Hi, there is something wrong with this seedling. First of all, it is 3 weeks old and it looks like this, plus the first fanned leaves turned yellow with brown spots so they were clipped off. Lastly, the second fanned leaves are very droopy. The soil is just something from walmart because it shouldn't matter that much. The light used is a high spectrum repti-glo light 2.0, the fan is set to go off four times a day for 30 minutes, but before that, it was on all day and was changed due to it causing the humidity to fall and temperature to go higher.
Have you grown with that light before? I believe reptile lights are basically heat lights, and some create hot spots. Does the fan blow onto the seedlings or away from them?
No, but this light is mostly used just for light and not heat, and it is just as hot as a fluorescent light. And the fan blows toward the seedling.
The burnt tips tell me that you have fert burn. I would think your soil is bad. I would think about getting the better soil and give her light. Get some soil with out ferts and add them yourself so you can get the correct NPK for MJ. Make sure when you do add ferts that, you use 25% of the suggested dose. The foilar misting your doing is way to much, part of the brown spots could be from that. Also I see nothing about your temps/humidity. They are important to moniter and control. If you are on a budget, no fear for 10 bucks you can atleast see what you have. Keep your temps in the 70's low high 80. purple stems are sign of to cold at night, check your lows. How far are your lights away from the plants?
I have top soil, I'll use that, but I also have a variety of ferts; 8-10-8, 16-0-0, 4-6-4, and 12-0-0. Any suggestions? Maybe a mix? I'm sure the light is fine, but check to be sure. It's a Repti Glo 2.0 Compact Full Spectrum Terrarium Lamp. I also have the 10.0, which is better? The light is about 9 inches away from the plants. http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/compact_fluorescent_bulbs.php The temperature after changing the set up is about 84 while the humidity is 55. At night the temp is about 79, but the strain is supposed to be blueberry, so could that be the reason for the purple stem?
There ya go, its too hot. You want your high to be 80 and low at nights around mid 60's. Your bulb. .. to me the 10.0 seem to sound better. Get the lamp as close as you can with out burning the plant. its cfls so, you can be about 2-3 inches from top.
how often are you watering them? what nutes are in the soil? look over watered to me plus most soils have nutrients in them to suffice feeding your seedlings for 2-4 weeks therefore no need to feed with nutrients as yet. cause of fert burn maybe. turn your fan so its bouncing off a wall before reaching your plantsrather than right onto them.
Ok, first get rid of that light. It is NOT "fine". Repti-glo lights are for terreriums, not for growing MJ. They're designed to keep a terrerium warm enough for lizards or turtles (hence the Repti-glo name), which is too warm for your plants. Additionally they do not put out the right spectrum or intensity of light to allow for the rapid growth that MJ requires. I've heard of growers using a Repti-glo light as a suppliment light - to produce extra trichs - because of the high UV-B output, but it will NOT work as a primary light. Get yourself some CFL's. Second, you need better soil, because it DOES matter that much. Your generic Walmart planting soil is probably too rich for your seedlings. Topsoil is too far in the other direction. It won't have enough drainage and will compact badly. Spending a few extra dollars on some quality soil from your local garden center will vastly improve the health of your plants. If for some reason new soil just isn't an option, then stick with the Walmart stuff, but flush it thoroughly to rinse out some of the ferts.
So, my high is about good, but how am I supposed to get the low to 60? Its on a 18/6 light pattern, and the six hours are supposed to be the lows right? I'm not sure if just having the light off would be good enough for that to happen. And I will deffinatly change the lights now, and move it closer to the plants. I did suspect overwatering, but I water them probably every other day up to after 2 days, or at least until the top of the soil looks kinda dry, how do I tell exactly when I should water them? I didn't use any ferts yet, just normal walmart soil, but after that month, what combination of ferts should I use? Thats a good idea for that fan, do you have any suggestions on my fan scedule though? keep in mind its in a closet. I'm also considering on using the L.S.T set up due to the lack of space, so should I start now or wait until it recovers?
Oh... well what is the surface temperature of an average CFL, because this light is not exactly made to produce heat. And i'll try to get some other soil, but is there one you might suggest?
CFL's produce very little heat. You can place them within a couple of inches of your plants without harm. And you're correct, the repti-glo bulb isn't a heat lamp, per se. It's a UVB lamp. The primary problem is that it emits the wrong light spectrum for growing. As for soil, if you can find them most growers like Black Gold or Fox Farms Ocean Forest soils. Or you can usually find a local premium soil at a nearby garden center. Avoid the big name brands like Miracle Grow or Scotts, since they usually have a lot of time-release ferts which will burn your plants. As for temps, the high/low temps are recommended upper and lower limits. You can leave the light on 24/7 as long as you're not getting too warm in there (80 or below). The main reason growers use 18/6 is when they're using HID lighting and need the "night" period to cool down their grow room.
Ok I'll get some CFL lights then, I should probably get a soft white one for now right? And I'll look for those types of soils. Also is there a specific one in which I can use for both vegatative and flowering without adding ferts?
Bummer~ >_< Well then what ferts are most available? I'm hoping it would be a liquid so I could just add it to a gallon of water and water then when I need to.
There are thousands of threads that tell in detail what you need concerning soil, lighting, nutrients and anything else you may ever want to know about your plant. Only a little bit of reading yields more information than you could ever need and will save you a ton of problems to get some idea what needs to be done before doing it. Soil shouldn't be watered when it just looks kinda dry on top. You need to push a finger into the soil and see if it is dry. Don't water it until it is. Overwatering can also produce big problems. The CFL you will need is daylight or cool white. Something in the color spectrum of 65000 K. Warm light is a color spectrum of about 27000K and that is what you need when you are ready for your plants to produce flowers. I don't mean to sound harsh but do yourself a favor and save yourself huge problems by reading some of the threads about soil, lighting, watering and care. It wont take you long, not nearly as long as having to repot plants, rehang lights, re etc. etc. etc. (or starting over). Usually up at the top of a list of topics there are some threads called stickies. They normally have all of the information you will need.
You can use Miracle Grow all purpose fertalize. It's not ideal, but it will get the job done, and it's easy to find. Just go easy on it, especially at first. That stuff is strong and will easily burn your plants if you use too much.
Sorry and thanks, I did read a lot, its just I read a lot of different methods and a lot of people are doing different things so I try to find a medium. But I must admit, I did slack off on the soil and fert details.