Introduction

So, I've been wanting to try my hand at growing so a week or two ago i came here and started reading up. Got my seeds germinating, 7/10 showed life and planted them today in just dixie cups with holes in the botom. I just used regular miricale grow potting soil. I plan to research soil a bit more and go to the nursery before I plant them in their new pots. I know the ph level in miricale grow is neutral so for the initial start of the plant should I raise the ph or wait till i transplant them the first time?
I wanted to make sure these lights are ok. My buddy used these same lights earlier this year and they worked out for him. How long after they start to poke their heads out of the soil do i put them under light? Right now I just put them in front of the window. Should I put them under light now? Do I put them on 24 hour or 18/6. I've read both... Here are a few pics. Any suggestions are greatly apreciated.

Thanks...

Welcome to the world of growing...

I'm on my first grow and going successfully now so hope I can be of some help. I will address all of your issues in turn.

PH Levels. Ideal ph levels throughout your grow should be anywhere between 6.5 and 7 so if your soil is neutral then leave it for now. Whatever you do - DON'T RAISE IT AT ALL!
You must invest in a ph wand. They are not expensive but it will become your closest friend. Also, invest in a moisture wand. This will help with your watering cycles.
PH levels must be tested regularly in soil and and make sure you test water prior to watering. If you are watering with tap water, then make sure that you leave it to stand for 24 hours before watering as this will allow the chlorine to escape.

Soil - really is worth getting a soil that is relatively high in Nitrogen for the vegetative stage. My soil is a high nitrogen that contains a good mix of both perlite (which assists drainage) and vermiculite (which helps retain nutrients in the soil).
If I were you, I would wait until you transplant now but make sure that when you do you have both these ingredients to mix into your soil. I would suggest a 25% perlite/25% vermiculite mixed into 50% of your chosen soil (which must have relatively high nitrogen content.

Lights - I'm not familiar with your chosen lighting system so I would say if your friend has grown successfully with it and if you are emulating his grow room set up then fine. Try it. However, I would say to you, the more light you can get the better the plants will be. Do some research on lighting. There are plenty of threads on this site. For example, I'm growing 2 plants at a time in a small set up with a 200W Envirolite with reflector and my plants are looking strong and healthy. (This is a low cost budget lighting system for my setup)

After planting my seeds, I kept them in my dark warm airing cupboard at about 21° until they sprouted. As soon as they sprouted i put them in my growroom though not directly under the lights. As long as they are in Indirect light then get them under light as soon as.

LIGHT = LIFE! Someone quoted this to me when i started and nothing is truer!

I run my lights 24 hours but i am in the uk and growing in my garage so i'm doing this to keep temperature up in my room too. Doing an 18/6 lighting schedule will keep your cost down. So it really is up to you.

HOPE ALL THIS HELPS!

Best of luck!

Thanks for the tips, really apreciated. I set up this up just a few minutes ago... I'll turn these lights off till they sprout as you advised. I have up to 4 fixtures I can get going. All 100W lights. I purchased a ph tester and will be testing my soil here in a min. I will also be watering my plants with brita water. I figure this is probably good enough. Ill run it though the brita and let it sit too.
Thanks for your advice. Much apreciated.

See how you go with it.... as long as it's warm they should sprout. The moment they are above soil - check every few hours, get the lights on. All the goodness that it needs to sprout is already there without the lighting, just make sure it's nice and warm...

best of luck mate!

p.s. just out of interest... how deep did you plant them? When i planted mine, I planted root downwards (obviously) with literally only a couple of millimetres of soil covering and not compact either... if soil is too compact then it will struggle to grow.

Also, when your lights go on, those babies are gonna stretch for those lights... you may want to move them a little closer, if it were me i'd offset them from the light slightly until they were established little seedlings... others may say different so ask around!

I planted them fairly shallow. I germinated them for almost 5 days so I didnt want them to strugle to long in the soil. I covered them with some loose soil. I'm gonna have to check the temp on those lights before I move them to close though. I'm afraid they may be to hot may have to pick up some 50W's. Have to pick up a few more things tomorrow. Ph tester says my soil is at 7. I don't know if its working though. It says 7 no mater what i stick it in.
Thanks again.

Empyrean421 said:

I planted them fairly shallow. I germinated them for almost 5 days so I didnt want them to strugle to long in the soil. I covered them with some loose soil. I'm gonna have to check the temp on those lights before I move them to close though. I'm afraid they may be to hot may have to pick up some 50W's. Have to pick up a few more things tomorrow. Ph tester says my soil is at 7. I don't know if its working though. It says 7 no mater what i stick it in.
Thanks again.

Click to expand...

