1st Grow Ever...Bagseed w/ CFL's

Whats going on everyone? I thought i'd join the crowd and make my 1st attempt at growing. I've been thinking bout it for the last couple of months and a few days ago I got up the gumption to do it. The last couple of weeks I've been up and down this forum reading and trying to soak up as much knowledge so to speak. I'm open for all types of advice/help, anything helpful. I can do w/o the "try searching." I'm going to continue to browse the forums so I just think that there's really no need to preach to the choir.

Now...I'll give you a run down of my set up and all. Thanx to Bodom I decided to use his idea given the amount of space I have. (Stay in an apartment building :() That guy is a genius, my hat is definitely off to you. Pics attached

Seeds : Just some bagseed that I've had sitting around. It's what my 1st two plants are. Got seeds that should be here in the next couple of days thanx to Gypsy Nirvana Seeds. The two strains being Blue Mystic and Double Gum. I didnt want to spend too much on seeds considering this was my first go at it.

Soil : Right now I'm using an organic soil called Expert Gardener from Wally World. It's supposedly already got some type of organic fertilizer in it. Also added some perlite to keep that water in there, about a 2:1 mixture of soil/perlite. Idk if thas a good or bad thing, someone know?

Ventilation : I have a 4" computer fan mounted to the top half of my rubbermaid set up. It acts as an exhaust to pull all the heat from the lights. I'm working on gettin a thermometer/humidity reader. Anyone know where I can get one for cheap? On the bottom half of my Rubbermaid setup I have a 2" passive intake that brings in air - no light which is good.

Lighting : I'm running 2 - 26 watt 6500K daylight GE's that I got from Wally world. And 4 - 23 watt I wanna say 6500K also, not GE's though Walmart brand. They arent as white either, more of a warm glow. You can see from the pictures

I have some Expert Garden plant food that I really dont want to mess with yet cause I dunno the effects it may have so early. Please everyone have mercy, I'm new to this, everyone started out somewhere. I'm trying to what I can with the space I have and I'm hoping for the best!!! Here's some pics of the things I've used to get the ball rolling...

Thats way too much perlite. I use 20-30%. Also perlite drys out faster than the soil, so it lowers the water retention. It should be ok for seedlings, you just have to water a little more often. It will be a pain in the ass to water when you transplant to bigger pots.

I would stay away from pre-fertilized soil, it makes it harder to tell how much food the plants are getting. You want to wait about 2 weeks before you start feeding.

Is that a liquid plant food? What are the NPK numbers on the back? You want one with higher N levels for vegging.

Thanx for the advice Mr. Brown, yea it does seem that Im watering one of my seedlings a lot. When I do start feeding, whats something you might suggest and where might i be able to find it. Im trying to gather as much information as possible about this. Id like some bagseed gold myself lol

As far as soil, I have never found anything at Wally World that isn't mostly peat moss with fertilizers already in the soil. Fox Farm Ocean Forest is hella expensive and you will have to look farther than Wally World, but it is the shit!

About temps/humidity, I found 2 different gauges in the hardware section of Wally World and another near some bird feeders and outdoor weather stuff. The cheapest was like $6.50 and just displayed current temp and humidity.

Another was like $7 or $8 and showed highs and lows for the temp and humidity (as well as current) for the last 24 hours.

good luck and keep us updated

o yea, and welcome to the forums. happy gardening

peace

Preciate it Melodious, yea I just went to Wally World yesterday and picked me up a Temp/Hum Meter lol I also the other day decided to go with a DWC setup for a couple of reasons. Appears to have bigger yields and it seems to go through the process faster. I could be wrong but from all the threads i've been through and logs it seems pretty hasty.

Today I got my seeds in courtesy of Gypsy Nirvana, thanx. I'll be putting them into a germinator today with a dome to get the lil ones to show their heads!

And still to this point no one has answered me on how to add pics as attachments for your viewing pleasure. Whats a log w/o pics?!?!?

if you click on the paper clip symbol it will let you browse through your photos, then just upload them.
looking forward to seeing them, good luck!!

rotten fork, thank you so much sir for clearing that up for me. I'll be getting some pictures up soon

Well...just completely set up the DWC - Rubbermaid Grow box. I'd like to think for my first one and first time growing it looks pretty dang sweet. My digital camera broke so ima have to use my camera phone until I can use another one.

Right now with lights running:

Temp/Humidity : Usually stays within a range of 70-80 degrees F. Around 66-70 degrees at night time with no lights and no exhaust fan blowing. I'm thinking thas good, any objections to that?

Ventilation: Got a cheap $5 fan from Wally World on top of the box working as an exhaust fan. And I have a 4" computer fan mounted on the top half of the box blowing wind parallel to the light set up. After adding the bigger fan it seemd to drop temperature a lil bit.

Nutes: I've been lookin all over the forums for feeding for new seedlings and sprouts and it seems the overall consensus seems to be to start off no Nutes. Thats what I think I was reading, someone PLEASE clarify for me. And about Superthrive how do I incorporate that into the mix and when? I have a 10 gallon rubbermaid DWC with 6 gallons of water in them and the 3 part GH system as I stated before. Im looking for some type of feeding schedule, I know someone out there has to have a simple one for me :)

Lighting: Im running 2 -26 watt Daylight CFL's and 4 - 26 watt CFL's. The 4 have the yellow glow to them. I just read that it's better to use the more yellow glowing bulbs for flowering, is this true?

I think I'm going to have to either add a wick to the net pots to reach the peat pods or just add more water to the res. Its amazing how this whole process has got me a lil pumped, I shant not lie lol :thumbsup: But people keep the info and advice coming for me I'd appreciate it.

And on another note, today I'll be adding 2 more airstones, more air....better growth!!!! :thumbsup:

superhrive is great and can be used as early as germination, I only use around 2-3 drops per 5 litres of water it will explain doses on the side of the bottle.
As far as nutes there are plenty of them out there which ever ones you decide on, dont use any for the first couple of weeks then introduce them 1/4 dose for a week
1/2 dose for next week and build up to full dose.
Hope this was some help,
get that camera going so i can have a peek!!!

GOOD LUCK:thumbsup:

Thanx again rotten fork, yea today i went and picked up two more airstones to fit in the 10 gal rubbermaid. What im wondering is, okay...I did my germinating...and pretty much all seeds have started to crack, some more than others. I have them in the lil peat pods that were suppose to help germinate. Is it okay to go ahead and add the peat to the mesh pots and put them in the hydroton? In a few after I clean i'll be taking a few pics with my dreaded camera phone...duhn duh duh....:(