Stunted seedlings

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Spikylover
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Stunted seedlings

Post by Spikylover »

I've been to hell and beyond with a batch of my seedlings. They grew very well initially under grow lights during winter then they were stunted outside during then they grew a few months and were stunted again since late aughust. I then moved them again under cfl lights and gave them some dilute fertilizer in october and they grew for a week and stopped again. All my other seedlings are doing great so what gives?

Thanks,
Rachel.
Rachel
Gardening with my mother and father in war ridden Syria
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Aiko
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Re: Stunted seedlings

Post by Aiko »

How do you even know they grew for a week and then stopped? What great things will happen to a small seedling in just a week, that you are able to spot? I can only tell after a few months if a plant has grown, by comparing pictures with how a plant looks now. I am certainly not counting spines on a weekly basis on every individual seedling I have...
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Spikylover
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Re: Stunted seedlings

Post by Spikylover »

Aiko wrote:How do you even know they grew for a week and then stopped?
Well first you can notice from the color of the new spines and the adult/dead/dried spines. Mine had no new spines for a while. Then when i fertilized the first time, they had a spurt of new spines and now they are discolored again wirh no new growth. I've been watching these seedlings daily for about a year now and notice every single detail so i'm sure about what i say aiko.
Last edited by ElieEstephane on Wed Dec 20, 2017 12:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Rachel
Gardening with my mother and father in war ridden Syria
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Aiko
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Re: Stunted seedlings

Post by Aiko »

Maybe your plants grow a lot faster than mine. Do you live in California, or another sunny / warm place? I hardly know the difference from week to week. I have to look at them from season to season to start noticing differences.
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Spikylover
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Re: Stunted seedlings

Post by Spikylover »

I think the speed may be due to spending the time in a controlled environment under grow lights and 30 degrees. Some of what i believe to be echinocereus seedlings are around 2cm tall.
Rachel
Gardening with my mother and father in war ridden Syria
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ElieEstephane
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Re: Stunted seedlings

Post by ElieEstephane »

Your lights may be too strong.
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
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toadstar
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Re: Stunted seedlings

Post by toadstar »

How often do you fertilize? When I first started with cacti it was was growing from a packet of seed. For the first couple of years the seedlings barely grew at all until I started a schedule of dilute fertilizer during the summer months.
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Spikylover
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Re: Stunted seedlings

Post by Spikylover »

toadstar wrote:How often do you fertilize? When I first started with cacti it was was growing from a packet of seed. For the first couple of years the seedlings barely grew at all until I started a schedule of dilute fertilizer during the summer months.
I ignorantly started them in a mix of potting soil with some sand to improve wettability. The soil said it had enough fertilizer for 6 months so i never thought about it. I only started fertilizing this autumn.
For now i think i'm gonna move the grow light away a bit and soak the soil with an acidic fertilizer solution and see how it'll go from there .
Rachel
Gardening with my mother and father in war ridden Syria
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7george
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Re: Stunted seedlings

Post by 7george »

I don't know what is your climate like but if I bring my seedlings outside for the summer they will stop growing because our midsummer lows are about 10 - 12 degr. C. Just few local or temperate climate species will feel good at these temps. So I kept my seedlings at controlled conditions for their first 1 and half years. Better don't allow your temperature to go below 18 - 20 degr. C at night time, this would slow down growth of most tropical and subtropical plants.

Usually seedlings are OK without any additional nutrients until their first soil change even in a entirely mineral mix.
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
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