I would love to be able to put native sand in but we don’t have sand. This desert was a lake bottom so we have this wonderful stuff called “poof dirt.”. It’s fine like talcum powder so when it gets wet turns into a concrete like substance. I have made this mistake already lol.
I think you all have nailed it! I have watering issues personally but improving my seedling medium for drainage might help greatly.
I hope you get over those issues and get growing like a boss, order some stuff to amend the soil so it drains better, but mostly you need to adapt to your conditions and watering discipline.
Good luck!
I’ve started a new process for my auto flowers. I fill my 3 gal fabric pot with soil then scoop out the center bit and fill with seedling starter soil. That way the roots can easily move through seedling dirt then work it’s way into the real soil. Anyone else try this before or have any ideas.
I’m getting ready to transplant some seedlings (photos) and that is basically my plan as well
My plan is to fill the pot with soil, make space for the transplant like usual plus a little extra space. Add some seed starter and/or worm castings to line the space before repotting the plant. 🪴
Alright thanks for feedback! I have corrected a few of the issues as I said before the op. Here is exactly what I’m talking about. Plant is(was lol) growing well in a solo but here’s the roots.
That is not a healthy football. It has healthy roots but not a good grasp of the soil.
this !!!
That looks pretty dense Imo. Can you get anything to cut it with? Perlite, promix? Coco? Anything?
As well get some airflow under them.
I killed my first cou6of seeds when I started. Found out besides all the other stuff. Environment plays a huge factor.
Can you get a cheap 4x2 tent to kepp humidity up?
I remember reading somewhere that if humidity is low, it tries to do other things besides its intent… I think it was at Grow weed easy.
But whatever you decide, best of luck figuring it out.
Promix n perlite… Mega crop 1 part… "KISS "
Started this in a solo, then went hempy, turned out male
Ohhh man, idk what it is but I absolutely love a good root ball. Every plant I’ve ever grown I have examined its root structure. I love repotting and transplanting to see those roots. Idk what it is but I sum it up to, you can tell alot about someone by the shoes they wear.
Its all about soil structure, roots are like electricity, they take the easiest route to water. Alot of guys will only water far away from the stem to promote root outgrowth but its all about soil structure/microbiome and water to me. These plants were 17 days old, maybe 6" plants but the roots were bound already.
Lots of roots but they are all straight down. They aren’t filling the cup also all big roots no nice fishbone structure.
I’d suggest seaweed extract to give mild nutrients & a fan to make the stem dance and force a good root structure…
fyi here is a young one - Nepal / Tibet seeds gathered at 3100M - so a real hearty / wild variety
I’ll start running seaweed kelp for initial watering and add to nute base.
Some nice balls in here…
This is my best root ball at transplant so far (definitely done a lot worse at least!)
Its coco, so kinda like cheating when it comes to watering. In soil I start plants in little 4" square containers that have even less volume than a solo cup and really try hard to wait to water them again after the initial soak. gotta make those roots work hard!
If you have any extra room pop some tomato seeds or cheap/extra cannabis seeds and try some of the techniques you’ve read about
Hello, I am absolutely no expert on this topic, but from what I can see you seem to have minor root rot in this pic. Compared to what I have seen from “healthy” roots, yours are much darker & browner, seem thicker and less spread out.
Just replanted this one today, as you can see, very fine and perfectly white roots, kinda like rice noodles.
The most common reason for this from what I have read is “damping off”, where due to the (too high) soil moisture over an extended period of time (few days), various harmful fungi and pathogens grow happily, and infect your roots.
When it’s minor, it results in stunted growth, and the plant can recover (had this happen to me not too long ago ), but it can also fully kill the plant before its even developed (also had this happen recently ).
The advice from my personal experience is to water less often (a non-damp soil surface is good in this case), when you water make sure the soil is fully saturated, and remove the excess with either a hole in the bottom, or just turning the pot upside down to let it all run out of the container (which is what I do with these small transparant square containers).
Cheers,
eS
Your problem is low temps in plastic cups.
Plastic cups offer no buffer zone for humidity to damp off unlike cardboard cups.
Couple that with low temps and you got roots sitting in the cold soil dorment until they rot away and die.
Fixing this issue is easy.
If you work in a low temp zone switch your cups to paper/cardboard cups, they will dry faster and mold a bit faster but you are gonna up pot them before so it doesn’t matter
Make sure your water are 24-26c before you water your plants
Drill holes in the bottom of the cups but don’t let the cups sit on the holes and plug them, lift them from the surface a bit.
Only water when you can lift the cup and it feels like 20-30% of the weight it was.
Try to maintain a solid temp around your cups, something that’s above 22c.
Give them plenty of light (24h) and a good ambient temp and rh and you’ll be rocking !
Attached proof:
Now I want clear bottoms on my pots.
Cool isn’t an issue here it’s the heat! Plenty of warm but only about 30% Rh.
What’s your watering schedule like?
When they feel light af I water. I’ve noticed my soil doesn’t stay moist. I water the water runs through out the bottom but the cup is still very light. I think this is because of water channels. How do I combat this?
I can smell that picture.
I don’t know nothing about soil, but that’s root rot. The advice to add perlite sounds solid, in hydro you add oxygen.
Soil isn’t for everybody. Come to the dark side.
Your soil is hydrophobic. Let the cup/root ball soak in a bucket for like 10-15 min.