Alright alright! I have one lady sprouted. Sour diesel auto. This will be most outdoor grow.
I do have a question and maybe someone has an idea. I’m headed out of town Thursday until Sunday. I’m worried about rain, we have torrential downpours in the evenings. I won’t have anyone babysitting. Temps here are low 90’s and 60 humidity. What do you all recommend I do to protect it from the rain
where is @LoCoRocK or @happilyretired they grow outdoors.
You can use a Tupperware bowl or something like that that covers the majority of the pot or even all of it. Just make sure it’s elevated enough for a little airflow so it doesn’t get too hot and don’t leave it in direct sun. You should do is to prevent the water from getting to the soil for the most part close to the plant. If you don’t already know what you’ll find out real quick if you give seedlings too much water they damp off and die. Plants that small don’t have very long roots so if you keep the heavy rain off the area around the plant it would take a lot of water for it to wick from the edges to the root of the seedling. 
Awesome. Yes, today is day 1 and I planted 4 days ago and haven’t watered since. At that point I watered to runoff. Have gone by feel since then and the bottom still felt a little heavy. The solo cup just started to lighten up today so I may give some more water tomorrow morning. So if I’m gone for 4 days, you’re saying to set it up outside in the shade? Even at this age? Don’t they need direct sun? Or are you saying this because they’ll be under a cover
I misunderstood I thought you were keeping these outside and you needed a way to keep the rain from getting them wet. To be honest with you starting seeds in solo cups and soil is just something you’re gonna have to figure out for yourself we can all tell you give me this much water that much water but where you’re at temperature humidity all makes a difference. Watering seedlings to runoff is not a good idea they do not uptake much water and the roots sit in sopping wet soil for too long. I personally never start seedlings in soil. If I’m growing to go into soil I start in a Pete puck and if I’m going to grow indoor I start in Rockwool. That being said maybe @PreyBird1 Has a suggestion for you.
sorry hap. i saw op said outdoor grow. heck i could have answered if it was indoors. 
Great advice, only thing I wouldn’t suggest is the jiffy pellets, I’ve wasted a LOT of seeds in those when I first started growing and buying from seedbanks flushing hundreds of dollars down the drain, if u have been able to use those for germination then u have been quite lucky but a simple google search will easily answer why they aren’t good for cannabis seeds. I start mine directly in soil in 3" cubes and have a 95% germ rate(I’m sure the other 5% is just unviable seeds)
i have never been able to grow any kind of seed in a jiffy pellet. its not my skillset. i go shot glass to seedling soil every time now. if i planted any kind of seeds outside i used a piece of cheap plastic drop cloth and just laid it over where i planted. keeps the birds from grabbing my seeds and kind of acts like a dome.
I moisten the jiffy pellets cut the basket off them, dig a small hole in the ground or pot stick the jiffy pallet in the hole and then plant the seed. I’ve never had one fail doing it this way. 
This is EXACTLY why it’s different strokes for different folks. Everybody has different twerks…lol Tweeks that vary as an underlying factor. You’ll hear it a lot in here…“what works for one doesn’t work for all” …
I’ll also throw in there that I used the jiffy pots …Pots not cubes, for ever … well 2 years - lol seemed like forever… before I moved on or away from them rather. The pots dry out quick …which again might work for someones else circumstances.
This picture is from day 2. I had one seedling breakthrough so far. Planted two.
Sour Diesel Auto
All outdoor. Temps are currently low 90’s with humidity around 60-65. Once she’s ready for a move, she’s going in a 3 gallon. I’m beginner so I’m all over the place on which soil Im going with. I bought FFOF and Coco Loco. I saw somewhere to do a mix of 40 40 and 20 perlite. But now I’m thinking maybe straight OF. Down the road I’ll be using the trio when she’s ready for some food.
I’m leaving Thursday for a few days so I did a makeshift dome to protect from crazy rains. I was thinking maybe some extra water than normal since I won’t be watering for 3 days while I’m gone.
First grow ever. My wife thinks I’m insane for checking on it 83828473 times a day.
You think maybe a couple pinhead size holes in plastic cover over the cups so if it does rain they will get a drip or 2? You know.what…i bet condensation will work enough… I dunno +! Ignore me…I’m talking out loud
Not a bad idea! I’m just scared of the insanity of some of these storms sometimes. Even if the soil dried out for a day or two, I should be okay? And yeah I’m thinking moisture in the air should help a touch, it’s fuckin humid
That’s an awfully little plant to let dry out though… maybe mulch the soil too. I’m just talking out loud it’s not like I know what I’m talking about!!
A couple questions I have about soil pH/watering/feeding…
I am pHing my water and typically aim for 6.3… I haven’t fed any nutrients yet since I’m in FFOF. If I continue to pH my water, even if it’s every time (I know some people never do) how can I be sure the ph of my soil is correct? Runoff? And when checking runoff, what pH should my water be? If I’m pHing my water and that’s always consistent, does my soil pH change much?
Also, if pH of soil is off, do you water with a higher or lower pH in the future or make amendments?
Tons of questions🥴 and I know I know, “don’t overcomplicate” but I’m more looking to understand the science/methods and why.
You actually don’t want to water with the same exact pH every single time… I aim for 6.7 pH in ffof generally. Totally fine #'s you got and are doing great. There is variances in allowable ph for nutrient uptake so you kinda cover all your bases wandering from 6.2 ish to 7. My runoff will wander from six to 7.2… lol actually gets as low as 5.8 but disregard that . LoL
You’re right you don’t have to pH every time but just new to the game there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that and it’s good practice until your familiar with causes and effects. If your runoff pH is really low you don’t really wanna shock it with feeding it a pH of like 9… trying always keep it within one and a half points. Again this isn’t in the Bible and different strokes different folks… lol you’ll know if you kill it or it’ll tell you if it didn’t like that…lmao
And yes pH can definitely wander depending on what nutes it’s taken and how much of what and all types of variables maybe even the rotation of the Earth… the Borealis effect I think it is LMAO.
10-4! So if soil pH is off, gradually increase or decrease? Also, I haven’t been watering until runoff to even gather the measurement since the plant is still so young I’m scared of overwatering. Do you recommend watering until runoff at this point?
I like to think ahead, what do you all do for bug prevention? I have a seedling outdoor right now, and tempted to start some neem. Wondering how you all go about it! I don’t want to wait until it happens to address it.
@LoCoRocK @OlyBoy @mudman @1andonlyredneck
You guys are the first to come to mind, have helped a ton
I use Captain Jack’s Dead Bug. Works for most pests and is safe to use up to like 2 weeks from harvest, iirc.
Word! And you apply it throughout the grow as a preventative?? Regardless of present bugs?
