So these ladies started sprouting yesterday, Monday the 7th (probably sometime in the morning after I left for work) and as of 9:00am Tuesday the 8th, today, they have been under 48-72 hours of 24-hour CFL light (I planted the germed seedlings on Saturday Afternoon, the 5th, and it will be 3 straight days as of about 4 oclock this afternoon). I initialy took the 5-6 inch pots they are in, and filled them loosely (without packing or tamping the soil) to the top with Miracle Grow Potting Soil (NPK= all less than 1 percentage so its essentially 0-0-0) and then lightly watered that medium so it compressed itself to about half full in the cup, saturated. Then I added about an inch more loose soil and then planted my seedlings tail down in the 1 inch of dry soil, allowing the root to search for water below it and grow for me. Can anyone let me know how I'm doing, and if I can do anything else to help them? This morning I added a light breeze from a fan pointed at them both to strengthen the stems a bit... Oh yea, the strains are: Right: Dutch Passion Auto Durban Poison Left: G13 Labs Blue OG Thanks!!!!!
What kind of drainage do you have in those cups? MG soil (in addition to being hot and can burn seedlings) doesn't drain well. The first grow I ever did years ago I started with cups and MG soil. Thankfully within a few days I transplanted out into FFOF. The MG was caked up mud at the bottom of the cups. It wasn't draining for shit. I'd highly recommend changing the soil. Transplant to something like FFOF or just make some of your own with perlite, etc. I wouldn't add nutes yet. Especially not if I was using MG. When you do start nutes start at 1/4 strength and work up from there.
there are 6 holes about a quarter- inch wide on the bottom of each cup; I am using MG Potting Mix with an NPK of 0-0-0; I have only watered twice: once the first time, before I planted, and then the second time was just last night (I poured water into my hand and spritzed it over the seedlings. I feel like drainage with this soil should not be an issue as I'm really giving minimal water for now, and will not start watering at a higher rate until another week or so... anyway, they look healthy and are progressing at a noticeable rate every few hours or so....
also, I lightly squeezed the cups on both sides to allow the "caking" effect to dissipate by just creating air in the soil...was careful with plants, of course
If you're using the standard basic MG potting mix, it is absolutely not 0-0-0. I know it is less than 1% of each, but that is markedly different from 0-0-0. In fact, if you read the promotional stuff it says that mix "feeds for 6 months." If it was truly 0-0-0 it would feed for zero months. I'm not saying you can't grow in it. Just monitor your girls closely. And pay attention to any tell-tale signs of burn. That shit can burn. Keep track of ph and monitor runoff. I've had a few seedlings shit the bed because I got slack on ph.
Thank you. That makes perfect sense and duly noted all of those points. Im only so stern on this BECAUSE i care about my girls very much, so If youre saying I can grow in it as long as I pay close attention, then thats what I'll do. so far they're still healthy and doing well anyway...
Yeah brother, I totally understand what you mean. We're all in it to put out good product for personal consumption or otherwise. Yeah just keep good notes. I'd wait another week or so before giving nutes. The first to little cotyledons you see will get yellow and start to die off when it gets a node or two above that. Don't freak out. They always lose those first two cotys.
Right on man thanks for the tips and fyi's...first timer and just trying to not have a learning curve. You think I should keep a grow journal on here? for whatever reason..... would be fun/interesting to document everything on here (what I am currently doing is marking every little detail in a little memo pad I carry around.