HELP! What seems to be a problem with my seedling? Slow grow, yellow spots. 10 day

[kach]

Hello,

I'm using coco with perlite mix.
Northern light autoflower.
Light is Optic 1 XL COB LED with 3500k. Light is design for flowering stage maybe that is the main issue here?
Light is at 30" recommended distance from the seedling.
I have add fertilizer in the coco soil when i was preparing coco.
I have water it with 5.5-6 PH water only.
Yesterday i did the flush with nutrients. But it was like that before nutrients.
What seems to be a problem here? 10 day old.

[9fingerleafs]

looks like it got wet when you were watering and got a bit burned, make sure no droplets stay on the plant when the lights are on

[Canuck147]

Too many nutrients for a seedling.

[kach]

It was like that before i add nutrients. Maybe the fertilizer that came with the coco soil ruin it? Or i just did too much water?

[az2000]

I have add fertilizer in the coco soil when i was preparing coco.

What fertilizer did you add?

[kach]

I have no idea. It came with the coco soil i bought. Probably that was not a good idea to put that organic fertilizer.

[az2000]

The reason I asked: technically, coco is soilless. Like peat. It's organically inert. Just a medium. Not a source of nutrients. (In which case you would typically feed every watering using hydro nutrients, because the medium has more in common with hydro than it does soil.). But, (like peat) coco can be used as a component in making soil.

So, I was just curious what all went into it. If it was sold as a kit (peat and nutrients), I assume the seller knows what they're doing. (I was thinking you picked a fertilizer).

Does the medium (coco and nutrients) have a brand name? Have you seen anyone else using it? I always recommend new growers (I assume you're new. Sorry if you're not) follow something that's known to work. (Not pick something random and hope.). That rules out some variables. If this medium were known to grow well, then you'd be looking more at watering too frequently, keeping the medium too wet too long. Without knowing how the soil grows, maybe it's the problem.

[Sww]

looks like it got wet when you were watering and got a bit burned, make sure no droplets stay on the plant when the lights are on

Yep. And the soil is to wet. It only small and to water.

[homegrown]

i would let it dry out..like when you think it needs water...wait a day. then just give it plain water and only enough to wet an area about two inches around the plant. My seedlings rebounded great after i did this...just too wet and too much food. do this for a couple of waters..no nutes! hg

[kach]

OK i have done transplant to a smaller container with brand new coco/perlite soil without fertilizer. I did very light watering with 5.7ph water only(0% nutrients).
Do you think she will make it?

Temperature in tent is 21-22C with 60% humidity.

[az2000]

"I did very light watering..." I just wanted to say that normally you want to completely wet the soil (10% runoff is a good indicator that it's uniformly wet), then let it completely dry (not "completely," but almost until it's too dry and the leaves wilt).

This is a seedling, which is a little different, more sensitive to being too drenched or too dry. But, it seems like new growers hear "don't overwater your plant" and think that means "don't give too much water." They'll dribble a little in every day, which never lets the soil dry enough between waterings. It also creates uneven moisture (dry pockets). To me, the "don't over water" rule means "wet it (substantially) and forget it." Let it go through complete wet/dry cycles. A drench is good, as long as it's allowed to dry out.

A good way to know when it's dry enough for watering again is to lift the container. It should feel disturbingly light. You can keep another container full of medium (never watered) and compare what they feel like. But, what I do is just let the soil dry enough until the leaves wilt. Lift it, and learn what "too dry" feels like. I wouldn't do this to a seedling nor a flowering plant. It is a stress. But, in veg, the leaves will bounce back within 20 minutes of watering. It's not a terribly bad stress in veg. (It's a tradeoff. One stress to avoid the ongoing stress of watering too frequently. Not letting it dry enough.). When you know what that feels like, you can lift the container and wait till it gets within a few hours of that level of being dry. To me, that's one of those things you can't imagine until you do it. It's really amazing how dry the soil can/will be when the plant looks like it's thriving, not thirsty, not wilting. You have to see/feel it yourself to know. (But, you'll need to wait till you have 3-6 nodes, in full/thriving veg. You don't want to do that to a seedling.).

One big reason to let the soil go through complete wet/dry cycles is that the ph will move a full point. If it's kept too wet, it limits the ph range the plant experience. That limits the nutrient availability. Organic matter starts to adicify when kept wet (think of peat bogs). Suddenly, instead of a full point swing from 5.6 to 6.8 being capped at 6.0, it start going lower due to the acidification (being kept too wet). You quickly start having a 5.2-5.6 range, and lower.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention that. Whenever I see someone say "I lightly watered," I feel like they might misunderstand what "don't overwater" means. The volume should be heavy (10% runoff). But, the frequency should be fewer. It seems common for new growers to treat it like a houseplant, giving a sip frequently. That causes problems.

PS: If the problem isn't nutrients in the soil, it should make it. Cannabis is very hardy. I've done things that I'm surprised the plant survived. Seedlings are more sensitive. The best thing to do is leave them alone. (I wouldn't have transplanted it. A large container isn't bad. You just have to water it less frequently. Much less frequently. A small container is better. But, once you're in a large one, I wouldn't downsize it that way. That seems risky). Don't kill it with kindness. That's what usually happens. If you can let it grow itself, it should recover (unless the soil is too hot).

[kach]

You are right seems to me over watering was the main issue here. I didn't wait the dry period and i did water every day. This amazing site that i found yesterday explained in detail on how much you need to water the plant https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabi...s/overwatering. Lesson learned, news seeds are arriving soon so now i know exactly how little watering it needs to be done. Just hope this seedling will recover in few days.

[az2000]

I agree with that page's "every 2-3 days" target. I like my soil to dry that quickly. One thing to keep in mind: that's for when a plant is fully grown into a container. When it's still growing into it, it may take 3-5 days between watering.

I don't stick my finger into the soil. (I lift the container.). My concern about judging the top 1-2" is that, when a plant is still growing into the container, it could be very wet in areas where the roots haven't fully grown into. By refraining from watering, it motivates the roots to continue seeking out that moisture, grow into those untapped areas. If you water just because the top 1-2" is dry, it ignores the remainder of the soil (whether it's too wet still).

For example, I live in an arid climate. It's common for the top 1-2" to dry just from the air. I lay white posterboard over the container to reduce that. It depends on the soil. I'm growing in cactus mix right now, and it dries in 1.5 days. But, the top 1-2 inches dried too fast when the roots were still filling the container. Covering the top of the soil moderated that (plus the white posterboar reflects light back into the canopy. That makes a difference, IMO.).

So, my point is: There's no right or wrong way. Some people use moisture meters (to avoid the top 1-2" misleading about the remainder of the soil). In a humid climate, the top 1-2" would be more representative of the remainder of the soil (than it would be in my climate). If you get in the habit of lifting your container, you'll probably see how representative that is of the moisture content. It doesn't have to be an either/or condition. You can finger, probe and lift, and see how they inform each other. (But, from what I've seen on forums, lifting is where people end up. It's just not the best advice for a new grower because it takes time to develop that sense for the weight. I suggest that you get in that habit of lifting, and you'll notice the weight difference as it gets dryer.).