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Seedlings not growing after 16 days?

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greenmonster714

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Its great to see your coming along with your grow. I'm pretty sure a incandescent bulb gets rather hot compared to a fluorescent bulb. I'd be careful getting that bulb very close. I use these:
f0d42bd9-dd0f-41f1-95c3-bdba523e5050_1.5984a3b470243f8ef9621b02b1aac7fc.jpeg
At $10.97 a pop at Wallyworld they work pretty good. I use the T8 bulbs which are a few dollars more. I place two 1020 trays longways under them and the plants respond rather well. Plus, you can get these lights right down on top of the plants without worries of burning your little ones. Wattage is not really what you need when using indoor lamps. It is the lumens per square foot your looking for. Ideally you want at least 2000lumens psf for young plant growth with the top end up to 7000 (Width x Depth = Square feet. Divide the lumens available by your square footage. This will give you lumens per square foot). Even if your a little short on the lumes its okay because you can get very close to the plants with the fluorescent lamp. They will respond nicely. The specs on the bulb you are currently using only provides 270lumens. That's a pretty short even for one square foot.
 

rainmax

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It looking good. Just give them some light. Don't forget on water.
In two weeks you will see the difference.
Good luck with your first season.
 

FmGrowit

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I had the same problem several years ago. It is completely normal for the seedling growth to stall above ground while the root system develops.

Judging be the amount of perlite in your soil, I'm assuming you used a commercial potting mix. Commercial potting mix is fine for 99% of all plants...except tobacco. The cheapest way to introduce nitrogen into a potting mix is to use urea. Urea enhanced potting soil is fine to transplant seedlings into, but they will not grow if the seeds are started in a soil with high urea content.

root rot.png

Pull a couple of sprouts and it they look like this, transplant them into a soil with no urea or start over and use a potting mix with no urea.
 
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Smokin Harley

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Don beat me to it. Potting soil isn't for tobacco. I use a starter mix , Jiffy I think it is , its not the coconut husk shred ,its actual peat finely ground. I'm sure you know that tobacco seeds need light to germinate and constant heat . So , get the proper starter soil ,put it in your pots or flat. Don't pack it into the pot, just over-fill it and shake to settle it or drop it about 2-3 inches from the countertop and that is plenty of action to settle the soil. Next take the superthrive and get a gallon water jug full of clean filtered but non-chlorinated water, rain water would be great, at room temperature. Mix only 1/2 the strength superthrive the one gallon mix calls for .Place your settled soil pot in a pan with sides even with the top of the pots. Pour enough of the weak solution into halfway up the pan so when you place the pots in it ,it soaks up from the bottom . You'll wait a couple minutes and the soil surface will become wet slowly. At this point the soil is ready to sow seed. Remove the pots ,now wet, aside to drain off excess . sow the seeds ON TOP of the soil, do not cover with any soil. In each pot or flat cell I usually only sow a few to 10 seeds , you'll thin them out later. Don't tamp, don't cover them with soil. Don't water from above. Cover with plastic wrap at this point and no holes. place on top of a heat mat and place a fluorescent light almost touching the plastic. Leave this on 24/7 until the seeds sprout which SHOULD be no more than 1 week. Keep checking soil moisture. If you can stick a finger tip in and if its moist ,its fine. Only when the top surface of the soil looks and feels dry should you water it, again ONLY FROM THE BOTTOM. Same as before, place in pan ,pour the fertilizer solution on the side ,let it soak to the top of the soil. By week 2 they should have their 2nd set of true leaves and you can add more nutrient to the water for further waterings. Soon you'll see a 3rd set of leaves . Once tobacco plants get going they are quick. At this time you can thin them out to individual cells /pots to grow until you set them out. Once the bottom set of true leaves reaches the size of a quarter, take scissors and cut only those leaves in half. This stimulates root growth. By as early as the next day after the "haircut" we call it, they will have grown a lot. ALWAYS keep the light source as close to the plants as possible. Tobacco loves heat and does NOT like wet feet (roots) .My first grow I had Ct Broadleaf that did exactly what yours are exhibiting. They never got past 1 set of leaves and small size. Stay away from high nitrogen fertilizer. You would expect that a leaf crop would require lots of it but it will give it burning problems later on.
 

