Howdy, I'm Dan and this is my first grow, from a seed that bounced out of a gift. She's OG Kush, I believe she's female (why not, at this point?), and she sprouted 8 days ago. Been growing her in this little box I put together out of cardboard and zip ties, need to finish lining the inside so I can bump up the humidity. It's hella cold in my apartment and this box is next to an outside wall. The apartment also uses a pellet stove for heat, so I've been watering more than most simply because the soil dries out so, so quickly. She seems to be okay with the watering, but I'm wondering if I should have seen more growth from Day 1 (pic below) to today, Day 8. Here's the box I rigged up, has a little temp gauge in there and a little desk fan running at each end, one high and one low. Box1 by danboy posted Feb 8, 2023 at 8:19 PM Box2 by danboy posted Feb 8, 2023 at 8:19 PM Humidity is generally around 50%, sometimes a bit lower, and temp is usually around 60-65 F. Headed to Lowe's to get a proper grow bulb this evening. I've just been using a bright bulb I had lying around the house w/ 2000-something lumens, so I guess I should see soon if she was just struggling for light.
Welcome to the City. A simple medium wattage CFL in the Daylight (6500K) (Blue) color can be run 1 inch away and is good for this early stage. 23 watt actual draw. Fist sized or a bit smaller.
Thanks! I picked this up and just put it in, https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-LED-A19-Grow-Bulb/5005506597
Here's day 16...looking pretty poor, to my eyes. What am I doing wrong here? Got this light on: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-LED-A19-Grow-Bulb/5005506597 Watering pretty regularly, at least once a day (got a furnace running in my apartment that dries all the air out quick, even with a humidifier going to fight it; humidity is a little better in the box I'm growing this sprout in). Been giving 24 hrs of daylight, just picked up a light timer so I can give it 18/6.
Unless my eyes are deceiving me, I don't see any mention of the type of soil. Soils looks off IMO. Couple other things..... doesn't look lit well enough and also looks over watered. I have a few seedlings on my kitchen window and currently watering (very lightly!) 2 to 3 times a week as needed. I think once a day is a overkill. They may look dry on the top soil, but if you run your finger about an inch under, it's probably damp there and no water needed. Welcome to the City and I hope you get it figured out!!
The growth itself doesn't look too bad. Green. Not limp. No disfigured leaves. However, you should be way farther along at 16 days. Your biggest issue right now is temperature, I'd guess. Seedlings like it warm. Like low eighties and high humidity. If you could even get the area up to 75, that would help a lot. When things are cool, everything slows down. Your issue with the soil drying quickly is probably more to do with the clay pot than the humidity in the room. At 65 degrees, your VPD is still very low at 50% humidity. Not much should evaporate off the surface and it's definitely not drinking much. You're going to want to sprout seeds in a plastic cup in the future. Clay pulls moisture from the soil and it's difficult to gauge how much water is in the soil due to the weight of the pot. I could go on about watering, aeration, etc, but your environment is your #1 problem. Fix that first. Get those temps up. Additional grow bulbs will help. That one you bought isn't nearly enough in the long run anyway. If you can afford a small tent and panel grow light, it would fix a lot of your issues. The tent will hold the warmth, the light will provide it. You could probably get a light and 2x2 tent pairing for around $250. But if you can't afford it or don't have the space, just getting your temps up by any means necessary will be a step in the right direction.
Just for comparison, here is one of mine at 16 days. You can see the second set of real leaves are fully developed and it's working on the 3rd and 4th nodes. This is around where you should be right now. And here's what I would do to get off on the right foot, if you have the money. $206 plus tax after that coupon for the tent is applied. That should flower one plant just fine. You'll eventually want to add some ventilation, but it won't be too necessary till later in the grow. You could run it dimmed with the vents open and probably get into the mid 70s without any active ventilation, but heat will build up at full power during flower. One step at a time though.
Thanks for all the advice! That's all super helpful, and I got the temp and humidity up and she seems to be a lot more active, added on a third set of leaves overnight.