close where they can suffer heat damage. I know flouros shouldnt be too hot but i like to be cautious.

 

i use rain water i collect'd in a 5 gallon bucket that i PH test and adjust to 6.5.. and eather PH up or down depending on my soil PH

 

Rain water?!?! Thats bizarre, why would you do that?

 

Personally I think that might be the problem... That water had to sit outside for some ammount of time, that's just asking for trouble... That could bring in fungus, bacteria and pests

 

well, it's free distilled water. but like pothead said, i definitely could see it being a problem just always sitting outside. your best bet would be to put all the water in something sealed, lightproof, and cold right after it rains. then always keep everything clean after using it. if you took those precautions, you could probably get away with it.

 

i guess it is cheaper, lol. ut i dont like to risk it. its a whole lot easier to just go buy a gallon for 95 cents. and plus it hasnt rained in 2 weeks, what happens then?

 

Rain water is about the best water to use on plants and gardens, it holds great nutes and i my rain always sits around 6-7pH. If your worried about contamination get a UV water sanitizer, it kills all of the bacteria in the water.

Ive used the water on my garden as much as i can and all 12 of my tomatoes are doing great, cucumbers, watermelons, beans, strawberries. everything loves it. hell i've got 200 gallons on tap, 100 at each of my collectors, its a great replacement for tap water.

the collector on the back side of my house has a hose running to my basement window well for my other tomatoes


the other collector on my deck is mainly for my garden


i use no UV sanitation, and I have never had any problems with fungus, pest or bacteria. I have a nylon stocking attached to each of the downspout feeder (where the tube enters the barrel) that filters all of the nasties out of my water.

The only thing i notice is that after a hard rain i have allot of pollen in the barrels, not a big deal just more nutes. However a light long rain produces crystal clear water.

 

nugs: that is a sweet rain water collection system. looks flawless to me.

 

I must give you your props, i have never seen that. I would try it but rain is so inconsistant where i live to have a substantial supply. And may I ask what do you do in the winter months with sub freezing temps?

 

Thanks chem; if anyone wants to make their own buckets i suggest using the thick rubbermaid bins rather than the bargan cheap ones... i started off with the bargain bins (the black ones) but soon after it rained I found out that the weight of the water severely hindered the structural rigidity of the barrel

I also found out that I needed more storage, so I went back to wal mart (oh god) and got the blue rubbermaid bins, and those hold water much better.

I dont know yet... I havent thought of that yet... maybe a heating pad under the barrel? but that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Im not sure what Im going to do in the winter, I know that I will be seeing snow, and that they will collect melt off... I guess I'll have to regulate the amount in the barrels during the winter pretty fiercely.

 

Seems like a difficult task, hope you figure it out. Dont want those plants getting thirsty.