1st Grow, Basic Questions

[WickedTomboi]

Hey so ... I'm brand new. Started my first grow. Here's what's going on..
I got high quality white widow feminized seeds. So far I germinated 4 (in moist paper towels), popped them in soil in solo cups - they've sprouted and developed their first little serrated leaves. I have 3 CFL 100 watt lights on them inside a mylar grow tent. Humidity stays around 45-55%, temperature 75 degrees, give or take a couple degrees.
I invested quite a bit of money in this little set up so far. The mylar grow tent is 3x2x5 and it's inside a Rubbermaid storage shed (usually used outdoors but this setup is indoors). I'm just waiting on my VenTech Inline Duct Fan 440 CFM w/ Charcoal Carbon Filter (should come today).

In terms of lights, I purchased this Apollo Horticulture 400 Watt Grow Light Digital Dimmable HPS MH System for Plants Gull Wing Hood Set. It came with 2 bulbs, one Metal Halide bulb (up to 400 watts, dimmable at 50, 75 and 100%) and one High Pressure Sodium bulb (up to 400 watts, dimmable at 50,75 and 100%). I have the light set up inside the tent but it's not turned on yet, I was waiting for the fan to arrive and also - waiting for the plants to start their vegetative stage. I don't want to burn them and those Apollo lights are super intense (obviously).

Questions:
1. When should I transfer the plants from the solo cups to the larger pots?
2. What bulb is more appropriate at first, the Metal Halide or the HPS?
3. How far from the plants should I have the HPS hood light?
4. Should I place the fan on the bottom or top of the tent?
5. Is a 2 gallon pot large enough for the final grow space of a plant or should I use a 5 gallon?
6. Soil recommendations?
7. Nutrient recommendations and when to implement and how to implement?

 

[Harp]

Hello @WickedTomboi and welcome!

Good questions. With the space you are working with you want to try and flower asap, when your plants reach about a foot or so.

Personally I don't like to bring dirt indoors. I would prefer a soilless mix like coco. Get yourself a three or two part nutrients base. I recommend General Hydroponics gro mico & bloom. you will need to acquire a ph pen and a ppms/tds reader to properly calibrate you solution.

Use the mh bulb for veg. Although you can get away with using Day light CFL bulbs to reduce heat as they get very hot, especially since you have a small space to work with. After that , switch to the hps light and have em on for 12 hrs & off for 12, following the instructions on the bottles for feeding. Use half dosages and then work your way up to full dosages ( if needed).

You will need to place an exhaust fan on top and an oscillating fan at the bottom to work the air upwards.

I will be pulling up a chair on this one. Post up pics along the way so we can help ya out a lil better. happy growing! ;)

 

[WickedTomboi]

thanks! I'll definitely be posting pics as I think that'll help people give me tips as well haha.

 

[WickedTomboi]

These are what the 4 plants look like today. The one in the blue solo cup is s little younger lol.

 

[Toaster79]

Fill those cups with medium to give them stability. You should be good for next two weeks or so in those cups then you'll have tu givem them bigger shoes for next two to three weeks of veg. Depending on soil you won't have to feed the first two weeks maybe longer. When they they start showing signs of honger feed them at 1/2 dose then work your nutes up as far as they can take them.

+++++Vibes


Also pulling up a chair

Keep it green

 

[WickedTomboi]

Pardon my complete stupidity but what's medium? LOL

 

[WickedTomboi]

Also, I posted in another thread but - thoughts and comments on the following:

http://shop.ilovegrowinginvalid.com/products/marijuana-plant-protector
http://shop.ilovegrowinginvalid.com/products/marijuana-booster

 

[Toaster79]

Its what you gwor your plants in. Soil, coco, perlite, vermiculite ... and mixes of those, in your case soil

Oh yeah! Welcome aboard

 

[Quagmire]

