seedlings

hey everyone. i was wondering if it was possible to put starter plugs straight into the soil or if i should try to extract the seedling first. i dont think they ahve fully rooted but i have them under 400w mh at about 2 ft away and they are not doign that well. they look healthy but are just growing veryyyy sloooooowww. so i was goign to pick up some cfls. good idea? would it also be a good idea to just put the starter plugs into the soil even though they aren't fully rooted? any help would be very much appreciated. thanks!

You can put the starter plugs in the soil any time you want. I let the roots grow out of mine first though just so i can tell when they are rooting really well. That 400mh at 2 feet away might be too much for your seedlings. What is the temperature at? They could be growing slow because of that, but it is probably something else. How much are you watering? Chances are you are over watering or under watering. Starter plugs should be kept MOIST not wet. That way roots look for water. Keeping starter plugs properly watered is kind of hard at first because everyone has different setups, humidity levels, wind and all that but once you get it down then it is easy.

i think i may be overwatering. its just that they get so dry so quick. what is the best way to get them moist? maybe spray with something or what? i've been putting a little bit of water at the bottom of a plate with the plugs on top of the water. that way the water gets absorbed by the plug. i may be doing it too much though. my temps are at like 70-80 so i'm not too worried about that. the humidity is a little low i think (20%). is that making a difference you think?

I'm not sure if the humidity would be the cause? I put my plugs in the soil, and then put the seeds in, and they seem to be doing fine. I usually try and water every 24 hours or so? my temperatures are also the same. consistent at about 80.1 degrees. they should be doing fine.

Definitely don't let them sit in the water. That is definitely over watering. High humidity helps keeping them moist as well as covering the sides and bottom with something. I really like those tray things that have a bunch of notches that are the size of the starter plugs and you just set them in there till they root. That way there is no wind and air hitting the sides which speeds up drying.

i think i'm going to go pick some of them up. thanks for the advice

No problem man, how are they doing?

those ones died unfortunately but i got some others going strong! thanks hazey