Wassup grow fam! This is definitely an awesome forum with tons of info that I’ve learned a lot from. After reading many grow journals I decided to start one for my first* real intentional grow.
So it’s not actually my first I’ve unsuccessfully grown plants before from bag seeds with no success likely because the seeds were garbage. So I up my game I got some sour diesel autos and it came with some free gorilla glues so I’m starting off with three sours and one gorilla.
I hope to have success… any tips tricks comments are welcome! I appreciate any and everything, so strap in and take this ride with me
Yes indeed. It’s probably my biggest weak point considering all I’ve read about needing quality lighting for best results. But right now I’m working with some Amazon lights 350 watts of actual power. My tent is a 2x2x 5
Welcome to the Forum! Agree with comment on the lights. Those seedlings would like to be very warm and humid. A seedling heating mat would work if you can’t keep the heat up in the mid 70s. Keep the light on 24 hours for now and don’t overwater.
Welcome aboard! Biggest advice would be watch your watering and ph, overwatering is most newer growers stumbling block. Next would be lights, shoot for 40-50 watts per square foot for best yields. Your 4x4 can use 800 watts with no problem, though 600 will still get you decent results.
Welcome to the forum! I’ve added a little to your title to help visibility of your journal, hope you don’t mind. Looks like you already have some awesome members replying too. As general rule of thumb early in grow you’ll want to be careful not to soak your pots when watering. Light waterings and allowing soil to dry out a little between will help your roots expand and create a good base.
Welcome to the greatest place on earth @Bezee
If you want you can link your light here and our lighting peeps can look and see if it’s capable of enough light for that 2x2.
I think maybe some ppl assumed it was a 4x4 because of the 4 plants?
I did three autos in a 2x4 and even that felt tight - just FYI
(I’m also a new grower)
I just joined the forum and started growing this past November (fr this place is the greatest place on earth for a new grower) but I ran my first grow (successfully thanks to the peeps here) in a 2x4, realized how tiny it was - and just recently bought a 5x5 for my second grow (still only 3 plants).
Just a heads up from another “newbie” you will 100000% need more room
Side Quest:
Something cool and fun the forum is doing are some grow offs and there is one specific for growing in a 2x2 space and you could see what other people are doing to grow in a small space (with prizes to be had!):
Unless you want to keep those plants really small and transplant them in small pots (2 gallons or less). Otherwise they will grow and crowd one another which is not ideal for airflow and good bud production.
In a 2’x2’, 1 to 2 plants is ideal…
As for your light, 350 watts is not necessarily adequate, but it will do the trick for your first few grows, while you learn the ropes and really see if you’re getting growing seriously or just leisurely. I have grown for a few years with only a Mars-Hydro TS1000 (about 100 Watts) in a 30" x 48" tent. But you really have to be on point with the nutrients and the feeding to produce anything worthwhile. Also, you might want to keep the light closer to the plants so they don’t stretch too much. 18" to 24" inches above your plant is a good starting point usually.
Don’t despair, you’ve got the basis to produce some fine buds and it will only get better as you get dialed in. Have fun growing and don’t hesitate to tag any of us if you have questions. I’m not the best grower, but I know a lot of really great and helpful people here!
Thanks for the welcome! So yes I definitely realize my 2 x 2 is small as hell but my plan is to grow 3 plants in 3 gallon pots. The 4th will get transplanted outdoors as an experiment of sorts lol. I’ll probably move to a 4 x 4 or larger. Thanks for the heads up on the contest too!
So here’s a better look at my lighting contraption. All 3 are Amazon lights. I was mistaken on the actual wattage; the two little guys are only 25 watts and the big one is 100. I’ll see if I can dig up the links since I’ve purchased them some time ago. I know I’ll need better lighting even for such a small tent but not sure I’m ready to commit to anything high end in case this becomes one of many hobbies that gets shelved lol. But open to suggestions
From an optimists perspective - the fact that you’ve tried unsuccessfully and are still trying is a good sign that you’ll stick with it!
Also, and most importantly - you found this forum and I promise you will get the help to be successful.
As others have said, overwatering is the most common. Keep the humidity and temp over 70° and 70% for seedlings if possible. Put a plastic baggie or cup over the seedling to keep in humidity until it has a couple sets of leaves. They don’t need a whole lot of water for the first couple weeks.
P.S. Drop down your light and if you can download the Photone app for your phone to test your ppfd/dli that can also give you an idea where you’re at.
What are you planning on using for soil/grow medium and nutes?
^ (forum tip) if you tap the “top replies” button (circled) on a thread you can skip a lot too!
I had some hiccups, moved houses right at the beginning of flower, and they also stretched crazy so I had to supercrop them basically BUT it all worked out.
I changed mediums, nutes, and am growing photos this run so a COMPLETELY different grow but that’s the best part about this “hobby” - so many options and so much to always learn and try.
You can get decent results with 150w in a small tent…but if you are dead set on growing 3 plants in there, its your grow and by all means give it a try. As others have said you will find out about a month into flower just how much space your plants take up and you can make adjustments on your next grow. I used grow two plants in my 2x4 under 200w, now i went down to one plant and really liked the results. If i ever did two plants again i would buy a more powerful light.
So when I say “first intentional grow”, I mean over the years I’ve just chucked seeds I got from weed I smoke in some dirt, which isn’t often since most weed rarely has seeds in it these days. But here’s a collage of different attempts from over the years. I think I only had one smokeable harvest that tasted like dirt lol!
The seedling stage and the dry/cure are by far the most finicky.
Your picture of the plant on the deck looks beautiful and healthy! So clearly you can grow and it’s just dialing in a couple things during those more difficult stages.
All the numbers (pH, PPFD/DLI, EC/PPM) and how to properly test them can get a little overwhelming… if you have any questions about that just ask ok?