Questions:
1. When should I transfer the plants from the solo cups to the larger pots?
I try to wait until they are well established in their 1st pot.. like when the roots start working their way out the drain holes you better of put in the bottoms ... lol.
2. What bulb is more appropriate at first, the Metal Halide or the HPS?
MH for veg, HPS for flowering.. some wait until sex shows after flipping lights to 12/12 to start flowering to switch bulbs.. I've always just used HPS thru out the grow so no experience with MH...
3. How far from the plants should I have the HPS hood light?
Place your hand at the plant tops, lower light until it starts to make the back of your hand hot... raise it a few inches good to go.. watchout, they grow upward fast..
4. Should I place the fan on the bottom or top of the tent?
Heat rises so exhaust fan at top.. one or two fans on plants for air circulation.. oscillating fans too. a must.
5. Is a 2 gallon pot large enough for the final grow space of a plant or should I use a 5 gallon?
Really depends on how long your gonna veg.. some say large pots, large plants.. but vegging time really dictates this.. I use 3gal pots.
6. Soil recommendations?
Keep it simple what ever you choose.. FoxFarms Light Warrior is a good one.. but look at Sunshine Mix #4
7. Nutrient recommendations and when to implement and how to implement?
Sooooo many.. are u doing organics? for a beginner again use the KISS method for now.. keep it simple.. basic grow and bloom formula and a flower booster added week 6.. check out Humboldt Nutrients.. not too expensive.. also FoxFarm has nice nutes... wishing you the best of luck bro...

 

[WickedTomboi]

Questions:
1. When should I transfer the plants from the solo cups to the larger pots?
I try to wait until they are well established in their 1st pot.. like when the roots start working their way out the drain holes you better of put in the bottoms ... lol.
2. What bulb is more appropriate at first, the Metal Halide or the HPS?
MH for veg, HPS for flowering.. some wait until sex shows after flipping lights to 12/12 to start flowering to switch bulbs.. I've always just used HPS thru out the grow so no experience with MH...
3. How far from the plants should I have the HPS hood light?
Place your hand at the plant tops, lower light until it starts to make the back of your hand hot... raise it a few inches good to go.. watchout, they grow upward fast..
4. Should I place the fan on the bottom or top of the tent?
Heat rises so exhaust fan at top.. one or two fans on plants for air circulation.. oscillating fans too. a must.
5. Is a 2 gallon pot large enough for the final grow space of a plant or should I use a 5 gallon?
Really depends on how long your gonna veg.. some say large pots, large plants.. but vegging time really dictates this.. I use 3gal pots.
6. Soil recommendations?
Keep it simple what ever you choose.. FoxFarms Light Warrior is a good one.. but look at Sunshine Mix #4
7. Nutrient recommendations and when to implement and how to implement?
Sooooo many.. are u doing organics? for a beginner again use the KISS method for now.. keep it simple.. basic grow and bloom formula and a flower booster added week 6.. check out Humboldt Nutrients.. not too expensive.. also FoxFarm has nice nutes... wishing you the best of luck bro...

Excellent advice and much appreciated. If I purchased all feminised seeds does that mean I'll get all female plants or will I still have a mixture?

 

[Toaster79]

You'll have all females with slight possibility of them herming on you.

 

[WickedTomboi]

and if they should be herms would they still have the ability to pollinate the other females? should i then separate them?

 

[Toaster79]

If the plant herminates means that it changes sex partially. So yo have a female plant that starts to grow some male parts during flowering, which are able to pollinate your entire crop ending up with seeded buds.

Example of a male part on a female plant:

In case this happens remove the pollen sacks immediately unless there are to many of them than remove the plant. In case tose sacks are opened then your crop is allready pollinated and there's not much you can do.

It can allso happen that yo get male plant between those female seed but that happens really rare.

 

[oregonmellow]

I*m with toaster when I start my seeds in cups I have found that if my cups are about half full of soil after they have sprouted like yours I bury them up to their necks good drainage is a must,and they will develop roots along that stem just add a bit over a few days until they are buried a little deeper,I actually dust the stems with a bit of hormone then add soil,good luck and good vibes your way,Peace.

