hello all, once again i want to thank all the wonderful folks out here with awesome info for the growers.
i am still a beginner (4th grow now), and i had posted a question about my seedlings having problems. well, i had initially thought i overwatered.... and i know i did. but my seedlings were still so stunted and pathetic looking even with vigilant non-watering. my 5 WEEK OLD seedlings were all under 2 inches in height (yes, 2 inches, laugh if you want!) and going into their 5th or 6th node, but most of them had their 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd set of leaves turn brown/yellow, brittle and die off. i was confused..... lights, distance from light, temp, pH, nutes, humidity, watering, etc were all good, and i NEVER had problems with seedlings before..... except i overlooked ONE variable..... container HEIGHT.
i used to start my seedlings in 16oz styrophoam cups (4.5 inches in height), and transplant after about 2 weeks into one gallon containers for veg until sexed and then into 3 gallons for flower.
for this grow, i had started them in 3.5" sqaure pots with about 3.5" in height. so i figured as a last ditch effort, why not give them a new home. after i took some of the seedlings and transplanted them in to 6 inch square pots of 5 inch height, the recovery was remarkable. within a week, the transplanted seedlings were looking vibrant and ready to grow! and just to point out, they had not been root-bound at all. transplanting them was a little traumatic cause the root-ball would not even form a shape and i kept wondering why i am inflicting such trauma on this sacred herb.
anyways, it seems as though the HEIGHT of the container was the only variable i could think of that caused my problem. i know Topaz wrote how 4 inches ought to be minimum height for seedling containers, but i kept thinking the VOLUME was more important. i am just glad they are happier now. even though this experience has cost me several precious weeks of veg time, i have learned something equally precious. also it has taught me that having 3 successful grows under my belt don't mean shit. new issues and questions continually come up, and i am humbled by how much i don't know.
peace to all
zuzu
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thoughts on seedling container size
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