My seedlings are stretching consistently and I've exhausted all of the options to the point where I believe its from lack of soil nutrients at all because I'm pretty sure this soil was used for something already, But just in case I'm asking on here for more information. -26W CFL - both seedlings are an inch away - Only watered twice since they sprouted both are about 4-5 inches with second set of leaves only coming in now -Both are really green and really healthy (the one is a lil droopy but I believe it cuz I might have put a lil to much water in last feeding so it should be fine in a day or two) like I said I think its because the soil was used already but its just bagseed and I've already learned a TON about germing and starting seedlings by doing this process blindly and I believe every nooby should go through the same thing.
mj need lots of light. read sticky on cfl lighting. you need like 4 of those cfl per plant. make sure blue spectrum to veg.
I don't think you need that much light for a seedling but I do agree that 5000K and 5500K day light CFL bulbs are going to keep a plant shorter than a 2100K or 2700K soft white cfl. If the lights are within an inch, and you have the right spectrum, then I can't think of much else aside from genetic factors. The soil shouldn't have too much of an impact here, I'd guess. What's your light schedule? An extended dark period might be encouraging the stretch of this seedling. Just make sure you get a good breeze on the plant and it should work out fine in the end.
Ive read stickies 26w its more then enough light and lumens for a seedlings first week or so and I Please read my post a bit thoroughly You guys are answering questions that I'm not even asking.. -light is 24/0 -yes soil does have an impact if the soil was used for another plant it will not work to grow in again ONLY by itself without being mixed up. Ik this for a fact from much reading. Now if you have something to add, please let me know if the soil for sure causes this I know its enough light and its a daylight bulb so its the right spectrum its the right lumens its the right distance from the plant its getting watered fine and its not burning. (if your gona provide numbers or statistics with your answer please post a link with proof saying you need 4 of those CFL per plant is a horrible assumption to make You have no idea what strain, what space I have, what CFL s I have. for example once CFL in a mylar lined box could put out just as much as say 2 CFL s not in a mylar lined box) -mephy
I disagree that "we are answering questions you didn't ask." I'm pretty sure I just addressed what blkwhtdog had posted to straighten it all out. You didn't state the type of cfl in the op so I had to address this more broadly. But if you read my post I try to stay logical. "If...Then..." statements, you know. So, I'd hate to have to repeat myself but I suppose I will. If it isn't the light distance and if it isn't the light spectrum then I think the likely factor to be the genetics. If you are unfamiliar with these genetics (never grown them before) then that makes this conclusion more likely. You definitely seem to have a concern about your soil though. Why you wouldn't make sure you gave your "kids" the best chance at success possible (It'd be like giving your children a dry pen and a piece of cardboard and sending them to school expecting good grades) I cannot understand? There is recourse here, so you may as well just take care of this for your own peace of mind. You should just go out and get yourself some good potting soil, something organic. Remove as much of the soil from the top of your planter as you can without damaging the root system. Refill the planter to the brim with the new good soil and allow the nutrients to wash down from new to old when you water. Also, I've stated this before as well. Make sure you have a good breeze on those plants to strengthen the stems (keep them from tipping over) and by the end of the grow this initial stretch shouldn't be an issue. When you transplant you can bury the plant up to whatever point you want, so it's all good dude.
What exactly is stretching? I think I might be having the same problems with my seedlings... I'm also using Fluorescents. I have 4 40watt tubes. I'm in the process of switching too the 6500k spectrum since I started with the wrong tubes. I bought the new ones today. So what is stretching?
what type of light spectrum are you using? I believe they are stretching because it needs more light... more of the correct light. or how about you take a picture and show us.
Pictures would definitely help diagnose the problem and i think, as snowcrash said, if its not the light spectrum them its likely bad genetics or possibly bad soil mix. I'd suggest transplanting them into some good soil mix and continue the same process your doing and hopefully the little baby will sort itself out! Be careful as the plant will be fragile and too much shock will damage it! If this doesn't work then i'm not sure what to suggest! What seed strain are you going with?
If your plants are stretching then most likely you dont have enough light or you dont have the right spectrum of light. Seedlings dont really need nutes for the first week so reusing soil shouldnt be a problem... unless you used miracle grow on the other grow. miracle grow destroys soil and i wish that it was never created. bad bad bad stuff all around, i hate it with a passion.
Stretching would be big spacing between nodes, or seedlings stretch the sprout itself will stretch in height a sprout that is 4 inches or higher thats bad stretch your plant is trying to get itself to light.
daylight bulb is of the right color spectrum its the 5600k temp But anyway what I ended up doing was just burying the stem of the one and its second set of leaves are coming in fine Like i said before this is bagseed and this was a blind experiment just to see how far I could get a plant to go without buying to much as a learning process for myself. This way I'm more involved until I setup my grow room This is my project.
FYI 6500K is best for vegg, just throwing that out there. Good luck and hope you get some good practise out of this.