First time soil grower.. water question

I have done 2 grows in a DWC hydro solution and now im doing dirt. I got 10 gallons foxfarm ocean forest dit, 6 germinated lowrider seeds, and 1/2 gallon grow bags. I droped the germinated seeds into 1in deep holes in the dirt. Then i poured 1 cup water into the soil. Next i stuck my new MH bulb into my 400watt system adn cranked it on.

I want to know everything i should know about water plus should I leave the light on before they sprout or wait till they poke thru?

How long till they will poke thru the dirt?

you should have germinated the seeds in a warm paper towel until they sprout before you put them in to soil, but assuming all goes well, maybe a week or so.

I germinated them with the paper towel method. 6 of 7 seeds sprouted a day before i stuck them in the soil.

Now i just gotta figure out this watering schedule and how much water to put in there for its first watering

anybody else have tips on watering plants grown in soil.... or can point me towards the right thread to teach me how to do this and what to look for

greenearth5 said:

anybody else have tips on watering plants grown in soil.... or can point me towards the right thread to teach me how to do this and what to look for

Click to expand...

what ive read all over this site so far, is that when you do water you want to water it very thoroughly, and not water it that much. i read that it is really good for you to water every 3 days or until the soil is getting pretty dried up to the touch. its worse to over water than to water too few times cause you can save your plant by then watering it, but if you over water and drown it and get root rot you cant do much. this isnt info from my personal knowledge, cause im brand new to growing, but ive been doing a whole lot of research the past five days or so and thats what ive been seeing everywhere on here. hope this helped a bit, good luck.

Should see your babies popping through the soil in two to three days. If you're starting with the MH lamp, make sure it is plenty far away - the new babies can't take the heat well.
As to watering - you want to water thoroughly, to where water just starts dripping out the bottom - and then leave it alone again until it dries - usually when you can stick your finger half way in the soil and not feel moisture. Always better to err on the side of a little long than too soon.

At first you need almost no light at all. Just stick a 23 watt cfl above them until they pop out. Any use of MH is rediculous because it would have to be like three or four feet away, much much too strong for seedlings so you have to be careful. Plus it wastes energy because its overkill. I always start with cfl and only switch on my 600w hps after like three weeks under up to 160 watts of cfls.

As for water, hopefully you mixed a lot of expanded perlite into your soil and have really good soil drainage. If not, then the plants will have a really hard time unless the soil is nearly dry. Very little water and absolutely no nuts for the first week or two. Just water with a light spraying a couple times a day for fastest germination.

Im using the foxfarm oceanic forest soil. The hydro man said that i dont need ANY nutes for the first 3 weeks because its in the soil. As far as what I planted them in... they are in 1/2 gallon grow bags with alot of holes all over the bottom to ensure proper drainage.

For watering... after sticking the germed seedlings into a 1 in deep hole i covered with soil. I then put apx 1 cup of water on top all 6 grow bags. 1 day later i learned i should have watered throughly so I decided to water until i see the stream come out of the bottom of the bags. I havent watered since then and it i can visually see that the dirt is still moist.

I wont water for probably 3 more days or even 5 depening on how long it takes to dry the soil when i stick my finger in the dirt.

Well they have all sprouted above the soil and are loving life so far ... if theres anything that im doing wrong here then let me know.. thanks guys and plus rep to the bottom few people that helped me with advise

No prob, sometimes I hear of people killing their fragile seedlings with fox farm soil, so if you have any problems it may be better to start them off in a little bit of regular soil and repot to the foxfarm when they get a bit bigger. Sounds like you are doing fine so far though, good luck to your babies.

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/199876-minimalists-grow.html

I do the dirt thing bro, Its not a long read so check it out and I can give you any advice you may need.

Sample of the grow

glad things are going well greenearth5. i started my first grow a couple days ago, and ive got a good inch and a half sprout going.

thanks guys... check out my journal for updates.. my cam batteries are dead so once i get some new ones ill take more pic

Dude I was reading your blueberry grow, when did your leaves go purple? I ask because I'm growing a Blueberry x Bubblicious plant and only one cola went purple, wierd eh?


anyhoo this is mine 3 days before the axeman comes.

i harvested early on my blueberry plant but my stems turned a deep purple color but my leaves stayed green. I heard that if you lower your temperature at night to a cool 60 then your plant will turn a deep dark purple

Just pulled in my single lady and got me 6oz dry, not bad.

Dragon Smoke: thats a good yeild bro.. was that with your blueberry?

buzzberry and yes it is......tastes so nice and totaly knocks me down!

I sprouted my Black Jack seeds in a wet paper towel. I started out the first 4 days after sprout with 2 -120 clf's but after I got the first set of leaves I turned on the 400w MH. Its about 2 feet from the plants. I have a fan right there blowing lots of air to keep them cool.... 78-84 degrees. Im on day 10 and they look great! I started with small pots so the dry up fast with the fan and Lamp. I water everyday while they are in the small pots. This weekend I am transplanting them to 3 gallon pots. I think its best to start the sprouts with smaller pots. I back filled the soil yesterday and gave them a good watering. Today when I got home they grew a good amount and are really looking healthy! I had them in a wet towel for 2 days, then 2 more days in soil and they popped up. Good luck man!

on my next grow im going to use small cups instead of using 1/2 gallon grow bags from the get go... and ill be using a smaaller light from the get go so im not wasteing money.. check out my journal bro and you can post some info about your grow in there and check mine and my friends