Humidity Concerns in 4x2x5 grow tent for AF seedlings

Good morning, brothers! Long time listener, first time caller.

There is a wealth of information on this site and it has really helped me learn a lot. A big shout-out to RIU members!

Now, my seedlings have broken ground 4 days after starting germination with PT method, but I have some concerns. (Maybe I'm just being paranoid?)

My situation:

I'm starting two Auto Seeds Berry Ryder seeds in a 4x2x5 grow tent w/ 400 W HPS. I happen to live in a very dry area, so RH maxes out 30-35% in my grow tent.

Sep 5 -- I started the process of germination.
Sep 7 -- taproots emerged and the seeds were planted into the growing mediums (5 gal pots filled 70% full with FFOF).

During the afternoon on Sep 7 while reading about seedlings, I realized that the humidity in my tent was way too low for them, so I wrapped the buckets in plastic about 8 hours after I planted. After doing so, I've noticed growth mainly when the buckets are wrapped.

AIR FLOW There is high air flow in the tent. One inline 6 inch blows air on the 400 W HPS, a 6 inch clip on fan blows more air on the HPS, and a 6 inch inline on the bottom blows fresh air in. The top has a carbon/fan/ducting combo drawing air from the filter and out the roof of the tent.

WATERING I've basically been re-wrapping the buckets every 8 hours with a 2.5 OZ watering for each plant, which gives the plants about 5 minutes --> 15 minutes to breathe before being wrapped again. I have a humidifier arriving this week which should allow me to not wrap the buckets within a few days.

* Also, I should note that I've been poking small holes in the plastic while wrapped so that the plants are still getting air while sitting in a high humidity environment.

A few questions:

How long after breaking ground can I keep the seedling buckets wrapped in plastic?

As long as I keep holes in the plastic coverings is the chance of fungal growth highly reduced?

Is placing a humidifier outside the tent near the intake fan a good idea? My tent is small so I'd prefer to have it on the outside if possible.


Thanks in advance guys.

Ohhh, your medium was FFoF for seedlings?
Wayyy too hot for their delicate root structure at that stage, mate.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, I planted the seedlings into the buckets with FFOF since I heard they need to be planted directly into the growing medium once taproots emerge to avoid stressing the root structure...

HeadieNugz said:

Ohhh, your medium was FFoF for seedlings?
Wayyy too hot for their delicate root structure at that stage, mate.

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I see no mention of FFOF being too hot for seedlings from http://www.420magazine.com/forums/auto-flowering/125208-bongtastic-s-beginner-s-guide-autoflowering-cannabis.html

Here are pics of the seedlings. They have been in the soil for approx 2 -> 2.5 days.

The first one looks healthy to me. The second one seems weird unless it's just growing a little more slowly than the first. It seems like two of its leaves are curled.

Thoughts anyone?

FFoF is hot for alot of strains/seeds, however I've started many many many seedlings in it. I always saw it as a worthiness test of the strain. Cant survive that, you must be a weakling! However the soil guru I know says to flush a little before putting the seedlings in to as he put it "Tame the Beast".

I can't even make out the seedling in the second picture, but they can/will grow retarded for a few days, should be ok long as it doesnt fall over dead lol.

devn00b said:

FFoF is hot for alot of strains/seeds, however I've started many many many seedlings in it. I always saw it as a worthiness test of the strain. Cant survive that, you must be a weakling! However the soil guru I know says to flush a little before putting the seedlings in to as he put it "Tame the Beast".

I can't even make out the seedling in the second picture, but they can/will grow retarded for a few days, should be ok long as it doesnt fall over dead lol.

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Sounds good, man. I did soak the soil good until water came from the bottom bucket holes about 12-24 hours prior to planting it. I have a lot of air flow in the tent + dry air in the environment so it dries up fast, I'm sure...

thcme said:

Sounds good, man. I did soak the soil good until water came from the bottom bucket holes about 12-24 hours prior to planting it. I have a lot of air flow in the tent + dry air in the environment so it dries up fast, I'm sure...

