seeds Newbie...What's going on with my seedlings?

Z

Zoey

Hello!
 
I grew my first pepper plants last summer (Carolina Reapers & Habs), and am looking for some help/advice regarding what is going on with my seedlings. A little background:
 
All of the seeds were harvested from my summer crop.
I started them in a Jiffy Professional Greenhouse, and have them under a 4-bulb T5 ballast. The lights are turned on 24/7. The grow area is surrounded by Styrofoam walls that have been covered with an insulated reflective material. I have intermittently lifted the edge of the greenhouse cover to let some air into the seedlings.
 
The temperature within the greenhouse is 68-72ºF. I haven't measured the temperature within the greenhouse itself. After the second set of leaves developed, I started adding a weak mixture of General Hydroponics MaxiGro 10-5-14 to the water.
 
During the initial growing stage, I noticed that the first pair of leaves started to curl up around the edges. Things seem to be going downhill, but I don't know what is causing it? I've got the feeling that I need to stop the fertilizer?
 
Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Cheers!
 
Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to post a photo from my computer, so I've linked to my Picasa album:
 
https://picasaweb.google.com/yelloduc/Peppers?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLynjdXNtM3TFQ&feat=directlink
 
did you take the dome off?
once the seeds sprouted and you have leaves, you need to take off the dome or it will be too humid. also makes over watering very easy as the medium will stay wet.
 
Jiffy pellets are only for starting and now your plants have true leaves they need some nutrients.. either transplant them into cups / pots and/or start feeding liquid nutrients if that's what you want to do. you can just bottom water the whole tray if you want.
 
For the most part, I have been leaving the cover on. I was trying to keep the temperatures warmer, but I'll take it off.
 
A few weeks ago I moved some of them into hydro containers with rockwool, but they are also looking rather poorly.
 
Thanks for your suggestions! I appreciate it!
 
For the lazy...
hM9PY9w.jpg

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santis00 said:
They definitely don't need the cover anymore. 
 
Did you add nutes to the hydro containers?
Click to expand...
Yes, the water level is just high enough to touch the bottom of the net cup, and I put nutrients in the water.
Thank you Runescape! How did you add the photos?
 
Ah, I just figured it out! Drag-n-drop..dah. Silly newbies. ;)
 
Okay, I thought I could drop-n-drag a photo here, but it's not allowing me to do so. Sorry, here's the link to the photo:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/UBFJkGG60WkWkll9eqTL_krddJZ5aiXnJ6LQDJzyJIU?feat=directlink
 
As instructed, I've moved most of my plants out of the Jiffy and into cups. Boy am I running out of space. When transplanting the plants from the Jiffy, do you remove the netting and all of the dirt, or just the netting? On 1/2 of them, I removed all of the dirt, and on the other 1/2, I just removed the netting and a little of the dirt.
 
Over the past couple of days my mature Reapers started developing yellowing of the leaves at the top of each plant. The bottom of the light source is about 20 cm away from the tops of the plants. Is this the problem, or is it a nutrient issue? (In the photo above, I've moved the lights further away from the plants). I've been fighting aphids all winter long, but they've never been completely out of control, and seem to prefer only one of the three plants.
 
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jPdt0-lc4y5tVgnJ1v-Hg0rddJZ5aiXnJ6LQDJzyJIU?feat=directlink
 
Thanks in advance. I realize that much of this is newbie nonsense, so I appreciate everyone taking the time to chime in.
 
From my observations and limited experience, (I am a noob as well) the leaves curling upwards on some tomato plants I grew last year had to do with overwatering/irregular watering. I have this issue currently with an indoor fruit tree and it too is beginning to curl leaves upwards and I am interested in researching the issue further since the soil seems to be fairly dry. From the research I have done, I believe there could be other factors involved too. Hopefully someone else more knowledgeable can chime in but I would try to limit the watering a little bit.
 
I can't speak to the leaf issues as I am learning myself about various plant ailments and anything I say would be a wild guess. 
 
