The first attempt/learning journal

Hello there!
This is the journal of a 100% first time noob. That being said feel free to comment on anything you see. I feel like I've done a ton of research, And continue to do so in my spare time. This attempt has costed me a little over 100$ with things Ive picked up from local stores in my area. Next go around I'll have a bigger budget and more experience to work with.
Materials-
-5 17 watt floral grow tubes from walmart(says 80 watt output or something close)
-1 42' 2 T8 bulb fixture
-2 f20 plant + Aqaurium t8 bulbs
-3 65 watt grow bulbs and reflector fixtures
-15 potts
-5 bags organic soil potting mix from local garden center
-1 bag Vermiculite
-1 Grandma looking watering can/1 plant spray bottle
-25 bag seeds no idea on genetics, it looked good, tasted good,worked good and took me quite awhile to get that many so I went with those for the 1st
-1 tomato starting greenhouse jiffy pot set
Day 1
The first day I tried to germinate my seeds in between two paper towels, deffinitly should have not been under the influence when I read how to do so. Did not do this correctly. After 3 days not a hint of movement from the 25 seeds. So on a whim I popped them all down in that tomato starting greenhouse.I placed a 65 watt grow bulb 3 inches over the greenhouse. Within 24 hours 17 of them had popped or were bulging at the surface of the jiffy pots. Later on I read that letting the pot dry out and watering only as needed(Seemed to be about once every day) to allow the roots to reach and establish themselves. So I started doing that and the roots looked alot better.

Day 4-8 At this point I'm going off memory, I didn't start a record of my activities untill day 7. I transplanted on the 7th day because the in little greenhouse the roots started to get to close and I didn't want them to grow into each other(I was also getting antsy to do something not going to lie!) I'm really not sure where to gauge my progress so hopefully you all can!

In the picture the box is my main area, I'm really not sure what to do with the closet was just keeping those in there to see which setup did better. Suggestions?
So the pictures are on day 8. I have them on a 24 hour light schedule. Going to add a fan into the box today, Also going to fix up that messed up lining in the closet.
Will keep posted as changes occur

Day 9 Alright, murdered one of the little guys in the closet with a 65w grow bulb being to close. For some reason one of my lamps puts out quite a bit more heat then the other two. Lesson learned! moved it up, the others seem to be doing fine. Pretty much all the ones in the box are looking about the same, most have sprouted a second shoot or look to be beginning to. Tonight at 7 will be switching to a 12/12 schedule as I'm aiming for some shorties. Watered with regular filtered water that sat out for about 24 hours. Not quite sure as to when to start adding nutrients as the plants are growing fast and very green looking. Also not sure if I should give the plants a 24 hour period of dark before switching to 12/12. Research to do! Oh and sorry for the terrabad pics but thats the best I can do for now!

looking good

looks ok keep light as close as possable but dont burn them dont drown them water throughly then let soil dry and so fouth and dont use to much nutes and burn them up and you be ok

Moved the lights down a couple inches, I grabbed one of the bulbs on accident and there was almost no heat coming off of it. I'm thinking of switching my plants to 12/12 tomorrow or the next day as I want to make sure I dont outgrow my area on this one.

I don't know if it will be an issue with using flourescents but a white surface would be much better than the foil/wrapping paper you have.. I'd be worried about it making hot spots but you might be okay with the flouros.

I made the mistake of moving my light too close to early but I was using a 250w.. I believe that a 17w flouro you could put pretty close even to a seedling..

I'm along for the ride mate!

Yeah I'm gonna build a better box within the next couple weeks and do the inside white, I set myself a hobby budget and thats gonna have to go next time

especially being your first grow I would hold off on nutrients.. they don't need them yet.. they should be able to get enough from endosperm and what is present in your medium currently.. I found that nutrients messed up my grow when I was new (still am!)

Also I can sympathize I made the exact same mistake on my 3rd grow (putting the lights too close to seedlings) Went away for holidays and missed out on 2 weeks of growth because it was basically frying them the entire time. Remarkably 5/6 survived and that's what I have in my garden currently.

I wouldn't worry about the 24 hour dark period.. really you shouldn't flip to 12/12 until you've vegged out your plants and they are showing pre-flowers, however I've done the same (flipped too early because of space constraints)

I would only do the 24 hours if you had vegged out some monsters and wanted to force flowering ASAP. THese still likely won't show flowers for at least another 30 days by my guess.

Day 10
Excited every day to wake up and see progress!
Not a whole lot to update, soil still feels damp. Lookin good I think!

How come some of my cotyledons curl up and some curl down?

Good luck, as a fellow noob I'll be following this.

Carpsesdema said:

How come some of my cotyledons curl up and some curl down?

Click to expand...

same reason some hang to the left and others to the right??