started 4 white widow plants from seed a week+ ago,all have sprouted and are forming their true leaves however one has a 2nd stem and leaf coming out from the seed and looks to be a drain on the main stem.the leaves are way smaller.should i prune this smaller one now or would that shock the whole seedling.
Leave it be. Some seeds produce genetic mutations sometimes this can be a good thing. Like you say pruning at this early stage pruning may kill it. Once the root system forms and the plant gets bigger it will sort itself out. Cuttings often do this branching out almost immdiately. Who knows maybee it will be your biggest yielding superplant.
too late i cut it over the weekend and it is already startin to catch up on the other 3.it was breaking my heart to see it fall behind knowing it could take months to correct itself. does anyone here use any fertilizer at all on seedlings.also is constant 24 hr light going to damage them.
The light won't hurt them. Just make sure you don't let them dry out and don't make the soil too soggy. Use a 2L bottle with the top cut off as a mini green house. Put it upside down over your seedling. That will help keep the moisture up, and will allow you to water less, so the soil doesn't have to be so wet all the time. Don't use any fertilizer if you are growing in soil. There is already ferts in the dirt. Adding more will likely throw off the nutrient balance and it's unlikely the little sprouts will use more than they can already get. Foliar feeding (spraying nutes on the leaves) your seedlings will likely burn your little buddies and without enough leaves to help them recover, they will be a lost cause. Foliar feeding isn't very effective anyways. It's usually only done for rooting clones. You can spray them, but just use plain tap water that has been left to air out for 24 hours.
sound, lad.thanks for the advice. the seedling that had its second stem cut has developed a couple of smell yellowish spots on the leaves,was thinkin maybe a magnesium deficiency.is it too early to use epsom salts on it,its only bout 10 days old.dont want to leave it develop into a worse condition but am also cautious about doing anything to damage the plants at such an early stage
Let it be. The yellowing is likely due to having to compete with the other sprout. Now that it's gone, it should perk up. It's very unlikely that you need to add any nutrients unless you are reusing old soil. If your plants are having any kind of problem with nutrient uptake it will be due to PH problems with your water. Even that is unlikely. Just give it water every day, and keep an eye on it. The worst thing you can do for your plants is meddle with them too much. You could try reducing the lighting a bit, to slow down foliar growth and encourage root growth, which will strengthen your seedlings. I suspect your seedling has an immature (or no) root system, due to it's siamese twin. Watering from the bottom, instead of the top will also encourage root growth, as the roots stretch to reach the water at the bottom of the pot.
Listen to Nicklebag don't add any fertiliser. The biggest mistake growers make is to start adding nutes when they see a yellow or malformed leaf. Any decent soil will have all the nutrients your plant needs. Some plants in there early stages do grow yellow and curled leafs if left they will grow out of it. Most problems are either genetic or the comercial soils sometimes have to much fertiliser in them already. If left the plants normally grow just fine adding extra nutes will only compound the problem.