FmGrowit

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ps. If you do transplant your seedlings into the proper soilless mix, bury the entire stem. The stem will sprout roots when in contact with the mix.
 

Zapotecorum

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How critical would you guys say it is to transplant them into a different soil? Will they not grow at all in my regular potting soil, or is it just sub optimal?

The reason i ask is that 1, i'm clumsy with this kinda thing, and 2, these 9 plants are all i have right now(i only have 9 because i'll end up using the 3 best lookings plants) . I'd have to order more seed and start germination over again if i screw it up and they die
 

deluxestogie

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Have a cup of coffee (or a beer), and relax. You've germinated some tiny tobacco seed, and kept them alive for several weeks. That's good.

Tobacco is a weed. I would suggest just leaving them in their current soil, and being content with the other adjustments that you've already made. Give them time. Maybe another week or so, to see how they do. Changing one factor at a time also gives you a better chance of figuring out what you've accomplished.

For your growing area, you could still start new seed in the next week or so, and have plenty of time to grow mature plants.

Another point I might make is that every tobacco grower on this forum has his or her own unique approach to germination and seedling care. My general recommendation is to do less rather than more. Most poor outcomes are from doing too much, fussing too much, watering too much. Tobacco is a weed.

Bob
 

Zapotecorum

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quote_icon.png
Originally Posted by FmGrowit
If your soil has urea in it, the seedlings will not grow.

Is Larry selling plants this year?
But of course nobody said for sure he had urea in his soil, right?


I just checked the bag, it says 0.11x% Ammoniacle Nitrogen and 0.11x% Nitrate Nitrogen. No mention of Urea

I went to lowes to try to find some Superthrive. they said they had it but it was still boxed up somewhere, so i'll get that some other time


Have a cup of coffee (or a beer), and relax. You've germinated some tiny tobacco seed, and kept them alive for several weeks. That's good.

Tobacco is a weed. I would suggest just leaving them in their current soil, and being content with the other adjustments that you've already made. Give them time. Maybe another week or so, to see how they do. Changing one factor at a time also gives you a better chance of figuring out what you've accomplished.

For your growing area, you could still start new seed in the next week or so, and have plenty of time to grow mature plants.

Another point I might make is that every tobacco grower on this forum has his or her own unique approach to germination and seedling care. My general recommendation is to do less rather than more. Most poor outcomes are from doing too much, fussing too much, watering too much. Tobacco is a weed.

Bob


I think i'll take this advice for now (except for the first part. I gave up caffeine for Lent and am a recovering alcoholic. i'm no fun :p). I suspect the light will make a big difference on its own, plus they seem to be retaining water better now that ive started watering from the bottom
 

deluxestogie

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Instead of coffee or beer, just have a look at the photo below. I snapped it just moments ago. That is my Virginia Bright Leaf, which was started exactly 3 weeks ago today.

Garden20170320_2494_VABright_3wks_500.jpg


Bob
 

Gavroche

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He... The parents worry about their BB, it is natural lol!

Grows Gavroche 201six worry worry and more worry... The babies lived in my room ah ah ah four months in my room !
 

Charly

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I agree with Bob and Gavroche : Relax, give them time, they will grow fine ;)
Just pay attention not to water them too much/too little.
 

Smokin Harley

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How critical would you guys say it is to transplant them into a different soil? Will they not grow at all in my regular potting soil, or is it just sub optimal?

The reason i ask is that 1, i'm clumsy with this kinda thing, and 2, these 9 plants are all i have right now(i only have 9 because i'll end up using the 3 best lookings plants) . I'd have to order more seed and start germination over again if i screw it up and they die

Hard to say .I don't use regular potting soil for anything, it stays too wet too long and causes root rot known as damping off. I usually transplant /thin when they get 1 set of true leaves or about day 10 ,the roots at that point are like fine hair. I use big round ended tweezers . I poke the tips down into the soil around and far below the plant and barely squeeze it then lift the plant out. Take a pencil and poke a hole where I plan to transplant and just set the tiny plant in there and then bottom water it right after. They seem to have a nice growth spurt . I don't lose many plants this way. I have a hard time throwing out my extras.
 

Zapotecorum

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Just stoping by to say that things are going well - most of the plants have their 2nd set of leaves appearing! I'll start a grow log soon
 
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