Very slow growth!!

[BonesBUD]

Hey guys my blubonic and california orange popped up about 10 days ago. All look fine but now 10 days later they still have barely grown and aren't even 2 inches tall. My last indoor grow, the plants shot up very quickly, I have not changed anything but added more lights. My temps stay right around 78-85 with low humitidy.

They are currently growing in 16oz styrofoam cups filled with scotts non fertilized topsoil with added perlite. Do you think the soil is the problem?

Please help me figure this out, I don't want to abandon these seeds(they were expensive).

All help is appreciated

 

[md.apothecary]

TOP SOIL - BAD

potting soil - good

Top soil is really not very beneficial for any plants, its mostly used for filling in holes and spots in the yard/garden, not necessarily to sustain plants.

potting soil is actually the medium you need for growth... but a lot come with some sort of nutes.

 

[stonedsmithy]

yeah get some good potting mix or seed raising mix n ya plans will love u 4it an what kind of ligh r ya using an how far away from plants is it

 

[Dubbaman]

IMO your top soil is better to use i did my frist grow in it and had no problems with the way the seedlings came out of the ground. top soil is potting soil sans (means less) added nutes. potting soil for seedlings is ok to they will make the babies grow fast but if the nute mix is to strong (like MG) it can and most likely will burn them up fast.IMO your problem may be in the styro cups, these are white and too much light getting to the roots can cause the slow growth cause they think they (the roots) are almost above ground, and for plants that are 20+ days old it may be time for a transplant too slow growth can be a good sign of being root bound in smaller containers.:bong2:

 

[md.apothecary]

There is much debate against top soils, from my previous teachings and experience in plants and my previous employment, top soils can contain many other substances you're not aware of. Including but not limited to, cloth, sapplings of different types, RUBBER, and other waste products not allowed in land fills. It gets mixed up with clay and all sorts of other construction materials in a large bin, ground and pulverized, mixed with composts and other "dirts", and set out to bake in the sun for a few months, then packaged and shipped out. It's for sure NOT an organic substance!

But anyway, here is some info on top soils and potting soils... super basic stuff

http://www.greenacres4u.com/Articles/tip_06_00_potting_mix.htm

http://wkow.madison.com/News/index.php?ID=13589

And the one that gives me a good chuckle is exotic animal waste. The truth is the plant doesn't know the difference from worms to bats when it comes to nitrogen. If you want great plants you need to have a great microbial population in the potting soil. You need to have the air and oxygen down there in the root zone. Companies literally put almost anything in a bag and call it potting soil. In reality, they generally find the cheapest ingredient they can find and pass it off as the real McCoy.

http://www.bloomingsensations.com/potting_soil.php

 

[BonesBUD]

okay, thanks a ton guys!

so would it be feasible if I got some good potting mix and transplanted,do you think its too late for the plants to make it?

 

[md.apothecary]

plants are rather resilient, they can bounce back without any problems. Personally, I try and use organic soils, and i then recycle my soils later on. But you should be good, just stay away from soils with lots of nutes in them, like Miracle Gro.

A close friend of mine has the moisture control soil from Shcultz, and I was super impressed with how well that worked out for him. The plants seem to like it, however, it does have nutes in it, so I don't know if that is feasible for all strains of MJ. We were using Bag seed in it.

 

[BonesBUD]

okay guys, i had some organic potting mix laying around, as well as some expert mix potting soil. I got the 5 plants transplanted out of the white styrofoam cups and top soil and into some potting mix and pots.

Lets hope they start looking better than they are now.

anymore suggestions?

 

[md.apothecary]

don't pick at them too much now that you've transplanted them. They may go into shock a bit depending on how rough you were. Just keep an eye on them.

 

[BonesBUD]

Hey guys and gals!

Quick update, with questions!

Alright the plants are looking alot better than 2 days ago when they were in the top soil. There is new green growth but near the ends there is still a small amount of yellowing!

Here are some updated pics, tell me what ya think. Is the yellowing a lack of nitrogen?

I thought I was going to lose em, but they look like they may start to take off after all.

 

[md.apothecary]

it is lack of nitrogen, however, if they're starting to grow out of it, it was just an adjustment to the new soil...

If they don't grow out of it, you can get something liek fish emulsion and give them a great amount of nitrogen.