Why are my plants stunted?

[Jackie620]

This plant is 3 weeks old from seed (white widow) and i cant understand why my plants aren't growing at the rate of everyone else. Ive been having this issue for awhile so i thought it was my medium/ nutrients. I bought a test kit from pot for a pot.com, i followed all the instructions and at 3 weeks my plant isn't much of anything. I have 2 purple lights on them, she's about 2 feet away from the light, humidity and temp are high but not too high, i water every 2 days or when the medium is dry. I do not understand what Ive been doing wrong, any advice?

 

[Fangthane]

If that pic represents what your pot looks like shortly after watering, I'd say you're seriously underwatering her. Fully saturating all of the grow medium when watering may be a good start. It's good to get in the habit of picking up the pot right after a good watering, so you get a feel for what it should weigh and you'll know by weight when it's dry and needs more water. Watering on a strict schedule doesn't seem to be a great idea with weed. Let the plant/pot tell you when it's time to water. I'd fallen into the same pit a little while back. Everyone says, "don't overwater" so I compensated wayyy too hard in the other direction and couldn't figure out why everything was so damn stunted.

 

[Jackie620]

Hey thanks so much, im really afraid of root rot, im growing in the basement so i dont want any mold to form. would you recommend saturating all of the medium? leaving nothing dry?

 

[Cracken]

when you water if the water is only where the roots are they tend not to stretch much and slows your growth. pour most of the water around the edges and then the roots will stretch to the water. looks like a fabric pot you are starting in so you could try bottom feeding by having a small bowl under your pot and fill the bowl with water, the soil will wick the water up and the roots will stretch down to get the water. so if you get a plastic container that your pot can fit into with a little extra space around the sides, then add water, add water until it stops wicking the water up. then feel the weight of the pot and remember that weight, it is full and needs no more, drain any water from the container and put the pot back in the bowl and after a couple days check the weight again, if it is really light water again the same way. when the plant is bigger and in a bigger pot you can top water but remember to check the weight of the pot, dry soil is light to lift. the plants cant talk to you but you need to learn how to communicate with them to learn their needs, they let you know what they need. good luck, hope this helped.

 

[BigCube]

What lights are you using? Link please?
From the amount of stretching, I assume your light is inadequate.

 

[Jackie620]

Hey wow ok, so i was only watering in the center, where I assumed the roots were, oops my bad. Ill start saturating the whole pot and try the soak up trick later this week. In terms of lights, I have no idea where they came from, I got them second hand, but I had 2 lights on them, i added a third of the same intensity and color. I have a fourth I can add. Ive included a picture of what they sort of look like (they're individual lights that can be connected) These arent the exact ones, but similar

 

[BigCube]

You are definitely going to need much more light than that. They are most likely 10w ish each.

You will need to move them close to avoid stretching. Long term you're definitely going to need lights. Those wont do.

 

[ReeferRon]

Yep time to break open that piggy bank and get a light!

 

[Stinkytent]

Definitely water on the outside to stretch those roots out !! The lights They could be atleast 20 watts each which add up to 100 watts. If you were going to use it you would have to have it very close to the plant and make sure the light isn’t to hot by placing your hand the same height your plant is and see is you feel any discomfort on your skin. In my opinion it’s more of a seedlings or vegging kind of light. If you want to invest in a light I suggest atleast 250 watts! There is cheap mimicking ones on Amazon !

 

[Jackie620]

Hey, when i put them closer to the light i think it burns them a bit, its too hot. Ive included a picture of the set up, i gave both plants a bunch of water, and another light. Adding the 4th light could only help right?