First Grow - Germinated Seeds - Questions

[Joemontana]

Hello, This is my first grow and it is ambious I know.

Setup: 4x4 Grow Tent - Currently 14 seedlings Bubblegum & White Widow Max (Holland Genetics).

Seedlings are in 16 oz Plastic Cups (trimed down) (4 seedlings are in the cone style tray) Got caught off guard, Seeds were over germinated at exactly 3 days (72 hours). Seeds went into Sunshine mix on Monday night.

Soil is Sunshine Number 4 with additional Perlite.

Currently - Tent Humidity is 60% (stays between 50 - 60 %) - Temp is 75. T5 (4x2 4 bulbs) light is 15" off plants (out of dome). Fan circulating air and humidifier providing the humidity. Lights are on 24 hours. Dome heating pad and the heater I had running in the room (not the tent) are now off. Rooms cools off at night and has gotton down to 67/68. Will move plants to sealed grow room with 600w MH lights for Veg. How long do I wait?

Seedlings look great - won't water again till they look dry.

Questions: Anything wrong here? Should I have left the heating pad under the cups? When do I add nutrients? (using Fox farm) Light at proper height? We will PH the water tomorrow night. 70 gallon Water tank started leaking replacing tomorrow.

Thank you for your help.....I will need all I can get.

JM

Joemontana Reviewed by Joemontana on 05-14-2010. First Grow - Germinated Seeds - Questions Hello, This is my first grow and it is ambious I know. Setup: 4x4 Grow Tent - Currently 14 seedlings Bubblegum & White Widow Max (Holland Genetics). Seedlings are in 16 oz Plastic Cups (trimed down) (4 seedlings are in the cone style tray) Got caught off guard, Seeds were over germinated at exactly 3 days (72 hours). Seeds went into Sunshine mix on Monday night. Soil is Sunshine Number 4 with additional Perlite. Currently - Tent Humidity is 60% (stays between 50 - 60 %) - Temp is Rating: 5

[bigsby]

I think you're doing a good job. Sounds like you've done your homework and that you have your stuff pretty well dialed in.

Once your seedlings hit their third node they are no longer seedlings and you can put them into the tent. Bring that T5 down a 5" / day until it is 5" - 8" off the plants. That will get them ready for the MH juice. When they go into veg keep that light has high up as you can and move down a foot / day so that they aren't shocked by the sudden increase in photons.

Some people swear by the heating pad under their seedlings. From what I've read you want to keep the temps down below 68 and you need to keep a close eye on the water as they dry out quickly. Said to promote root growth.

Nutes can go on 1/4 strength every 3rd watering after the 3rd node. Note, do not start under the MH light and Nutes at the same time. Let them adjust to the nutes or light for a few days before starting the other. Bring you nutes up to 1/2 strength after 2 weeks. Careful not to over water.

Think about your re-potting schedule. Once before they go to veg or just after and once before they go to flower or just after. Again, do not coincide re-potting with additional nutes or move to new lighting or lighting schedule.

Post up some piccies. We'll be watching.

[bigsby]

Hey I misspoke about when your seedlings are no longer seedlings. They are no longer seedlings once they have their first set of real leaves which I believe constitutes their first node. Not the pre-emergent leaves but the first set of recognizable leaves.

Nutes can start at this point as can your shift in lighting. Check out out this sticky for more in depth info.

[Joemontana]

Did I remove from the dome to quickly?

No dome (no heating pad). Just in the tent on a table I made to keep off the floor. Just checked on them: 71 degrees and 60% humidity.

The temp goes up as I lower the light - What temp do I want to avoid?

Thank you everyone

[bigsby]

With the dome you want to take care to "harden" the plants, that is, let them adjust to no dome over time. Give them 3 hours no doom for 2 days. Then up to 6 hours for a day or two and then they should be ready for 24 hours no dome.

Humidity and temp are fine although you don't want the humidity much higher as it creates conditions for mold to develop. Ideal temp range is 75 - 85. Higher temperatures mean more expiration so you plants may need watering more often. That said, most failures occur due to over watering rather than under watering.

Again, give that sticky a read. It details a lot of this stuff.

[Joemontana]

Well, they have been out of the dome of over 24 hours. I lowered the light, added a second fan for cooling:

Temp=71 humidity = 55% Temp will increase thru the day as it gets warmer.

[Joemontana]

PH tested our (well) water = 7.4 I was pleased as I had no idea what to expect.

Second set of leaves visable on all plants.

[bigsby]

But you realize the PH is too high, right?

[Joemontana]

Yes. If I remember right should be about 6 - 6.5 correct?

[Joemontana]

My PC is in the shop and it has my camera software on it. I should have it back today. I will take pics. I ph'ed the water at 5.7. is that to low? I did a flush thru my soil mix just to check the PH and it bumped up .1 - .2 . Am I shooting for 5.8 - 6.2?

I also transplanted the WWM plants that were in the little starter cones. I hope I did not kill them. I will do it a little differently next time.

Again thank you all for your help. I will post pics tonight (assuming I get my PC back today). I'm working on my laptop which is not setup for the camera. I will also include pics of the sealed grow room.