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Having germanating 'issues'

sknxvll

sknxvll

Hey all,

I started a 72 count tray and so far after almost 3 weeks I've only had this Red Bhut pop. It was looking 'good' until yesterday. I keep a heating mat underneath, mist each cell once a day, keep the dome on, and have dual 4' cool 35w fluorescent blubs hanging less than an inch above the top of dome, which is about 2-3" from tray. I have left the light on for 24/7 since I noticed this growth.

http://
Seed1.jpg






Here it is now..I'm guessing it's not doing well? It was a nice pretty green, now more brownish/yellowish?
http://
IMAG0830.jpg



And here is the soil..a few cells look like powdered sugar has been sprinkled on it :/ Is it 'bad' soil? It was little round tablet things that came with the seed starter kit that expanded when water was added.
http://
IMAG0828.jpg


Thanks in advance for any and all help/advice.

Setting by a window for a little natural sun is not an option at this time ( wish it was) I was told that may help 'pop' the other 71 seeds.

UGH! Looks like spelling issues as well **Germinating** Sorry.
 
meinchoh said:
Your soil looks WAY too wet!! Only keep it moist, not wet...
Click to expand...

I'm just so paranoid that I will let them dry out since I've never grown anything from seeds before, that I mist once a day. I will ease up on the misting though, thank you. These were right after a misting, but if I press on the soil a little, some water does come towards the soil line.
 
Definitely too much water. I don't know if you can salvage them or not :-(..The white powder may be mold from the moisture and heat...It's best to water from the bottom in seed trays, not the top.
 
meinchoh said:
Definitely too much water. I don't know if you can salvage them or not :-(..The white powder may be mold from the moisture and heat...It's best to water from the bottom in seed trays, not the top.
Click to expand...

Oh no, mold??!! Would taking the dome off help? Is there anything, chemical wise etc I could use to kill the mold without hurting the seeds?? So pouring the water in the second deep tray that the cell tray sits in and letting the soil soak it up you mean?
 
I'm not sure what you can use on the mold, IF that is what it is..I use a 72 cell Jiffy tray for germination and I start with 2 quarts of water to begin and only have to add another quart about 4-5 days into it. Remember that the top will dry first, as the bottom/center will stay moist. So, don't assume that because the top is dry that the whole cell is dry! Be careful not to add too much water to the tray - you can over water from the bottom, too...
 
I will give it a week or 2 more and will try watering from the bottom or anything else to try and salvage my first time growing..
 
To wet as mentioned, went digging into my leftovers that won't pop yesterday with a toothpick and a few had no sign of seeds at all and a few had seeds that appeared they were dying to pop but simply won't. Take the dome off daily and toss the water/humidity it builds up and think that heat mat AND sunlight is not a go. Lay of the water seeing it should be similar to a rain forest temp were when functioning as intended you can't see into the dome due to the water droplets.
 
zappa883 said:
To wet as mentioned, went digging into my leftovers that won't pop yesterday with a toothpick and a few had no sign of seeds at all and a few had seeds that appeared they were dying to pop but simply won't. Take the dome off daily and toss the water/humidity it builds up and think that heat mat AND sunlight is not a go. Lay of the water seeing it should be similar to a rain forest temp were when functioning as intended you can't see into the dome due to the water droplets.
Click to expand...

Zappa883, just want to be clear with wat ur saying. Empty the water in the bottom of tray and that gathers on the inside of the dome daily so it won't stay as humid and the light can get to the soil without having to go thru droplets of water on the dome?

sicman said:
to wet,like everyone said. good luck though :cool:
Click to expand...

Is this something that can 'possibly' be 'fixed' by pulling the reins back on watering, and letting it dry out a little.....or should I just start trying to get replacement seeds and start over? :/
 
They don't need the lights until they've broken the surface so you can turn those off. I'm also thinking the lights combined with the heat mat you may have already cooked the seeds. You might want to start some more. Do you have a way to check the temp of the soil? Mid 80's is best, below 75 it will take longer to germinate and above 90 you run the risking of cooking them. If it was me I would check a few seeds to see what they look like.

You can get rid of the mold by adding a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide to a half gallon of water and lightly spraying it. You can also scrape the mold off then spray the top of the soil.

