Hi Les Paul,

I am only growing indoors, so I don't know much about outside.

The flourescent lights will get the plants up to a foot or more. Then it seems you could plant outside if the weather is not too cold.

The bag of soil usually has the ph written on it somewhere. You want it to be between 6.5 and 7.0.

I have a vegetable garden and when I want to know if my tomatoes need water, I reach down into the soil with my hand and grab a handfull and squeeze it. If it sticks together I do not water. If it crumbles I water. Maybe if it is about to crumble or is drying out, I may water then also.

When the plants are in a pot, I pick up the pot and see how heavy it is. When it needs water it is light, and when it has plenty of water it is heavy. I pick up my pots or tip them to see how heavy they are then I decide to water or not.

Remember, I am on my first grow also and am learning a lot. I hope I am giving you good information.

I will be checking back.

I am having a problem trying to figure if my seedlings are male or female. Do you know anything about that?