So these little green monsters have had quite an interesting life so far. They all started out in one pot 18"Lx6"Wx8"D under a 4' single bulb fluoro, under a few cardboard boxes behind a speaker box in my closet, lol. Those poor things, well then i bought a 2' Fluoro two-bulb T12 Fixture. I put two OTT-LITE Natural Light Supliment Bulbs in and had it mounted on the wall alongside the pot just above the top of the planter. Well up to that point, 1-4 weeks, i had noticed they were growing very slow. Obviously nowhere near enough light and it was coming from the side, not the top. Well i transplanted them into 4 different pots and noticed a lil increase in growth rate. I started feeding with Miracle Grow Liquid House Plant Food and SuperThrive. From that i noticed a lil more of an increase in growth after that as well but not near what i felt it should be. So then i built a grow cabinet 2'w x2'd x 4'h. After putting them in the new cabinet, i hung the fluoro from the top so now it's directly over them, about 4 inches from the top of the tallest plant. They seem to like their new home as the tallest and fastest growing one has already grown an inch in two days. That's the best growth rate i've seen so far. I have purchased both a 150w HPS bulb and a 150w MH bulb. I can't use either of them yet tho because i haven't bought a lighting system yet, funds are short. I should have a switchable remote ballast system within the next two weeks. Quick question for the pros - if i have about 3-1/2' of height in my cabinet, about how tall should i let them get or how many leaves in the largest set should i wait for to switch them to 12/12? I was thinking about 12" or so tall or 7/9 leaf sets before switching, but not sure if that would be best for them.
I've got them in Expert Gardener Perfect Mix All-Purpose Potting Soil that feeds for up to 9 months. It was like $2.50 per 10qt. bag.
Im just starting my grow so im not an expert or anything but im pretty sure you dont want them in the same pot like that. Be best to get them in their own pots soon as you can.
I know, that's only temporary till i can afford a few more pots. I was just trying to get a few going but i ended up with so many due to way more seeds germinating than i anticipated so i stuck them all in the pots i had and tried to space them as far apart as i could to avoid root tangling. They will each have their own pot very soon, and most of them aren't very big yet so transplanting shouldn't be difficult. I've learned watering once after transplant with some water/SuperThrive mix pretty much eliminates shock from being transplanted.
That soil that you have those in has time released ferts in it. When you transplant them you should strongly consider using something different, organic soils work best.If you keep them in that all purpose stuff you are going to have a hard time controling your ph and your plants will have a hard time surviving. just my 2 cents. gl bro
Yeah anything that has a time like that on it "up to 8 months" is time released I believe. This is a no no for the most part, especially for beginners. You can use almost ANYTHING for a beginner seedling pot man, get creative, use a dixie cup like a lot of us do. you dont have to go and buy a pot. But get those plants seperated. Just some advice man. Im goin thru my first grow too, and I just got past the rough spot I believe lol so I feel u. They're looking good man. GL Ill be watching. PS. I would use MG water soluble all purpose plant food as veg food there is a thread here on GC about it GG swears by it. I switched from fox farm GROW BIG to this MGWSAPPF and noticed an increase in the growth rate within a day. Also when you transplant to diff pots to seperate the plants I would add more perlite like 20-30%. When I first started I used like NO perlite but transplanted to it and it DEFINITELY helps. Lower that light or raise the plants so they are like 2-4 inches form the light. You want to use as MUCH of the light as you can especially with a flouro where you can have the plants touching the light basically with no burn. Remember light intensity decreases exponentially. And do you have an oscilating fan or only that little one in the pic?? you want to use a cheap oscilating fan if you can get one so the air gets to all the plants this will strengthen their stem. And keep your area as CLEAN as possible. If you can take out the plants, vacuum + sweep disinfect get it as clean as you can, then line the interior of the cab with like painters plastic or trashbag material, white if possible, then with mylar or reflective material, then put everything back in this will help you later. Cuz this way there are no cracks for bugs to get in and you have a clean environment. K man GL hope this helps.
I don't have to worry about bugs getting into, or out of my cabinet. When i built it i caulked every side together so i have no leaks or cracks... when the doors is closed, then only way in or out is the newly added intake/exhaust ports. I added ventilation to help keep the inside temp a lil bit lower. And i do keep the cab clean, i take the plants out and clean it once a week - usually on saturday.
So im about one week into 12/12 now, and i believe the first fem has shown herself!! Thinking a few others might be as well but waiting for definite signs of being a fem. I've also switched to Miracle Grow All Purpose Water Soluble Plant Food 15-30-15, still using SuperThrive. All but two plants are healthy and pretty green. Some of them are way behind in developement compared to the others so they may be sacrificed or moved to a different location and put back on 24/7. When the lights come back on later today i will take some pics and upload them.