Its Finally Begun!

so all of my seeds came yesterday!
18 of the doctor-GHS
4 purple maroc- Female Seeds
3 Fast Bud Auto- Sweet seeds
and 6 freebies which im going to be saving for later...a nice assortment of seeds though!

so as of 7 pm tonight...i have 8 of the doctor and 4 purple maroc germinating between sheets of wet paper towel...got my soil mixed up and put into 12 18oz party cups with a hole at the bottom of each one.

lights- 1 flourescent with 2 34 watt t8 bulbs...for a total of 64 watts...gonna use this light for the first few days

1 400 watt MH light...will probably be putting the girls under this after 3 days...and keep it about 2 feet away till they really push out their first set of leaves...then lower it from there...gonna keep the light on 18/6 and possible switch to 16/8 closer to the time i put them outdoors...but would love some imputs on this!

seed starting soil consists of: 50/50 coco coir and espoma potting mix with an ample amt of perlite and 6 tbsp of espoma plant starter nutrients...WAS SO PISSED...cant get WORM CASTINGS this year as the company that supplies the whole area sold out to miracle grow...so now there is basically nowhere i can get worm castings...if anyone has good suggestions as to what i could substitute for the castings let me know...i was thinking espoma dehydrated manure granules...might be good to mix in my holes...but would love to know....

*as for the holes in the ground...each hole will be roughly the size of a 5 gallon bucket but ill try to get them a little wider though...for the mix:

espoma potting soil, coco coir at a 70/30 ratio...ample amt of perlite...bat guano...and hopefully worm castings- ill have to order some online i guess...anyways...planning that i do the castings and guano...how much should i put into each hole...also i am using heavy harvest...will the guano and castings be over kill...since ill be using the ferts which are time released starting around the first week of may or so...this is my one big question...???

...pics will follow shortly...just gota take and up load!

still waiting for my seeds to pop...got the pics...just been too lazy to put them up lol...will be coming soon! expecting to plant tomorrow!

Sounds like you got it all set up. Looking forward to the pictures

so my seeds are starting to crack....two of them are just barely starting to show taproots...the others are all swelled up but have not cracked yet...so it prob wont be tomorrow till i plant at least some of them...guess they are just taking a little longer than expected...but theyre staying nice and moist and the plates are wrapped up in big thick towel on top of the fridge to hold in warmth...will post pics too!

so here are the first of the pics...got the MH light...and thats my set up...off to the left you can see the small plate under the light...one of my purple maroc seeds still hasnt popped even after germinating with the others for 2 days...it swelled up and started to crack and when i planted it...it still did nothing...so im trying one more time...if nothing happens ill just write it off as a dead seed and probably plant one of my freebies or another one of the doctor...5 out of 12 plants have popped thru the surface....if you look close at the last pic you can see a couple of the ones that have popped...the rest- i just very carefully moved a little soil aside to check- have either shot out a large tap root and on there way to popping or are just barely about to break the surface and should pop by tomorrow...gonna keep them under the flouro till they are up right and have their cots fully spread open throw them under the MH light so theyll get big b4 they go outdoors....i know the soil is hard to see in the pics...but its very airy and fluffy...its still quite wet inside...but not overly wet...feels just right...i just mist the tops once a day to keep it from drying out....but just a quick little squirt to keep it moist...the light seems like it provides the extra warmth they need and dries out the soil enough just so it stays moist and not wet....cant wait till they all are popped and can watch them grow under the MH...id like to have them outdoors sometime by the end of may...plus if more light is needed- i have a total of 3 400 watters...but do you guys think one light will be enough for this many plants for about one month? also...if i do end up starting one more seed...will being started about 1 wk behind the others (from germ time to popping up) make its growth be way behind the others...doesnt seem so...but just wanted to check from the more experienced guys out there...will be back soon with more...im sure itll be even better tomorrow...i just cant wait to put them out...i have such a sweet secluded spot

