First time grower using coco

Hi all

This is my first time growing ever. I bought the complete grow kit from htgsupply and I am about to put it to the test. I am currently armed with:

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10 3 gallon grow bags with Starter Plugs
1L Monkey Juice Grow part A & B for Coco Coir
1L Monkey Juice Bloom part A & B for Coco Coir
10 starter plugs
2 blocks of Coco Coir grow medium
400 watt both High Pressure Sodium and Metal Halide Grow Light System with Timer
2 60w cfls (6500 kelvin temp)
1 65w cfl (6500)
2 bottles of distilled water
1 bottle Green Light Iron and Soil Acidifier
1 bag Garden Lime
- Ventilation Fan
- indoor / outdoor Thermometer
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Some of these things I bought separately, but most of it came with the kit. I plan on buying some sort of soil tester tomorrow so I can monitor and maintain the proper ph balance.

I germinated 5 seeds (2 fem Trainwreck and 3 fem White Widow's) using the paper towel in the ziploc method. 3 seeds popped within 20hrs. I waited another night but the other two still hadn't popped so I decided to go ahead and plant the 3.

I cut 4 slits at the bottom of some solo cups. I then cut some of my coir off of the block and soaked it for a few minutes(distilled water). I then filled the cups and left some space for my starter plugs. HTGsupply gives you ten starter plugs that are already moist so I figured I would use them to transplant to. I placed the starters snug into the middle of the cups and proceeded to fit my seedlings in (root down) in the premade holes.

I am running 1 60w cfl and 1 65w cfl down from the top of the tent 1-2 inches straight above the soil / seedlings. The internal temp was at 77 degrees and the humidity is 20%.

I planted them last night and when I woke up this morning, 2 of them where already out of the soil. one hasn't yet. I just checked my other two germinating seeds and another one popped so I am going to plant him now. So I will have 2 cups per cfl. My plan is to feed straight distilled water for a week or so until I get ready to put them under the 400w MH.

What I need help with is to know if I am doing the right things. It it's hard to find tutorials of someone growing seedlings in 100% coir. Should I feed it monkey juice?? Do I need 5.5ph now or can I wait until i go under the MH?

Any tips would be appreciated.

I attached some pics but not all in the best quality. If anyone notices anything that could be helpful please do not hesitate to respond....My babies will thank you...LOL

Welcome to the forum, you are halfway home. Getting started is half done, you have already done more then most folks will. What you have done will work fine until your next transplant. It can still be done, I did it using 20 oz cups and coco-coir, this is not a good medium for this. It won't hold together very well around the root ball, so when you do transplant them you will have to be ready to move quickly with them. What you in effect have done here by putting those plugs in the coco-coir is skipped your interim transplant. This will give you slower above ground growth at first, while the roots fill the entire cup, after that it will catch up and start growing again. Pick one of your cups up now and 'feel the weught of the cup. Now, don't water it until that cup 'feels light'. You want your roots to grow, looking for water, so let it go almost 'dry' before you water it again. Overwatering is the number one problem for new growers, we forget the are babies, we should feed them with an eyedropper not a firehose. I recommend using a moisture meter, I got mine for less than $4.00 at Wallyword, Garden Knowm says they aren't necessary if you get a 'feel' for your plants, in any case don't drown your babies. Check my Blues journal if you like. I have covered all of the step from germinating to final transplant for hydro growing, you would have one more with a soil grow. There is a link in my signature if you'd like too take a look. VV

Thanks for the insight. The problem with buying a kit like I did was HTGsupply assumed I would know what I am doing. I will definitely check out your journal.

2 of my plants haven't sprung yet. when I stuck them in the plugs I left them relatively close to the top and loose puy a little dirt around them. Should they be in lower??

I like htgsupply. Nearby (sort of), so's I didn't pay too much wit shipping. My lights came ultra-fast. And they gave me a free $50 ballast upgrade, which totally negated the shipping costs. Plus they have the best light prices for my tri-state area.

bkstylz said:

2 of my plants haven't sprung yet. when I stuck them in the plugs I left them relatively close to the top and loose puy a little dirt around them. Should they be in lower??

