Blue Ridge Beginnings... (First Grow)

[Autumn]

...And so I begin, humbly embarking on my first little grow
- Advice and tips welcomed!
- 9 seeds planted in a Burpee propagator 27 Dec (in Black Magic starter soil)
- 4 emerging 30 Dec (pics below); 10W LED (6500K) turned on
* When to remove plastic dome? (7 have broken surface now...)

 

[gorillaglueaaron]

There's no specific time to take off the dome. It's just whenever the plants either don't fit anymore, are getting too much humidity or not enough CO2.
It says on your monitor outside the dome that it is 33%rh which is way too low for early veg so you'll want to keep them under the dome for as long as possible. When you do need to take it off I suggest either using a humidifier if you have one or doing other things to raise rh like wet paper towels or misting walls.

 

[Autumn]

Thanks Gorilla (and, good eye! Yeah; its ~ 63F & 42% RH in the basement, which must translate to 33% in the heated cabinet)

- 7 seedlings have now shown themselves, and a couple are ~3" and super spindly (almost hitting the dome)
- I've installed a little humidifier and removed the dome (now ~75% RH and ~78F in the grow cabinet)
- The seedling soil is super damp (the Burpee propagator has wicking mat fed by a water res)
- As a novice, I'm worried about "Damping Off"
- Should I raise the seedling tray off the wet Burpee mat (and let the starter soil drain)?

 

[Autumn]

Day 18 Update

Oh, the trials of a newbee...

Finally dawned on me that my day 8 seedlings were drowning in the Burpee propagator, even with the lid off. Some beginning to go yellow. So, I transplanted them into 3 gal bags of dry potting mix (70% FF Ocean Forest; 15% pearlite; 15% coir) and put six of 'em in a 2' x 4' Veg Tent, under a Maxsisun MF2000 QB LED lamp (@50%, and 18" = ~ 30K lux) . Gradually, 10 days later, most have recovered. Started watering 50ml each every other day; now up to 150ml. Remain gun shy about drowning them again.

I've been adjusting my (pH 7.12 & 64 PPM) well water down to pH 6.25 for irrigation, but note that water remaining in the bucket reverts back to ~ 7.0 pH if checked the next day. Curious...

Plants seem a v light green. I added 1ml of CalMag and 2ml of FF Grow Big to a gallon of irrigation water yesterday, and used this very dilute feed, but with no visible results as of today. Should the leaves be darker green? (pics below; the closeup strain is Stardog; feminized)

Trying to follow VPD guidelines for temp and humidity, now that I assume vegging has begun. Humidity seems to stay in range just due to irrigation water evaporating? I haven't had to use a humidifier yet in the Veg tent, and the new MF2000 LED (actual 230W) seems to keep things at ~77F with just a clip on fan going; humidity ~ 65% - 75%.

Really like the LED lights, though I have zero experience with them. I appreciate the low heat radiation, adjustable intensity, and lower power consumption. They seem far less likely to cook plants, or start a fire.

My first grow, 5 years ago, used a 150W HID (HPS) for early veg (in 18' x 36" Seeding Cabinet), and a 1,000W HID (MH and HPS) in a 4' x 4' Flowering Tent. Heat was a constant battle with these lights; it was difficult to keep temp in bounds, even with a 6" 400 CFM fan. At the time, I didn't know to check humidity, or PH, or lux, or PPM, or any of the other many things this forum is all about. (The resulting grow involved "landrace Tasanian" ?? bagseed given by a friend for high CBD/pain relef. They were all herm plants as it turned out, and the resulting cannabis was pretty poor quality, though it did offer some help with post op pain)

Assumption at this point is that I will set up my old 4' x 4' tent with 1000W HPS as the flowering room for this grow, but prefer the MF2000 LED so much, maybe I'll just skip that and stay crowded in the 4x2 tent. Or, buy a couple more MF2000's for the 4' x 4'.
Are HID flowering lamps still used much these days?