 

[happy b]

Some really good advice particularly quagmires.my advice is, for your first few grows keep it simple . grow in soil and just use a simple two part nutrient and maybe a booster . There's so much to learn but you don't want to complicate matters.taking bit of advice from this guy and that guy doesn't really help much as it's often conflicting info . pick one person who knows what theyr doing and are willing to help and stick with that . If there's anyway I can help don't hesitate to send me a pm.

 

[WickedTomboi]

My HPS/MH 400 watt light came (ballest can bring it only as low as 50%), anyway - I set it up and after trying a wide variety of configurations and heights still had lots of trouble with temperature control. My inline duct fans haven't arrived yet so I'm working with 2 small oscillating fans. I decided that, for the time being I should switch back to the CFL bc it's the only way at this point that temperature control is even an option for me.

Also, I transplanted the seedlings into those breathable "smart pots" (2. Gallon). The soil was also getting dried up really quick with the HPS lights, I just don't think I have enough sq ft plus air circulation at this time to really make proper use of them.

I'm waiting for my nutes to arrive.
Throwing up a couple of pics from this morning. Each pic is a different seedling. Mind you, i germinated them around Dec 13-14 and then once it sprouted the root they were all planted it soil on Dec 16-17. Not sure if they look like they're about where they're supposed to be.

 

[WickedTomboi]

My HPS/MH 400 watt light came (ballest can bring it only as low as 50%), anyway - I set it up and after trying a wide variety of configurations and heights still had lots of trouble with temperature control. My inline duct fans haven't arrived yet so I'm working with 2 small oscillating fans. I decided that, for the time being I should switch back to the CFL bc it's the only way at this point that temperature control is even an option for me.

Also, I transplanted the seedlings into those breathable "smart pots" (2. Gallon). The soil was also getting dried up really quick with the HPS lights, I just don't think I have enough sq ft plus air circulation at this time to really make proper use of them.

I'm waiting for my nutes to arrive.
Throwing up a couple of pics from this morning. Each pic is a different seedling. Mind you, i germinated them around Dec 13-14 and then once it sprouted the root they were all planted it soil on Dec 16-17. Not sure if they look like they're about where they're supposed to be.

 

[WickedTomboi]

the leaves are still green but they are starting to curl under a bit, not sure what that means......if anything.

 

[WickedTomboi]

so here's an update: if I'm counting from the day the plant popped up and sprouted green leaves (is that the correct thing to do? lol), I guess it's around day 18? This is a White Widow feminized and here's some images I just took of it.
I'm still struggling with getting the temperature/humidity right. I've been working with CFL's for now, but I have the 400 watt HPS/MH light, it's just when I turn that light on the plants (I have 2, one is a smaller, younger OG Kush), the temp inside the tent gets way too fucking hot and the humidity drops to below 30%. According to what I've read (and correct me if I'm wrong), I should be in a range of 75-80 degrees F with humidity anywhere from 40-70%? Does that sound accurate? I can't seem to get this to work lol.

The inline fan (that's the one that's the supposed to suck the hot air OUT right?) finally came, but I haven't had a chance to get to the store for some 2x4's to brace it to the wall (it's fucking heavy) so I have it on the bottom going into the tent (ideally, on the top would be better because heat rises no?), but also I have 3 other small oscillating fans just circulating air around, one coming in from the top vent, one clamped the the side of one of the shelves and one literally on top of the HPS lamp blowing down to keep it cool (I realized after the fact and went ahead and ordered a cooling tube, but it hasn't arrived yet).

If you look at the 2nd picture, you'll see that the first set of leaves on the plant were starting to burn or wither at the tips. This was from a little over a week ago and I fixed that problem, so far all the new leaves look pretty good (I think).

Question: I read somewhere that it's beneficial to spray the leaves as well as the soil. How is that possible, considering in all other plants if you spray the leaves/flowers under light or sun it could burn them?

Thanks everyone for your input. Much appreciated.

 

[oregonmellow]

Wicked,what is too hot?My light on temp runs about 80* and light off is about 70*can you do 2 fans drawing air out?and open the bottom of your tent a bit for intake air and you could get a humidifier for a baby*s room at walmart or some such place they aren*t too spendy or just hang a couple wet towels in your tent let them evaporate,good luckPeace.