What up ya’ll?!? First timer here, growing in Coco. This whole process is completely new to me, and I am already addicted 
Seeds went into paper towels on 8/17/2021 and first photo was taken 8/19/2021.
I am pretty impressed with the outcome so far.
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Welcome to the forum…really nice start to what you say “addicted” we are all there at some point…happy growing 
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Just wait til they start vegging and every time you look at them, or look at anything, you think of what else to do or buy for them. Happy growing!!!
LMAO. I am already doing that. looking at small RO systems as we speak
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It’s addictive AND fun!!! My wife gives me a stinkeye here and there, but it’s really therapeutic when you get to start doing a little physical stuff with them. I just did my first ever (micro) defoliation this morning.
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Welcome to the forum. Good luck and keep us posted
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Everything seems to be going well. One question I have though…Right now the girls are in a propagation dome with a little 17w light over them. Should I remove the dome and use the Spider Farmer instead?? If so, how far away from the plants should the light be??
Welcome to the forum!
You are probably good with small light for now, but I would get ready to install bigger light before too long. I would also top your cups a little higher next time. It’s a little more difficult to feed without making mess, but seems to not have them stretch as much.
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Hi Mikey,
It sounds like I’m about 10 days ahead of you. My general practice with lighting is to use a 24W CFL (sometimes 2 if I have a lot of seeds/clones) for the first 2 weeks. They do not have the roots or leaves to use all the light that comes off a high-powered LED board (Spider Farmer). You are also using a half dose of nutrients so there is little benefit to using a bigger light.
I also noticed you dont have any perlite in your medium. I try to have at least 30% perlite to help get air to the roots.
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Hey Brynie,
Thank you so much for the info!! Regarding the perlite though…
So my dude has been helping me along with this entire process, which I am totally grateful for because he has taught me a lot. I came here just to connect with other growers and learn. He was growing commercially in Michigan for a while but recently moved close to me and has been helping out a lot. For some reason he did not add or even mention perlite when adding medium to their pots, but told me to make sure i didnt compact the coco in any way. So i will have to get with him on that. Again, thank you so much for the info!!
Perlite will help with the soil compaction and prevent overwatering (better drainage). It is not necessary but it gives you some flexibility at the expense of having to water more frequently. perlite does not hold water so your medium has a lower capacity. It looks like you have a couple of plants on the go, it might be worth running some trials with different levels of perlite (0%, 20%, 40%). See how they water, grow, yield, etc
is it safe to add the perlite now that they are already doing things??
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I run straight coco coir with no perlite and have zero issues.
You will be just fine if you leave it as is.
Happy growing
When you transplant you can make your new medium how you like. I wouldn’t mess with anything now. Seedlings are very sensitive.