Germination problems/sickness ?

[drnkenmnky]

Hello,

I started a dwc led grow in the start of this month.
First bought 18seeds. But alot failed so bought another 18ones.
Though .. Alot seem to fail too.

Short explenation :

For germination i use cotton for make up stuff.
I have a big container filled with water & an aquariumheater. This to maintain a very humid place for germination. They almost all come out this way.
After i see a root of 2cm. I place it in a jiffy.

About the jiffy set up
I use RO water mixed with tap water. This is ph'ed to 5.8-6.3
Ppm = 0.2 EC
Now alot die when doing this. Only some of them survive ( the ones that had the biggest root in the cotton)
I place them with the seed above the surface.
First i drown the jiffy without seed in the water, then i press on it to let the excess water flow away.
Afterwards i place them in the tent. Temperature is around 24°C there. ( at night for 4hours it gets 18°c minimum)
Leds are 50cm above the seeds.

Because of the temperature i need to water the jiffy's once or twice a day.
Now the seeds that fail;
Their stems are getting smaller & tinner. Like they are shrinking..
Also they turn brown/purple .. ( looks like rot )
So i maybe give them to much water ? somethimes i watered them right on the seed which was just above the jiffy surface .. Maybe thats the problem for the smaller ones..? ( because the bigger ones were already above the surface)

Now the older plants also don't look very healthy tbh.
Stems are purple. Leaves are droopy.
Very Very slow growth in my eyes..

20181227_130732

• drnkenmnky
• Dec 28, 2018

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• drnkenmnky
• Dec 28, 2018

20181227_130727

• drnkenmnky
• Dec 28, 2018

20181227_130724

• drnkenmnky
• Dec 28, 2018

My rdwc setup : everything is circulating good , enough of oxygen from 2oxygen pumps. + also waterfall for extra oxygen.
Lights : first 3x 300w chinese bad stuff. ( bought a spectrabox now and 2other decent ones)
Tent : 1.5mx1.5m
Hydroton : soaked in hot water for some hours
My water is very hard : high ppm so i bought an RO machine , for res water i use a part tap water for ppm's and mostly RO water.
Seeds: All autoflowers, different kinds from different suppliers.
Nutrients : slowly building up with rootstim + hydro A +B ( currently at 1/10th of recommendation)
Reservoir : i see some slime though. around my tubings for the waterfall.
(Maybe i should do a clean?) -> Didn't changed the water so far after 2weeks/3weeks.

I did grows before this with HPS and soil , which happened much easier.
But now.. Damn what a hassle
Last year i grew outside and i also had the same problem like now. Plants stressed alot and gave sick signs.. Then it was no RO water , fully tap water. Maybe something bad in it ..?

Also my bigger ones are showing signs of drooping ..
Also one has 2yellow leaves. And stopped growing for some days.

 

[Mr Green Fingers]

I grow DWC to and I soak a Rockwood cube In ph'd water with root stimulator for 24 hrs, then place seed directly into Rockwood cube making sure it's not to deep, cover the seed with a corner of the cube lightly not pushing down to hard so it's easy for the seedling to pop through, then put the Rockwood cubes in a tupaware box wrapped in a tea towel box on top of my router, seeds normally sprout within 3 days, I have had 100% germ success rate doing this so far.
Then I have been placing into there final pots although I will be changing this up next run and will let them root in the cube for a couple days before putting in final pots.
1 thing I do notice though is that your net pots don't have holes everywhere in the sides etc, I assume there are loads in the bottom to let the roots through to the res?
Also how are you top feeding? Just a misting each day should suffice as you might be over watering the jiffy and causing stem rot?

 

[drnkenmnky]

First i was planning to use rockwool. But couldn't find it in my country so far.
Thats why i started with these jiffy's.
the germinating itself goes super fine in the cotton.
But it's the process afterwards that sucks..

Thing is these jiffy's tend to get dry very very fast.. Then they are super hard and when i water them. The water stays on top off it , after a while it sinks in.
I'm top feeding with a pipet.

Also i checked the root development of my 2 biggest ones.
Roots are very white , grew alot since 3days ago. But still the leaves are drooping and not growing any further.

Do you give light immediately to your seedlings ? ( from the start)
My net pots indeed don't have holes everywhere. Mostly on the bottom and the lower sides. But roots can easily go trough.

 

[Mr Green Fingers]

Yeah I've only used Rockwool and they hold the water for days, I don't top feed at all and there is enough to feed them in the Rockwool until the roots reach the res.
Are you sure the jiffy is actually drying out in the centre and not just the outside as maybe you are drowning them, if it was me I would take one of those jiffy's and prepare it how you normally would without starting any seeds in it just so you can test how well and for how long they hold water for in the centre of it.
Yeah I put the seedling straight under my light but I have it high, like 4ft away to start and I gradually start lowering it once I can see the girls are happy

 

[Arthur]

Sounds like way too much messing around with the seeds during germ, and without pics I would suspect damp off.

Ok, a little higher than I thought...

Can honestly say I've had more issues with rapid rooters... if I go straight to the medium I seem to have great results... don't know why... but would loose like 50%

Not cool with seed prices.

 

[drnkenmnky]

One day later and giving only a small bit of water.
Today they won't get any water.
Ordered new seeds again + rockwool.

Almost now growth and i think alot will die again.. -_-

20181229_120007

• drnkenmnky
• Dec 29, 2018

This was my best one from 2weeks or more ago.
But as you all can see its drooping away.
PH still 6.3 in reservoir
EC still 150 or 0.3EC
Small roots that are in the reservoir.

Also when i will water them again it will be with PH'ed RO water. Nothing from the reservoir anymore. Maybe that's bad water or so.. It smells like a pond also.
Note : the jiffy is inside the pot.

20181229_120154

• drnkenmnky
• Dec 29, 2018

20181229_120156

• drnkenmnky
• Dec 29, 2018

 

[Mr Green Fingers]

Honestly bro, try not to water for as long as you can, how long since those sprouted? How long you keeping them in the jiffy in that tray before moving to there pots? Also make sure your light is real high at this point, I would also be more inclined to mist a few times a day rather then watering the jiffy but as I say I've never used them so not sure how much water they retain but if it's the same thing which is happening I would say it's the grower and not the genetics so don't continue doing what your doing as your just wasting your money on seeds!

 

[Mr Green Fingers]

Hey @EvilScotsman - what do you reckon issue is here, you ever used these jiffy plugs?

 

[EvilScotsman]

Hey @EvilScotsman - what do you reckon issue is here, you ever used these jiffy plugs?

Never mate. They're quote notorious for stunting autos. I believe there's a net on them that's a bit tough for the roots. Rrot riots for me.
Root riots are asidst way.

Res gunk is bad mate. Get some sm90. Give it 0.5ml/l till it goes away in about 5 days then 0.3ml will keep your res fresh as a daisy.
1/10 strength is exactly what you should be feeding them though. You've no idea how happy that makes me to not have to explain why for a change lol. Give me half an hour though just got off the bus.

 

[Mr Green Fingers]

Never mate. They're quote notorious for stunting autos. I believe there's a net on them that's a bit tough for the roots. Rrot riots for me.
Root riots are asidst way.

Res gunk is bad mate. Get some sm90. Give it 0.5ml/l till it goes away in about 5 days then 0.3ml will keep your res fresh as a daisy.
1/10 strength is exactly what you should be feeding them though. You've no idea how happy that makes me to not have to explain why for a change lol. Give me half an hour though just got off the bus.

Thanks Bud, missed the part about the gunk in the res! Make sure you also have a decent air pump @drnkenmnky IMO the more air/oxygen the better!