This is my first grow and I will tell y'all I made every single mistake possible.
A friend gave me a bunch of bag seeds and I used the paper towel method and it worked great. So far so good... but that was about my only success as the mistakes start to pile up.
1. I buy some cheap organic GARDEN SOIL and that is it. I didn't get perlite, peat moss, coco, or anything else to amend the soil. Big mistake as this had almost no drainage and ph was not optimum and it created insect problems due to the soil having living matter. Make sure to get a good potting mix, soilless mixes are best indoors in my opinion. I am mixing my own from here on out using 60/40 coco coir and perlite with organic nutes mixed in to "charge" the coco.
2. I plant the sprouted seeds in solo cups with holes punched in the bottom. I am not saying you cannot use solo cups because you can, but make sure there is proper drainage. The holes were basically pinholes and just compound the drainage problem of heavy garden soil. Make sure to use pots with lots of drainage, solo cups will work if you make holes big enough on the bottom.
3. The nutes I bought were Jobe's organic all purpose. Great stuff when blended in your medium before you use it but not as effective just sprinkled and mixed in the top soil. I have now bought some all purpose water soluble nutes to better control the food supply.
4. At the time I did not have the ventilation in the cabinet and if left closed would get so humid the walls would sweat! Not good! This was a fungus gnat factory until I got some gnatrol. This also did not allow the soil to dry. Make sure you have proper ventilation. Fans are a must but if the hot humid air cant escape it is just getting blown around.
Like I said I made several small mistakes that completely destroyed several plants. All of the seeds sprouted and within a week I had good 3" seedlings. Within a day the leaves started to yellow on almost all of the plants. I tested the ph and it was 7.7, way to high. I started using vinegar to ph my water and I also bought some sphagnum peat moss to put on top of the soil that seemed to help a little for a couple weeks. Growth was very slow almost non existent during that time. I am sure that the roots were not getting enough air or nutrients to flourish as they should have. But they seemed like they had bounced back from the yellowing leaves and slow growth. I thought I was in the clear. Nope, within two days every plant was doing the claw, leaf tips were curling up and down, and the tips were yellowing and dying. I flushed them with just water hoping to save them. Didn't happen. I thought it was a total loss
. In a last ditch effort I mixed the garden soil with the peat moss and some of the organic nutes and transplanted the strongest plants in to bigger pots. The new mix was a lot less heavy and compact. BINGO! Four of the plants I transplanted took off. Growth on one of the plants was extraordinary. In a week in a half it almost outgrew my veg compartment. Once I determined the sex of the big plant I took a clone of her to hopefully produce more. 3 of the four were are females
. I got rid of the male right away. I started feeding the plants a 15-30-15 fertilizer and moved them to the top compartment with the bigger light for flowering. 3 weeks in They are looking nice. Especially the bigger one; starting to show some crystals. I tied down the main stem and lst'd some branches to create an even canopy. It has worked in producing more bud sites but I think I will top the plants next time to use the space more efficiently.
Overall a big learning experience. I made a ton of mistakes and have a better sense of what I needed for a more successful grow. I have the clone to make a mother and two lemon kush seeds I am popping right now so gonna try round to with my new found knowledge and see how she grows. I'll keep y'all posted.