How soon do you fertilize seedlings?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Hackerman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2014
Messages
3,030
Reaction score
286
My seedlings are up but they look a little pale.

I planted on the 9th. They popped up a few days later so the sprouts are about a week old. Working on their first set of pointy leaves.

I was going to wait another week but I may do a tiny bit of Fox Farms BIG in the next watering.

I am growing in a mix of Garden Magic top soil (peat and sand) with 50% soil, 25% vermiculite and 25% perlite. Not much nutrient in the grow medium.

Any thoughts? I'll post a pic if it helps.
 
I use MG seed starter mix which has pretty much no nutrients in it and my seedlings go 2-3 weeks before they need a feeding. When they do I usually start out on 1/2 strength unless it is a light feeder like Satori. Those I started out on 1/4. After only a week they shouldn't really need a feeding. You got pics of the seedlings?
 
Does look a little light green but I am always hesitant to even consider feeding seedlings that small. jmo Look healthy though. Green Mojo. ♫♫♫
 
Looks a little wet m8. Let them dry a minute and see if they don't improve for ya a little.
 
Thanks gang. Yeah, I just watered them right before the picture. They have been kept on a wet/dry cycle.

I am going to skip the nutes next watering and see how it goes.

Thanks again.
 
Yeah, I just soaked them right before the pic.
 
A week later they still don't look tip top. I raised the light to 24" above the plants. I think it was a little too close, before.

Just a light spritz of water yesterday so I watered them pretty good right before the shot.

Maybe I am just being impatient. LOL I'll say one thing, the seedlings from my single strain sativa sure are hardier than this hybrid (which makes sense, I guess).

Can I take clones from these, yet? :rofl:

View attachment seedlings 05-23-14-1.jpg

View attachment seedlings 05-23-14-2.jpg
 
If the medium has manure, castings, compost etc in it- there is "food" already there.

I only feed my hydro seedlings b/c there is no nutrition in the mediums I use.

the plants look like they might be in hot soil or weak soil...idk what you added but the yellowing isnt normal.


ph the water you use next time to 6.5.
dont feed yet give them some time.

dont overwater!!

Put a small fan on them and check them a few times a day. I would transplant into their final container in a cpl weeks.

by then you will water them in and let new roots hit the fresh soil. You might not even need to feed even at that point.

it all depends on whats already in your mix.


did you use dolomite lime?

If not get some and water it in.
 
My medium has almost no nutrients.

Sand, peat, vermiculite, perlite. So, a little nute in the peat but that's it.

I have been sprouting in this medium for decades. These seeds are just lame compared to what I am used to. I'm sure they'll catch up.

I may sprinkle a little MG seed starter medium on top. It has a tiny bit of nutes in it and has worked well for cloning, in the past.

I think the light was just too much. All these new lights and bulbs are killing me in both rooms. I backed the light off to 24" and the second set of leaves is a little greener.
 
I am a big fan of MG Seed Starter. It's all I use.

I sprinkled a small layer on the top just now and spritz a little water on it.

I used it for cloning a couple grows ago and it worked great. I was going to use it to germ these and I simply forgot. Hopefully, not a fatal error.
 
It almost seems like they are having ph issues. Which I find strange since I water my plants with tap water that has not been ph'd at all and they are fine. I only ph my water to 6.5 after I begin feeding. My water comes out the tap at 7.8-8.2 . jmo
 
When im running rockwool/ hydro etc..I notice a huge dif if I dont ph. But my promix not so much.

if your light was to intense it could compound your nutrient issue.

if it was hungry all along and you Back the light off already and it was to low...and feed, it will come around.
Could possibly be seed stock. But if youve grown forever you would have known if the light was low or not already.

the soil mix is inconsistant alot of times....you could buy 10 dif bags at 10 dif stores and it will all be dif.

hope that helps.
 
I have been using the same water for years.... tap water. I let it sit in gallon jugs to dissipate the chlorine. I never checked the PH. Never felt I had to. I have a brand new tester. Maybe it's time to get it out. LOL

Still, I don't think it's the water. I think the light was just too much. I usually germ and clone under floro, not HID. And, this is a brand new one so it's nice and bright. I backed it off and the newer leaves look greener.

They got off to a slow start but I think they'll be OK. In another week, if they don't show a noticeable improvement, I'll give them a tiny bit of nutes
 
Do you let the feed run without phing?


I would bet if you do ph all the way though ( or at least TEST AND CHECK ph) you will end up with more yield.


If you stick with one strain and learn it a while- your yield will go up.

if you run quality genetics- same...

if you focus on the little things and tweak them for your methods...it will go up.

let us know after you calibrate your meter properly...test ph and fix issue how it works out.

I can assure you one thing. I have learned you can do something for years but that doesnt mean its the right way.


test and adjust for ph!!!

Use a quality digital ph meter with calibration solution and use dolomite lime when mixing soil.

ph is more important in dro than if you use a soil w a buffer like dol. Lime.
 
:beatnik: ILEARNED ALOT ON THIS ARTICULE THE LIME???????????YES SHOULD I TRANSPLANT NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME??? 6 DAYS 2 INCHES TALL???
 
I just couldn't take it any more.........

I was sitting with my plants and reading them a story (Jack and the Beanstalk. That's their favorite story) and I could just hear that poor little yellow girl crying. I dumped her out and transplanted her into some MG Organic potting soil I had. Not a real fan of MG but I had it and the bag said the nutrients came from natural ingredients in the mix (Yeah, sure LOL). Anyway, I screened out the bigger pieces and mixed in a little perlite. She is doing a little better this week. I was amazed at the size of her root structure for such a small and weak plant. The main root went almost all the way to the bottom of the 4" pot and the cluster was quite large for this size plant. Hopefully she will catch up. I sing to her sometimes and she really responds well.

The other 2 are coming along. One is fair and the other seems pretty strong. I started with 1/2 dose of nutes (Fox Farms Grow Big) every other watering.

In the reality of thinking I may loose a seedling, I put a Chronic Thunder seed into some seed starter mix (MG again. LOL)

These things better start growing at super speed if I am going to clone from them and have a full harvest of the clones by December (going on vacation in Jan).

I haven't tried it yet but perhaps if I dance for them, they might grow faster. They really like my singing and they love to be read to.

I wonder if they like tap, waltz or modern dance?

:banana:

View attachment seedlings053014-1.jpg
 

Latest posts

Back
Top