seeds Pepper seedlings wilting :(

[asadsm]

Hi guys,
 
This is the first time I'm trying to grow peppers. I plan on growing in a hydroponic setup and everything is indoors with the temp around 75F. I bought a heat map for germination as well which worked out pretty well .
 
The seedlings were all doing fine but they've all started to wilt now. To start with I added 1ml of Floralicious Plus to a 1.5 gallons of water which I used to soak the medium. The germination was really nice. I made sure to water it from below the tray when the top dried off.
 

 
Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? I had the lights on a 16/8 on/off schedule with the heating pad on constantly. 
 
 
 

 

[KAOS]

The way they closing up looks like too much light or roots getting too hot. What is the heat pad set to temp wise?

 

[asadsm]

Thank you for the fast reply! I've pulled the light away and reduced the intensity. The heat pad is set to 85 which I've also removed from under the plants.

 

[rjacobs]

yea once they germinate, they dont need heat anymore in my experience.  So trying to germinate and grow in the same seed starting tray gets problematic due to some still needing heat for germination and some getting cooked by the same heat.
 
Thats a big reason why I germinate in zip lock bags or tupperwear then transfer to seed starter trays with a dome to trap moisture.  I let them go a bit in there before transplanting into solo cups that then go under the LED light.

 

[asadsm]

yea once they germinate, they dont need heat anymore in my experience.  So trying to germinate and grow in the same seed starting tray gets problematic due to some still needing heat for germination and some getting cooked by the same heat.
 
Thats a big reason why I germinate in zip lock bags or tupperwear then transfer to seed starter trays with a dome to trap moisture.  I let them go a bit in there before transplanting into solo cups that then go under the LED light.

 
Thanks for the advice. I have a few questions if you don't mind.
 
1) I had a dome over the germinating tray and I could see a lot of condensation. I assumed that the humidity might be too much for the seedlings so I took it off. How long do you usually keep the dome on top?
 
2) I've read different things regarding the distance of the LED lights from the seedlings. I'm currently hanging it over the seedlings and the distance is about 1 1/2 ft. Do you recommend more or less distance. The LED system has 8 bulbs with 2 switches, each switch controlling 4 bulbs. I only have 4 on. It's a 2x4 panel for lights

 

[AndyW]

1 Most people, I believe, take the dome off after a decent amount of germination takes place.
2,I can't say, as I haven't used leds.

Edit:dome autocorrected to domestic

 

[SwedishGhost]

In addition to what other poster's have said, seedlings wilting and dying is an extremely well known phenomenon called Damping off (read the Wiki article!). It's caused by fungal attack and can be an especially large problem when they're young mainly since 1) they're weak and 2) the soil has been wet for a long time, heavily favoring fungal growth (ever seen cobweb?). This affects way more seedling species than just peppers, but peppers are certainly not excluded from it! Some varieties in my experience seem way more sensitive than others. What you could try is to try to create unfavorable conditions for fungi: Dry out the soil with careful attention not to let the seedlings wilt due to lack of moisture; I.e. keep the soil at the minimum moisture level you need to get the seedlings to survive.
 
A trick that could help immensely is to use copper sulphate (copper ions are wide acting, well known anti fungicides with minimum phytotoxicity). Just one small problem: It's disallowed for use in many agricultural settings in the world. The reason? Copper in the environment hurts a lot of ecosystems, particularly earth worms and the alike. If you take care not to flush it down or spread it outside or whatever, it's fine for indoor use in my opinion. But please do take care to properly dispose of it. As the Wiki article mentions there was a product on the UK market based on agricultural research but withdrawn (for these reasons?), a mixture of copper sulphate and ammonium carbonate (compare to Bordeaux mixture).
 
Hydrogen peroxide spray could also possibly help, since it's a well known fungal killer with the nice property that it disintegrates into just water and oxygen when it dries, but I'm unsure of what concentration to use to prevent damage to the tender seedlings. There should definitely be a useful overlap though.
 
Of course, the very best you can do to prevent "damping off" is to try to stop fungal spores from getting into your media to start with! E.g. use sterile media or disinfect it properly before planting.
 
Good luck!

 

[asadsm]

@SwedishGhost thanks a lot for the advice. I bought the growing medium from a local hydroponic store so I thought I shouldn't have any fungal problems. I will from now on use boiling water to first clean the growing medium just to be on the safe side. I think the heat pad probably had a lot to do with it since I had kept it under the tray after germination. I'll also look into the copper sulphate solution, I'm not sure what the laws are here in Texas.