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if you watered those buckets till it came out of the bottom 12-24hr before planting you already gave them way too much water.. and if you have given them any water in the couple days they were growing that means you gave them way way too much water.. they look a little drown to me.. you should let them dry out and see if you can save them.. you have to be very careful with over watering autos

agreed on the watering
really sucks trying to grow a seed in a soaked pot
i just use a mister/spray bottle around where i planted the seed and around the stem when it pops up
just dont spray the leaves

and if you put a party cup size of seed starter ,in your final mix, in the final pot where your planting the seed the plant will develop enough by the time it hits the hotter soil to handle it

Thanks guys. This is my first grow, so I'm obv. a pretty big noob.

The AF guides I had read did not mention transplanting a seedling to a growing medium from a cup, etc. which is why I went straight to soil.

I think for my next batches I will be raising seedlings in plastic solo cups w/normal organic soil or something prior to the 5 gal buckets.

If that tap root gets lost then the plant just stalls and doesn't grow very fast. Starting in a smaller cup and moving up will help you greatly. They are still small enough you can re-plant into cups and let your soil dry out in your pots before planting again. JAS

I've let the pots dry out. Here are pics of the seedlings (day 4) :


I will likely keep the photos coming for entertainment purposes. lol

yes ffof is to hot mix soil with seed starter or happy frog and chunky perlite

wingnut#1 said:

yes ffof is to hot mix soil with seed starter or happy frog and chunky perlite

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Agreed. I'm gonna be going with Light Warrior for my next batch of seedlings and 16 oz plastic cup --> final container.

I also live in a very low humidity area. We have 3 babies growing under cfls with a humidifier in the closet. We really have to watch the humidity level very closely. We also used ffof but mixed it with light warrior almost 50% plus added perlite and a handful of lime to the mix. Germinated them in paper towels. Oh we also flushed the soil to ck for drainage. However I took some of the soil mix that didn't go in the bucket and mixed extra light warrior with it and put it on top of the soil mix in the bucket. Each plant has its own cfl - 6500k and we use straight water and mist them until the entire top is wet. We do this 3-4 times a day. Our seedlings are doing fine. Autoflowers can easily be stunted so don't transplant if you can keep from it. Getting that humidifier will make a huge difference. Can you put it in the tent with your plants? Also do you have a temperature and humidity monitor? We got one at Lowe's for $10. I hope your grow picks up quickly. Good luck to you!

desert girl said:

I also live in a very low humidity area. We have 3 babies growing under cfls with a humidifier in the closet. We really have to watch the humidity level very closely. We also used ffof but mixed it with light warrior almost 50% plus added perlite and a handful of lime to the mix. Germinated them in paper towels. Oh we also flushed the soil to ck for drainage. However I took some of the soil mix that didn't go in the bucket and mixed extra light warrior with it and put it on top of the soil mix in the bucket. Each plant has its own cfl - 6500k and we use straight water and mist them until the entire top is wet. We do this 3-4 times a day. Our seedlings are doing fine. Autoflowers can easily be stunted so don't transplant if you can keep from it. Getting that humidifier will make a huge difference. Can you put it in the tent with your plants? Also do you have a temperature and humidity monitor? We got one at Lowe's for $10. I hope your grow picks up quickly. Good luck to you!

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hello, fellow desert dweller! thanks for the response

Yes, I have ordered a humidifier that I expect to arrive soon. There is a temp/humid monitor as well. I seem to be maintaining 76F --> 84F, 30-->35% RH.

What sort of temps/RH are you maintaining? has the humidifer made a large difference? Since my tent is small, I was hoping to just keep the room sealed and have the humidifer on the outside of the tent, near the intake fan. I'm just not sure how well that will work.

I popped seeds in FFOF and didnt get any burn in fact some of the best white widow I have ever smoked came from that batch

MedicatedGrow said:

I popped seeds in FFOF and didnt get any burn in fact some of the best white widow I have ever smoked came from that batch

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Auto?.......

nah only auto in that batch was a ak47 x lowryder #2 and it came out fine as well rest was white widows and g-13s

ffof is to hot for most auto seedlings