fried seedlings

[epicstuff]

Dam, I've killed most of my seedlings.
I germinated 10 seeds they all hatched in record time. looked strong had them under a 125 w cfl for the 1st 2 or 3 days then switched to a 400w MH. I live in the tropics and after weeks of rain the sun came out and I thought it would be a treat for my babies (aprox 9 days old) to take them outside for some real sun, and give my electric bill a break.

didnt realize hot strong the sun gets and with them only being in plastic cups I reckon the soil got super heated and cooked the roots. I think I might have nursed 3 out the 10 back to life although still looks touch and go. not not letting them in direct sunlight and put a extra paper cup to help insulate the plastic cup and the heat from the roots.

Just wanted to bring this up because in all the forums there not much mention about too much light and the damage the heat can do.

Still there nothing like learnening the hard way.

How long are the seedling weak for ?
should I keep them under a 125w cfl for longer till they have a set or 2 of proper leaves?
will I have this problem if I take some outside to flower in the garden or is it wise to give them some partial cover to protect from the harsh sun.? ( assuming there are any left to put outside)

can anyone give a good step by step advise on starting out in the tropics. I wanted to use the natural sun as much as possible although they will be mainly indoors.
I want to cry this has put me back so far . I given up smoking the local bush as I am sure it is sprayed with so much insectacide ist not good. Now I'll end up waiting till after Chrismas before I get a decent smoke....

 

[Roddy]

Are you sure it was too much light and not that the soil dried out completely? I put my gals out in the sun without issue, not 9 days old, but a MH is pretty hot, too!

 

[Hushpuppy]

Yeah you you probably got a combination of things that happened. You definitely want to keep your soil cool regardless of where you have them. I found that out the hard way when I lost over $100 worth of great seedlings because I let the soil get too hot.

Being in the tropics, that sun is really intense and plants that are put in the sun there have to slowly acclimated to it. I would have kept them under the CFL until they were transplanted into bigger containers (around 3-4wks old). then when setting them outside, start with them in the shade where they get no direct sunlight, but plenty of indirect light(maybe 2-3 days) while keeping them under cfl at night. On day 4, try to find a place or make a place where they are getting maybe half direct sun. By that I mean placing some kind of screen over them that allows light to come through but not total light. Or if you have some fern type plants around that are tall enough to set your plants beneath them so that the movement of the sun combined with breezes will give them intermittant sun.

If you have a place where you could errect a lattice cover (you can buy a 4x8 sheet of lattice at home depot or Lowes type store) that would work ideally as that would allow about 60-70% light which would work quite well for them for a week or more before placing them in direct uninterupted sunlight. I don't know that I would even place them in direct if I could get the lattice cover set up. Unless they are Sativa dominant which seems to really soak up the sunlight.

Which ever way you do it, just remember to keep the soil from getting hot (and dry). Keep the roots cool and the plant will be able to handle more heat. I hope this helps you. Green mojo for your surviving babies

 

[gourmet]

Thanks for the info on when you transplant Hushpuppy. I just transplanted mine to under MH lights at 13 days. I am always wondering when to transplant.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

They most likely got fried from the ultraviolet light from the sun. All plants that are started indoors and taken out have to be acclimated to the sun slowly. This most likely would have happened regardless of the size of the plants, ie this did not happen because they were seedlings and got dried out. The sun's ultraviolet rays are incredibly strong and will fry virtually any plant that has not be introduced to the the sun slowly.

It is also a really bad idea to take plants in and out and in and out--it is so easy to bring pests and pathogens into your grow space from outside and they can be really hard to get rid of.

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

What I've found is alot of houses here in the tropics have a screened pool enclosure. The screen filters out just enough light to not burn the seedlings IME. But I had to water my solo cups almost daily until I brought them inside because of the heat.

As stated about the pests, alot of bugs dont hybernate here in this climate in the winter there is more of them to get your plants; another reason why my plants are inside now.

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Regardless whether your seedlings are 9 days or 9 months old & whether you live in North Dakota or Miami, plants need to be slowly acclimated to natural sunlight and uv rays with a gradual hardening off process.

One suggestion I have if you're a newb to growing is to find some free junk bag seeds to practice with and once you are up to speed then pop some of your high dollar purchased seeds.


Good Luck!:joint:

 

[epicstuff]

You know I just got impatient, I just wanted them to max out on light. common sence sais should have taken it slowely I just kept reading more light bigger buds and it clouded my judgment.
interesting to hear the advise about not moving them in and out I planned to use the strength of the sun here to my advantage.

Also I did plan on moving some into the soil outside at 5 or 6 weeks before harvest . I was thinking the extra power of the sun over my 2x 400 soh's and the extra root room would help give a much better harvest .. Is that gonna cause some problems should I use shade cloth to minimize the suns power and gently ease them in to the full sun? Or advise against complettely?

how would you recomend bringing them out.?

 

[pcduck]

Why would you take them outside if you are capable of getting a kg from a 400 watt light?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

You know I just got impatient, I just wanted them to max out on light. common sence sais should have taken it slowely I just kept reading more light bigger buds and it clouded my judgment.
interesting to hear the advise about not moving them in and out I planned to use the strength of the sun here to my advantage.

Also I did plan on moving some into the soil outside at 5 or 6 weeks before harvest . I was thinking the extra power of the sun over my 2x 400 soh's and the extra root room would help give a much better harvest .. Is that gonna cause some problems should I use shade cloth to minimize the suns power and gently ease them in to the full sun? Or advise against complettely?

how would you recomend bringing them out.?

IMO, it is a bad idea to transplant plants that are several weeks into flowering. However, if you wanted to move them outside at the end of veg before they start flowering, they should be fine. And as has been mentioned several times, it does not matter the age of your plants, they have to be acclimated to the sun slowly.

 

[epicstuff]

thanks Goddess you really are a one stop for knowledge on this forum.

I'll ignore that Ducks attempt at a wined up. lol. Chist sake Duck can you remember what you had for breakfast yesterday ?? how do you expect someone to accuratley remember every little detail from a decade and a half ago.. even if you didnt quote the facts right as mentioned.... be reasonable geezzer.

 

[pcduck]

I am not wined up.:rofl: Just wondering why you would grow outside when you are getting those types of harvests indoors. And having the deal with the hassles of outdoors:confused2:

I remember getting 1kg regulaly many years ago using a 400w but I remember also now , that I did have a bank of tubes I used with that set up..

And yes I can remember what I had for breakfast yesterday