What it is
The seedling is the baby plant: from the moment it pokes out of the soil until it has 3 or 4 tiers of leaves. It lasts 2 to 3 weeks.
How to tell
First two small, round, smooth leaves come out (the cotyledons): they come in the seed and feed it the first few days. Then the true, serrated leaves come out: first with one finger, then three and five. Each new pair of leaves grows from a node on the stem.
What it needs
Soft light (not as strong as for a big plant) and 18 hours a day indoors.
Temperature of 22 to 26 °C and high humidity, 65 to 75 %: it still has little root and takes part of its water through the leaves.
Almost no feed: the new soil already has what it needs.
The most common mistake
- Overwatering. Its root is tiny and only in the first few centimeters: if the whole pot gets soaked, the soil below stays wet for days, with no air, and the root drowns or rots (the "damping off": the little stem thins out at the base and the plant falls over). The right way is to water a little, around the stem, when the top dries out.
Other signs
If it stretches a lot and ends up thin and twisted, it lacks light (it is reaching for the lamp). If the little leaves suddenly turn yellow, it is almost always too much water or fertilizer.
🎮 Practice it in UnderGrow
While the root is still at the top (~11 days until it reaches the whole pot), the water bar is the top soil and you water with the splash. Indoors, a pot left soaked for more than 12 h drowns it; outdoors the ground soil drains. From the moment it sprouts it can already use the wick.
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