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You should be able to almost see the top of the seed. Remember my journal, its like Prego, its is there. VV

You didn't say what brand coco you are using, but if it was blocked up you're most likely going to want to stop using distilled water and start using tap water. watch for calcium deficiency (red dots). More slits for drainage too.

I've never used money juice but i sugggest 1/3 label strength, a little hotter (500-600 ppm) if you're using distilled/ro water.

Coco = the shit. Now is the perfect time to put them under that MH. Huge leaves in no time. Do let them get root bound before you transplant.

UserFriendly said:

You didn't say what brand coco you are using, but if it was blocked up you're most likely going to want to stop using distilled water and start using tap water. watch for calcium deficiency (red dots). More slits for drainage too.

I've never used money juice but i sugggest 1/3 label strength, a little hotter (500-600 ppm) if you're using distilled/ro water.

Coco = the shit. Now is the perfect time to put them under that MH. Huge leaves in no time. Do let them get root bound before you transplant.

Click to expand...

Yeah I used some tap water (mixed with distilled) to moisten the coco coir. I am currently using Sunleaves classic Coir block. But I did read that you should use tap water.....it's just that I also read you shouldn't, so I went for the mixed idea.

Just some pics of my setup. I really like the tent. I just have to figure out how to maximize the potential of it's use. lots of pockets inside and places to attach and screw things.

bkstylz said:

I am currently using Sunleaves classic Coir block

Click to expand...

thats what i figured. ideally you would have presoaked it in a cal-mag solution. anyone who said not to use tap water was either using a cal-mag solution or not growing in coco. i suggest you use tap water.

duder... break out that MH already.

I attempted to go to my MH today and reralized I wasn't prepared for how warm it got...and how hot the reflectors become. I set it up and had my fan blowing from the top of the tent downward. I came back and took a look at the temp and it reached 95F....I quickly went back to the cfl's until I can figure out a better way to ventilate inside that tent. I don't want to have to grow with the tent open.

You have to put an exhaust at the top. You do know it's going to stink right? I just hope you were prepared to spend a lot more money when you bought that tent. You may be able to get by with an air-cooled reflector...... inline style. Search Results for inline fan <- some inexpensive fans to put the baid-aid on the gunshot wound.

I plan on either making or building a carbon filter.....and I have one of those fans

This one to be exact: Hi-Tech Garden Supply

You think I need to get another one?? The tent is 36" X 20" X 64"

you can buy one cheaper than making it yourself. Your going to have to by a serious fan though. something that you can put on a dimmer. The cheap inline you have now can't use a speed controller because it doesn't use a brush-type motor. That and they are noisy too.

Example setup:
Vortex 4" Centrifugal Fan - 172 cfm | Exhaust Fans & Circulators=
Can Filter, 18" tall - Worm's Way
Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

The fan you have now would work nicely venting a cool tube.

Cool tube??

UserFriendly said:

you can buy one cheaper than making it yourself. Your going to have to by a serious fan though. something that you can put on a dimmer. The cheap inline you have now can't use a speed controller because it doesn't use a brush-type motor. That and they are noisy too.

Example setup:
Vortex 4" Centrifugal Fan - 172 cfm | Exhaust Fans & Circulators=
Can Filter, 18" tall - Worm's Way
Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Click to expand...

In retrospect, I wish I would have just built my grow room from scratch. I've already spent at least 800 bucks and I am not satisfied with what I got.

bkstylz said:

In retrospect, I wish I would have just built my grow room from scratch. I've already spent at least 800 bucks and I am not satisfied with what I got.

Click to expand...

lol. Just wait till you get some harvests coming in, then evaluate how you feel. growing in a room you would need to get the same supplies anyway. Now you have a portable mother/clone room.

heat might not be an issue in a bigger room but summer is coming; you'd have to use an a/c (still might). Would you rather risk your life dealing with the blackmarket? It can pay for itself many times over if you want.

I was measuring the the distance of the reflector to the plants at 20in...I am wondering if that was too low and maybe I should just raise it higher....