Need Help big time! Cant get past seedling stage Damping off!! So frustrating...

Ok so I have probably wasted at least 30 seeds now...and I am talking some good strains and some wasted $$$. I am about to give up and dont want to. Here are the facts.

I have germinated at almost 90% but once I transplant them they are dying within the first week to 10 days from what I think is damping off. I am growing in my garage with stable temps of 70 degrees. I have used the paper towel method, plate method, in a bag method, presoak method, seed warmer in a dome, pretty much done it all.

I have used peat pellets and party cups. I have tried Happy Frog, Light Warrior, and FFOF...i even mixed them and still cant get past the F-ing first week without the stem shriveling up and falling over or dieing even earlier than that.

Using 4ft flourecents 1 at 6500 the other at 3000k. Putting seedlings that get this far within a few inches from the lights.

At this point I am very frustrated and ready to quit. Can someone please help me figure this shit out. I am so tired of buying weed when I know I can grow my own.

I will answer any questions and welcome all feedback.

I dont grow in soil but can tell ya your lights should be great, I personally use 6 of those fixtures for my veg area, I would say 2 of them fixtures for 1 plant due to width, I mean ya can likely fit 2 under when they are more mature if you are going to keep mothers for clones. as for soil I did start my very first in miracle grow and those are the ones I rinsed roots and put into hydroton (they are blooming now) kept the light close and kept them warm, warmer than 70degrees, Kept my heat mat under them to insure warmth and fast growth.

My current seeds are on week 3 now (starting sunday) I did not have any problems, used paper towel method put sprouted seed into my ready rooter, put it in my domed clone tray kept them moist and they were great there till i had to put them into hydroton. Should not be feeding nutes yet for soil I dont think. Everything looks good from what I can see. Has to be a soil or temperature issue maybe. I do let my plants grow to touch the bulb, keep it real close. I also have a fan blowing gently on them at all times from a large distance at first.

Wish I had more info for you, I am sure there is a soil specialist here that can help more, Good Luck and dont give up!! It's too much fun to watch these little ladies grow up and then smoke em'

70 degrees is a little chilly for seedlings. What's your humidity?

Damping off is a fungus, so you should probably address that with some fungicide and by cleaning the grow area with a bleach solution.

Can you provide any pictures? Your problem sounds pretty severe and I think raising the temps, dropping the humidity, and cleaning the area are about all you can do to combat true damping off. Otherwise you could still do that stuff, not hurt anything, and make sure to incorporate adequate circulation around the stem to keep it strong.

I know this sounds silly but I think you're trying too hard. I found 3 seeds in my bag weed, I planted the 3 seeds in small pots. All 3 sprouted. I replanted them into 3 gallon pots, 1 lived, 2 died (one soil got a mold so I had to toss the plant, the other plant fell over). The one that lived, I didn't take care of at all for months. I left it outside in the cold, wind and rain. A couple times I could have sworn it would have been dead but it lived and now it is 2 feet+ tall. I am now trying to make a clone and it just won't work out. It's an example of me trying too hard. I know I am over-doing it. If I just leave them alone for a week, they will probably root but I am OCD and incapable. I recommend you plant the seed directly into a large pot if you're really bad at replanting. That's what I would do. If I had done that at the start, I would have 3 big plants now. Maybe I would have gotten the mold anyway, who knows... I planted mine into small cups with cheap potting soil, waited a while and replanted into larger pots but I think I lost 2 due to the replanting.

How about planting the seeds into the type of pots or plugs that go directly into the soil?

How much are you watering? I didn't water much at all. I think a lot of people overwater.

Uhh. your greenthumb is missing? Germ, Put in Soil Cube in dome under lights. When 2 leaf nodes appear transplant into Party Cup with HOLES in bottom, Water. DONT WATER DAILY. every other day. how could you go thru 30 seeds? i have only ordered 10 and got 100%

hudman said:

Ok so I have probably wasted at least 30 seeds now...and I am talking some good strains and some wasted $$$. I am about to give up and dont want to. Here are the facts.

