Germination probs

[FastForward]

I left seeds in to germinate a day or two too long whilst away. They were put in in a chinese takeaway plastic box between damp bogroll and then covered with tinfoil and placed in a warm place. When I opened it a day or two late each of the seeds had an inch long root....

I tried putting them in moist rockwool but it wasn't easy with such a long root - and I broke the first one, so the rest I went really easy on. I've got them as far down in these new root riot things and hoping they'll live. Have given them a light mist of 1/4 strength formulex and have them under lights.

http://www.imagebam.com/image/03758b9344905 http://www.imagebam.com/image/ba75b49344906 http://www.imagebam.com/image/a271a69344907 http://www.imagebam.com/image/f20a4b9344909 free image host

Is there anything I can do to help them? Will they live? As you can see in one of them, the root got coiled around a bit in one of them putting it in.

Cheers

FF

 

[biggs]

alright mate, they look a bit yellow to be honest. best to leave them a few days and hopefully they'll pick up. make sure you don't let the cubes dry out. next time if they get too long to put into the cubes, just put a cut down the side of the cube and open it up and place them into the cube. this way you wont break them trying to stuff them down the hole. hope this helps. good luck with your grow.

 

[ProGroWannabe]

Hey fastforward! Sorry to hear about the trouble.
First off, the coiling will not pose a problem. If the seedling is gonna live, it will sort that out on it's own.
Second thing... I assume you know that most schools of thought on germination recommend either planting the seeds directly in the medium, or if popping the seeds from soak, or paper-towel method, the seed should be planted as soon as there is a visible taproot. The fact that those had taproots of an inch long says that they went way too long. Again, you prolly know that already, but I'm just throwing it out there.
Third...I'm not familiar with formulex, but I never fert a seedling until I see a need for it. Usually the cotyledons (the little leaves you see in the pics) are fully formed.
Unfortunately, it is now a waiting game. Keep them only moist NOT saturated. Keep the temp near 80*F and hopefully in a high humidity environment to give them the least amount of stress, and therefore the best chance for survival. You should know whether or not they're gonna survive within 2-3 days from now. Good Luck and keep us posted.

Sorry biggs, I didn't see your post when I started typing--guess we were posting at the same time.

 

[FastForward]

next time if they get too long to put into the cubes, just put a cut down the side of the cube and open it up and place them into the cube. this way you wont break them trying to stuff them down the hole. hope this helps. good luck with your grow.

manoman...wish I'd thought of that! Top tip..thanks :)

 

[FastForward]

Keep the temp near 80*F and hopefully in a high humidity environment to give them the least amount of stress, and therefore the best chance for survival. You should know whether or not they're gonna survive within 2-3 days from now. Good Luck and keep us posted.

Cheers PGW....i think my thermo/hygro is buggered but it's showing 80*f and 50rh, so it should be good enough in there.

I've been keeping an eye on them every hour or so, dropping a bit of water on the cube to keep it moist as it seems to be drying out very quickly with the lights on. One definitely looks to be dying/dead/in really bad shape but the other three are hanging in there - in fact two of them are staying upright and looking like producing leaves.

Should I keep them under fluoros 24:0, or give them a break and set for 18:6? I'd rather give them a break overnight so I can keep a close check on the moisture in the cubes, rather than risk them drying out with the lights on...

p.s. these are Violator Kush seeds, feminised...I really really need to save at least one of them....I should have started out with something less expensive I know....

 

[FastForward]

Update:

One is looking lovely and healthy, two looking a bit iffy, one hovis. That's two I've killed now and I feel bad for the little ladies. MUST DO BETTER :)

Almost hourly tlc with the dropper, making sure it's just the right level of moist with my weak formulex solution. Girlie #1 seems to be loving it, so it can't be that bad....and with any luck I can get her to make some proper roots over the next week or two and then put into a bigger cube. One MUST survive!! Girlie #1 is my queen, I can feel it :)

http://www.imagebam.com/image/40e80b9401821

Trying hard...could be okay:
http://www.imagebam.com/image/9997de9401822

Hovis (but I'm in denial, hoping for an ET-like recovery if I talk nicely to it)
http://www.imagebam.com/image/674dfe9401823

Girlie #1:
http://www.imagebam.com/image/54e9309401824

Girlie #2 (bit wayward - maybe too much root out of the medium?)
http://www.imagebam.com/image/43931f9401825

And these last two shots are to show my 'brute-force-try-everything' approach to getting going with my seeds.... OG Kush in rockwool and the rest is White Widow. I'm trying out vertical damp cloths in the taller silver foil container to see if the tap roots grow down (which they should, I just want to see it for myself). The two trays below are in 8w heated propagators, and the temp in there is about 80f, 50rh.

http://www.imagebam.com/image/356b969401826 http://www.imagebam.com/image/cff8e19401827

 

[Sonic Seeds]

hi mate , i would be keeping them root riots really wet all the time , they seem to hold loads of air .....
i germ strait into soil no heat mats or propergators , just room temps under a 600wt light .
all come through most of the time , try it if you keep having troubles , i guess you dont wanna go soil , but if all else fails , some thing to consider ....
good luck m8

 

[FastForward]

I know...everyone I know has told me 'start off with soil, much more forgiving for the newb'...cheers :) If I keep screwing up I might try some in coco just to keep my ass covered and ensure I have something smokeable asap...

 

[ProGroWannabe]

.........

Should I keep them under fluoros 24:0, or give them a break and set for 18:6? I'd rather give them a break overnight so I can keep a close check on the moisture in the cubes, rather than risk them drying out with the lights on...

Sorry I missed your last update FastForward. What light schedule are you running now? Still on 24/0? Whatever it is, I'd be tempted to stay with what has brought them back from the brink. They are showing signs(by surviving) that they are under less stress than before. Just keep doing what you've been doing for another week or so. By then they should have a root structure and will not be as vulnerable to small stresses.

This is all just what I think I would do if they were mine, decide for yourself what you'd prefer to do. I'm just letting ya know an opinion.

 

[FastForward]

Sorry I missed your last update FastForward. What light schedule are you running now? Still on 24/0? Whatever it is, I'd be tempted to stay with what has brought them back from the brink. They are showing signs(by surviving) that they are under less stress than before. Just keep doing what you've been doing for another week or so. By then they should have a root structure and will not be as vulnerable to small stresses.

Still on 24/0 and will keep it that way. I picked up one of the cubes and there's a white tip pointing out, so it's probably time to move them into bigger cubes...so am soaking some bigger rockwool cubes overnight and will move them tomorrow.

When do you think I'll be able to move them into my hydro system for veg? I mean, what's typical.... 1 week?

 

[ProGroWannabe]

My guess would be one week. I'm no hydro expert but I'd say within one weeks time you should see root comin out of the rockwool. Either way, I'd place them in the hydro system as soon as I saw roots out of the rockwool. But other more experienced hydro guys could give better advice.

I'm happy that they're doin better for ya. Good Job!