I've been smoking for quite some time now and I want to fully understand the plant by growing it and making it my own. This would be my first time. Problem is, I'm sort of on a limited budget right now. I grabbed some seeds out of my last bag and did the whole damp towel deal. The seeds sprouted about 1/4 cm and I placed them into soiled (50% peat moss with some miracle grow) slots of an egg carton, infact I just put them in the box a few minutes ago. The box has a tin-foil lining and I also have a ionic-breeze doing its magic. Not having any money for a week, I used the only thing I have, which is a hallogen 25 watt lamp. I placed it about 5 inches away from surface of the egg carton. Can this substitute until I get a florecent light in about a week? Is the Ionic Breeze a good idea? How important is the stage between germinating and sprouting? Am I an Idiot? Thanks in advance.
You are not an idiot, but you are doing more wrong than right. Best advice is to read the grow guides and sticky posts, check the links in my sig and others. Take some time to educate yourself, the resources here will help you do that. As for your specific set-up, you most likely should not use Miracle Grow soil. Much of what they sell comes with fertlizer built in, which tends to kill young MJ sprouts. Halogen is wrong light, too hot. Foil is not as reflective as a flat bright white painted surface, plus it can cause hot spots. A for the ionic breeze, that won't hurt, but I'm not sure it will do much good either. I think some of the newer models now have a fan, but the other "passive" models don't do much of anything waiting for dust and odor molecules to come to it. There are no "unimportant" stages of the life cycle. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and the plant's yield will depend on how well it thrives throughout its life. Good luck.
Get some dixie cups or solo cups or something other than an egg carton to grow your seedling. Those roots will outgrow that little space in a week (if you're lucky) and the seedling will still be (probably) too week to stand transplanting. You don't want to grow seedlings in too big of a container because it is easy to drown the roots. Be sure to poke (cut) 4-5 drainage holes in the bottom. I just twist the tip of a knife round nad round to make the holes. Not too big, but not so small they clog up and won't drain. Your soil will get soggy with all that peat moss and MG potting soil. Can you get some plain ol' topsoil? like from outside? DISCLAIMER: Some garden soil or top soil is bad m'kay? if so, mix equal parts dirt, peat, and potting soil and use that to fill the dixie cups. Also, you should not use a halogen lamp. the sprouts would do better on a sunny window sill until you get some CFLs.