Right click on your image and select copy image location.
 
Then in the reply box, look for the little icon that looks like a photograph.  If you move your mouse over it, it will say image.  Click that, and paste the link you copied.  
 
IMG_0311.jpg
 
Scuba_Steve said:
Right click on your image and select copy image location.
 
Then in the reply box, look for the little icon that looks like a photograph.  If you move your mouse over it, it will say image.  Click that, and paste the link you copied.  
 
IMG_0311.jpg
Click to expand...
when i try to upload from drop box it says " not allowed to use image extension in this community" does that mean i cant use drop box?
 
Im having the same issue with my aji mango that im growing. plant is just over a month old, hasnt been overwatered and havent fertilized it yet. leaves are curling with the edges turning yellow. i originally thought it was getting too much artificial light  , so i cut back the intensity, but still having the same problem. any help from the vets here would be appreciated. the picture dosent really show the discoloration that well....but anyway
 
e4LlLxd.jpg


rickster said:
 
Click to expand...
 
Scuba Steve: Thanks for the tutorial! By the way, I'm a tech diver & DM.
 
Yani: I have been using General Hydroponics MaxiGro 10-5-14, 1.5tsp per gallon of water. I've also just started sprinkling about 20 or so pellets of Oscal to the top of the soil.
 
Badnews: I've got the same issue with the seedlings that I am growing in hydroponics. The rockwool I'm using has been rather wet since day one, and I too wondered if this might be the cause? I've not top-watered them since transplanting from the Jiffy plugs.
 
Rickster: I was getting the same message as you "not allowed to use image extension in this community". I'm on a Mac.
 
Zoey, GH's label says 1-2tsp per gallon. For young plants I, personally, would start with .5 or so.
 
I got an AeroGarden for christmas from my aunt since she heard I was enthusiastic about growing all sorts of fruits and veggies/herbs and that I was planning on getting into hydroponics this year. It has been a great little introduction and a good start to gaining experience with managing pH, and PPM/EC nutrient levels so far. Long story short, the manufacture states to use 4mL of the nutrient solution provided for young plants/seedlings which I later found out resulted in an EC of about 2.5 (after I received my meters in the mail)!! That's way too high. I noticed my plants' leaves began curling inwards/down and the edges were turning a bit brown/yellow before I dumped half of the mix and diluted the remainder to about .7-1.4 EC which is still very high from my research for young plants. They are doing better now. 
 
I started a thread regarding nutrient solution strength and ratios and many people seem to be running 500-700ppm (.8-1EC) for mature pepper plants, although some seem to be running much higher levels – a topic I am currently researching further. 
 
So, my recommendation – considering I am also learning at the moment – would be be to limit the nutrients to about half strength of what is recommended by GH. This is a recommendation I've seen many experienced growers give so I feel comfortable passing it along as a consideration. Whether this is the answer to some of your issues I don't know but it may be something to think about or try out. 
 
Yani: Thanks for the suggestion, and I will most certainly give it a try. And thanks for the link!
 
I know its only been a couple of days since transplanting from the Jiffy Plugs to the cups with soil, but the plants are looking better/happier.
 
Update on my plant...i think it was getting too much light. I removed it from the direct light , and has shown some improvements. I would try increasing the space between your grow bulb and the plants. seems to have made a difference with mine.
 
"I would try increasing the space between your grow bulb and the plants. seems to have made a difference with mine."
 
I've moved mine up as well. The three mature plants are still yellowing at the top leaves, and have dropped a few. Time will tell. I'm using a 4-bulb T5 ballast that runs 24/7. Maybe they need a little break from the light?
 
Zoey said:
"I would try increasing the space between your grow bulb and the plants. seems to have made a difference with mine."
 
I've moved mine up as well. The three mature plants are still yellowing at the top leaves, and have dropped a few. Time will tell. I'm using a 4-bulb T5 ballast that runs 24/7. Maybe they need a little break from the light?
Click to expand...
i only run my lights on 18/6 cycle. plants seem to like it
 
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