First ever grow, help and advice please?

Hi everyone.

I've just started my first ever grow and have a few questions if anyone could help me it would be most appreciated...

I bought 10 white haze diesel auto seeds and I've germinated them using paper towel, planted them and ended up with nine!. So far so good!
I potted them in John Innes number 1 soil mix with some perlite mixed in and they seem to be doing well.

I have a 1.5x1.5M grow tent.

I'm using a 600W MH bulb, with a carbon filter and cool tube at the moment, I then plan to switch to HPS after a few weeks of vegging.

I'm using an Omega Super Lumen Ballast on the 600W setting to power my lamp. on an 18/6 Cycle.

The Temperate of the grow rooms seems at a stable 20-23C.

I have a 180M3/HR fan blowing in cool fresh, outside air and a 280M3/HR fan sucking through the filter>cool tube>fan and then venting this back into the house!

I'm also using a 6" clip on desk fan to blow across the plants, my cool tube is currently about half a metre from the tops of my seedlings and it doesn't seem to feel too hot and they seem to be doing OK.

I haven't given them any nutrients as of yet. The soil is meant to contain enough nutes to sustain the plants for a month or so...

I planted my seedlings on the 18th of September after germinating.
So at the moment they are just under three weeks old (3 weeks exactly this Sunday 9th), they don't seem to be getting very big!?, they have a few sets of leaves and vary in size, some from a few mm high and some a couple of inches.

Here's my (list lol) of questions if anyone could be of any help it would be greatly appreciated and most helpful...

1) Can anyone see any problems in my setup or know a better way to continue?
2) Is my 600W grow light enough to power my setup?
3) When should I transplant my seedlings into bigger pots/ pot sizes?
4) What soil should I be using and where to get it from? (I live in the UK) I haven't been able to find much information on this...
5) What nutrients should be given to the plants and when/what stages? Any particular brands to use and amounts and timings?
6) Given the heights I stated earlier, should I have expected more growth by now or are my expectations too high?
7) When should I switch to HPS?
8 ) Are my fans suitable for this setup?
9) How effective are carbon filters for when things get smelly?

I think that's about it for now, I'm sure there's loads of things I've forgotten but i'll take things easy lol!

Thanks very much in advance.

First off Welcome to the family. They look pretty good, they do look like they could use an up pot. I usually don't feed anything but kelp juice before this stage. The hot soil could have burned them but it didnt. Yes carbon filters work very well at taking the stinky out, no worries there. Get them into some one gallon pots and give them a baby mix of grow food. As far as changing to hps I would do it when you switch them into 12/12. Those first two leaves that are yelloing on each are water leaves they shed those automatically no worries there. Feeding is a personal preference thing in our world, I use Jacks Classic 20-20-20 in veg with cal mag, in flower I use Maxsea seeweed based 3-20-20 with cal mag and molasses at 1Tbs per gallon. I hope this helped, feel free to ask anything. Peace, be safe MD.

they look over watered, are you letting them dry out before you water ?
if your temps are staying between 75-85 day and not going below 65 night, your fans are ok
what are you ph ing at
i switch from MH to HPS 21 days into 12/12
canna soil is reliable quality get it from a hydro grow shop
nutes, theres loads of brands, i use canna for coco, i use plant magic for soil
as @moondance says give um liquid seaweed, maxicrop is good stuff, it makes the roots grow fast

he growing AUTO`S , stick with 18/6 all the way , pot them up asap , u should start auto`s off in the pots u gonna finnish with , they dont have any recovery time , so u better off using 11 ltr or even better 18 ltr pots , from start to finnish , BEST SOIL I THINK IS , HOUSE AND GARDEN BAT SPECIAL , let them dry out , when plants are that young i find just using a spray bottle to dampen the soil is enough , , a wouldnt gan mad with the maxi crop though , it does help but just dont go mad giving them loads , like 1 ml in 9 lrts of water is enough

them first pics , the soil looks dry , maybe under watered ?, i use plant magic veg and bloom , but the soil i use has enough nutes to last a full grow , all i do is top the soil up now and again , never had problems with H&G soil ,

Thanks for all the help guys!
I've been to my friendly local hydroponics shop today and bought some Canna Soil, MagCal, 2-part Jungle Juice and some 10Litre pots.

So today all is planted and so far all seems well, they've had a good drink and some nutrients!

I was wondering how many times a week they should be given nutrients? I've given them some today it was 10ML of PART A & 10ML of PART B/ 1Litre of water and 1ML of MagCal, how often should this be done? I don't want them to have too much nutrients and affect the plants...

I think originally in the beginning they was over-watered before doing more research so was kind of expecting someone to mention about over watering! You all know your stuff!

I'm not sure of the PH as of yet, if anyone could recommend some kit/ways to test this and how this works it would be fantastic and as always, much appreciated!

I'd like to stick to my 18/6 lighting ratio as I've already started this cycle. BUT when should I switch to my HPS from my MH bulb? Bearing in mind they are still so tiny and they are three weeks old tomorrow, are there any signs it should be swapped to my HPS or do I just vaguely guess it and say after 6 weeks or so?

