Damp Soil!!

So I havent watered my plant in about 4 days. The soil just does not seem to get dry enough. I think this may be because its growing inside and my lights do not produce enough heat to dry up the soil. The soil just stays kind of damp and thick. My plant is too small to transplant. I am just worried that my roots will get moldy with the soil being so damp. I am just worried. It is the only one that I am growing at the moment. Do you think a fan might help dry up the soil a bit? Thanks!

Ya, a fan will help dry it out a bit. The days are still long enough to put outside as well (I would just put it in the shade so that it doesn't burn)!

What kind of light are you using? Do not water it at all. It might take a week, but do not water it. There is food in the first sets of leaves that come out, so you don't need to fertilize (plus there is probably some in that soil of yours). Just let the soil dry out and let the roots chase the water to the bottom of the pot

Thanks. Here on the east coast the light outside is not very long. Its 12/12 just about. I am using 2 35w CFL's I was thinking about going with four 26w CFL's or 2 55w but the 35s seem to be working okay. Do you think more light would help the issue?

More light won't hurt a thing and 4 days isn't long in that size container and your size plant right now. Just relax, hit the pipe or something and enjoy. Nature will assist you with the grow, as the plant grows the water consumption will go up. Yes you do need a fan for several reasons the plant and stem surly need it to develop a sturdy stem. Enjoy and welcome.

Thanks for the reassurance I will grab a fan tonight!

also make sure your pot has some dranage. at the bottom poke some small holes that wont let too much of your soil go but let the excess water drain. The fan will also help=) Good growing to you my friend.

Hi Duggie
i encounter the same problems as you mate starting out in soil under cfls and the following helped. First up your soil shouldn't be cheap and should contain perlite and have good drainage qualities. Place a few holes all around the cup from 2/3rds the way down all the way to bottom and a few on bottom,get some kind of fan as you will need it for a few reasons and if you have the coin personally I'd get more cfls to get around the 150W mark atleast as not only is the more light better for your seedling the extra heat created by them will assist in raising the heat in your grow area therefor aiding in drying the soil. Also I believe it's around summer for you guys in the u.s so just put it outside for a day until she dries out then only water say once a week in that small container. Good luck

Alright awesome. I just got a fan so I will get that set up. I can probably do more CFLs. My only concern with the lighting is the electricity consumption. Since I am only growing one plant at the moment I want to try to keep the electric bill as low as I can. But I think I will add more light. I could probably use alot more perlite. Do you know if you can buy perlite by itself that way I can add more to my mix when I transplant?

yes most garden sections have perlite
the miracle grow perlite has nutes in it
i use 68w ge 2700k cfl's they are roughly 20 bucks
http://www.lightbulbemporium.com/spiral_cfls.asp
even the 100w is cheap

Try and find something other than the miracle grow brand perlite, if you plan on using advanced nutrients. They put fertilizer in it so if you don't plan on using g other nutes it would be fine, but I would look for the plain kind. You and your plant will love having that perlite, it'll really help it dry. Don't be afraid to use a ton.

Thanks, you guys are awesome!

the mg perlite would work just fine. the nutes that are in it are such a small amount it wont matter.

I haven't seen a problem using mg perlite. been using since they popped out of soil never seen a problem. I use ffof mixed with 33% mg perlite. OP Your soil looks like it has no perlite and it looks kinda clumped together. Thats gonna prevent it from drying out decently fast, and cause problems with your roots. Go get some perlite, mix it into your soil and transplant that bitch. At least thats what I would do, but Im just a newbie myself.