Ok, this is 2 weeks in. The plant on the left doesn't seem to be growing at all. I have been treating both these plants the same, except I kept a a moisture dome on the left one a lot longer. At first the leaves on the left began to droop, so I took off the moisture dome and it seems to be doing better. You can sort of see, but the tips of the leaves have curled up a bit.. Anyway, during the first week I think the coldness in my house was severely stunting the plant's growth (it was on average 62 degrees inside grow tent, but now that I put the ballast inside the tent, it is 70-72 degrees), but even after the temperature raise, the plants don't seem to be growing as fast as they should, especially the left one. It has looked like that, except it was more droopy, for 3-4 days. Any ideas? Maybe the light is too far away from the plant? No idea what the distance is, but it seems like 2-3 feet. they are in 3 gallon pots. the bulb is a 250W MH. thanks for any help edit: to confirm, i measured it with a piece of paper and there is roughly a 25 inch (2feet) distance between glass and top of plant.
Mine are doing the same thing. Except I didn't have heat issues. Mine was 70 degrees with lights off and 80 when on. I'd like to hear what others say. I started mine in the HTG tray with plastic dome over them. From what I have read for seedlings they need to have 80%+ humidity for the first week.. Your plants look healthy though. Like you said, could be stunned by the weather changes or your light is too far away, dunno hopefully someone with experience can chime in.
u guys think they are ready for nutes? it's been 2 weeks, and the right one is showing its second set of leaves :| edit: Another concern; The grow tent is a fairly decent sized bedroom, do you think I need to have a fan circulating outside the tent to move the air around in the room? The door to the bedroom is usually open. edit#2: Last concern; I can't find this anywhere, but how does the plant express that she is overfed with nutes? (how can I tell?). Also, what will it look like if I have not fed her enough nutes? Thx guys, you guys are the best
I've never used a dome for seedling, clones, or anything at all for that matter, and I live in the desert. The humidity is low, around 20-30%. So I doubt the humidity is your issue. What's your watering schedule like? The one on the left looks dry and the one on the right looks like it was recently watered, but not very well. You are in coco right? I would assume since this is the coco thread. Go ahead and water them both well. Your roots need to grow by searching for water. Since your pots are so big, you just let it go for about a week, and as the top dries out the roots will go towards the bottom to find the water. With the light, that hps might(maybe) be to harsh for the little seedlings. I doubt that though since its only a 250 and its over two feet away. To be sure I would move the light up some more if you can. When they start to grow, if the stem gets too long then start to lower the lights. Its still too early for nutes. You wanna wait until its third true leafs are present. Good luck p.s. IMO its better and easier to start seedlings in smaller containers, like party cups, until a decent root ball can be formed, and then transplant into larger containers. Usually about two weeks time. Also chances are they are stressed from the cold, and they will take some time to recover now that temps are more in range.
For my two seedlings in coco I started them out in smaller peat pots in a homemade humidity dome, it was a small square plastic tub with Saran Wrap over the top and misted them lightly a number of times per day. Your 62 degree temps were simply to low for any seedlings, I kept my temps around 70 during lights off and 75-78 during lights on. I also started out with one 26 watt daylight CFL then when they got their first set of regular 3 bladed leaves I added one more CFL. I would move your light closer, go by the simple rule and thats place your hand at the tops of the plants and if its to hot for your then its to hot for your plants. Heres a few pics of my seedling that are right around 4 weeks old.
pot to big for seedlings.give them time to dry out and only give it enough water till it gets a good structure
Ideal temp is 77 degrees and I wouldnt go below 70 at night for seedlings. To cool and growth slows down. As for your light you can probably move it closer and be fine. I get my light set at a hieght where when I hold my hand above the plants for a couple of minutes its not to hot for my hand. Several things you can also use to see what the temps are at the top of your plants is a cheap infrared thermometer and or a temp gauge with a probe wire that you can hang at canopy level. Links below are like what I use. Non-Contact Laser Thermometer HTG Supply - GrowBright Indoor - Outdoor Thermometer with Hygrometer#