Seedlings falling over - 11 days old

[420ReBeLGrower]

Hey guys,

Just started my first dwc and things look to be doing good. I have them in rapid rooters and have already done the res change and have them at 1/4 strength nutes right now.

The plants are about 11 days old since Germing, and while the leaves look fine, the plant stem just falls over. I have put some planted around the hole to help prop up the baby, but was wondering if this is normal?

I have a fan going the is oscillating air VERY gently right now. Any ideas?

 

[TripsRabbit]

I only feed my babies calmag until the cotyledons start to shrivel and turn yellow. The cotyledons have all of the fertilizer the plant needs for the first few weeks. Every time I've fertilized before that I've had problems.

 

[420ReBeLGrower]

I only feed my babies calmag until the cotyledons start to shrivel and turn yellow. The cotyledons have all of the fertilizer the plant needs for the first few weeks. Every time I've fertilized before that I've had problems.

Oh snap, thank you for the heads up. I will def hold off on the nutes next grow until those cots turn yellow.

 

[Edinburgh]

I tell people all the time, sow your seed 1 1/2 inc deep, just got a very high pop of Skywalker, i take 2 bread ties and twist together, take a lighter and melt the plastic of 1/2 of 1 tie, stick that end in the dirt and wrap around your seedlings till there mainstem hardens and it can stand on it's own, if you go to my Skywalker auto thread i have pics, works every time, at 24 days both plants are fine now and standing on there own just fine, you can allso take a straw and cut a slit in it to make a little cast that works to but the bread tie trick works everytime, and dont be afraid of putting a bit of dirt around the stem, but not to much. Note high pop it's now fine.

 

[420ReBeLGrower]

I tell people all the time, sow your seed 1 1/2 inc deep, just got a very high pop of Skywalker, i take 2 bread ties and twist together, take a lighter and melt the plastic of 1/2 of 1 tie, stick that end in the dirt and wrap around your seedlings till there mainstem hardens and it can stand on it's own, if you go to my Skywalker auto thread i have pics, works every time, at 24 days both plants are fine now and standing on there own just fine, you can allso take a straw and cut a slit in it to make a little cast that works to but the bread tie trick works everytime, and dont be afraid of putting a bit of dirt around the stem, but not to much. Note high pop it's now fine.

Those are GREAT ideas, I think I have some straws somewhere I can use. But, I'm growing my guys in Hydroton and a Rapid rooter, so I don't have the ability to put any dirt aroud the base to prop it up. That's why I've used the white plate to help keep the leaves pointing upwards.

Here's how mine look at day 12...

I may give the straw thing a try but I'm worried that if I stick the straw into the rapid rooter, it could harm the roots. Will have to think about that.

 

[Akabudz]

Hi, what light?/s are you using and how far from the plants are they?

 

[JWM2]

I used to think propping was necessary but lately I’ve just let the plant do it’s thing and they’ve gotten on track on their own without any intervention. Not saying this works in all cases but in mine it’s been fine.

You can always bury a little deeper when transplanting if it makes you feel better. Even tho that just decreases the amount of growing medium under them.

 

[Chad.Westport]

At this stage they are fragile, but weak lighting will create weak, elongated stems. Later in life, if the nutrients aren't right, this can also happen but for now, I would address the light intensity issue.

 

[420ReBeLGrower]

Hi, what light?/s are you using and how far from the plants are they?

At this stage they are fragile, but weak lighting will create weak, elongated stems. Later in life, if the nutrients aren't right, this can also happen but for now, I would address the light intensity issue.

I have a single ValSpar P2000 at about 20 inches away and 15% strength (I have 2 of these for veg and flower, but only using 1 ATM). I did a LUX test and they are getting about 6K of LUX at the moment. I thought the max seedlings should get was 5 - 7K and then it jumps to like 30 - 50K for VEG.

I used to think propping was necessary but lately I’ve just let the plant do it’s thing and they’ve gotten on track on their own without any intervention. Not saying this works in all cases but in mine it’s been fine.

You can always bury a little deeper when transplanting if it makes you feel better. Even tho that just decreases the amount of growing medium under them.

I was thinking the same thing about putting the seed deeper, I may try that next time.

Its sounds like I need to increase the light intensity. I'll up it to 12K tonight.

 

[JWM2]

I have a single ValSpar P2000 at about 20 inches away and 15% strength (I have 2 of these for veg and flower, but only using 1 ATM). I did a LUX test and they are getting about 6K of LUX at the moment. I thought the max seedlings should get was 5 - 7K and then it jumps to like 30 - 50K for VEG.


I was thinking the same thing about putting the seed deeper, I may try that next time.

Its sounds like I need to increase the light intensity. I'll up it to 12K tonight.

Just be careful. It’s easy to burn young plants with too much light. Seedlings tend to be leggy, that’s just how they are. You can move the plants closer to the light also instead of tuning up the intensity.

 

[420ReBeLGrower]

I'm keeping an eye on them. The leaves look to be enjoying the ~12K light at this stage. I'll stick to my 1/4 strength feed for the next res change.