I recently planted 3 seeds. They sprouted in just a few days and appeared pretty healthy. They were taking a light watering from a small spray bottle just about daily. They were sitting on a heat mat inside a plastic container covered with a peice of glass with 5 15 watt fluorescent tubes for light. The lights were about 6"-8" above the plants. The temp in the container is usually about 75 - 77 degrees, so i dont think it was to hot. At the recommendation of the guy at the hydro store, i planted them in Root Organics "Green Lite". He said this should be fine for young plants. Over the course of 2 weeks they grew about 2.5" - 3". All 3 plants grew 2 spear leaves. I'm not sure if its a coincidence or not, but as soon as the cotyledons (i think thats what they are called) started to die off, the spear leaves curled right up and dried out. The soil ph seems to be in the right range, although it seems hard to find a good soil ph tester without spending a fortune. Is it possible i had the light too close? I'm at a loss here, any suggestions on what i can do different next time would be helpful.
Maybe don't leave them on the mat so long... after they sprout I always put them on a rack with a t5 grow light or cfl...I started mine in soil or a Pete Moss pellet. Water gently with a spray bottle and you should be fine. My process is like this... Soak in room temp water for 12-15 hrs then if they have sprouted a tap root or not I place in soil cover and wait. So far this year all but 2 have sprouted using this method. My temps are easily 80+ some days and all mine are just fine. I keep them shaded during the hottest part of the day and inside at night. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
Them mats can get pretty warm sometimes, I always put mine on a timer, 15 on 15 off seems to work ok, A ph pen is pretty important if your using synthetic nutrients I got a super cheap but decent one off eBay It is a yellow millwalkee one, and I bought a jug of calibration solution , both for under 20$, it was cheap, but its rock solid and always within .1 Booms summer scrog series Boom4200 winter spring SUMMER grow journal
Post some pictures. If the cotlydons are dying off before you've even got a second set of leaves, there is something very wrong. Once the first set of leaves are out, I will turn the mat off unless it's freezing out. Summer temperatures you shouldn't need it at all. Root zone temperatures just need to be above 50°f for seedlings of most any annual plant.
It's important to give water, even if it's 10-20mls. Misting doesn't allow any potentially harmful substances to get moved out, plus it doesn't exactly encourage root growth. I bet your soil was warmer then you might think. I agree with you on soil pH testers. They are basically worthless, your best bet would be a pH pen for water imo. Don't get to down on yourself, starting seeds and cloning is almost an art form hehe. It takes time