I've had another look at the thermometer today and it was reading 26/27C!! I think I may invest in another fan for drawing in my cool air & also being a loft grow (which I don't think I mentioned?) It's going to be harder for me to regulate the temperature... So any fan suggestions or ideas on this subject would be most helpful too!

Thanks for all the help boys, keep up the good work!

I always put my autos straight into final 12ltr pots, as for light schedule I always use 20/4.

AD570N3R said:

Thanks for all the help guys!
I've been to my friendly local hydroponics shop today and bought some Canna Soil, MagCal, 2-part Jungle Juice and some 10Litre pots.

So today all is planted and so far all seems well, they've had a good drink and some nutrients!

I was wondering how many times a week they should be given nutrients? I've given them some today it was 10ML of PART A & 10ML of PART B/ 1Litre of water and 1ML of MagCal, how often should this be done? I don't want them to have too much nutrients and affect the plants...

I think originally in the beginning they was over-watered before doing more research so was kind of expecting someone to mention about over watering! You all know your stuff!

I'm not sure of the PH as of yet, if anyone could recommend some kit/ways to test this and how this works it would be fantastic and as always, much appreciated!

I'd like to stick to my 18/6 lighting ratio as I've already started this cycle. BUT when should I switch to my HPS from my MH bulb? Bearing in mind they are still so tiny and they are three weeks old tomorrow, are there any signs it should be swapped to my HPS or do I just vaguely guess it and say after 6 weeks or so?

I've had another look at the thermometer today and it was reading 26/27C!! I think I may invest in another fan for drawing in my cool air & also being a loft grow (which I don't think I mentioned?) It's going to be harder for me to regulate the temperature... So any fan suggestions or ideas on this subject would be most helpful too!

Thanks for all the help boys, keep up the good work!

Click to expand...

Your growing soil all I do is ph my water/feed, blue labs makes pretty good pens to check you ph level. Jungle juice is ok I used their stuff in the past in my DWC setup, they just didn't do it for me the only nutrient line I have ever had issues with.

I am not crazy about HPS with babies and even teens. They seem to fry them. I use T8s plus sometimes add cheap 14 watt LED's with the T8s. Some hippy mentor tried to tell me Halide was okay with babies and teens. I found out a microwave is about the same.

If your ballast can let you dim them - do it or use T8/T5 or CFL

Afternoon boys, just been and checked on the babies and so far they are rocketing and doing very well, I'm really really pleased with everyone's help and suggestions.

I'm just wondering how often they can have nutrients? I last watered them with some nutes Saturday 8th and they are starting to dry out a little...

Do I give then nutes every time they need watering or only so often/ if so when and how often? I'm completely stuck on this....

I'll upload some photos later

Cheers lads. Keep up the good work!

AD570N3R said:

Afternoon boys, just been and checked on the babies and so far they are rocketing and doing very well, I'm really really pleased with everyone's help and suggestions.

I'm just wondering how often they can have nutrients? I last watered them with some nutes Saturday 8th and they are starting to dry out a little...

Do I give then nutes every time they need watering or only so often/ if so when and how often? I'm completely stuck on this....

I'll upload some photos later

Cheers lads. Keep up the good work!

Click to expand...

LordHooha gave some solid advice. "GET YOUR PENS". Cheap ones from China have been doing the job for me for about 10 years now. New batteries are it. In the last 24 hours 3 or 4 newbs have asked the questions you need answers too. Look them up read their threads, you'll be light years ahead.

AD570N3R said:

Afternoon boys, just been and checked on the babies and so far they are rocketing and doing very well, I'm really really pleased with everyone's help and suggestions.

I'm just wondering how often they can have nutrients? I last watered them with some nutes Saturday 8th and they are starting to dry out a little...

Do I give then nutes every time they need watering or only so often/ if so when and how often? I'm completely stuck on this....

I'll upload some photos later

Cheers lads. Keep up the good work!

Click to expand...

Babies in new soil do not need a lot of nutes. The soil will have nutes in there. Less is more until they get a little bigger.

this is actually the best advice i can give you. go to each separate forum here and read all the sticky'd threads. if you do that, it will answer 90% of your current questions.
of course, it will also cause you to think of several hundred new questions....

I'd say change your lighting when U see the white pistols. Wouldn't feed any nutes earlier thn a month or until it begins to flower. As far as transplanting, if u choose to do it that way, which has seemed to be the best way for me because it makes you less likely to over water the way U might in a large pot, go from paper towel to like a 32 or 440z styrofoam cup and if u don't wait too long or be anything less than SUPER GENTLE during transplant (like even cutting the cup from around the rootball) you can do it with little stress on the plant. One last thing, 24/7 lighting will make a difference....autos don't need any dark at all to induce flower so why give them any at all, if they don't require a dark period? This one is all a matter of opinion though, I suppose....something you should consider testing both ways, if u have an interest in growing autos. Good luck on your autos!!

Thanks for all the replies lads, this has all been some excellent help and they are booming now!

My only problem is slight leaf curling, the edges are curling upwards because of the heat from my 600W HPS, I've since heightened the light and also added an additional fan, will the leaves uncurl?

Thanks again!