Help, Need Pro Insight, Vacation, Leaving my Plants, please read!

Hey guys, I just finished my first grow, it went off without a hitch and the buds amazing so thank you all for your comments it really helped me along to those who posted!

I'm going on vacation 6 days on may 10th out of state, this leaves almost 3 weeks until I step foot back in my house and I really don't want to waste that valuable grow time.

I just got my summer seeds from Attitude 4 for outside soil Photoperiod and 4 for inside Aeroponic Autoflower (I did my first grow with Autoflower Aeroponic setup so I'm new to soil)

MY NEW PROBLEM (Questions)

1. I have my 4 outdoor seeds germinating in paper towels right now, I have had my soil mix sitting outside for about 3 weeks, It consists of

4x 7 Gallon Buckets with drain holes
1x Promix
3lb each, Blood meal, bone meal
2lb Kelp Meal
3 lb vermiculite
10 cups crushed lime
20lbs Earthworm castings
some Epsom salt for good measure
CAN I USE THIS MIX SITTING OUTSIDE FOR MY SPROUTED SEED WHEN I PUT IT IN THE STARTER CUPS, WILL IT BURN MY SEED? MY SOIL PH TESTER WONT BE HERE TIL NEXT WEEK BUT I DID ADD LIME, should be okay?

2. Can I leave my soil starter cups with sprouted seed planted in the window for 6 days while I am gone? It gets great sunlight in the spot I'm going to put them, can I get away with not watering them for the 6 days? Should I put a half inch of water at the bottom of the seed starter tray while im away so the taproot can search for water?

3. Like I said I don't want to miss out on this 3 weeks, so I sort of want to start my 4 AUTOFLOWER AEROPONIC grow as well but I do not trust my indoor grow box alone for 6 days as its potentially flammable. I was thinking of putting them in their res and placing it under the same window as the soil starter cup seedlings while keeping the air pump on (I KNOW I CAN LEAVE MY AUTOFLOWER AEROPONIC FOR 6 DAYS IN THE RES NO PROBLEM AT ALL BUT WILL IT GET ENOUGH LIGHT? IT'S GENERALLY ONLY BRIGHT OUTSIDE FROM 6AM - 8PM OR SO, IS THIS ENOUGH LIGHT? ALSO IT WILL BE IN THE WINDOW LIMITING ITS LIGHT AS IT IS) should I just wait til I get home to start the A utoflowers or do you guys think it'll be enough light?

Don't risk burning your living space down. If it's warm enough you could leave your plants outside. Your mix might be too hot to put young plants in. If you can have some one water your plants while you're gone that would be nice

Set them all the way outside if possible.. Check the weather channel and pray for rain midway through your trip..
And/or get some watering globes...
They also have water hose timers that are 1 week programmable for cheap just put a mister on the end

That all sounds like GREAT advice... but did anyone notice that 12 point buck in the back ground...BOOM!!!

LOL

For only 6 days you should be ok, I would put about 1/2" of water in the bottom of the tray. But if you put them under direct sunlight or where temps get over 80ish they are going to dry out. If it were me I would keep them indoors under a mild (not too hot) light source. Not ideal but they will survive in all likelihood.

Another option is order a cheap submersible aquarium pump and a digital timer (programmable by the minute/day/etc).
I did this recently while on vacation. Use eBay for good pricing. Pump is probably $20, timer about $15 and a short length of hose from a hydro shop with some random sprayer fittings probably $10 tops. Just set it to spray into the tray once or twice when you are gone. They will wick up the water from the tray. Or as said have a friend water them (if that is an option).

def got the wheels turning, Cascadian I have everything you listed maybe I can just put 50w on each setup 24/7 for autoflowers and 16/8 for the photo sprouts while im gone. Anyone have any idea how I can make my soil mix less hot for my seedlings this is all great advice thanks!

Cascadian said:

For only 6 days you should be ok, I would put about 1/2" of water in the bottom of the tray. But if you put them under direct sunlight or where temps get over 80ish they are going to dry out. If it were me I would keep them indoors under a mild (not too hot) light source. Not ideal but they will survive in all likelihood.

Another option is order a cheap submersible aquarium pump and a digital timer (programmable by the minute/day/etc).
I did this recently while on vacation. Use eBay for good pricing. Pump is probably $20, timer about $15 and a short length of hose from a hydro shop with some random sprayer fittings probably $10 tops. Just set it to spray into the tray once or twice when you are gone. They will wick up the water from the tray. Or as said have a friend water them (if that is an option).

Click to expand...

i totally agree that this would be the best solution... i would also keep in them inside under some cfl lighting because they could get eaten by animals due to the fact that they are so small.. if u do it inside and install a little drip system on a timer it is almost 100% certain that you will have plants when u come back from vacation.. get the drip system and protect your investment in the seeds!

Sounds great! This is a super easy drip system that Ill install over my 4 Soil Starter cups its very cheap and easy!
I forgot to say that I also added about 15 lbs of regular dirt to my soil mix above, do you think it will still be too hot for seedlings? If so how can I dilute my soil a bit more? I listed the ingredients in the initial post! Thanks guys!

I'm also going to put 50w of cfl over each the hydro and soil setup, I am new to soil as I said, I am going to have the lighting above the soil setup with the photo period plants to 16 hours of light per day in its early life correct? I'm keeping my hydro autoflower setup lighting on 24/7 since it doesnt matter, but what should I set my Photo Plants to in there first few weeks of life?