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Sunflower help

Put 1.5 inch tall seedlings into seed starter mix and put them outside. They grew another inch (total 2.5 - 3 inches) in about a week but since then have seemingly stopped growing. 
 
I'm watering once per day,  
but it's rained (a lot ) twice in the past 2 weeks. (I do not water at these times duh)
 
I only water them when the soil is dry. 
 
*edit: As you can see, they're kinda sickly looking. Yellow/brownish leaves, unsure what that fuzzy white stuff is, but yet a strong (looking?) stem.
 
20190731_163932.jpg
 
 
Any ideas?  
 
*edit: posting pics now
 

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sjunbboi said:
Put 1.5 inch tall seedlings into seed starter mix and put them outside. They grew another inch (total 2.5 - 3 inches) in about a week but since then have seemingly stopped growing. 
 
I'm watering once per day,  
but it's rained (a lot ) twice in the past 2 weeks. (I do not water at these times duh)
 
I only water them when the soil is dry. 
 
*edit: As you can see, they're kinda sickly looking. Yellow/brownish leaves, unsure what that fuzzy white stuff is, but yet a strong (looking?) stem.
 
attachicon.gif
20190731_163932.jpg 
 
Any ideas?  
 
*edit: posting pics now
Dont treat them like peppers. I believe they are heavy nitrogen feeders like corn. Also keep soil moist, not soaked and not dry.
 
Yes, that's exactly what I thought.  Coco coir. 
 
You need to get some calcium into that mix.  Coco coir is full of potassium, but it has an antagonistic relationship with potassium.  If you don't have enough calcium, the media begins to lock up potassium.  This mix wasn't pre-charged.  
 
Once you get the calcium problem solved, the media will actually release potassium. 
 
For this case, get whatever readily available calcium supplement that you have on hand, and get it in there, ASAP.  For future fertilizing in this media, I would suggest CNS17 Grow.  It is a complete nutrient for all plant types in coco coir.
 
solid7 said:
Yes, that's exactly what I thought.  Coco coir. 
 
You need to get some calcium into that mix.  Coco coir is full of potassium, but it has an antagonistic relationship with potassium.  If you don't have enough calcium, the media begins to lock up potassium.  This mix wasn't pre-charged.  
 
Once you get the calcium problem solved, the media will actually release potassium. 
 
For this case, get whatever readily available calcium supplement that you have on hand, and get it in there, ASAP.  For future fertilizing in this media, I would suggest CNS17 Grow.  It is a complete nutrient for all plant types in coco coir.
 
https://media.giphy.com/media/KxhIhXaAmjOVy/giphy.gif
 
Thank you! I plan on putting them in actual soil soon, I didn't realize they would grow this fast. 
 
From now on, when you use any coco coir, without question, pre-charge it with calcium.  if you have the CNS17 grow, just use that.  Before you ever even plant in it.  Coco coir is amazing stuff, but the vendors need to start dealing with this little issue, if they expect the sustainability of their sales, to match the sustainability of the product.
 
I'll just add that you can avoid all of that, by direct seeding sunflowers. One of the easiest and quickest flowers to grow from direct seed, and they can be finicky with transplanting anyway. If you soaked a new batch of seeds and planted directly, in 2-3 weeks time they'd be as tall or taller than those you started in pots.
 
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