I have germinated at almost 90% but once I transplant them they are dying within the first week to 10 days from what I think is damping off. I am growing in my garage with stable temps of 70 degrees. I have used the paper towel method, plate method, in a bag method, presoak method, seed warmer in a dome, pretty much done it all.

I have used peat pellets and party cups. I have tried Happy Frog, Light Warrior, and FFOF...i even mixed them and still cant get past the F-ing first week without the stem shriveling up and falling over or dieing even earlier than that.

Using 4ft flourecents 1 at 6500 the other at 3000k. Putting seedlings that get this far within a few inches from the lights.

At this point I am very frustrated and ready to quit. Can someone please help me figure this shit out. I am so tired of buying weed when I know I can grow my own.

I will answer any questions and welcome all feedback.

Click to expand...

hey man you are probably making it too complicated for yourself, this is how i do it. I soak the seeds in a glass of water for a day, then germ the seeds with a wet paper towel folded up on a plate with warm water and i put a bowl over the top. keep it in a warm place like on top of the computer of tv, and they usually germ in a few days. If you are growing with soil simply fill up the container you will be growing in with the soil and put the seed once it starts to sprout into the soil(tap root down). I wouldn't mess around with transplanting if you are having so much trouble,its just asking for more. wet the soil a little bit before you put the seed in and dig a small hole about 1/4 inch down. cover with some soil and add a few more drops of water if desired. then just put it under the lights...not sure what your problem really is but i hope i helped. Don't over water the seedlings or give ANY nutes because thats a surely easy way to kill them. I've also learned that they become root bound easily if you leave plants in small cups for too long...which could stunt the growth.

Try a medium you don't have to physically handle the sprout, perhaps rapid rooters in a party cup inside a ziplock.

But first clean your hands real good or wear gloves maybe use alcohol or something and disinfect the seeds you've touched with your bare hands. There could be fungus or bacteria on your hands.

(I just started a few sproutlings myself)
Here is what you need A party cup with some rapid rooters and a ziplock bag



Wet your rapid rooters, put some seeds in them, then put them in the cup and put the cup in your ziplock bag.


Put them all in a slightly warm dark place till you see the Y start to come up and then give them just a little bit of light.
Keep them in the ziplock until they start to come up to the top of your party cup (You can burp them every 2 days if you really want.)
Then you can take them out and transplant them into dirt or hydro.

have you ignored all the advice and simply made things, "less moist"?
it certainly helped me out. I found out what I had was, "a sopping mess" most times.
Now I get it though.


I know for sure it's too cold for them.
humidity factors vary for every grow, not just for every other grower....every grow...i don't know how to explain it.

don't let anyone fool you either...if you just killed off 30 seedlings you have packed away quite a bit of knowledge what the wrong way looks like.
to give up now would be a waste.
Save your good seeds for your next grow.
Use the cheap stuff...no joke.

In a garage type of deal, it might be a good idea to fill a pot with the media of your choice, set it up like you just transferred a seedling, into it, and take several temp readings....
the air temp means squat if the media gets to cold/warm.
fungus is pretty common in garages too...the only solution may be a dryer grow or a tent with a filtered inlet.

to save you frustration. Read day and night for a week on Forums and MJ sites. Cause if you think a seedling is tuff. see how your key board looks after you get into flowering

I find the "quality" seeds are very much like princesses with a twist...
they are very finicky and demand certain things and expect them immediately.
you fail to provide, and they will not hesitate to dump their scorn on you by shriveling up and flopping over dead.

raise a punk nosed ditch weed man...

no one expects you to jump up on stage and perform kenny g's greatest after seeing a sax for the first time.

my bet is over watering.

hudman said:

Ok so I have probably wasted at least 30 seeds now...and I am talking some good strains and some wasted $$$. I am about to give up and dont want to. Here are the facts.

I have germinated at almost 90% but once I transplant them they are dying within the first week to 10 days from what I think is damping off. I am growing in my garage with stable temps of 70 degrees. I have used the paper towel method, plate method, in a bag method, presoak method, seed warmer in a dome, pretty much done it all.

I have used peat pellets and party cups. I have tried Happy Frog, Light Warrior, and FFOF...i even mixed them and still cant get past the F-ing first week without the stem shriveling up and falling over or dieing even earlier than that.

