I'm hoping someone here may have some experience with LEDs and organic grows. I don't want to retype everything so I am linking to my thread in the help section: Slow Growth/Stumped If you need any other details, please ask. I'm not quite sure where to go from here. I feel like I've dialed everything in correctly. But the seedlings just don't seem to be growing at the rate that they should be. Thanks!
that's a pretty old post you copied the recipe from. did you use ALL the amendments on that list? if so my guess would be the soil is way too hot for the seedlings. you want to germinate in very light soil, with very little in the ways of amendments, if at all. i use a mix of of peat and worm castings at a 9:1 ratio and add just a pinch of kelp meal, then i cut everything 50/50 with aeration media. check this thread out: Riffing on GiMiKs Seed Starting mix also you mentioned they are already under 900W of LED which also seems excessive at this stage. a small 20-50w CFL or 5-10w of LED is more then enough until they grow some real leaves.
I used the 8 item list at the bottom of post #23, for my mix. I'll take a look at the link you provided and the seedling mix you mentioned. Thanks.
my bet is on the alfalfa meal cooking your seedlings. your mix is probably ok for use with plants that are a bit more mature, especially if you let it sit some more, alfalfa is strong stuff! if you are looking for a more current organic soil recipe may i recommend the no-till thread No-Till Gardening: Revisited
Thank you sir. I appreciate it. So I used pro-mix for the basis of my soil. I have some leftover that didn't get mixed into the organic recipe I made. Would that be a good basic soil to start the seedlings in? Or should I just go with your earlier recommendation?
it would be better then starting them in a hot soil, but if you have some castings and aeration, or even just aeration, id mix a small batch like i said earlier.
I appreciate it man. And as for the peat you mentioned, I'm assuming you mean peat moss? So 9 parts of peat moss for every 1 part of worm castings? Just want to make sure I get everything right. I'm gonna run an experiment and germinate a single seed using your described method. And compare the growth rate. I think that will be the best way to determine if the soil was the issue. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I have not been pH'ing the water. As I read that it's unnecessary in organic soil grows. Am I correct in this assumption?
also... i read the first couple posts in the thread you linked.... you should not be letting your cups go completely dry as someone mentioned to you. in order for biology in the soil to work (as well as cec), you must have moisture. you were definitely not over watering them, and in my opinion they were being under watered. furthermore, peat moss, when allowed to dry too much, is really frickin hydrophobic and hard to remoisten. my soil is always wet, and never dry ( i use blumats for automated watering ). with organics, you should not be watering for runoff. you want the soil to absorb all that water and have zero runoff. if you have runoff in organic soil you are leaching out the nutrients that you need in your soil because they are not being replenished by a liquid immediately available form (bottles).
I actually read about not wanting too much runoff. I cut drainage holes in the cups because I didn't want to drown the roots. But I basically water till I start getting droplets from the holes and then stop. So I try not to get too much drainage. I'll work on keeping the soil moist while also not drowning them. Thanks for the added advice. I'll take all the advice I can get.
yeah the drainage holes are always a good insurance policy. with the little cups like that i like to use the mist setting on my pump sprayer to water so i don't flood the little solos. and also, you should have the soil filled to near the top of them... roots need space to grow and develop. and i agree with scooby, your soil is too hot for the seedlings. seeds have everything they need to get off to a good start. once they get that good start, then you can topdress some of the nutrient loaded soil and that will carry them along for a little bit and you'll see faster, more vigorous growth. then you can transplant to a hotter soil when you have a good root mass to do so. Edit: if you have the proper amount of drainage ( 33-40% of the mix ) you can almost never drowned a plant from regular waterings (within reason of course lol)
yeah 9 parts promix and 1 part castings, then cut that 50/50 with perlite or other aeration media. i like perlite for seedlings as its small unlike pumice and lava rock which just feel awkward to use with tiny seedlings. rice hulls or buckwheat hulls are also great for aerating seedling mix
So I just ordered some straight peat moss online (Amazon), since I won't have access to the rest of my pro-mix for longer than I thought. Will that be OK?
oh and you will also want some agricultural lime, or crushed oyster shell flour to PH buffer the peat which is acidic. promix already has lime but if you buy just peat you need to add it yourself. use at 1c per cubic foot of soil, or scale to needs
By agricultural lime, do you mean dolomite lime? Once I get this mixed up, will it need to sit to prep like the organic mix? Or is it ready to use immediately? Edit: Oh and in what concentration?
it'll be read to use. acidity will help dissolve the dolomite lime (oyster shell flour will also work). once the mix starts getting acidic, it will start to dissolve and a reaction will take place and neutralize the acidic protons into water (co2 is also a byproduct of this rxn) use at 1/2c-1c per 7.5 gal of total soil volume (peat + compost + drainage) or if you're making a small amount 1-2 TBSP per gallon of total soil volume
Awesome, thank you man. I appreciate the help. I'll get a mix of this going in the next couple of days and try it with a 2nd set of seeds to compare with the ones in have going now. I appreciate all the help/info.
also, i would encourage you to skip the paper towel when you germinate them. soak for 12h then plant 1/4inch deep in your mix. keep it covered until they break ground to maintain moister.
Sounds good. Thank you gentlemen. Also, just cause I want to make sure and dial everything in as perfectly as possible. Can either of you confirm if I am correct in not worrying about the pH of my water? I let it usually sit for about 24-48 hours before using it. But otherwise I don't do anything else. I read that it isn't necessary to pH the water when doing an organic grow. Is this correct?