First Grow - CFL - Mid Seeds

First grow, starting with seeds from some mids.

First pic is the Cabinet
Second pic is the grow space
Third pic is the current setup

2 - 23w 2700k CFL's (Until the 6500k's come in the mail, that wont hurt will it?)
A Fan
Plain dirt with Perlite (Literally plain dirt, the bag was like some "all natural plain farmers dirt")

I just found out my ferts are "Continuous Feed" that I must've overlooked when I bought them. Are they still usable or should I go and get some new fertilizer?

I've got 2 planted in 9inch plastic pots, and one in a Styrofoam cup. The one in the Styrofoam cup sprouted and its about 1inch tall, but the leaves haven't opened up yet. It's under one of the CFLs by itself, and the other light is currently off. I'm going to let the sprouts stay out in the sun if I can and put them back under the CFLs in the evening.

Any tips? No camera for now so I'm not sure when I'll be uploading more pics. Within a week probably. Input much appreciated!

 

Thanks, the 2700k's are temporary and I'll be switching them out as soon as possible, I agree with the clumpy soil I was going to fix that when I re-potted them, and I haven't put any ferts in at all yet, but I'll make sure to use non-continuous feed. Thanks for the tips!
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Edit: Will Update when the new lights come, 3 sprouts as of 11pm August 30, 07. Day 5/2 since planting (5 for one, 2 for 2 others.)

 

The 6500k's came, two 42 watt bulbs, I hooked them up and let them run over night, and my box got VERY hot, I still have no thermometer and poor ventilation, but it'll have to do.

I do have a problem though, my sprout wont grow her first set of leaves, she's an inch and a half tall with only cotyledons and her stem is turning a reddish-purple. Is this alright or should I be worried?

P.S. : Picture update as soon as the camera comes back around.

EDIT: Upon checking ganjaguerrilla.net and looking at the heat/light/water burn picture of those sprouts, thats pretty much what mine looks like. What should I do? Better ventilation, less watering? http://ganjaguerrilla.net/Albums/Album4/Source/poor_lites.htm

 

Thanks for the help SmknVTEC! +rep

Sorry in advance for the long update. Adderall makes you talkative, so I'll be long winded. But a lot has happened as well, so read thoroughly

BTW, that link I had to ganjaguerrilla is not a picture of my plants, it was just to show the idea. They weren't that stretched out, but they had the reddish/brownish coloration on the stems, and I was kind of worried. Also, the Cotyledons had just opened and the first leaf set was coming through, but the tips of the leaves, even as small as they were, looked completely white, and the leaf around the tip was slightly darkish. I couldn't make it out completely, so it may have been nothing. Does it sound like anything diagnosable?

If anyone was really slick, they would've caught the past tense.

Which means....bad news:

Sorry to say, I had company that was going to come stay in my home, and I had to keep the box out of sight, which meant I couldn't leave it open as I had been doing to prevent overheating. So I figured, "I've got one plant, I'll throw it in the box, leave the lights on, and hope for the best". So naturally it shriveled up and died because it was so blasted hot in the box. The worst part is, they aren't here yet, and I'm not sure if they'll ever get here. Oh well, heres the new plan.

Current changes:

1. Two 42w 6500K CFLs (As opposed to the 2 23w 2700Ks that I was using before).
2. Added 2 PC fans, an intake and an exhaust, running whenever the lights are on (On a side note, each fan has a green, blue, and red LED on it. I've read on here of people growing with LEDs, and it looks pretty interesting. Anyway, I don't have enough to make a difference, but I was curious what a green spectrum would result in, botanically speaking. I'll be sure to google around.)
3. Fully coated the inside of the box with semi-gloss white paint. Mylar is on the list for the next grow. As is a bubble bucket.
4. My computer room is always warm, the sun shines down through the blinds the entire morning which heats it up. Plus my computer, which would work as a suitable space heater, and on top of that, the box pictured above was inside of a cabinet, with no ventilation into the cabinet, and no ventilation into the box.
5. #4 wasn't a change, but #5 will be. I moved the box from my computer room into my bedroom closet. Pics HERE. Don't respond to that thread, best to let it die as it serves no purpose anymore. The box from the earlier pics in THIS thread is sitting right on top of that drawer in the first pic in the old thread. It fits perfectly underneath the shelving. The closet is much cooler in that room, at least a 15 degree difference between the two rooms. I've got a fan running constantly in my bedroom. On top of that the ventilation works amazingly well, I just check the box and the temperature inside is only slightly warmer than the temperature outside, to the skin at least.

One important Q: Went to Walgreen's to get some snacks, and I saw some Schultz 10-15-10 Plant Food for 2.49, so I bought it. Directions say just 7 drops per quart of water, and it just so happens that my spray bottle is 1quart, so that worked out. Instead of asking the obvious question, I'll ask a different one. Will this fertilizer cause any PROBLEMS. Where should I go from here fertilizer wise? I just bought this because it was dirt cheap, no plans to use it yet, if at all. Input appreciated on this one.

So at last, heres the current plan:

Plant 2, maybe 3 germinated seeds in each 8 inch pot, just until they sprout, and I'll see how they do, I have so many seeds, and these are just mids, that I wont feel bad pulling them even if they're doing alright. I just don't have the space for more than two plants in that box.

The germinating seeds should start cracking from their casings today and tomorrow. So it won't be long until I've got more seeds in the soil. We'll go from there!

Next update will be when the camera comes around. It was here today(Ermm...Yesterday), but I didn't have anything to take pictures of, so I didn't take any pictures. Sorry.

Oh well, enough of my long-winded Adderall post.

Thanks for the help!
~mocha



EDIT: Two germinated seedlings with taproots of at least an inch this evening, so I put them in the pots at around 8pm CST 9/4/07.