Hello,
My wife and I are growing seedling starts indoors this year, under grow lights. Most of the starters are doing well, but we're having problems with two varieties of Kale. Some of the kale is growing well and then about 2 weeks in some of the leaves are drying up on the tips, and slowly drying towards the stem of the start. At first, we thought maybe it was from overwatering or being too close to the lights. We don't have our starts very close to our lights, probably 5-6 inches away from the lights, so I don't think that's it. The average temp in the house is 65 degrees, so I figure it's not getting too hot for them. We do water from the top using a mister as well as bottom water somewhat frequently. We think we're watering too often, and it seems like based on other posts on this forum that it's a bad idea to top water once your starts begin to develop roots, due to the risk of damping off. We also use a PH down to drop our tap water from a neutral ph to a 6.0 or so, but I figured that this wouldn't be a problem because most plants we're growing prefer a lower ph. We're using OceanSolution 2-0-3 mixed at the proper ratio, but we use it every time we bottom water, which is as often as once a day. Is this too often to be fertilizing? I've included some photos of the Kale, hopefully they are good enough to see the dried out leaves.
Thanks!
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robhgilmore
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Is this what over-fertilizing looks like?
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Last edited by robhgilmore on Wed Mar 31, 2021 10:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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applestar
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It IS a good idea to cut the fertilizer concentration to 1/2 or even 1/4 of recommended for seedlings until they have at least one set of fully grown true leaves.
HOWEVER, in these photos, some of the cells look too dried out — the media should look much darker. One of the most annoying thing about these cells is they don’t always take up water and moisten evenly. Part of the problem maybe that They are too fluffy in the cells and don’t wick properly. Other reasons could be not level surfaces and not enough Water added to the tray — the outer cells tend to get more water than the center cells.
IMHO, Turkey Baster is your friend. When I have too many to deal with, I also use a large tub to dip and drain (using a web tray to support the cells inside the solid tray is a good method, too ... or fill the tray and then siphon drain the excess after a while.
...I don’t know what Ocean Solution is, but you’re going to want that middle number, too. I prefer mostly same number/equal ratio nutes with added micro nutrients. Kale will want calcium, sulfur, magnesium and tiny bit of bromine. I tend to think they will want more neutral to even a tad alkaline pH, too.
HOWEVER, in these photos, some of the cells look too dried out — the media should look much darker. One of the most annoying thing about these cells is they don’t always take up water and moisten evenly. Part of the problem maybe that They are too fluffy in the cells and don’t wick properly. Other reasons could be not level surfaces and not enough Water added to the tray — the outer cells tend to get more water than the center cells.
IMHO, Turkey Baster is your friend. When I have too many to deal with, I also use a large tub to dip and drain (using a web tray to support the cells inside the solid tray is a good method, too ... or fill the tray and then siphon drain the excess after a while.
...I don’t know what Ocean Solution is, but you’re going to want that middle number, too. I prefer mostly same number/equal ratio nutes with added micro nutrients. Kale will want calcium, sulfur, magnesium and tiny bit of bromine. I tend to think they will want more neutral to even a tad alkaline pH, too.