Yet another newbie with first timer questions

[amsterdamrocks]

Hi everyone, thanks in advance for your advice! I’m a newbie in Missouri, setting up my first grow. We are allowed to grow up to 6 plants at one time (6 clones, 6 veg and 6 flower), though I am single threading this until I figure out what I’m doing. I’m trying to set myself up correctly from the start and am trying to take the easiest path for my initial grows. By this I mean I am starting with auto-flower seeds, SoHum living soil (so I don’t have to mix nutrients) and a Blumats auto-watering system (though setting this up is a little intimidating).

I used the tent configurator at GrowersHouse for this setup:

• Plant House Indoor Grow Tent - 4’ x 4’ x 73"
• Growers House Carbon Filter 6" x 16" 400 CFM
• Active Air 6 inch In-Line Fan 400 CFM
• 6 inch x 25’ Black Lightproof Ducting w/Clamps
• Silver Flex Duct Tape – 5 Yards
• 2 x Hurricane 6 inch Clip Fan - Classic Series
• SolarSystem 550 Programmable Spectrum LED, 90-277V
• Grow Crew 1/8 inch Ratchet Light Hanger (Pair)
• Titan Controls Apollo 8 – 24 Hour Dual Timer
• Grower’s Edge Large Display Thermometer & Hygrometer
• 6 x Growers House Essentials Round Fabric Charcoal Pot - 3 Gallon
• 6 x Gro Pro Heavy Duty Black Saucer - 12 in
• Grower’s Edge Soft Mesh Trellis Netting 5 ft x 15 ft w/ 6 in Squares
• General Hydroponics pH Control Kit

I have some Jack Herrer and some Gorilla Glue auto-flower seeds. First mistake was buying the Ready Rooter 50-plug tray. My assumption was that I could use the plugs one at a time, but the tray is setup to use all at once. Since I am only growing 6 at a time, I have put the other plugs in a plastic bag and am storing in a cool, dark place but I assume those will just be wasted by the time I need more. I soaked 6 plugs overnight in distilled water, and then put each in a separate plastic cup with part of a plastic bottle over the top of each. After 5 days I have 4 little bloomers popping up, so that’s exciting! I haven’t added any additional water as the plugs are still moist to the touch. I still hope the other two come up as well. These are just sitting in a window in my house where the temperature is about 72.

So now some questions -
I know I need to leave my sprouts in the rooter plugs until they get about 4 - 6 inches. My question is, should I fill in around the plugs with some standard potting soil, so the roots have something to grow into? The directions for the SoHum living soil says it is not recommended for seedlings so I would not use that at this point.

Now that I have my tent setup, should I move my seedlings into it? I didn’t get the controller for the SolarSystems LED so it is either on or off, full blast. The manufacturer site does list recommended distances for different grow stages. Seedlings and propagation is listed as 24 - 36 inches so from this I assume it would be good to get these under that light? Or should I wait until they get an inch or two of growth before moving them? And then on for 18 hours? I’m just concerned about burning these little babies. I also assume I’ll have to start adding some water once they get under these lights as those plugs will likely dry out a bit faster.

At what point should I turn on the filter fan? Is that supposed to be on all the time, or just when I get into full veg/flower? Or should it be on the same timer as the light, so that it is only on when the light is on?

Currently the ducting from my filter just goes out the top and is laying across the top of the tent. I don’t have any options for pushing this outside so is this going to be a problem?

My next step is figuring out the Bumats setup, getting some water filtered and PH correct and then getting these babies planted in the soil. I’ve got a 5 gallon bucket to feed the system, and plan to keep some water in a separate container, ready to refill when necessary. I plan to just filter off my garden hose and then let sit for 24 hours for the chlorine to evaporate. Then PH balance it.

I don’t plan any nutrient spikes in the first couple of grows. SoHum says it has everything that is required, so I want to see if that’s really true. Plus I don’t have any experience mixing nutrients yet. One question with this is, do I just dump the soil after this grow and start over? I’ve read some sites regarding recharging super soils, just not sure I have the ability to do this well enough.

Again, happy to be here and thanks for any and all advice!

[kapouic]

First of all, welcome to GN!
You did a very good research before starting, and that’s good (better than I first did… )

For your rooting plugs, it should be okay to leave them in a ziploc bag (resealable bag). I keep mine in the frigde…

And for your fans, I would suggest some controllers to help you switch them on or off depending on your tent’s climate…
Something like these :

My first set up and little one

Now, I have to go, but I am sure the others are going to come and help soon!

