Seedlings have pale leaves

[90Gizmo]

From the troubleshooter, I'm thinking too much light.

These gals got left untended while I was away for a few days. Now they are 18 days old and apparently they're stunted. Finally they have started pushing nodes apart but have a sickly color.

I must have been delirious setting the light intensity and had it way too bright. Have turned it down.

I also lowered the heat mat from 80F to 75F yesterday wondering if that would help. Is there anything else I can do to help them back to health?

Thank you for ideas and corrections.

[SoOrbudgal]

I'm not sure those will make it back Gizmo i think they are toast. Are those your Strawberry Cough?

[90Gizmo]

Yes they are... They are photos, don't they have all the time in the world?

[SoOrbudgal]

Sure you wish an try to recover them but no there's not that much time to get them healthy enough to go outdoors. I wish this did'nt happen but with what they look like and sooo yellow the leaf will die and like my friggin freak sick gal she's so far behind my other photos she's just worthless yes i keep her watered but i don't know why i even keep it?? I'm so sorry for the loss that's my kind of strain i'd like to grow. My outdoor photos are now between 18-24" really vegging well outside when the temps are near perfect.

[90Gizmo]

It would have been my first outdoor grow and was thinking in terms of an indoor grower... I think you're saying that there's nfw they would be ready in time for the outdoor season. *If* they came back I could grow them indoors but I just don't want to run the AC this summer.

Ditch weed. I've never seen ditch weed so maybe I can change that... That'd be cool enough to maybe learning to clone.

[Ckbrew]

Those are way behind schedule and look stunted what ever their issue is. I think you would be chasing that problem for the life of the plant, is it worth it? I'm not usually one to say toss it, but this time I would consider cut and run. Better to start with a healthy plant imo.

[SoOrbudgal]

I agree sadly

[Bluey]

I'd continue with those unless they start changing color. If they start going red/purple that's when I'd toss but new growth may be fine. 🤞

[90Gizmo]

Well, sometimes the news isn't good. I've been so lucky lately that I can't complain about losing a few seedlings. I've got three more seeds, I'll freeze them and try again next year. I'll keep these going while I sprout some Durban Poison auto. I'm thinking I still have enough for them to go outside instead. And I'll cross my fingers.

[SoOrbudgal]

Man if those come back i'mma gonna give you a recovery trophy i'd love it if they did. Good luck

[Ckbrew]

They are weeds after all. They will come back if you take care of them.

[Rwise]

Why the hot pad under them? IMHO 75*F is to hot for roots, outside dig down a foot and check the temp of the soil.

[90Gizmo]

Thanks Rwise. This is a good example how instructions often fail. I specifically read that one issue growing Strawberry Cough outside is that the roots don't tolerate dirt cooler than 65F ... Those are quote instructions that tell you what's wrong but not what is right. I suppose I choose unwisely. Serendipitously, the battery in my temp sensor died yesterday so I turned the mat off until I can/could find more batteries. I guess I'll leave it off. Oh well. Other nail.

[SoOrbudgal]

90Gizmo you just hit the nail on the head for my outdoor autos i think. Same as you i never sprouted seeds outdoors directily in the dirt. I'm becoming worried for the 4 out there now cause of 60-64 overnite temps. It's feels cooler to my hand when i touch the soil in the pots. I bet that's why my sprouts have not broke surface. I got domes on 2 and 2 without. Hmmm now for you.....yours dryed way to quickly man now i may bring them inside the tent to get them sprouted and shove my og kush outdoors. I hate bringing them back inside cause of possible bug but also don't want to loose my sprouted seeds if i have'nt already??

[golfnrl]

The biggest plant I have grown so far was a runt started inside that got uprooted by the dog, twice. She went outdoors well before the start of spring and grew over 6' tall and about that big around at harvest in October. If I remember right it was a Strawberry cough. I would not give up until they are laying over in the dirt. Just my .02.

[90Gizmo]

golfnrl You are the definitive expert on these seeds! Thanks again for sending them.

[Rwise]

Also when you transplant them IF you keep them in those pots, cut slits so the roots can get out.

[90Gizmo]

Maybe. And one almost looks healthy. I turned the lights up because it looks like too much stretch to me.

[90Gizmo]

I bought those pots before reading the horror stories. I plan to cut them off entirely but they were handy when the jiffy plugs were done. (which are already planted an inch below the surface.)

