What's up everyone? If you haven't been following my Glog, I have been fighting a loosing battle with getting my seedlings past the cotyledons (seed leaves [I had to Google it the first time I saw it]). Basically, they have purpled and dropped. Since the cotys drop, they are unable to provide enough nutes to the plant and they pretty much stunt. The true leaves try to develop, however, they can't carry them through. Here is the original thread I started on it that went through a few recommendations, but once I thought I got it under control, it came back. So I will start with some photos:
That is right before/during when they start to go. Before we start to pin it to "water", "light", etc. Here is what I have tried:
Water (Over, Under, and Contaminated). I hand watered the plugs, wait to water ONLY when at least 75% of the flats were dry, and I fill 5 gallon buckets with water and let them sit for at least 24-48 hours prior to heating up the water to about 80 degrees and bottom watering.
Light: I started with a 600w MH light, and I raised the light to about 4 feet and dropped it to 325w. Then I got a T5, hung it at 2 feet and only ran 4 of the 6 bulbs.
Ferts: Used an insignificant amount on a single flat and same issues run throughout so negligible.
Temps: Temp controlled grow tent at about 80 degrees and 160 CFM running 24/7 giving me about 55% RH.
Soil: Hoffman's for the first 2 flats, RR plugs for 2 flats, and most recently PROMIX BX.
Ok, now that I got that out of the way, here is the dilemma. I have ran through all of the checks, made tweaks, and just when I think I got the hang of it, nope, shit goes down hill. Most members talk about the purple Cotys are a result of the lights being too close, however, nobody has had leaf drop. I did extensive research on the web on this topic and found nothing on Marijuana sites, Garden sites, or Pepper sites that fits my issue at least 50/75%. Like I said, most have experienced purple leaves, but none have had leaf drop associated with it. What I did find was an article written talking about purpling and dropping of cotys in corn where the soil has blocked root development.
Just about the time I found that article I was noticing my cotys in the flat I planted last Saturday (10/11 Feb) in PROMIX looked much larger than the ones I planted weeks earlier.
This one is from the previous planting in Hoffman's
Although there is some purpling in the first photo, they still look MUCH healthier than anything that I have grown in the past 2 months. To be fair, this flat has spent 100% of its' life under the T5s, and the other flat spent about a week under the 350w MH. I even hung the T5 super high when I got it and the Hoffman's flat still purpled while the Promix flat got a little leggy. I have since dropped it to about 7/8 inches and am monitoring it every few hours.
What drives me crazy is the fact that there are plenty of growers here and elsewhere that use MH with little or no issues, and others use T5s with no issues. The last thing that I can think of is possibly the soil. I am skeptical of that because of the fact that many people swear by Hoffman's (AJ, BigCedar, etc) and it is hard to believe that when they are starting thousands of seeds with no issue that it doesn't work for me. A question would be what about a contaminated bag? Has anyone ever experienced that?
Anyways, on to the solution. As my last (hopefully) effort I planted 18 3oz cups with seeds from plants that I hope to plant out. 15 cups are Promix and 3 are Hoffman's. My thinking is if the Hoffman's cups show the same signs that I have been showing and the Promix doesn't, it is the soil, if they both grow with no issue, it was the week and change the Hoffman's flat spent under the MH before it got moved to the T5, and if nothing grows, then I am gonna go jump off a bridge....joking......kinda.....
But I am using this as more of a "Purple Cotyledon Leaf Drop" thread, instead of a HELP HELP HELP thread UNLESS you have experience with this issue. I would love to get your .02 if it isn't something that I have tried.
These are about 3-5 days old and are from the Promix flat
And this is almost 3 weeks old in the Hoffman's mix. Since this photo, the leaves dropped and
The saving grace is the fact that this is my first season and I will have many more to come. It would just be nice to get it right so the next time I do this I don't spend winter fighting plants and instead I can hang with the guys here on the boards..
Thanks for lookin.
That is right before/during when they start to go. Before we start to pin it to "water", "light", etc. Here is what I have tried:
Water (Over, Under, and Contaminated). I hand watered the plugs, wait to water ONLY when at least 75% of the flats were dry, and I fill 5 gallon buckets with water and let them sit for at least 24-48 hours prior to heating up the water to about 80 degrees and bottom watering.
Light: I started with a 600w MH light, and I raised the light to about 4 feet and dropped it to 325w. Then I got a T5, hung it at 2 feet and only ran 4 of the 6 bulbs.
Ferts: Used an insignificant amount on a single flat and same issues run throughout so negligible.
Temps: Temp controlled grow tent at about 80 degrees and 160 CFM running 24/7 giving me about 55% RH.
Soil: Hoffman's for the first 2 flats, RR plugs for 2 flats, and most recently PROMIX BX.
Ok, now that I got that out of the way, here is the dilemma. I have ran through all of the checks, made tweaks, and just when I think I got the hang of it, nope, shit goes down hill. Most members talk about the purple Cotys are a result of the lights being too close, however, nobody has had leaf drop. I did extensive research on the web on this topic and found nothing on Marijuana sites, Garden sites, or Pepper sites that fits my issue at least 50/75%. Like I said, most have experienced purple leaves, but none have had leaf drop associated with it. What I did find was an article written talking about purpling and dropping of cotys in corn where the soil has blocked root development.
Just about the time I found that article I was noticing my cotys in the flat I planted last Saturday (10/11 Feb) in PROMIX looked much larger than the ones I planted weeks earlier.
This one is from the previous planting in Hoffman's
Although there is some purpling in the first photo, they still look MUCH healthier than anything that I have grown in the past 2 months. To be fair, this flat has spent 100% of its' life under the T5s, and the other flat spent about a week under the 350w MH. I even hung the T5 super high when I got it and the Hoffman's flat still purpled while the Promix flat got a little leggy. I have since dropped it to about 7/8 inches and am monitoring it every few hours.
What drives me crazy is the fact that there are plenty of growers here and elsewhere that use MH with little or no issues, and others use T5s with no issues. The last thing that I can think of is possibly the soil. I am skeptical of that because of the fact that many people swear by Hoffman's (AJ, BigCedar, etc) and it is hard to believe that when they are starting thousands of seeds with no issue that it doesn't work for me. A question would be what about a contaminated bag? Has anyone ever experienced that?
Anyways, on to the solution. As my last (hopefully) effort I planted 18 3oz cups with seeds from plants that I hope to plant out. 15 cups are Promix and 3 are Hoffman's. My thinking is if the Hoffman's cups show the same signs that I have been showing and the Promix doesn't, it is the soil, if they both grow with no issue, it was the week and change the Hoffman's flat spent under the MH before it got moved to the T5, and if nothing grows, then I am gonna go jump off a bridge....joking......kinda.....
But I am using this as more of a "Purple Cotyledon Leaf Drop" thread, instead of a HELP HELP HELP thread UNLESS you have experience with this issue. I would love to get your .02 if it isn't something that I have tried.
These are about 3-5 days old and are from the Promix flat
And this is almost 3 weeks old in the Hoffman's mix. Since this photo, the leaves dropped and
The saving grace is the fact that this is my first season and I will have many more to come. It would just be nice to get it right so the next time I do this I don't spend winter fighting plants and instead I can hang with the guys here on the boards..
Thanks for lookin.
