Ok im def hoping someone reads this and can help me out. I have been interested in growing for years now and I finally decided to just try it. A friend of mine gave me 4 seeds and I germinated them by taking a paper towel and wetting it and putting the seeds inside and folding paper towel in half and put it in a ziplock baggie, I then stuck the zip lock in a drawer which is bitch black. The seeds were at about 80-90 degrees and humidity inside bag was nearly 80%; all four seeds sprouted. This past sunday I planted each seed in a 16oz solo cup. For soil I used miracle grow seed starter miracle grow organic mix as well as perlite. The cups are in a rubbermaid bin that is completely lined with foil. Inside with the cups is one small fan pushing up and out as well as another fan above the bin pushing air down into the bin. I currently as of yesterday have 4- 100 watt CFLs 5 inches above soil running on a 20/4 schedule. Inside the bin it has been 78-82 degrees with lights on and fans running; as well as 70-72 for dark hours with fans on. I have the bin sitting in a window cut out in home that the area is 2x3 with a 10' ceiling and a window. I completely blacked out the window with several layers of black garbage bags. I put a trash black underneath it for the time being since its in a room with carpet. And since it is in my bedroom I put a black curtain up that covers from ceiling to floor. Please if anyone can help me with anything that would be helpful! Should I use more or less CFLs? What kind of nutrients should I give them? Should I do something different with the light schedule I have them on 20 on 4 off and the seedling/sprouts are 10 days old? I am an absolute beginner at this but I absolutely love it and I have been studying it for about 6 months now. Again thank you thank you thank you to anyone who helps!
Good thing that you studied before starting! Most of your setup is perfect, needs no change. Miracle grow soil is always bad because the soil contains time release nutes which is bad for seedlings(very young plants), supplying the plants with excess nutes and hence burning the plant. I would advice you not to give any nutes for now as that would burn the plant even more. You could change the light schedule to 18/6 although I see nothing wrong with 20/4. You might need to transplant those plants into proper grow pots(with drainage holes). Preferably use better soil... any potting or soilless mix without the time release nutes(organics mix are best for beginners, simple to use).
