Plants Growing Very Slow And Now Turning Yellow

[Hcbbedford1]

his is my first time growing so I don't know what to expect my plants are now a month old and are still small and now starting to turn yellow and just grow very slow I have 2 100w 6400k cfl bulbs on them about 6 inch away from plants I water almost daily to keep the soil damp can anyone give me things to try to fix these plants and to what they think may be wrong

 

[redlife215]

Soils too wet, prob some other stuff wrong too but it def looks too wet. If its ur first tine u wanna pkant more seeds then u need in the event of runts and males. Also id start em in smaller pots

 

[Gorilla91]

Looks to me like you need better soil. Try an organic mix of half fox farm ocean forest and half happy frog, also cut with a little perlite.

 

[redlife215]

I doubt it is the soil, they r way too young to need a ton of nutes. U can grow healty lookimg sprouts thay sjze with coco void of nutes so i doubt thats the issue. If u r watering tgose little sprouts in thay big of pots everyday i can promise u thats the problem

 

[Organikz]

What's happening is the wood is eating all your nitrogen. While microbes decompose cellulose they consume large amounts of nitrogen. This is why mulch is used to prevent weeds.

 

[Hcbbedford1]

So what kind of fertilizer can I add to make up for the nitrogen deficiency Or do you think it may be to late because I figured by now a month into it these plants should be way bigger

 

[Hcbbedford1]

And would it be wise to move the plant in the bigger pot to a smaller pot

 

[Organikz]

And would it be wise to move the plant in the bigger pot to a smaller pot

my honest opinion is to do some research and start over. idk if those plants can be saved. a transplant would only worsen things. anything you try to do to save them may end them at this point.

 

[xenon730]

So what kind of fertilizer can I add to make up for the nitrogen deficiency Or do you think it may be to late because I figured by now a month into it these plants should be way bigger

They dont have a nitrogen deficiency. Give them nothing but water every 5 days or start over.

 

[Organikz]

"1. Wood Chips Rob the Soil of Nitrogen
It is true that there is a nitrogen deficiency at the point where mulch and soil meet. It is important to plant below this level. Wood chips should not be dug into the garden for this reason, but only used as a mulch. I personally like to use a high nitrogen amendment like blood meal just below the mulch. "

"Straw can contain wheat seeds which can become a problem. As hardwood chips decay, all manner of fungi can produce some interesting and disgusting mushrooms and the plants growing in a decaying mulch may require additional nitrogen applications for optimal growth." -http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/select_the_right_vegetable_garden_mulch

Talk to Jerry at GC about it.

He and wetdog convinced me to strip my wood mulch out.

 

[Monster762]

If you start over use jiffy peat moss pellets to pop your seeds. Get a soil with low fertilizer and mix it with perelite. Once jiffy pellet pops let the littl plant reach a day or 2. Then tear the little bag and put the entire pellet with plant in your soil mix. I bury the stem of plant half way up in soil. Water it n watch it jump. I would also try moving the light up just a little bit. Try 3-4 inches more than you had it. (Best investment you could make is in a small t5 light setup) . ( maybe $50) it will come with 6500k bulbs. Usually a 2 ft long 4 bulb setup is $50. Amazon. Or Walmart.com. Those t5s will work wonders for starting growing. If you try again n use t5 you'll see. You never want mulch in my opinion. Always add perelite to any soil. It helps drainage. And don't go for nothing crazy as far as soil. I used miracle grow cactus n palm with a bag of perelite mixed in. Total $5 a bag. and seriously the jiffy pellets themselves will start a plant healthy.

 

[Organikz]

You never want mulch in my opinion.

I use barley straw, alfalfa straw, and living mulch(clover cover crop blend). I know some guys use pine bark but hardwood just sucks up all the nitrogen. Here's my favorite mulch.

 

[below frigid]

So what kind of fertilizer can I add to make up for the nitrogen deficiency Or do you think it may be to late because I figured by now a month into it these plants should be way bigger

Go buy yourself a bag of decent soil Fox farm, Roots or something similar. Feed only water for a month or longer. Water once or twice a week max unless its blazing hot. Check your waters ph while your at it. Anywhere between 6 & 7 your good. Remember LESS is better in most cases. Less ferts, less water than you would think.

 

[Steelerdrew]

So what i see is this 1. Way way over watered. The roots are drowning i would bet that there is no drainage holes to let the water runoff 2. Way to big of a pot. That should be in a solo cup size pot with holes for drainage. The sprout is spending all its energy growing roots serching for air after a month i bet if it were pulled from the pot it would have a huge root system. 3. Poor lighting. Not the worst nor the main problem but needs different spectrum. 4. As the other person said the wood chips got to go. 5. Need good soil. Use fox farm lightly packed your soil looks really compressed. keep with it you will get it. You kept it alive for a month on your first attempt.