I need advice! 14 plants dead

Wait, You're going to plant more seeds in coco despite all that has been posted?

Gazing in crystal ball..."I predict more dead seedlings"
JD


PS: To lower Ph, you use "Ph down" available in hydro shop or maybe a full service garden supply. Not really a Walmart product. People have used vinegar in a pinch but don't tell anyone I said that. You will need a meter of course, do determine what the ph actually is.

gheez...why coco? esp. when RR, RW & vermiculite all work....

and not to argue, but IME paper towels are 100% unnecessary...it absolutley works, I've done it, but I've never convinced myself the added step has any real benefit (ntm a seeds tap root is very vulnerable to damage)...
soaking for 1/2 day probably does, but I'm not 100% sold on that either...

Looky man, get a rapid rooter, or Rockwool or solo cup w/vermiculite... make sure the hole isn't too deep or too shallow (plug the hole with same material so the seed is like 1/4" deep, then place a lil on top (loosely) ....wet and wait (I personally don't dechlorinate or pH adj the water but your call)
..if the seed doesn't sprout using the above suggestions, my guess is the seed was bad, not the method...

I've already planted 16 germinated seeds, all the seeds have sprouted nicely in 2 days. I am using coco for many reasons, 1) I have all the supplies, and nutrients for it. 2) I have done a lot of reading on growing in coco and I chose it because its easier for beginners ( they say). I moved my lights a foot away and unplugged a few 6000k CFLS, someone made a good point saying overwatering and too much light, which is possible. I had 6 6000k CFL 2" from my plants and watering every other day. They were watered before the seedlings were planted, coco is still saturated, I will only water now with an eye dropper. Ill post pics on Thursday.

You've talked about the PH but not the number, or at least I missed it. In coco you want to water with a 5.7-6.3 PH, go in the middle with 6. You've already raised the lights a little bit which I was also going to recommend. I don't believe you mentioned how many days they actually took to die, but its honestly really hard to overwater a plant to death within the first couple weeks. As long as your medium has fresh oxygenated solution in it you literally can't overwater (this is hydro!). Now if you're growing in a pot with no drainage or a saucer that holds a bunch of water then that shit can get funky and stagnant and then you'll start having problems.

I have heard that it is impossible to overwater in coco if you have proper drainage. HOWEVER, a lot of people had said seedlings are a different story. With there roots not fully developed overwatering could easily happen. But hey I am a level one at this shit so I am just reading a lot and forming an opinion based on all that. The seedlings would be growing for 2-5 days, then after that they would stop growing, weaken, and die. So far everything looks healthy, I hope I can see a second set of leaves grow this time. My ph was always around 6.5-7 so yes I will go to walmart and hopefully they have the ph lower there otherwise I will have to order online. Hopefully if thats the case the seedlings wouldn't die in slightly basic ph. Does anyone have any recomendations on when I should start giving like 1/4 strength nutes? I have read many places you should give nutes when the circular leaves fall off or you have grown 3-4 different stems for the leaves to grow on. Thanks in advance

I'd start giving nutes within the first week. 1/4 strength isn't going to hurt anything. Move it up a 1/4 maybe once a week. End of week two start half strength etc.

Oh yeah 2-5 days is way too soon to die from overwatering in any medium. When I start from seed in a party cup I'll give them about 20ml water per day and that will double to 40 by just one week.

SO guys and gals, here they are. There were a total of 16, last night I took an eye dropper and gave all of them some water. I woke up this morning and checked on them and there was one that was completely folded in half, i tried lifting him up so i can brace his stem but it just broke off. (Here we go again). I got some pics here because I am hoping you guys can let me know if these seedlings look okay. It is now day 5 or 6, I actually cannot remember. Their first watering was last night, and yes instead of saturating the coco I just use a dropper. All criticisim will help! Please guys, let me know if this looks right. Thanks!!

Well they generally look OK but sounds like one may have dampened off. If the stem is shriveled and discolored at the point it bends thats damping off.

Why two plants/pot? Why no perlite or something? Lots of problems can arise sprouting in coco if you are not on top of things. In my opinion it would be much cheaper to but a proper starter medium than continuing to buy and kill seeds. Hope this one goes better for you.

There is rocks in the bottom of the cups with lots of holes, I don't think drainage is a factor, but possibly. If this fails I will be changing how I sprout my seeds.. Well if that one dampened off then I am going to hold off water for a while. That really starts making me think I have a problem with overwatering.

Hi Mitch90,
I hope your little guys manage to survive. But just so you can understand my previous posts on this thread. Do an internet search using "seedlings dying coco" and maybe read some of the results. Search function sucks here but use Google or Bing.
JD

Hello again everyone. SO I planted 16 seedlings, all of which the same thing happened. They grew awesome until the second set of leaves were about to start and then they began their downslope. However, this time before they all died I transplanted all 16 into potting soil. 12 are dead 4 remain! LOL BUT!! The 4 that remain are bigger than I have ever grown in 3 tries! They have their second set of leaves. Here is some pics I need your guys opinion now on nutrients and watering. Ive never done soil before so I don't know if I should saturate the soil or be using nutrients daily or what. SO take a look at the pics and let me know, ps what is the optimal ph for using soil??

Hi Mitch,
Glad you managed to save a few. Remember two things: The soil has inherent nutritional value and the cotyledons have lots of stored nutrients. So please don't rush into feeding since the tiny ones are so sensitive...as you've found out. Maybe in a couple weeks...or until you get just a tiny bit of leaf tip yellowing. Let the plant tell you when it needs food. That's the whole trick to growing...well that and learning from mistakes.
Peace,
JD

chill w the chemicals there just babies for god sake you don't see us jackin our kids up with andro the min they come out the womb there is nutes in the soil just water them wait until they get big enough to walk at leased I cant stand hearing such atrocities as 12 dead 14 dead jeezus its freakin mass genocide WATER and DIRT you can put seedlings in front of a 100w incandesant and they will live. Im scared to see how youll treat them when they are grown if you are massecreing them like Milosavic at seedlings cripes

Lol, thanks for the constructive criticism I suppose Dr Octopus . John Dee, the tips of one of them are starting to brown and curl a bit, check out picture 77 I think it is. Is that normal?

Optimal pH for soil is around 6.5 in my opinion, some people like 6.4 or 6.3, but I find 6.5-6.6 better for the strains I do. all depends on your girls ^_^

Now you've put in soil just make sure you do not over water, they like the soil to be moist but not wet, better to be a little dry than wet at seedling stage. Do you know what soil it is, my soil I'm on week 5 and have not fed anything except water, leaves are still nice and green. This does depend on your soil though. Good luck with your survivors.

Mitch,
Wat sort of dirt was it? Hopefully not soil with nutrients already added. That can be too hot for seedlings. That's why starter mix is marketed.
JD

JohnDee, I actually don't know off my head, I am currently working out of town right now but I have my GF taking care of them lol. Here is a mid week update, let me know if you think there is something I should be doing.

no pics. one thing you need to do is to keep the temp around 60 to 70 65 is best. it will not allow root rot or fungi . that's one think I know your doing incorrect . pics are very helpful . and for those rocks on the very bottom. are they stop the roots from growing ? I would never use rocks but pearlite . yes . lighting should be a 40 watt bulb 2700k to 6500 k is fine. run 24 hours a day. and never feed and fertilizers . if your doing all I listed above no problems . and never use (distilled water ) with young ones,

Mitch,
I think they look good. Be sure they go through a dry/wet cycle. Bad to keep them wet all the time. By dry I don't mean bone dry...but maybe top 1/2" dry. It actually helps roots to grow seeking water lower down. Fingers crossed for ya.
JD