Have a great day!

[amsterdamrocks]

Thanks for the quick response! Those look great, but I guess that means I need to get an AC, heater and humidifier/dehumidifier for this setup too?

[Tygrow78]

Welcome to growers network @amsterdamrocks. Your plugs will be just fine in a ziplock bag. I buy 50 at a time and just soak them when I want to use them again. Be very careful putting your seedlings under high intensity lighting right now. I would wait till I had a way to dim my lights. Even if you kept you light higher than the manufacturer’s recommendation, it could hurt your little babies. I’ve found that out the hard way.
I like to keep constant airflow going thru my tents at all Xs. My controller kicks my exhaust fan up when my lights come on, then down at a lower setting at lights out. I don’t like the thought of stale air around my plants.
If I ever start adding co2, I would probably shut my fans off at a certain point. Something to think about.
Definitely grab some Inkbird controllers. They are amazing at helping keep a great environment so your plants stay in their zone.
I hope this helps ya friend!

[kapouic]

No, work with what you have… I have my intake fan plugged in the Heat controller and my outtake fan is plugged in the humidity controller. When they reach a certain state, temperature or humidity, one or the other starts until my climate is regulated…

I might use them very wrongly, or not the way they were intended… I have no idea, but it works for me!

[Tygrow78]

You definitely need a humidifier that has a manual controller. It can’t be a sensor button. The controllers work by kicking on the power supply to your appliance. So you have to be able to leave it turned on.
You don’t need a separate ac just for your tent. Like what @kapouic said, just work with what you have.

[docdre]

Welcome to the GN Family @amsterdamrocks
Hope you learn as much as we do here.

Happy Growing

[piper]

Yo @amsterdamrocks

Welcome to the network !!!

[treycer11]

Welcome to GN. This place is awesome and you will learn a lot here. So much experience across many different methods. I would consider myself a beginner grower that has done a shit ton of research/reading lol so take these answers at your own will.

1. I wouldn’t get caught up in “4-6 inches.” If you’re looking for a general rule of thumb for when to transplant rooting plugs, they say to do so when you start seeing a good amount of roots coming out of the plugs. The little guys could be 2 inches or 8 inches, it seems to be all about root development in seedlings early veg. If you see the cotyledons start to yellow (the round edge leaves) that means she’s hungry! Does SoHum have a seedling mix? If not, there’s quite a few brands that have soils made for young plants. As they get bigger you can start blending in your SoHum more and more until your 100%. I’m not familiar with SoHum but I’ll check them out. Been reading a lot about soils lately.

2. I’m scared to answer about whether or not they should be put under your light at full strength. That’s something I’m worried that I actually messed up on myself. But as far as the lighting schedule, I would personally suggest the 6/2x3! Initially I read about it, and other alternative lighting schedules, on here. Then I did more research and found a great article on Maximum Yield’s website. I’ll post the article in here.

https://www.maximumyield.com/try-this-highly-recommended-cannabis-lighting-schedule/2/4927

3. If you’re worried about smell, you still have a while. However, I use my filter fan to exhaust the heat out of my tent. I have it constantly running at 50% (to keep it quiet) and it’s pulling enough cfm’s to change out the air and give me a little bit of negative pressure in the tent. I cut a hole in my closet ceiling to exhaust the hot air into my attic and sealed it up. I also ran 6” ducting from the a/c vent straight into the tent to give some cool air when my a/c kicks on. Those two things have kept my temps in a desirable 76/68+/-1 temperature range. I haven’t had to worry about humidity yet so I can’t really offer much there. I know before I started I was reading everywhere that high humidity is needed in young plants. Before I had decent sized plants I don’t think my humidity ever went above 45%.

You’ve got me curious about this Blumats system! I’m in the autopot system and have been frustrated because I can’t top feed them or they will overflow. I looked up blumats and am liking what I’m seeing. Maybe I’ll give it a try next time around.

I’ll leave you with this. Grow with confidence. Do your research diligently and thoroughly and trust yourself. Trying to grow in ways that make you nervous or under confident just isn’t worth the stress for me. My mind starts racing and before you know it I lose focus of a simple solution. Do what you know and if you don’t, there’s plenty of people on here you can ask!

Good luck!