I had the same problem with the Ph wand i had.. i even stabbed a lemon

hi, im a new member, been smokin bud 4 years bt recently bought a set-up and am very interested, hav alot of questions. cn any1 tel me sum diferent strains i should be thnkin of growin? indoor, hydroponics, for yield and quality?? help Lol

Those lights are going to do a horrible job, it's up to you, but i would go otu and buy some Compact Floro's or an HID lamp depending on how much money you have. I've been told miracle grow potting soil starts at a ph of 5.0, from many users of it. you need to raise that in soil to 6.5-7.0, and as shiva was saying i you are gonna use those lights ur gonna have to get em close, but since they are so hot it will be hard. and your plants will stretch. You can turn your lights on them whenever you want, just not very close, i always sprout my seeds under light and havent had a problem, just dont throw them under an HID, compact floros will do fine.

I'm pretty new as I said so I'll take your word for it. For 7 plants how many fixture's do you suggest and what watt bulbs?
Thanks...

The PH tester I got that is supposed to be for soil was a piece of junk even though it cost $18. When the other guy said that ph wands are cheap, I think that might be relative. I think PH wands worth anything run around $60. Which could be cheap to some.

I'd tell you what to use, but I'm doing hydro. I just use ph drops to figure out my ph.

if you want to go cheap, you can get away with 1 42 watt Compact Floro per plant and have them all in the same area so they can share the light bouncing around. 1 above each of the tops, they run about 8 bucks a bulb at 42 watts. be creative, but if you got the money you can always get a High Pressure Sodium. a 400watt would do ok for 7 smaller plants.

p.s.
forgot to say, the more cfl's the better, but if your on a tight budget you can get away with 1x per plant and get good results, heck you might even get away with a lower watt but not reccomended, get as many as you can afford, or get the HID lights!

I saw a ph kit, was thinking about getting one of those, figure its probably more accurate anyways.

Did some more reading on lights, I might keep one of those reptile lights around for heat. I keep the heat off in my place to save on the electricity. Dont want the closet to get to cold. I think for now I'll run out and pick up some 200w cfl's. Probably 3 for now, adding with age.
I sure hope a few of these are males. Looking into it more 7 plants seems like a little more then I wanted to do. Oh well though... More in the end.

russ0r said:

if you want to go cheap, you can get away with 1 42 watt Compact Floro per plant and have them all in the same area so they can share the light bouncing around. 1 above each of the tops, they run about 8 bucks a bulb at 42 watts. be creative, but if you got the money you can always get a High Pressure Sodium. a 400watt would do ok for 7 smaller plants.

p.s.
forgot to say, the more cfl's the better, but if your on a tight budget you can get away with 1x per plant and get good results, heck you might even get away with a lower watt but not reccomended, get as many as you can afford, or get the HID lights!

Click to expand...

How much would a HID set up run for the 400W, and does it pull 400W or does it pull less like the cfls?

Edit: Looking like a little more then I wana throw down for my first time. I'll just stick with the regular CFL's. I have a whole closet to build in so I'll get quite a few and some good reflective sheeting...

Thanks for answering the q's Now to just watch them grow. Its amazing how far they've came in only 24 hours... Didnt think they grew this fast

I hope you didn't handle your seedlings with your bare hands! And also should wait till plants are about 3 weeks old before you think about nutes. And you should pH your water for your seedlings, but no nutes!

Not worried about vitamin's yet really... That's something I've gotta work on researching more. Probably talk to some folks at the hydro store in Seattle this weekend. Get some full spectrum cfl's some organic soil for their homes after the cups and some vit's. Thanks for the advice.

CFL's wattage on the package that's big is usually the comparsion to the incandescent version, based on how much light they output, you want to go by the actual used watts. a real 100w cfl would be real nice, go for the 42 watters(150w equiv).

The HID really don't cost too much to run, check this out
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/3284-power-consumption-light-cost.html

that can help your exact cost.
oh yeah, and yes the 400w hps pulls 400watts.

CFL's did me good in veg stage. but i did decide on an hps for flowering because i want some decent buds. enough cfl's can get you great buds too.

Update: One week in and Thought I would update. I tested my "Miracle Grow Poting Soil" and the ph of it is 7. Its neutral. The miracle grow at 5ph rumor may be right, but its not for my MG.

Went to the grow shop and picked up some new lights. They are some moster 55W full spectrum CFL's. I got 3 of them. Probably need more depending on how many plants survive. They cost me about 25 bucks a piece. Picked up some "Roots Organic" soil for their first transplant.

For the moment they are under 3 18W (75W) Daylight bulbs I grabed from the home depot last week. They will get these 3 plus the 3 55w full spectrums after they get bigger. I know this is a shortage of lighting from what people have been telling me. I hope this will be enough until I can sex them. I was hoping to end up with 3 or 4 plants for the final grow. I also have the chance to buy a used 1000w ballast for 200bucks through a buddy of mine. That means I would also have to pick up a shield and a bulb though still. That was also an option. Any comments on my lighting plans is greatly apreciated.