Hello everyone. I used different soil preparations to germinate some seeds. I noticed that in some seedlings the stem is very thin and stretching a lot above the cotyledon, showing small first leaves. In other seedlings the development is normal, with a thicker stem and little elongation after the cotyledon to the first leaves. All seedlings are under the same water and light regime. Does anyone know what soil/nutrient factor is causing the low development mentioned in the first case? I think this is happening in the soil that had recently received NPK, since it contained other older seedlings. Could it be because they germinated in soil with a lot of salt?
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That’s from inadequate light whenever you have any type of stretch… what are you using? Here’s my seedlings under blurple different strains all similar no stretch
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In this veg grow I use a Quantum Board 240w with lm301h leds. I have already taken other cycles of up to 6 plants with it and it was always very good. But as I said, the changes are using the same lighting, and the development differs a lot. That’s why I believe it’s something in the soil (super soil with added NPK)
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No the medium wouldn’t cause stretching…how ab reflective walls or just under light? That LED is plenty powerful
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These observations seem to make sense. Thank you very much for the suggestions.
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i think the way the root development definitely plays a role. I like to start my seedlings with a soil that is around 50% coco coir, I feel like the texture of coco is just perfect for seedlings, and it makes it hard to waterlog…
The harder the roots penetrate the soil, the weaker looking/thinner stem it will be… if the roots are running fine, usually you will see a nice sized stem and leafs… i feel like the size of the initial leafs can be a good indicator of how the roots are established.
Of course, light does play a factor, really low light intensity will cause them to get elongated or leaning to one side…
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I only use peat, perlite and humus for my seedlings. I’ve never started with soil that’s too nutritious… in your case, with this amount of light, I don’t think that’s the problem. Too much water at this stage has also been a problem for me. Good luck!
I always used perlite+peatmoss+worm cast but after I added coco into the formula I saw that the drainage is so much better and now I just use like that: perlite+peatmoss+worm cast+coco
Another thing is that I never plant it in a full cup/pot, I just complete 2/3 of the vessel/cup/pot so when this happebs I just complete with more soil and we win some root area after few days/weeks(?).
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My $.02 - temperature is a factor