Another first grow

So… i have read alot of info from various sites about growing. Everything from germinating seeds, babying seedlings, nute mixtures, lighting, PATIENCE (the hard one), training, grow bibles, etc etc, on and on. I appreciate the communities and all the information you all have put out there. That being said, i have decided to post my progress here and hope to not be embarrassed by something i have overlooked or missed by ignorance. I dream of my tent looking even half as good as some of your grows.
My setup consists of 4x4 tent located in a “crawl space” where temps are @70F with RH @60% most of the time, sf2000 led, coco coir w/ perlite (60/40), and general hydro flora trio nutes. I soaked and then germinated 4 seeds in a propagation box with a heat mat. I think i killed 2 of them by drowning, lesson learned… Soaked and germinated 2 more with success. I now have 4 seedlings in the tent, whew =)

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Welcome aboard ! lots of Growers here to help an Share info. you can always tag someone by using the @ an username. Good luck

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Welcome to the community. :+1:

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Welcome aboard, every knowledgable person on the forum made mistakes so don’t be embarrassed. It’s funny you learn more from the mistakes than the success anyways. So back to where you are at, what is your schedule and amount of water you are using on those seedlings. And are you checking your water ph when you add?

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Welcome!! As the others said, lots and lots of experience here.

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Since the transplant of the seedlings from the propagation box (rapid rooters), I have just been spraying the rapid rooter enough to keep it moist around twice a day until this morning. I added enough water to get some runoff out of the bottom of my solo cups. The nutrient mix is about 1/4 of what the general hydro charts mentions for seedlings.
My ppm is around 250 and the PH is 6.5 for what i have currently mixed.

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Sounds good I would add spraying the inside of those domes as well when you spray. While the roots are building seedlings draw moisture thru the leaves

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Ok, noted. I am hoping to be able to remove the domes pretty quick. I planned on removing the domes when the new set of leaves formed.

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Yeah doming gets mixed reviews on here, so you gotta see what your style becomes. I go the route of using a dome as long as possible , just my style.


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Yes, i was hesitant at first to even use them. I had to germinate 2 more seeds which were a few days behind the others. I wasnt sure that i had put them under the light to soon to be honest, so i covered them out of caution.

Thanks for the kind words everyone! This has already been a blast. I am constantly thinking about it and KNOW that i am going to have trouble leaving it alone. I want to look at it all the time…

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This morning i couldn’t resist any longer and had to go take a peek. To recap, these seeds are Black Sugar from Seedsman. I had initially soaked the worse looking 4 seeds until they opened and then put them into propagation box with heat mat, but only had 2 sprout.

The other 2 looked good initially but i think i drowned them. So, i soaked and dropped 2 more in the prop box until they sprouted. One of these new seedlings was trying to root upside down. The tap root was coming out of the soil like the head was. Silly thing. I tried to help by covering it with as much soil as possible after orienting it so the root was facing down some by being careful with a pair of tweezers. I never touched the root and was careful to not bind it in any way.

Anyway, the two new seedlings had been in the tent under dome since. I took the domes off this morning. Not sure the little upside down rooter seedling is going to make it. Guess which one it is :frowning:




Oh and here are pics of my space and the boss helping me set up. :slight_smile:



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I was a coco grower but am now growing RDWC.
First, welcome to the community! Like others have said, plenty of experience growers here.
Second, seedlings don’t need to be water to runoff. You will drown them! It’s best only to dampen the grow medium that you start in. Also, you can spray the inside of the domes with just tap water. That produces more than enough humidity for the plants to be absorb the water through the started leaves (cotyledons)
Third, no need to feed the plant any nutes till the cotyledons fall off. The plant will survive off of those leaves for about the first 3-4 weeks of seedling. All the plant needs every day, at least twice a day for the first 3 weeks, is misting the domes and maybe a squirt or two on the medium (literally not more than a 1/4 tablespoon)

Growing in coco, you want to aim for PH 5.8… anywhere from 5.5 -6.2, mainly keep at 5.8
At this stage it’s not that critical.
Good luck! You will enjoy the coco growing.

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Thanks for the info on the water! I have definately been watering way to much then. I can bring the PH farther down as well. I had planned to leave the domes off from here on out since the new set of leaves have formed.

Since i have watered them to much, would it hurt to hit them with 24 hour light (currently 18/6) to attempt to dry it up a little? I notice with my light on the humidity drops to 45% or so. When its off, it rises to 60% since my room / tent is pretty much underground. My light is scheduled to go dark soon.

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I might add, ph’ing the water is a good thing but make sure its going in at 5.8
People might have differing onions about the light. I run lights 24/7 for the first 3 weeks or so. I usually start 18/6 about the time to starter leaves are about to fall off, (generally around the 3rd-4th week)
I don’t think it will hurt either way.
Let the plants dry out! It does them good. It makes the roots search for water henceforth, making them stronger. They will tell you when you need to water, they will start to droop a little As long as you keep the domes misted and the medium damp and keep the domes misted at least twice a day and you’ll be ok. :ok_hand:

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I appreciate your time and help. I think that since i have extremely overwatered them, i am going to put some holes in the sides of the solo cups, put the domes back over all 4 seedlings, and turn the light on 24hr until i dry it out some. That is the plan.

Again, i cant express how much i appreciate everyones insight and sharing of experiences and techniques. It means alot. I feel like this whole process is going to be a test of patience and therapeutic with a very satisfying reward in the end.

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OHhhhhh you have nooooo idea…lol :joy::joy:
Please do not use the P word… which I have none of…lol :joy::rofl::joy:

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Ok. I understand now. There is no way a seedling would be able to drink that amount of water that was in the solo cups even if they had a proper root system developed. I had the bottom of the cup full of holes for proper drainage, but the coco coir was very saturated. The cups were heavy when i picked them up to be honest.

So, i put alot of holes in the sides of the cups, turned the light on 24 hr setting, and replaced the domes on all 4 seedlings with a little mist. Im hoping we will dry out and not have done to much harm.

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Yes, I too think alot of light is important at Seedling stage.
I run mine 22/2 light is needed for all the important stuff in youngons life, photosynthesis, and such. Well the plant knows what it needs and I think I can read what it wants. So we both can be happy, specially me in the end of it all.

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Make sure you rinse and re-rinse the coco and then rinse it again… and then maybe even rinse it again.
You will save yourself a lot of headache by rinsing it extra thoroughly.

You talked about the humidity level dropping when light are on.
One thing I did, after mixing the coco/perlite in a 5 or 4 gal pot, pending on what you use,
put the wet grow bags with medium in the tent.
Dig hole in the middle of the grow bags so the solo cup sits down in the coco
If you can, use a 2 liter bottle with the top cut out and holes drilled in it for ventilation to cover over the cup to help trap some of that humidity coming from the wet pot.
When the plant reaches to the outside of the solo cups, then you can remove the cups from the coco/perlite, (and the dome) remove the plants from the cups and put the plants back in place of the cups. Water it all together and the let it dry for a couple of days.

At that stage, you will only be watering a perimeter around the plant, maybe a 1-2 cups of water. This may be around the 4th or 5th week after breaking ground.

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When you say rinse the coco coir, are you referring to flushing the nutrient buildup out or actually rinsing it from brand new out of the bag / mix?

I ask because i have overwatered and am letting it dry out currently.

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