My first grow setup - and my problems - HELP! (Lots of pics!)

Iron883Guy

Active Member
I've never grown before, so I am new at this. I have a closet in one of the rooms, and I've rigged up a growing area on one of the shelves.

My setup:

I've got about 20 seeds that a friend had stored away from good weed she once had. It's a mixture, grab-bag, so you never know what I could be growing. The soil is from Wal-mart, it isnt miracle grow or anything crazy, just some simple indoor houseplant soil.

2x 4' long flourescent glow lights from wal-mart. They have some truly high kelvin rating (like 7800k), and put out over 1300 lumens each, as seen below: (NOTE: You can see the data on the bulbs in one of the pictures below)


To make sure that I don't have much light leakage, and that the maximum amount of light is reflected back to the plants, I bought two jumbo auto-shades:


I have a simple battery powered thermometer, that also reads the humidity. I have a simple low-flow fan on the area, to ensure good airflow, and I've been told it helps make the stems come nice and strong.

This is what the setup area looks like, completed:







Now here's my problem:
1) I germinate the seeds in one of those greenhouse boxes that I get at wal-mart where you put the seed in the little soil round thing, add water, and bam.
2) When I start seeing it come up, I migrate it into a little potting container, and put it under the lights. The lights are maybe 1 1/2" above the plants.
3) Two of my plants have grown two inches or so, but then the stem starts to "decay". It gets thin, changes color, and eventually I believe my plants are dying off.

I can't seem to get a plant to grow past this phase. What am I doing wrong?

Pictures:
Seedling Seems fine:





Two days later, you can see the stem is decaying:



Facts:
-Lights stay on 24/7
-Thermometer reads anywhere from 82-88 degrees with anywhere from 30%-45% humidity.
-I lightly mist the top of the soil with a brand-new store-bought spray bottle, with tap-water that I let sit for over 24 hours under the very same lighting conditions.

Where is my flaw?
 

timeismoney1

New Member
That i dont think is the right color temp light. Youll nerd 6500k. When it sprouts you will want round 50-80 watts on it. When it gets bigger you can add more. also get a fan a work them temps down to 75F :)
 

Iron883Guy

Active Member
That i dont think is the right color temp light. Youll nerd 6500k. When it sprouts you will want round 50-80 watts on it. When it gets bigger you can add more. also get a fan a work them temps down to 75F :)
Ok, swapped out for two 6500k bulbs (removed the 2x7800k's), and I added a higher-flow fan to try to lower the temps some.

I'll keep you posted. Anyone else with any other comments?
 

Iron883Guy

Active Member
Damn 7800k. What color light is that ultraviolet lol. How many lumens you got on it?
2x 4' long flourescent glow lights from wal-mart. They have some truly high kelvin rating (like 7800k), and put out over 1300 lumens each, as seen below: (NOTE: You can see the data on the bulbs in one of the pictures below)
 

desertrat

Well-Known Member
ok, let's see if we can fix this. there are only a couple of things that kill sprouts:

1. soil - read the bag and see how much added fertilizer is in it - you may have a mix that's too strong for a baby. as an aside, you dishes are way too shallow even for a sprout. you want something that's six to eight inches high so the sprout can grow long roots.

2. water - either too little or too much. a couple of ounces per plant every other day for the first week. then read up on how to water an older plant. check out the first two links in my signature below for some great newbie advice from experts on this site.

3. air - your temps are too high and your humidity is borderline low, especially for a sprout. get your temps into the 70's (you may be ok, check temp with the thermometer covered from direct light to get the right measure of temp). it helps to put a homemade humidity dome over sprouts - something as simple as an upside down clear plastic glass will work fine.

changes in one or all three of those will fix your problem
 

Iron883Guy

Active Member
ty desert. I'll see about transplanting these suckers into something bigger soon as I can see they're still alive. Regarding the humidity, I just covered them with plastic-wrap after misting the soil - that ought to do it.
 

desertrat

Well-Known Member
come on, some people transplant every two weeks. transplant shock can be completely managed by careful execution. unusual to transplant so young a sprout but if he's careful he'll do no damage, and if he doesn't transplant the baby is going to start out rootbound and probably will never recover to the potential the plant had.
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
dont forget to have holes in your container for drainage... water buildup at the buttem can lead to all sorts of problems. also dont use clear contrainers
 
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