What's up blades? Just needed a little advice on my grow my boyfriend and I are starting up. I haven't done a grow yet and was just looking for a few pointers. On March 20th I started germinating Super Cheese Express, Grapefruit and Jack Diesel. Today when checking the seeds I notice they had fully sprouted and were ready to be put into soil. I filled 3 jiffy cups with some organic soil and then gave each cup 0.5mL of water which I have been letting sit since the 20th since I hear that is good for the plant? Once the soil was moist I dropped the seeds into the dirt and covered them. My question is where to go from here. I have a bag of perlite and a bottle of worm castings but didn't want to introduce that to the plants too early. Currently they are sitting in a warm closet in the dark. The only lights I have access to for make another week is some daylight 60 watt compact fluorescent lights. I'm not sure if I will put these plants outdoors or keep them indoors. But I did plan to keep them in a closet until they were each about a foot and a half high. I'm thinking I will just leave the Grapefruit outdoors until mid April when the weather is warmer. So if it isn't too much to ask, with what I have avaliable to me at the moment what should I do and go from here?
Your going to need more lighting, 100 actual watts (not the incandescent equivalent) for one plant, 50 more watts for each extra plant. You can pick up a 4 pack of 23w 2500k(color temp) CFLs that will do the job
Solid strain selection! Way to go you two Everything sounds good so far. The plants have enough nutrients stored for the first two weeks. Only provide PH balanced water every 3-4 days until then. Also, you do want at least 18 hours of light starting now. It gives the plants something to "reach" for . You want to put CFLs about two to three inches away from the tops of your sprouts and set a fan to low. The slight breeze will help strengthen the stems. Other than that, just wait a day or two and you will see some cute little girls peeking out of the dirt!
yeah you need much more light fast, otherwise your seedlings will stretch like crazy and otherwise pretty much not grow. 60w is the incandescent equivalent which doesnt mean shit (CFLs already are the least energy-efficient kind of light suitable for growing, a watt of any other kind of grow light is more valuable), if I remember correctly you got a 13w lamp there. get a couple of bigger ones, at least the 23w kind. postitioning multiple lights around your plants is good, also train (LST/top/fim) your plants to make them grow in more practical, bushier shapes. using organic soil is the best choice for your first grow and a great one for any grow really. perlite is for aeration and should, unless you use other stuff for aeration, always be mixed in with soil, its good for seedlings as well. worm castings have very low levels of nutrients, theyre also good to use in large amounts for any stage of plant growth. check out the organics section of this forum if you havent already. actually check all the stickies in all the sections on growing, most of them are really useful.
what kinda light bulbs are those? they should be much closer and you may need to add ventilation. plant in bigger pots, with that tiny stuff youre gonna have them root bound pretty soon. dont overwater.
They are 100W CFLs. I bought those, the reflectors and a small fan earlier today. I had planned to put them outside in the soil or a 5 gallon bucket but now I'm thinking I would like to keep them indoors. I'll transfer the babies into something bigger ASAP. What would you guys recommend for ventilation?
just a bit of advice this person looks suss, account created in 2010 and only decides to grow with "her" boyfriend in 2013 and no other posts apart from the original. id watch out on these forums.
Do you need picture proof? My griflriend just doesn't browse the City, unlike myself who has been a member for a few years. The bulbs were picked out by a friend, they are 100W equivalent or something like that. I was going to run down to WalMart and pick up some daylight CFLs later today because when said friend brought them to me he said they might not be so great but should work for now.
My advice: Vacuum the carpet and lay some plastic down to keep your grow space clean. Get those plugs off the ground if you can to avoid water meeting them. More light would be good and the ability to place it closer when they veg is a plus. As you said already, transplant soon and plan on a bigger light for flowering if possible. Any idea on soil/nutrients yet?
I have a bag of Perlite, a jug of worm castings, a bottle of SuperThrive and I just bought a 1 cubic foot of Hyponex potting soil. I have them in some Jiffy Seed Starting Mix at the moment. Also I got these lights and put them in the closest this morning.
Back with an update. I added a 150W equivalent into the closet a few days ago. My Jack Diesel seems to be doing great and the mid plants I'm growing get bigger everyday. What do you guys think? I plan on adding the Super Skunk into the closest later tonight. I'm working on getting the lights closer to the mid plants so they will stop stretching so much.