Good luck.
 
patrick said:
They don't need the lights until they've broken the surface so you can turn those off. I'm also thinking the lights combined with the heat mat you may have already cooked the seeds. You might want to start some more. Do you have a way to check the temp of the soil? Mid 80's is best, below 75 it will take longer to germinate and above 90 you run the risking of cooking them. If it was me I would check a few seeds to see what they look like.

You can get rid of the mold by adding a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide to a half gallon of water and lightly spraying it. You can also scrape the mold off then spray the top of the soil.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

I turned the light on after I saw the one sprout, about a week now. I will go to the Home Depot and see what they have to measure the temp of soil, I'm sure they should have something?? The big walk in closet I have them in is pretty drafty, so I wasn't thinking about them getting to hot. What is a good sign the seeds are "cooked"? Thank you for the advice on how to treat mold....that is what it looks like I'm assuming?
 
Yes the white stuff is mold.

You can use any type of thermometer to take the soil temp, even a cooking one. You don't have to spend a bunch of money. The best, my opinion, are the instant read digital ones. You can also get a thermostat for the heat mat that will help you control the temps. Good idea on the light but it's best to set the light up someplace and move the seedlings to it once they pop up.

Not real sure what a cooked pepper seed will look like. I would think dry, have a tan and be hard. With the amount of water you may have kind of boiled them. Then they would be soggy and soft. Wish I could be more helpful.
 
ok, just sprayed them with the peroxide mixture. Going to walmart and home depot tomorrow for thermometer and a mat with temp control or a thermostat for the one i have (if they have something like that) and will see what the coming week will bring. Boiled sounds just as bad as burnt :(

All this advice is PLENTY helpful, thanks to all for the input! I will try my best to 'save' them before dumping them.
 
Glad I could help sknxvll. Best of luck to you getting them going.

I had to go to a local hydro shop to find a heat mat with a thermostat. Not sure Wally World carrys anything like that.
 
Not that I have any expertise or particular knowledge, but it the topof the soil is moldy, I'd remove the top of the soil. If the seedlings havn't popped yet, I don't think scraping the mold of should cause any harm. And to be honest, I'm experiencing the same problem with my seed tray, I think I was overzealous with the watering at first. I'm about 10 days in and have had a few tomatoes and tomatillos pop, but not a single pepper. Yet. ;)

I also killed some of the tomato seedlings by leaving my tray out in the sun too long, between the heat and the humidity they turned brown like that. I guess they rotted.
 
Well I didn't last a week :/ I dumped the tray, washed it very well with peroxide and warm water, bought this http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod70340&itemId=cat50154 set seeds, watered them in ( long story but had to water from the bottom because the water just rolled around on top of this soil :banghead:) I had put about 2" of water in the bottom tray in hopes that over night it would be soaked up......well it was and the soil is moist in every cell but not wet! I'm hoping it's moist enough :pray: :pray:

I will give the heating mat a day or so to 'warm things up' and keep an eye on the temp. 80-85 ideal temps? Also, would it be ok to turn the light on I have hanging above the tray when I see a sprout or two or three... even if there are still seeds that haven't popped? Provided this round is better, I have 6" pots for next step/stage and 5 gallon buckets (which I will need to put holes in, but how many, I do not know) for final step/stage and will be using this http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod70262&itemId=cat50154 Thoughts?
Thx.
 
Ok so an update. I started germinating 'round 2' six days ago ( see post above) and this is what I have... To the left of the pic is a Red Bhut, the middle back is a Billy Biker Jalapeno and to the right is a yellow 7pod.

I have the 2 32w long fluorescent lights about an inch and a half above the sprouts,on 24 hours from here out, the tray, which is about 3 inches tall is set in a 5"deep big tupperware storage box with foil all around the inside, heating mat underneath tray and I have only watered once from the bottom. Soil, for now still feels moist..but the dome has been on until today.

Should I basically just keep the soil moist until sprouts have their 2 real leaves, then transplant to my 6" pots? I shouldn't take heating mat out until all the seeds have sprouted, correct? Well, if it's been a month etc, I'll call what seeds that are left a wash.

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