 

[SwedishGhost]

Good idea. Sterilization is not a bad idea when you seed. You can always add compost/AACT/NCT afterwards to get a good microbiome. Just make sure to sterilize it at high temperature for a long enough time. Just pouring water through might be insufficient. However, you shouldn't heat soil above 100°C (212°F) either. Covered in oven at almost 100°C for half an hour or so works.
 
EDIT: Oh, and even if copper sulphate is legal in Texas I still wouldn't recommend you to pour it outside on the lawn. Take care of the environment and let the solution left over evaporate down so you can dispose of it properly. It's a really good fungicide and even has (some limited, but still enough to prevent spread) activity against bacteria such as BLS (Xanthomonas).

 

[mlittle74]

It also just looks like they might be drying up quickly.  With the heating pad and lights going, there have been many times my seedlings dried up on me.  Sounds like you've already turned off the heating pad which is good, and I've always practiced keeping the lights as close to the seedlings as possible (within a couple inches), until they really started to grow.
 
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
 
Mike

 

[asadsm]

It also just looks like they might be drying up quickly.  With the heating pad and lights going, there have been many times my seedlings dried up on me.  Sounds like you've already turned off the heating pad which is good, and I've always practiced keeping the lights as close to the seedlings as possible (within a couple inches), until they really started to grow.
 
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
 
Mike

 
Thank you. Yes the seedlings are looking better. I'll move the lights closer as well. Now there's one seedling which has curled leaves, and it doesn't look like it's due to drying up quickly right?
 

 

[Gonzo]

Heat pad is only for germinating,or when started very early and its still winter awaiting spring and the seedlings is in a cold garage or shed. Is that coco coir? it looks very dry,my bet is it dried up.

Water from the top and don"t overwater,16/8 lights is fine you can do 20/4 for the first few weeks if you want.keep a distance of 25cm.

Begginers always overwater. Less water is always better.

Sent from my GT-I9190 using Tapatalk

 

[asadsm]

Heat pad is only for germinating,or when started very early and its still winter awaiting spring and the seedlings is in a cold garage or shed. Is that coco coir? it looks very dry,my bet is it dried up.

Water from the top and don"t overwater,16/8 lights is fine you can do 20/4 for the first few weeks if you want.keep a distance of 25cm.

Begginers always overwater. Less water is always better.

Sent from my GT-I9190 using Tapatalk

 
Yea I guess I was so caught up on not trying to over water that I under watered it

 

[lek]

+1 on fungal attack!   no worry,  trichoderma harzianum (strain CB-PIN-01) will solve this problem.  
 

 

 

[adrian089]

yea once they germinate, they dont need heat anymore in my experience.  So trying to germinate and grow in the same seed starting tray gets problematic due to some still needing heat for germination and some getting cooked by the same heat.
 
Thats a big reason why I germinate in zip lock bags or tupperwear then transfer to seed starter trays with a dome to trap moisture.  I let them go a bit in there before transplanting into solo cups that then go under the LED light.

 
This is my experience as well. Here's what I do and have had good results.
 
1. Start with a ziplock bag and paper towel. 
2. Once I see a root, I transplant to a solo cup with some holes in the bottom and rubber band a sandwich bag on top and place it on the heat mat. 
3. Once about an inch tall I remove the sandwich bag and place the solo cup in a smaller cup filled with water enough to reach the bottom of the bigger cup so I have a little self watering setup, and I leave it on my window sill.
 
This is my first year growing, and my first attempt I used the jiffy kits and a heat mat and got okay results but found it difficult to regulate the moisture and had some casualties of learning. Now I use a 40% coco coir, 40% perlite, 20% worm casting mix. Drainage is now excellent and the mix wicks well in the double cup setup which is incredibly low maintenance. 
 
I'd post some pics, but I recently sat down with my keys and phone in my back pocket and shattered the glass that covers my camera. Anyways, hope this helps.

 

[asadsm]

 
This is my experience as well. Here's what I do and have had good results.
 
1. Start with a ziplock bag and paper towel. 
2. Once I see a root, I transplant to a solo cup with some holes in the bottom and rubber band a sandwich bag on top and place it on the heat mat. 
3. Once about an inch tall I remove the sandwich bag and place the solo cup in a smaller cup filled with water enough to reach the bottom of the bigger cup so I have a little self watering setup, and I leave it on my window sill.
 
This is my first year growing, and my first attempt I used the jiffy kits and a heat mat and got okay results but found it difficult to regulate the moisture and had some casualties of learning. Now I use a 40% coco coir, 40% perlite, 20% worm casting mix. Drainage is now excellent and the mix wicks well in the double cup setup which is incredibly low maintenance. 
 
