I live in MN and this is my first attempt at growing.
I purchased:
10 Northern Lights seeds
3 Big Bud seeds
10 white widow seeds
I started with the Northern lights in small 4x4 pots with intentions of germinating and sprouting them indoors and moving them outside when the time came. all 10 germinated, only 5 sprouted and once the first set of leaves came I moved them outside. They grew a bit outside but all dried out except for 1. I think the sun fried them. how often should I be watering? I was watering with a spray bottle about every 12 hours. The one that was left was eaten by something. Damnit.
All 3 big buds germinated, only two sprouted and I’m pretty sure I burned them with miracle grow water mix. they just shriveled up and died. Like I said - I’m a beginner.
The white widows all germinated also but I think I allowed a few of the to germinate too long before planting them. The white root was about .75 inches long when planted of those few and they have yet to sprout. this was 2 days ago. the other few have sprouted (in my closet. they are about 1 inch tall, the second set of leaves has come but they are hanging over sideways, almost upside down. The closet is about 3x3x8. I have a 45w flourescent bulb going 18 hours a day and a super small fan blowing.
my questions are:
What have I been doing right?
What have I been doing wrong?
How long should they stay in darkness after they’ve sprouted?
Am I too early with the light?
is the light too much?
how much light should they have?
is the fan too much?
If these plants do come through and keep growing, when should I move them outside?
Please help this typical beginner screw up!!
Thank you !!
u should be watering enough to get the soil wet make sure u have proper drain holes u could very well be developing root rot from not enough drainage i would also recommend some perlite in ur soil to help with the underwatering its hard to over water a plant if its getting proper drainage and dont start with the nutes until 2 to 4 weeks if ur giving them nutrients as seedlings u prolly are burning them up as far as them germinating to long i dont think u r ive seen 1.5 inch roots and still grow just fine how deep are u putting them the light power is fine i go from seedling to flower with a 250 watt cfl the fan should be bounced off a wall or overtop of the canopy not directly on the plant hope this helps
1st; I would like to explain; Germination comes 1st; Sprouts 2nd, and Seedlings 3rd.
Those sprouts/seedlings were too young to put outside. Generally you want the plants to have a few sets of leaves and good root development, before you would *acclimate them to full time Sun. Most growers would place them outside for a while and keep an eye on them; :oops:
You never give nutrients to plants until they have a healthy root system! This allows the plant to uptake nutrients
. :oops:
Beore you take seedlings outside and leave then; You must 1st come to the point in the grow, whereas; you have accomplished all of the above.
Now; To your question’s 
What have I been doing right? Buying good genetics. Starting off in a 4" container
What have I been doing wrong? The 2 issues I posted above.
How long should they stay in darkness after they’ve sprouted? 16 -18 hours of "Lights on"; "6 -8 hours off uninterrupted darkness"
Am I too early with the light? You need light immediately; And; 2-3 weeks before you could ever hope to leave them outside all day
is the light too much? What light? Sounds to me like you are using only Sun :)
how much light should they have? During propagation, plants do very well under fluorescent lamps "T5's"; You can use a small HID or LED's (250 - 400 watt equivalent) to get your seedlings off to a strong start, but this is not a part-time job; You are "new", by your own admission, and need to learn the basics in order to cut down on the waste of all the great genetics that perished during your learning phase. :)
is the fan too much? You should always have a gentle fan on the seedlings from the start. This strengthens the stems, growing stronger roots, and helps to keep "lil' buggers" off your babies. Not to mention; You always need good ventilation
If these plants do come through and keep growing, when should I move them outside? I believe I addressed this throughout.</eacep>
Peace
:mrgreen:
Latewood
Thank you so much for the quick response and the info!!
When you say “uninterrupted darkness” do you literally mean NO LIGHT once so ever? Don’t even open my closet door for a look?
When you say I need lights “immediately” do you mean as soon as they are planted?
Is my 45 watt fluorescent bulb acceptable until i move them outside? Or should I change bulbs?
Thank you, Latewood and Newby420 !!
Yes,
As soon as they sprout, and a small oscillating fan too
For a plant or 2. Might be good for more, but you need a reflective propagation box. Something you can close off with a white interior, so that all the light is reflected back and around the plants. About 1’x2’. You can never have too much light; Unless you cannot control the temperature.
Yup, uninterrupted darkness means exactly that, you can’t have even the littlest bit of light to peak in on them during the dark period. There is only one way to work with your plants during the dark period and that is with a pure green light. The reason the plants leaves are green is because green light is pretty much useless to the plant and green light is the only part of the spectrum the leaves reflect. Green light will not disrupt the plants “dark” period hormones or other related triggers that can cause bizarre stress reactions. You can use a pure green LED flashlight or coal miners type head band or visor green LED light, but you have to make sure all the light is off in the outside room too so when you open the door you don’t let any light in.
1 Like