New grower - stunting growth?

Hey guys first time poster here. I've been reading the website for about 2 months or so and am currently on my second grow. The first grow didn't go so good being that i started it before i found RIU lol. I had lots of stretching and other problems. Anyways so i planted my sprouts 9 days ago into fox farm ocean forest soil. I have 4 26 w CFLs 6500k running 24/7 a few inches above the plants. Out of 10 seeds only 2 popped meh. I had the seeds in a humid dome before i saw green. I removed the dome after it had about 4 leaves. Temps are constant 80-85 degrees. Humidity seems low at 31% but im doing a closet grow and putting the humidifier in there makes me feel like mold will become an issue.

Anyways i bought the technaflora recipe for success nutes. I fed them 2 days ago with thrive alive b1 and root 66 and sugar daddy. 1/4 strength of course. Before i fed though i noticed one of the plants was curling downward, and the other had brown spots on the leaves. Like i said this was before i fed them (just watered twice before that) so i dont know what the problem could be. Also i feel like the plants growth is very weak.

So i took some pictures to show you guys and maybe i could get some criticism because i am a noob and def still learning.
 

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i read the curling of the leaves could be overwatering or too much heat. The temps were between 80-85 degrees so i dont think it was that bad...maybe the roots are too moist? not enough air?
 

littlewing

Active Member
did u germinate the seeds b4 u planted, cos 2 out of ten is pretty shitty, u buy them or is this bag seed?
hw old r they?
n i wudnt recommend using nutes this early.
wat u gt in way of air circulation?
 
Yes i used the paper towel method. I actually had 4 out of 10 but when i transferred the other 2 they never sprouted from the soil. I received them from a friend of mine. Yea im going to hold off on the nutes until i can try and resolve this mess. I have a box fan on them.
 

shomkey

Member
read the back of the pack see if it says contains nutrients etc

you shouldent feed any nutes untill their 2weeks old, so ive read
and the droopy leaves look like overwatering
do you let the soil dry slightly before watering?
 

Super.Sauce

Member
I use the same soil and it says there is enough nute's in the soil to last up to 3 weeks. My seedlings have all sprouted thou, i only water them twice a day once b4 the dark cycle and about 4-5 hours into the light cycle. Try to water them with a spray bottle as you only want to keep the soil moist, they wont really need a real "drink" until a bit later in their growth. Also I'm not the most knowledgeable but I'd suspect over-watering to be the main culprit for the droopy leaves and discoloration they show.
 

cowell

Well-Known Member
I use the same soil and it says there is enough nute's in the soil to last up to 3 weeks. My seedlings have all sprouted thou, i only water them twice a day once b4 the dark cycle and about 4-5 hours into the light cycle. Try to water them with a spray bottle as you only want to keep the soil moist, they wont really need a real "drink" until a bit later in their growth. Also I'm not the most knowledgeable but I'd suspect over-watering to be the main culprit for the droopy leaves and discoloration they show.
That's not really good advice.
I'm not a soil grower, but I read enough posts to know you are only supposed to water when it's dry, not keep it damp.
The yellowing leaves are most likely nute burn, or at the very least ph issues.. not over watering.

Sorry, but that will kill his plants.

Any soil growers want to confirm or deny?
 

shomkey

Member
the first few centimeters of the soil should be dry before watering, just poke your finger into the soil if dry then its time to water.
 

super2200

Well-Known Member
the first few centimeters of the soil should be dry before watering, just poke your finger into the soil if dry then its time to water.
centimeters? I am thinking inch at least even in small cup, make those babies reach for the bottom of the cup!
 

Ledhed

Well-Known Member
Letting the soil dry up almost completely, then watering as needed makes the roots search for water, getting longer and stronger as they do. When you do water it is then taken up by the thirsty roots and you see quite noticeable growth spurts. I grow in soil and only water about every 7-10 days, as dictated by the dryness/wetness of the soil. Overwatering is a very common mistake that almost everyone makes. Let those babies dry out a bit, makes them stronger plants overall. When they're young you don't want to make them work too hard, keep the soil just barely moist, but not wet and you can see growth of up to two to three inches in a week's time.
 

shomkey

Member
dont get to scientific with them at the end of the day their just plants.
if your useing a 3 to 4" cup you dont want to disturb the roots so dont be poking about too deep.
 
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