Just checked the beans after 40 hours and both had tails..The Critical Kush was a long daddy! Into the soil they go! So pumped! Blue Cheese: Critical Kush:
I know typically you want your plants about 2' from a HPS, but that is if it isnt air cooled, correct? Is it ok to have my babies this close (about a foot) from the glass? Keep in mind also the HPS is at 400w right now-
Another question, I used water that was about 6.2 pH in the soil and I took a reading of the runoff and it was around 5.0 pH. Does that mean I should raise the pH of the water I give them?
Those beans were itching to pop it looks like lol... I think you could move the light a little closer. I have seen some posts of people having them as close as 8" when in a cool tube. As far as pH goes I am not sure about the accuracy of testing run off in soil. If the reading is accurate then it would mean your soil was very acidic in which case I believe you would need to amend the soil not adjust your water pH. The first and only grow I did 20 years ago i didn't even bother with pH but of course I will this time... From what I have gathered by reading some of the more experienced growers on here is that if you watch what you put in and don't overfeed, your soil pH should work itself out. I wouldn't add anymore water at this point just to chase a better pH reading. Let them pop out of the ground and put on a set of leaves, then keep an eye on them.
I went back and checked your OP to see your soil and yes I was suspecting you had FFOF... I have read that that soil is very hot for seedlings and sometimes comes out of the bag in the low 5s and high 4s. I also have read not to feed until at least week 3 if not even later when using that soil since it is chock full of nutes already.
Ok, I plan on staying off the nutes until week 3 or 4. I want to have the light closer, but I'm still having temp issues. It's a cooler day today (61 degrees right now) and the temp was reading as high as 86 as close as they were. I moved them down about a foot and it's sitting at 82. I guess the big question is whether it's better to have them closer and getting more light, but at hotter temps or is it better to have them further away from the light at more ideal temps? Are my temps never going to cool down if I am exhausting into the same bedroom? The bedroom temp stays between 70-75, but the tent is 82-86. I have the bedroom door open and the window open too and it doesn't seem to help cool it down at all. I'm debating cutting a 4" hole in the ceiling to exhaust to, but I'm too paranoid about the people above me smelling once it gets stinky.
I'm worried I may have dried out my soil. I watered it down before I put the seeds in, but not a very much. The soil feels bone dry at the top. Is it ok to add some more water on top the dirt? I know the seeds are fragile.... Edit: I put some water in the tray they're in so they can soak some up from the bottom. Ok to do?
When you water get a feel for what your containers feel like when fully watered then when they feel really light comparatively then you know its ok to water again. I am by no means an expert, but from what I have been able to learn, Over-watering and overfeeding are the 2 main things that get a newbie in trouble. BTW, my seeds from Attitude arrived today! All look really good, nice tiger striped, healthy looking seed.
Just a little over 24hrs after being put in the dirt and the CK is ready to say hello to the world! No sign of the Blue Cheese yet, but she was a smaller bean and had a smaller taproot.
Hey there! I use a 400w HID with cooltube and we can safely keep our light 8-12 inches, just do the hand test (place hand above plant for 30 sec. If its too hot for your hand, too hot for plant) Yep don't use any nutes on your FF soil for 3 weeks i made that mistake! When they are seedlings, keep the top of your soil moist! (Once they get bigger you will only want to water when you stick your finger in the soil an inch, usually your first knuckle, and only if its dry to your fingertip do you water) If you can't get your heat down where you need it, make sure you have heat escaping from up top, and fresh air coming in at the bottom. If that still doesn't fix it you may need a fan with more cfm's. for instance my 4x4x7 area needs at least 160 cfm's exchanged per minute to keep my heat regulated. Hope I helped a little good luck on your grow looks good already!
This page will help... There's a part that will help you calculate your cfm's too http://growweedeasy.com/hps-grow-lights-setup#how-to-set-up-exhaust
Thanks Rasta! My fan if plenty strong enough, the problem is my exhaust.. It is just exhausting out the top of the tent into the closet. I have the bedroom window open and the door open. Right now while there isn't any smell for a while I just have the tent unzipped in the front and have a larger fan blowing up at the light and the temp is perfect at 77. Still very low humidity however. Sent from my XT1080 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Only thing i can think of is buying one of those skinny stand up air coolers and stick it in the closet to cool that small space? Subbed btw!
Day 2 since planting and they're growing up so fast! The Blue Cheese caught up quick! I watered them this morning since the soil felt dry an inch down. I only watered enough for a little runoff. I've read you should have 1/3 runoff from the amount you put in, but I didn't want to over do it. CK: BC:
I planted mine last night... Hopefully mine pop just as fast. You should look into a self watering tray set up. You can fill the reservoir and let the plants drink what they want instead of guessing. I will post some pics later of mine but there is some info on here about it.
I'll look into that now and I look forward to seeing your setup. Let me know if you have any links in particular for the tray. Sent from my XT1080 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I have posted those pics on my journal of the self watering tray. You can take a Pyrex dish and fill it with perlite and then fill that with water almost to the top of the perlite. Then cut a good size hole in the bottom of your solo cup and then snugly set your cups into the bed of perlite about 1/4" to 1/2" deep and the water should wick into your cups as your plants consume it. Then you just have to make sure the dish stays full.
I hope it isn't annoying, but I plan on posting A LOT of pics Day 3 BC: CK: I watered this morning and while doing so it loosened up the dirt on the Blue Cheese and the stem tilted. I gently straightened her back up and patted the soil down around her. Hope I didn't stress the roots!
Are you using a mister or a spray bottle? Or like a pitcher? I use a mister so they water is spread out finely and evenly
Yeah I was pouring out of a half gallon milk jug :-\\ I'll go get a mister... But is that enough water, just misting the top of the soil?