Edited by crazycanadian, 23 April 2012 - 10:51 PM.
more words

Personally I'd ditch the time released nutes

i dont think any of my nutes are time released...the espoma is just a starter fert...but i dont think its time released

i think youre thinking of the plant tone not the bio tone...the plant tone is time released...the bio tone is not...check out the link since i specifically didnt want anything time released plus i only mixed a little less than half of what the directions said...just to avoid any risk of there being any "heat"

Bio-tone® Starter Plus 4-3-3

Ohh I'm sorry, mega stoned and read your post wrong lol

all good my fellow new englander...you doing a grow at all this year...would be excited to watch yours as well....since we're in pretty similar areas...got my all planned out...deer netting...stakes...and 2 kick ass spots...gonna keep it at 12 this time...since its my first grow start to finish and as tempting as 20 or so is...id rather be safe than sorry and start out with a safe and manageable number and then go out from there...anyways...if you got a grow going ill be subbed

Yep I do a outside grow every summer, I just recently started indoor I've had 3 harvests with indoor but I can't wait to start putting my clones outside : D

lucky you...i hate starting from seeds...its slow lol...ill def have clones next year...cut at the 1st of april and vegged inside till theyre nice and big..do you have a link for your grow...id love to watch yours as i do mine

I don't have my grow posted yet I was going to wait til I get them outside right now I'm still cutting clones off my mommas and letting them root

If you look in my grow log there is lots of info about worm farming and I found that I can just go around my yard and pick up deposits of castings. Anywhere there is a little hole with a pile of dirt next to it, look closer. That's were the worms come out at night, eat and poop. I can collect several cups a week easily. Others I know have worm bins that they feed the worms and make they're own castings that way. My way is like free range castings, lol. You can also just order online.

Pulling up a chair to watch the show. You could add blood meal in place of worm castings. You might want to add bone meal also, it help during flowering.

thanks a lot guys...my only hesitation with adding bone and blood meal is that im worried about animals digging it up...i found a good site online to order a huge bag of worm castings for pretty cheap...also BIG NEWS....guess my little purple maroc seed just needed some extra TLC...she germinated last night and i planted her this morning....gave all my girls just a light misting to keep the soil moist...ALL of the doctors have popped up...one is just about straight up and the others are still in the process of totally straightening out...but all have poked thru the surface none the less...also...if you notice my cups are only about half full...that way i can keep adding dirt gradually as they grow...in regards to the bloom phase...i was going to add bat guano...i can get bags of it for pretty cheap where i am...my question is...will the added castings and guano combined with the advanced nutrients heavy harvest make for too hot of a mix...im thinking as long as the plants are developed enough that it wont...but id like to know for sure since id rather be safe than sorry...however heavy harvest seems to be well liked especially by my many canadian friends from when i used to live there so i will def. be using it...just want the best for my girls

You should be fine. Use soil that is a little lighter up top and allow the plant to grow into the hotter soil.

ok thanks guys...ya i think ill make the first 2/3 or so of the hole full of the "hotter" mix...then the top 1/3 will just be what im using now...the soil+plant tone...plus the HH is time released...so it will be released probably about as fast as it takes the plant to grow into the bottom 2/3 of the soil...anyways...an update...the girls are all starting to straighten up...and one of the purple marocs has popped and the other 3 and soon on their way!

I started my grow about 2-3 weeks ago and i had nice seedlings that were growing they're 2nd set of rough leaves... but I had to put them outside and someone found them and destroyed em :*(

so i just watered my seedlings....my soil felt a bit dry but not parched...i just didnt want to give it a full watering till today b/c it was quite wet since i planted them and didnt want them to rot...i gave just enough water so i got some run off out the bottom...but not a huge amt...anyways here are some pics...wanted to see if everyone thinks they look okay...some have still yet to straighten out (which has me a bit worried since they are under light) and one of them- one of the cots is dropping a little...but all are still nice and dark green though...just wondering what you guys think...i know the pics arent the best but i hope they help...anyone think its maybe time to put them under the MH light? please help me i want this to work