Hey All… This is my very first indoor grow. I have a few questions regarding water / light / ventilation.
Here are the variables:
Room: 5.8’ [W] x 2.2’ [D] x 7.7’ [H] = 98 CF
Light: 1000 W Metal Halide [30” from tops]
Cycle: 18 hrs on / 6 hrs off
Exhaust: 177 CFM Exhaust Fan [exhaust tube exiting top right]
Fan: Light duty household oscillating fan within GR
Intake: 12” square hole [bottom left, near plants] – sometimes more ventilation throughout the day
Temperature / Humidity: Currently 77 F / 50% humidity
Medium: Soil
Here’s my first question: How much water should I be giving my babies, and how often should I be watering them? I germinated them two weeks ago [never bothering with that step again], transplanted some into 1.5” rockwool cubes and some into soil after they’d sprouted, and transplanted the lot of them into 1 gallon buckets filled with soil yesterday [the rockwool seedlings were beginning to fall behind the soil seedlings that made it]. So they’re about 12 days old [from seed].
Yesterday I also dropped the lamp to 30” from the tops. It had been 50” above the tops – I didn’t want to risk frying the seedlings. I keep reading that I should drop it to 20” from the tops, but I want to wait until they’re a little bigger – I’m thinking about maybe leaving the lamp where it is and then starting to bump the lamp up once the plants make it to the right distance. So I guess my second question is this: Will that 10” make a huge difference in their growth curve at this point in their development, or should I keep the lamp where it is?
Third question: Do I need more outside air to make its way into my GR? I never open the window to the room the closet [GR] is in. The door to the room is open a good deal of the time, so the air from the GR circulates throughout the house, and I open the door to the closet 1/4 of the way intermittently. Should I be working to actively introduce air into the GR, or are my plants getting all the “fresh” air they need? What are the warning signs of inadequate ventilation? Also – I leave my exhaust fan on throughout the entire 18 hr light cycle. Is this overkill?
Here are the variables:
Room: 5.8’ [W] x 2.2’ [D] x 7.7’ [H] = 98 CF
Light: 1000 W Metal Halide [30” from tops]
Cycle: 18 hrs on / 6 hrs off
Exhaust: 177 CFM Exhaust Fan [exhaust tube exiting top right]
Fan: Light duty household oscillating fan within GR
Intake: 12” square hole [bottom left, near plants] – sometimes more ventilation throughout the day
Temperature / Humidity: Currently 77 F / 50% humidity
Medium: Soil
Here’s my first question: How much water should I be giving my babies, and how often should I be watering them? I germinated them two weeks ago [never bothering with that step again], transplanted some into 1.5” rockwool cubes and some into soil after they’d sprouted, and transplanted the lot of them into 1 gallon buckets filled with soil yesterday [the rockwool seedlings were beginning to fall behind the soil seedlings that made it]. So they’re about 12 days old [from seed].
Yesterday I also dropped the lamp to 30” from the tops. It had been 50” above the tops – I didn’t want to risk frying the seedlings. I keep reading that I should drop it to 20” from the tops, but I want to wait until they’re a little bigger – I’m thinking about maybe leaving the lamp where it is and then starting to bump the lamp up once the plants make it to the right distance. So I guess my second question is this: Will that 10” make a huge difference in their growth curve at this point in their development, or should I keep the lamp where it is?
Third question: Do I need more outside air to make its way into my GR? I never open the window to the room the closet [GR] is in. The door to the room is open a good deal of the time, so the air from the GR circulates throughout the house, and I open the door to the closet 1/4 of the way intermittently. Should I be working to actively introduce air into the GR, or are my plants getting all the “fresh” air they need? What are the warning signs of inadequate ventilation? Also – I leave my exhaust fan on throughout the entire 18 hr light cycle. Is this overkill?