[oldguy]

@amsterdamrocks. Welcome to GN.
The other folks have you covered.
Looking forward to seeing your grow.

[amsterdamrocks]

6 for 6 popping seeds so far. Trying to get the pots and blumats ready for these to go in the ground

[kapouic]

Nice!
Now, you could put a little bit more soil in your cups to help support the stalk. I usually put it right up to the cotelydons… (first round leaves)… And clear glass in not a great idea… Roots don’t like the sun…
Maybe put your glass in solo cups if you have them… or cover the glass with some dark material like tin foil or something… just my two cents friend!

[amsterdamrocks]

so these are rooter plugs. I didn’t know what type of soil to use with these, as eventually I am putting these into SoHum living soil. What I did was to soak a few other rooter plugs, then chopped them up and filled in around the bottom. But I can get some soil too.

So you mean even that 4 inch one should have soil all the way up to the leaves?

And yeah, I’ll wrap those cups up then! Thanks for the advice!

[kapouic]

All of them if you can, or at least, all that can fit in your glass… That will help your babies get more stalk strenght and a bit more roots. Try to have a breeze blowing gently on them, that will also help a lot for the stalk strength!

And personally, I use Pro-Mix Hp and I go straigth to soil when my babies are old enough, rooting plugs included.

[amsterdamrocks]

so am I doing something wrong or just being impatient? These girls keep growing straight up, but the leaves don’t get any bigger, and they aren’t producing more leaves. I can see some white roots around the bottom of the cups, but not much.

At this point I think I am 3 - 3.5 weeks like this.

Do I need to move them to some larger solo cups with more dirt and cover up some of these long stalks?

I ended up going with Black Gold Seedling Starter Mix for the extra soil around the rooter plugs. I’m dripping just a little water on them each day. The one with the yellow leaves is actually better than it was, so it seems to be doing ok.

thanks

[docdre]

They are stretching for light. They are going to become long and weak. Get them outside or a fan blowing on them to strengthen the stems. Get them under some lights. Your window is worsening their condition.

Happy Growing

[amsterdamrocks]

ok I’ll move them into the tent today. I have a SolarSystem 550 but don’t have the controller with it, so I was concerned that it might be too powerful for them at this point. I’ll raise it up as high as I can and see how that goes.

[kapouic]

And you could fill up those glasses with soil… up to the cotelydon!
That will help strengthen the stalk…

[coolgreen67]

Hi @amsterdamrocks it certainly does and I love your name.
It’s not really a good idea to germinate your girls on the widowsill if you got a tent. The natural light is far too weak and not overhead and like docdre said they will grow long and weak.
I divide my grow into stages. The 1st stage is the baby stage and lasts for about 3 weeks. I germinate in a starter plug placed in a small pot of soil (I will post a photo) full of a good seedling soil. I use BioBizz light soil mix from Holland and it’s brilliant, very light and like you said very forgiving. I place my four pots in my tent under a 125watt pro star cfl approx 12 inch above and I keep the light on constantly until they germinate and then keep it on for about 3 days after until they gain a little strength then i switch to 18 on 6 off to start veg. I constantly spray the leaves with distilled water everytime I say hello and I use a small fan. I’m very careful with watering. Prob give a good water twice a week to start. The soil is very light and the water drains away well.
After 3 weeks I move into stage two. I replant into bigger pots and up my light to 600 watts.
Sorry for going a bit bud and hope this helps a little. A quick two photos of my 4 white widow big bud in the early stage under a 125watt cfl.

[amsterdamrocks]

Hi I just wanted to give an update on how well all your advice is working out.

The biggest things I’m learning so far, be patient and learn how to water!

So I replanted in solo cups and filled in with the seedling soil. I didn’t get some of them as deep into the cup as I should have, so some of the stems are still fairly long.

First mistake, I didn’t water each cup until it started coming out the drain holes. I assumed the plugs still had a lot of moisture, so I was just doing some top watering for a couple days. Needless to say, they ended up pretty lifeless, one of them even falling completely over the side of the cup. So I finally figured it out and got them properly watered.

So right now I’m about 4 days shy of 3 weeks and I think they are looking really good! I’m eager to get them into the pots, and already have the blumats setup and keeping the soil moist. I think I should move these to the pots in the next few days.

The top right has a lot of yellow in the middle, which I think means it needs some nutrients?

The bottom left was middle in the middle for a day or two but now is greening up. So that’s strange.