I'd post some pics, but I recently sat down with my keys and phone in my back pocket and shattered the glass that covers my camera. Anyways, hope this helps.

 
Thanks for the info. Do you sterilize the mix before using it? Also, since I want to use a hydroponic system using drips, I have bought larger pots for the plants. The system is built for roughly 8 plants (2x4 tray and lights).

 

[adrian089]

 
Thanks for the info. Do you sterilize the mix before using it? Also, since I want to use a hydroponic system using drips, I have bought larger pots for the plants. The system is built for roughly 8 plants (2x4 tray and lights).

 
I personally don't sterilize. 

 

[MNXR250R]

From your original post I would not worry about the condition of the plants at that stage. They are alive and that's all I would concern myself with.
 
From the pics I can't tell what Hydroponic system you plant on using.
 
Don't react too quickly to minor changes in your system... if things get completely out of control you can "add" things to the system. Not until then though. Especially at the early stage of life. Don't add anything to the system at the early stage !
 
Humidity under a grow dome is good. The plant won't dry out while they establish. Once the seedlings emerge, you will have to watch the watering/humidity. "Damping Off" is a possibility for sure. 
 
Generally life will finds it's way as long as you give the plants what they need. Don't over water (number one mistake). Don't blast the new seedlings with lot of light. They don't need it.
 
Don't give your plants any nutes until they have at least one if not two sets of "true leaves"... The seed will give them all the nutes they need until then. Then if you add ferts, add them at a very WEAK concentration.
 
After one (or two sets) of true leaves you can then begin to give them the nutes and light that will make them grow. Change the system slowly ! Don't change the nutes from NONE to MAX overnight. Don't change from LOW light to MEGA light overnight. Anything you change should be gradual... slow changes will allow the plant to adapt itself to the new environment. Slow changes is one of the best things you can do for your plant !
 
This is a hobby, and it will take some time to get a "feel" for how work it. I personally have killed many plants ( and I'm still killing them lol). Experience is priceless.
 
Good Luck and Happy Growing !!!
 
Jeff
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[asadsm]

From your original post I would not worry about the condition of the plants at that stage. They are alive and that's all I would concern myself with.
 
From the pics I can't tell what Hydroponic system you plant on using.
 
Don't react too quickly to minor changes in your system... if things get completely out of control you can "add" things to the system. Not until then though. Especially at the early stage of life. Don't add anything to the system at the early stage !
 
Humidity under a grow dome is good. The plant won't dry out while they establish. Once the seedlings emerge, you will have to watch the watering/humidity. "Damping Off" is a possibility for sure. 
 
Generally life will finds it's way as long as you give the plants what they need. Don't over water (number one mistake). Don't blast the new seedlings with lot of light. They don't need it.
 
Don't give your plants any nutes until they have at least one if not two sets of "true leaves"... The seed will give them all the nutes they need until then. Then if you add ferts, add them at a very WEAK concentration.
 
After one (or two sets) of true leaves you can then begin to give them the nutes and light that will make them grow. Change the system slowly ! Don't change the nutes from NONE to MAX overnight. Don't change from LOW light to MEGA light overnight. Anything you change should be gradual... slow changes will allow the plant to adapt itself to the new environment. Slow changes is one of the best things you can do for your plant !
 
This is a hobby, and it will take some time to get a "feel" for how work it. I personally have killed many plants ( and I'm still killing them lol). Experience is priceless.
 
Good Luck and Happy Growing !!!
 
Jeff
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Thanks a lot! Yea I've read a lot before starting but in practice is where all the learning will happen. I'm planning on a drip system with a coco coir mix. I'm not providing any nutrients as of yet, thanks for the advice regarding when to start because I was confused about that. I plan on giving a concentration below what they recommend on the fertilizer, probably start around 10% concentration and see how that goes. I will let you guys know how everything goes. I'm glad the community is beginner friendly and look forward to contributing more when I learn

 

[Edmick]

I start all my pepper seeds in peat discs and a propagation mat with a hood. But first, I make sure to sterilize the dome and tray with dilute bleach solution and I also rehydrate the peat with boiling water. Once that cools I sow the seeds and wait for the magic to happen. As soon as seeds sprout I pull them and get them into nursery pots with good quality soil and put them under lights. Take it easy on the watering after you remove them too cuz they really don't need much. Propagation mats work amazing but they can be a breeding ground for all sorts of bad stuff if you don't take the necessary precautions. Doing all those things, I haven't had any damping off in years.