# My seedlings are falling over also (w/pics)



## pontiff (Oct 29, 2009)

Hi all,

I need some help (or perhaps a LOT of help.. depeneds on what you say).

I'll start from the start.... this is the 2nd lot of seeds that i have tried to germinate... the first set i tried in rockwool cubes in my clone box which was a miserable failure.

So then i tried to put the seeds into a rockwood slab on  heatmat, but i think there ws too much water in the rockwood to heat it up properly so they went no-where in a big hurry..

So i threw it all out and started again with new seeds (dutch passion euforia and greenhouseseeds.nl church)

They sprouted in 24 hours using the normal plate, paper towel in a dark cupboard method.

Put them into little pots of cocopeat/cocohusk and within another 24/36 hours they sprouted into life.

I was as you can imagine after my first dismal effort... very happy indeed.

Well that was a week ago.... they have grown a little, but now they are falling over, and certainly are not growing nice fan leaves like you see in the youtube time lapse videos .

I have attached pics for your perusal.

I don't think i am giving them too much water.  admitantly i have been spraying the medium with a water bottle every day, but its not much and the soil is moist but not wet i would say.  I have just been using water.

I have had a plastic dome over the top of them to keep the humidity in.

Is there anything I have done wrong from what you can see?

The light may have been a little far away, but i have seen pics of plants with stems that are VERY long indeed and still holding their own, where as mine seem to be about 2.5 inches and falling over and buckling.  I have since placed a box under my heat pad as you can see from the pics in an effort to aleviate the problem.

they dont look healthy , and you can just tell that they're not amused, ive looked at them twice a day for 7-8 days now

As you can see i have tried to prop them up, but i dont hold out much hope for them, and they have been rather lethargic in their growing too i must admit, they sprouted up nice and fast but ever since that day they have pretty much slowed to nothing.

These sprouted up through the medium about a week ago.

Any help / guidance / assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Please help as i really am at a loss.  I can cultivate clones no worries with minimal / no effort, but from seeds im a complete novice, and i dont want to waste any more money if i can help it.

btw.. there is no fan atm and they have been running on 24x7 lights on (2x 'grow-lux' fluros - they emit a purple light... not sure why.. but they do, clones love them, are they right for seedlings?)

Cheers...


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## Flyinghigh (Oct 29, 2009)

Looks like u need to bury thee little girl alittle deeper into the soil.
Also they looked streatches and that might be because ur lights are to high, lower it to about 12 inches above the plants and u be fine..


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## Flyinghigh (Oct 29, 2009)

Take a spoon and carefully about 1 inch around the plant and pull up carefully and scoop some soil out in the middle and then put plant back into soil and cover.  cover to about 1 inch to leaves and u be fine.
ur off to a good start though..


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## pontiff (Oct 29, 2009)

The base of the pot was 8 inches from the light.. i have moved it onto a little shoe box to make it 4 inches.

I have buried them now... and used a proper camera for the pics rather than an iphone 

I guess i have a few questions

1) when will they start to 'take off', and exhibit some leaf production?
2) is it normal for those initial leaves to curl under?
3) is it okay to take the plastic 'hood' off now since i cant fit it on with the babies so close to the light anyway?

more pics attached...


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## pcduck (Oct 29, 2009)

need a fan that adds a breeze that helps with strengthening the stems. What kind of light? Move up till you feel warmth on back of hand at plant canopy height


Ok see the light you have..get it real close and add a fan


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## pontiff (Oct 29, 2009)

There is a pic of the globes (there are 2) , they are fluro so no heat really comes off them I don't think.

Should I get a small hps or incandescent or something? To generate some heat?

I looks like the 2 globes are 16 watters from what I can see in the pic

they are now at 4 inches from the lights


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## 420benny (Oct 29, 2009)

Looks like you need more light. What are the temps?


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## pontiff (Oct 29, 2009)

Light temp you mean? I have no idea


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## pontiff (Oct 29, 2009)

I did some more research and it looks like the grolux light is not that appropriate for seedlings, it's more for clones and veg?

I will get a standard fluro globe for the box and see if that helps


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## dman1234 (Oct 29, 2009)

this happens to me evertime because i start under floros then MH,
 its no big deal, i repot and bury them and then put them under the bigger light,

if i was you bury them so the leaves are 1 inch above the soil and get them closer to the light, a fan will add strength to the stalk and keep the canopy cool so you can get the light closer.


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## SkunkPatronus (Oct 29, 2009)

pontiff said:
			
		

> Hi all,
> 
> I need some help (or perhaps a LOT of help.. depeneds on what you say).
> 
> ...


 
I think that you would be better with a couple of cfl's in the 6500k range, the blue-white looking things, and just using that for the first two weeks, they don't seem to like the light you are using for seed popping.  They will catch up tho, and yes, they like some warmth too.


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## PUFF MONKEY (Oct 29, 2009)

more light....2-4x 18w is not enough (i use 500+)..even for seedlings...i would use no less than 100w to start and they need to be close to the plant..very close. this will combat stretching. a fan would be nice but not a must. stay away from bulbs labled "grow". use regular cool whites. the bluer, the better. purple is not blue. i only use floros until flowering time. same fixture from sprout through veg(no fan) and grow some of the bigger indoor you will see around here.more light, keep 'em close and you should have no problem growing healthy plants. also, you might wanna try sprouting in super plugs( rapid rooters) or any brand of tree bark plugs. they work great with any type of medium or system, plus they have enough nute content to give yer sprouts a healthy start.


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## Locked (Oct 29, 2009)

holy captain stretch...yeah replant and get the lights closer....a fan is a must also...help strengthen them up...


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## PUFF MONKEY (Oct 29, 2009)

AGREED..a fan IS a must when you have sprouts that have stretched that much.. and is a good idea in general. i personaly don't have a fan on my plants, but what ever works right ?


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## pontiff (Oct 29, 2009)

Thanks everyone!!!!

Just got back but got the 5000k ones, will go back and get the 6500's

do they make t8 cfl's in 100w?? They all seem to be these small energy saving ones??

Back to hardware shop, and will get small fan, you guys are the best!!!


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## pontiff (Oct 30, 2009)

I am back, I have installed the 6500k's and a fan.

However more have fallen over and i have looked at the stems and it looks like the stem have fallen over not because they are too long, but because the moisture has drained out of them.  They are not round they are 'flat' in the spot that they have fallen over.

I have them in cocopeat which is not renound for retaining moisture but i did that so that the medium they would go into is the same as when they are growing as to reduce the shock to them.

the medium is moist but not 'wet' but perhaps my definition of 'moist' is not the same as others?  Suffice to say, i have given them a big water, repotted some of them to bury the 'stem' and watered them again... i will see what happens over the next 12 hours or so... I might place them in a bowl to capture the escaping water...

i think im slowly learning... however its an expensive path


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## Droopy Dog (Nov 4, 2009)

Sounds like too much water and not enough light.

What 'I' do with seedlings is, as soon as they pop, or the first leaves break the surface, is put them in full sun.  That is what happens in nature, right?

I'm a whiz with clones, not so much with seeds.  I do know that I've had like zero luck with artificial light and seeds. 

Don't grow them some in artificial and THEN put them in the sun, you'll bake them.:holysheep: 

But, from sprout to about the third set of true leaves in full sun gets them off to a strong start.  I also only water every second or third day.  Make those roots search for the water.:hubba: 

When they are going good, I bring them inside.

DD


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