[Bluey]

Love your work Giz.
If your rooms around 70 I'd get them off your heat mat or drop the heat mat temp down further. 75 is too hot. 70⁰F until she sprouts then into a room about 70 for the first couple of weeks

[90Gizmo]

Thanks Bluey. The seedling mat is turned off. I think the lighting is providing enough warmth for now. Looks like I should take the cup off of the temperature sensor. (The cup was my high tech way of making sure I was measuring the mat temp and not the room temp.)

[golfnrl]

I love how those little girls are fighting back. I use those same pots to start my sprouts. I guess I haven't read the horror stories. Roots are supposed to be able to grow through the paper pot, right? I have tried just leaving the sprout in the pot and sticking the whole thing in the final home (current grow). NO problem, but I think one of my plants might not have liked the process because it lagged behind noticeably but has since caught up and is growing great. I've also cut the bottom off, split the sides, and have removed the whole thing when transplanting to the final home. I like the paper pot cause its biodegradable but I'm looking for a grow bag that the roots can grow through and I don't have to trifle over the transplant, I can just stick the whole thing in the final pot. Bought some from amazon but they were too small. Still looking.

[90Gizmo]

golfnrl These are 5" Jiffy Pots made of peat not paper. I saw that the roots were very well developed when I unpotted the plants for transplant and I liked the way the peat felt damp and that gave me a good idea how wet the soil was. I would definitely use these again maybe plant them directly next time after testing whether they actually break up. The pots were soft but didn't tear easily. I made two cuts down the sides and the dirt ball came out easily enough. Roots were visible but no sign they were growing though the peat.

[90Gizmo]

They are starting to veg but I don't like those skinny stalks. I've already planted them an inch down during the first transplant because they were stretching even in the jiffy plugs. I'm willing to transplant them deep one time but still am not hopeful if the stalk doesn't beef up. Nodes are compact on new growth so I'm not guessing lights at this point. But I don't have any other guesses right now either.

[SoOrbudgal]

Well i'll tell ya what i'd do at this point.......wet those cups really good to almost falling apart and get them out of those peat cups to their final pot and bury them up to the colyondons and start feeding them. I got 4 decent months of good weather to grow in here in my area. Those will flower might not be big as you wanted but they will produce. But you gotta decide and get er done

[90Gizmo]

SoOrbudgal Thank you. I planned to put them out beginning of July, read that's a good time to move as the days start getting shorter then. That gives me a month to mother and veg them indoors though I can certainly maybe put them into their final containers now. I have 560 watts for the new tent... Or is it better to get them outside ASAP to veg in the sun? I bought 30 gallons of soil and perlite before I got sick thinking of our big container garden pots but am now thinking smaller (and lighter!) grow bags. What size would you recommend?

[Ckbrew]

I would trim the node zero leaves if it has not already been done.

[golfnrl]

Lookin' good. I think the stalks should fatten up nicely and those girls are going to explode with growth...

[SoOrbudgal]

90Gizmo 15gal is the biggest i can go for the sake of my body anymore. These are plastic with 20+ holes drilled into each one. I like to grow 6-7ft plants no bigger no more. Most are hybrid indica heavy so smaller plants and i top them only 1x. As you see my lawn is dead outback i'm only watering my gardens and must stay on top of it. These are from last year i've not posted my outdoor plants i got now yet but there in those same pots. My muscles ain't what they use to be LOL

[90Gizmo]

I'm giggling thinking I might have something like those is my backyard one day. Okay. I think you're saying go big. I'll use 10 gallon bags mostly because that's all the soil I have. I think I need an intermediate sized pot because they have 5 weeks before I put them outside.

[SoOrbudgal]

Well i let my current photos veg inside for 6-7wks in the tent and used only 1gal plastic pots. You could get away with 10gal fabric later on but you just gotta really stay ontop of them watering wise. They can root themselves in the ground in fabric pots, which isn't a bad thing.

[90Gizmo]

I've transplanted to the final pots. Three 10 gallon bags barely fit in my 2x4 tent and I'm going to have to swap out the little 100 watt light on the left with a 150 watt light so I can get my target DLI. I'll keep them here for a month and then carry them outside start of July. Made a bit of a mess spilling some dirt but cleaning up can wait for another day.

[SoOrbudgal]

I'm so glad you got these back to health i really like this strain. They'll become green an healthy now in no time.

[90Gizmo]

Thanks for the encouragement. These little gals are 5 weeks old but don't look a day over two... I don't think I could stunt them like that on purpose. They've got to get growing fast if they're going to make it outside in time. Of course, I'm ever hopeful.

[90Gizmo]

Oh ya, these aren't autos, need to give full nutes. Maybe that'll green then up some.