Help, my seedlings won't grow anymore!!

So I planted two seeds about 2 weeks ago. Have them in a closet directly under a 24W T5 florescent. Have them in rockwool cubes and have been watering them about once a day, sometimes more sometimes less depending on how moist the soil is. I saw good growth, they broke the soil 8 or 9 days ago and were steadily growing for a little while. This picture was taken 5 days ago (8/14), and since then they haven't grown at all. I haven't had to raise the light at all since then or maybe a day before. They're aren't dying or anything it doesn't look like, there's still only those leaves but they aren't drooping and seem to actually get a little fuller by the days. I just know that within the last five days there should have been way more progress, either more leaves or them getting taller, or most likely both. Does anyone have any ideas of whats going on?

Transplant into bigger pots, probably root bound. More or better lighting would pry help.

yeah, i have a better light (250W HPS), but i was waiting to put that on til i transplanted the babies, which i was waiting to do til they got bigger, lol. so would you recommend switching lights and transplanting? i just didn't want the switch in lights to shock the plants being so little.

Rick Stonetree said:

Does anyone have any ideas of whats going on?

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not enough light. a single tube is near useless. a 23 wat cfl @ 6500 K an inch away with reflector would be a better starter light.

They shouldn't get shocked unless the light is too close or its to hot. I would personally switch to the HPS(although HPS is not ideal for veg., MH is) when you transplant. Their rate of growth should definitely be visible with these changes.

Those starter pods are pretty small, I agree with m420p. As soon as I transplanted mine, I noticed a big growth spurt! Keep us updated!

m420p said:

Transplant into bigger pots, probably root bound. More or better lighting would pry help.

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frmrboi said:

not enough light. a single tube is near useless. a 23 wat cfl @ 6500 K an inch away with reflector would be a better starter light.

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I was thinking the same, but don't have experience with CFL's or T-5's.

If you got a hps put en under it.

although I disagree that the pots are too small you'll want to transplant to bury that stretched stem, and keep a small fan blowing on them too if you haven't already.
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/429767-replant-those-long-stretchy-stems.html

do you see the roots coming out the rockwool? if so they are ready for transplant and by the size of them i would say they are ready. if they are healthy and they look so, i wouldnt worry about it. just take it to the next step. transplant first, wait a couple days and if still no change bring out the hps. goodluck with them

thanks for the replies everybody. frmboi, i do have a fan blowing on them right now and will be getting another fan for the room when i put the hps in. m420p, you said an hps isn't ideal for veg., but it should still work right? im not looking for super huge plants anyways, im in limited space at the moment so that should be good right?

So I transplanted the seedlings and put the HPS in yesterday, I have a small fan going at around the height of the plants. Overnight the temp inside my closet went to almost 100 degrees. Should I get a larger fan and put it at the height of the light to cool it off, or what should I do to bring the temp down?

Rick Stonetree said:

So I transplanted the seedlings and put the HPS in yesterday, I have a small fan going at around the height of the plants. Overnight the temp inside my closet went to almost 100 degrees. Should I get a larger fan and put it at the height of the light to cool it off, or what should I do to bring the temp down?

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How big is your grow chamber? Can you give some details, maybe a pic? You need to exchange the air in the chamber to bring temps down, need a vent fan to do this.

Room is 2ftx4ft and is about 7 1/2 ft tall. I could get a picture later tonight. Unfortunately I can't drill into the walls, but would it work to set one up in the door? Right now I have a hole in the door about halfway up and another bunch of holes I drilled near the top.

Rick Stonetree said:

Room is 2ftx4ft and is about 7 1/2 ft tall. I could get a picture later tonight. Unfortunately I can't drill into the walls, but would it work to set one up in the door? Right now I have a hole in the door about halfway up and another bunch of holes I drilled near the top.

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Basically, all you need to do is exchange the air in the closet while keeping it lightproof. A fan venting out the top of the door would be perfect. I'd get at least 100cfms, 150 for a carbon filter.

dude, those temps will absolutely fry your seedlings. If you have fluorescent lighting, bring it back until you get your ventilation figured out. Your picture of the seedling just shows stretchy stems, it's not root bound it's just not getting enough light. Also, you say you transplanted in rockwool, but those cubes in the picture look like riot rooters or something similar. What exactly are they in now? If you have a decent enough fluorescent (go to home depot and get a 2 bulb shop light for 30 bucks) you can veg almost entirely with that if you HAVE to.

right now theyre in 1.25 gallon pots, moved them last night when i switched lights. right now i brought another fan blowing through the doorway, with mylar draped over the space above the fan to keep as much light as possible in. thats a temporary solution til i get to the store today to buy a smaller fan that ill run through the door(ill cut a hole in the bottom of the door and put the fan right against it). i will be ordering a 4 inch 170 CFM exhaust vent fan that ill install at the top of the door to blow the air out. would that setup be enough? i'd have a vent fan at the top for exhaust, a desk fan blowing directly into the closet through a hole in the door at the bottom, and a small fan inside for airflow


Since putting the fan in the doorway, temp. dropped to just under 90, and exhaust should drop the temp even more, correct?

that sounds adequate, but the ideal solution would be to get a reflector that has holes so it can be air cooled and you run exhaust pipes out of the tent. I think you will bring your temps down with the setup you mentioned, but you could do it a lot easier by having an air cooled reflector and one oscillating fan. Just my two cents.

Until you get your fan, don't turn that light on if temps get that high! Use fluorescent lights or cfl's.

You germed in rockwool and transplanted in soil? Really?

its not actually rockwool, theyre like soil starter pod things. im not in a position to run exhaust pipes out of the closet, because everything is going through the door, so pipes wouldn't really work when im constantly opening and closing the door, im on a limited budget also so i'd rather get the fans i think it'd be easier and cheaper. also it is getting late in the year so the temperature should be dropping soon which will help the temp in my room

you're right on all counts. While ventilation pipes will definitely work in your tent, i think you'll be ok with what you've got. If not, then you know what to do! Your temps will be dropping soon as it gets into fall, but maybe this could be a grow room upgrade for your next generation. Good luck!