First grow

[Dilan R Wertz]

Hey guys I just wanted to check in and see how you guys think my seedlings are growing. The big one sprouted last Wednesday so today it is 9 days old. And the little one sprouted Tuesday so it is 4 days old. I have them under my 24 watt t5 and I have a 400 watt mh on the way that will be here mid next week and I will put them under that once it's here. They are in jiffy seed starting mix and I'm watering every 4 days or so. Just wanted to see how you guys think the progress is on them! So excited for growing my first plants! Thanks!

 

[Buba Blend]

Very Nice!

 

[Dilan R Wertz]

Very Nice!

Thanks!! The big one has somewhat of a skinny stem. I have a fan blowing in there on low where it's barely moving it. I'm going to transplant middle of next week and I think I will bury a little of the stem? But what else can I do to help thicken it up?

 

[elfo777]

You can bury the stem up to the cotyledons without no problem. A bit of air will also help, but looking at your first pic, your stem is perfectly normal and looks healthy 100%. Seedlings don't have thick stems, usually. Stem will get stronger with time and keeping your lights close enough for tight nodes and strong stems helps.

 

[Dilan R Wertz]

You can bury the stem up to the cotyledons without no problem. A bit of air will also help, but looking at your first pic, your stem is perfectly normal and looks healthy 100%. Seedlings don't have thick stems, usually. Stem will get stronger with time and keeping your lights close enough for tight nodes and strong stems helps.

Ok cool. I'm glad it's looking good! I have a little 24 watt t5 over them now. About 3-4 inches above it. You think that's good enough?

 

[elfo777]

Ok cool. I'm glad it's looking good! I have a little 24 watt t5 over them now. About 3-4 inches above it. You think that's good enough?

You can get really close with a CFL, some of my plants were 2 inches away without being burned. Put your hand below the bulb, if it's too hot for you, it's too hot for your plants. Add your 400W as soon as you can, slowly to get them used to it. That CFL won't be enough very soon.

 

[Dilan R Wertz]

You can get really close with a CFL, some of my plants were 2 inches away without being burned. Put your hand below the bulb, if it's too hot for you, it's too hot for your plants. Add your 400W as soon as you can, slowly to get them used to it. That CFL won't be enough very soon.

Yeah it will be here mid week. Bout the time I will be transplanting the big one. What do you mean by slowly add the 400w? Like what schedule would you think?

 

[elfo777]

Sorry I didn't make myself clear. You can put your plants 18h-24 hours directly under the 400w, but keep your light at least 18 inches away for the first few days or you may burn your plants. I would start at 20 and get it lower 1 inch every day until your room temperature allows, which is usually around 12-18 inches for a 400W.

 

[Dilan R Wertz]

Sorry I didn't make myself clear. You can put your plants 18h-24 hours directly under the 400w, but keep your light at least 18 inches away for the first few days or you may burn your plants. I would start at 20 and get it lower 1 inch every day until your room temperature allows, which is usually around 12-18 inches for a 400W.

Ok cool. I'll be transplanting into ffof into a gallon pot. When I transplant I will mix some of the miracle gro perlite I used in the jiffy seed starting mix in the cups, but should I put the ffof in the pot and dig me a little hole and put some of the jiffy mix down in there and then put the plant down In there? That way the first thing it hits is what it's used to and then it will gradually go into the ffof? I have just read that sometimes that soil can burn young plants

 

[Kerovan]

Looking good. I hope your mh light is a switchable kind that you can run hps on also. You don't want mh to flower, you want to switch to a hps bulb for flowering.

Also, don't use miracle grow perlite, it is loaded with fertilizers. Just use the ffof straight, it has plenty of perlite and nutrients in it already.

Put enough soil in the pot so that the plant will be at the height you want it. Then tamp it lightly and put the rootball on top and then fill in around the sides with the rest of the soil. Or you can just dig a hole as you said, but that is harder since the soft loose soil will keep falling into the hole as you try to dig.

 

[Dilan R Wertz]

Looking good. I hope your mh light is a switchable kind that you can run hps on also. You don't want mh to flower, you want to switch to a hps bulb for flowering.

Also, don't use miracle grow perlite, it is loaded with fertilizers. Just use the ffof straight, it has plenty of perlite and nutrients in it already.

Put enough soil in the pot so that the plant will be at the height you want it. Then tamp it lightly and put the rootball on top and then fill in around the sides with the rest of the soil. Or you can just dig a hole as you said, but that is harder since the soft loose soil will keep falling into the hole as you try to dig.

Yeah I have a hps now but want the mh for veg. So yeah I will be able to use the hps also. And OK. I looked on the bag of perlite and didn't see where it has fertilizers. But I used some in my jiffy mix that they are in now and it seems to be OK now. I'm going to transplant into 1 gallon pot and then transplant one more time somewhere down the line. But I'm glad it's looking good! I've learned very quickly patience is key and just let her do her thing. I can barely see where the 3rd set is starting to come in!

 

[Gumdrawp]

Looking good. I hope your mh light is a switchable kind that you can run hps on also. You don't want mh to flower, you want to switch to a hps bulb for flowering.

Also, don't use miracle grow perlite, it is loaded with fertilizers. Just use the ffof straight, it has plenty of perlite and nutrients in it already.

Put enough soil in the pot so that the plant will be at the height you want it. Then tamp it lightly and put the rootball on top and then fill in around the sides with the rest of the soil. Or you can just dig a hole as you said, but that is harder since the soft loose soil will keep falling into the hole as you try to dig.

This is true to an extent, I find ffof does better with extra perlite added, it can also be kind of hot (nutrient heavy) for small plants. I tend to put about 1/3 the pot straight Ffof then the top 2/3 I mix a 1:1:1 of ffof,coco,and perlite.

Also if you plant in straight ocean forest be wary that it compacts pretty easily. If you water by hand I would go with the Gatorade bottle with holes In the lid trick or something similar as a heavy pour will compact it quite a bit.

Edit: Don't use anything from miracle gro/scotts/etc. Espoma and some of the "organic" ferts are ok but you're much better off buying products suited for agriculture or cannabis specific products. I spray a ton of stuff on my veggie garden I would never let near my grow. Hopefully next year I'll be able to replace most of it though.

 

[Dilan R Wertz]

This is true to an extent, I find ffof does better with extra perlite added, it can also be kind of hot (nutrient heavy) for small plants. I tend to put about 1/3 the pot straight Ffof then the top 2/3 I mix a 1:1:1 of ffof,coco,and perlite.

Also if you plant in straight ocean forest be wary that it compacts pretty easily. If you water by hand I would go with the Gatorade bottle with holes In the lid trick or something similar as a heavy pour will compact it quite a bit.

Ok cool deal. I will keep that in mind. Thanks for the advice. Any and all reliable advice is helpful to me as this is my first time, although I do nothing but read and read and read about different things but it's always nice to get extra advice from 1st hand experiences