Using 4ft flourecents 1 at 6500 the other at 3000k. Putting seedlings that get this far within a few inches from the lights.

At this point I am very frustrated and ready to quit. Can someone please help me figure this shit out. I am so tired of buying weed when I know I can grow my own.

I will answer any questions and welcome all feedback.

Click to expand...

If your seedlings keep falling over and dying, you need to plant the seed a little deeper, IMO. I had that problem, and it is frustrating. I just started planting my seeds in larger pots to start, with the same soil mixture I use the whole cycle, and plant the seed about as deep as your finger can penetrate to the second knuckle. This should force the seedling to spend some time with roots, and only get a little above the soil when it sprouts.

Also, like some have said, watering is key......Just water your soil mix in the pot, before you plant the seeds, get it nice and damp and dark. Once you have it ready, poke your finger in there, and then drop the seed in the hole, and lightly cover it up. LEAVE IT ALONE AFTER THIS. If you got the soil damp enough, it should be good for even a couple weeks without water, maybe only as many as 5 days. Just keep your eye on them, and do not water until it looks somewhat dry on the top layer of soil.

Hope that helps. I had AK48 and Aurora Indica seeds that I wasted when I got a little relaxed about my seedling planting. Good Luck!

a very shallow hole with a few grains of over them is plenty. At 70 you should only water as needed. your past the hard part when they sprout. after they sprout don't water till the cup is feather light. then water well and leave it alone till the cup is again very light again. Keep a cup of soil by your grow don't water it. feel the seedling cup then the dry cup you want them just about the same.

Wow! I really appreciate such a great responce. I checked my soil temp this morning and it was at 66 degrees....maybe to cold. I have not been using a warming mat once the seed popped so I know the soil temps and air temps have been on the cool side now that I read some of the posts. I am going to clean my work area really good and try again. This time I will use a heating mat and try to keep both soil temps and room temps higher. I am sure I have over watered as well...damn it its so hard not to water when you dont see anything happening....patience is my worst enemy also. Any other ideas on soil temps and how to keep them warmer?

Special thanks to:
Chubby
Erdericks
Snow Crash
Med MJ
Rc7
and Tomato Group
Raw Budski I think you were trying to help...lol thanks anyway....glad you got your 100%

Be carefull with the heat mat. You don't need the heat mat after sprouting. root temps at 66 is good. over watering is #1 cause of killing sprouts.

Just to add some to the already great information here. I usually do not water after the first watering, I just spray them with a sprayer to keep them moist at all times. If you do not have the time like me I would suggest bigger pots so you do not have to water all the time. Another thing I wanted to agree with is sometimes in growing you feel like you always need to be doing something. That can cause to a lot of trouble ie: overwatering, burning, stress etc. Just make it simple and trust in what knowledge you have learned along the way.

Good luck man.

Thanks Cheech and Stumps.... Trust me I have learned alot of what not to do. Sad thing is I read so much berofer jumping in. User error is my biggest problem. I will continue until i get it right.

Stumps If the soil temp is ok then I will look to increase the ambient temps.

Yeah last night garage temps fell to 66 degrees....

stumps said:

Be carefull with the heat mat. You don't need the heat mat after sprouting. root temps at 66 is good. over watering is #1 cause of killing sprouts.

Click to expand...

I'm also looking at over watering or over loving. LOL

I'll bet you give them a little 'sip' or spritz once or more per day.

For seedlings, once every 3-5 days is good.

Wet

Ok....so I have two seeds...freebies this time in a shot glass for the next 24 hours...then will transfer to paper towel method. Plan is to put these into party cups with light warrior and FFOF mixed 70/30. I will only dampen the soil so that it is not wet. After transplanting I am going to cover party cup with a zip lock bag and put them in my grow box under some CFL's. The box is much warmer than the Flouros in my garage. Avg temp is 75-80. I will keep the bags on the cups until they pop then remove. I will not water the seedlings until the party cups are very light and dry. Does anyone see anything wrong with this strategy? Comments welcome. Thanks to all.