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seeds Seedlings Keep Dying

Sneaky6

Sneaky6

So this is the second batch of seeds I have germinated in my grow room. The first round went off with really no problems. All that sprouted survived. Now that I got the seeds that I ordered from vendors in I cant seem to keep event the strongest of seedling alive in my grow room. Also this is my first year growing peppers so I hope there is a simple rookie mistake I am making.
 
Grow details:
patio closet grow room Aprox 5ft deep, 3ft wide and 8ft tall
1x 200W CFL 6500kbulb
1x 125w CFL 2700k (This is off to the side for my Thai dragon that is flowering
18 hours of light a day
Germinating in rockwool in a germinating tray with dome. Heat mat on when the temp drops now and then
Transfering to soil a day or 2 after it stands up fully
My room temp ranges from 74 at night to 95 on a few random hot days we had last week.
I do not have the ability to vent the room other than when I am home (apartment grow)
Strains: Choc Hab, Fatalii, Red Savina, Numex Suave O, Butch T Scorp, and NMU T Scorp, Thai Dragon.
 
 
Thoughts and what I have tried:
1st- I figured it was damping off as the rockwool seems to hold a ton of moisture
               - So I reduced watering and still the same results. Come home to a seedling flopped over dead.
 
2nd - Then I checked to make sure that roots were growing and it wasn't getting stuck in the seed shell.
               - Gently I opened up the rockwool cubes on some new sprouts and confirmed they were not stuck (Out of now 12 I have only found one to have issues getting out of it's shell)
 
3rd- Too much light. I figured since I added the 125w since my last seedlings started maybe they were getting too much light although they were already pushed to out side of the light coverage area
               -I then moved them off of the grow platform and onto a box that is about 2 feet away from the grow space and gets only residual light from the 2 lights (It is on the ballast side too so it gets even less than it would if on the lighted end side)
 
All in all every seedling I have planted in the last round EXCEPT a Thai Dragon has died...... 
 
Your help is greatly appreciated 
 
Here is a pic of what I come home or wake up to.
 
 

 
And my current set up.
 
 
The seedlings evaporate more moisture than they can retain.

I recommend using a propagator to keep humidity levels maxed,until your seedlings are stronger, in near-juvenile stage plants.
 
What kind of soil are you transplanting into? It's def not too much light. I grow all my seedlings under 24 hours of light. Rockwool holds lots of moisture. I would stray away from germinating seeds with them. Try germinating in your soil. To me they look like they dampened off. Put that fan so its blowing directly on the plants, especially since it's getting up to 95 in there. Are you watering with fertz already?
 
I'd say leave them in the dome a little longer and let them get going good. The heat is for sure an issue 95° is way to hot for plants. I've used rock wool with no problems but that was in hydro never soil.
 
Thanks for all the tips.
 
I made an adjustment. I put my yet to germinate seeds in a smaller propagator and moved it out of the way and moved the 3 remaining seedlings and some that popped up this morning (still just rockwool cubes) into a larger propagator that will accommodate my mini root pouches. I will have them sitting on a little shelf about 1.5-2ft from the light to the back side of it.
 
We will see if the extra humidity will help. My RH is a little lower than I would like in the grow room but hey it's California what can I ask for I guess.
 
Thanks for all the help. I will post in a few days and let everyone know if the seedling murder rate has dropped. 
 
Thanks guys. I also had similar problems. I had excellent germination, nearly 100% on most varieties.  My method for starting seedlings, I use a 4" round pot per variety, sowing up to 12 or so per pot, cover with a baggie, and onto heat mat. Works great. A nice moist humid environment. Baby seedlings nice and green and happy.
 
Now comes the problem. I pulled off the baggies put em under 14-18 hours  of T8 lights and I was battling dry soil daily, especially the surface. After a couple weeks I'm realizing that I'm torturing them and came here for help.
 
They now are plenty moist (which I'll have to monitor) and covered with a humidity dome. Hopefully they don't go to the opposite side of the spectrum and damp off from excessive moisture. I'll open up the dome daily and e cover.
 
Hopefully I'm not to late. Currently the cotyledons are yellowing and turning purplish, stunted growth, with just a tiny true leave struggling to emerge. Interestingly, My Assam Jolokias, Yellow 7 pots, Brainstrains, and Douglahs are doing amazing. Stepped up into 6 packs already. All sowed the same time and treated exactly the same way as the sickies.
 
Great wealth of info shared on this site-thanks
 
Agree with most of the crowd: The fan blowing 95F air is turning them to jerky.  You may as well leave them in Death Valley for an afternoon.
Seedlings are water challenged until they grow a respectable root system; it's easy to evaporate water from their leaves faster than the roots can replenish it.
See what you can do to decrease temperature and increase humidity. (Even a ghetto humidifier like a towel with its base in a bucket of water would help.)
If you feel you must run a fan (anyone, why are fans so popular?), don't aim it directly at the plants.
 
EDIT : Oops!  Ya got me.  I didn't see the original post date...
 
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