Couple seedling questions regarding moisture and lighting...

[RoadLizard]

Hi doodes - Just a few questions for ya to help me along with my seedlings. Im using a Mr Grow Pro PC case and so far the seedlings are doing well. 4 out of 5 came through the soil and 3 of the 4 have their first set of real leaves already. The issue I have is that the soil seems to dry out pretty fast after I mist the soil. Its not that hot in there though, plenty of fan action and air circ. So, it maybe that my CFLs are too close. There are Four 23W CFLs and I have them roughly 3 inches away max from the seedlings. My questions:

1) Is this light distance causing the dry out? I dont mind tending to them and misting them every day a few times a day but an 8 hour workday means I cant do that so they are pretty dry when I get home. I water them slowly by pouring in water from a bottle when they are really dry. Is that cool?

2) Should the lights be closer or a little further back for best growth? Being in a PC case I want them to stay small and bushy but early on I wondered if it made sense to keep the light 3-4 inches away to cause them to reach for the light so to speak a bit and get some height?

You guys rock

 

[nibec]

keep the lights close. i keep my 26 watt cfls about 1.25" off the leaves.

and just give them more water. as long as it mostly dries within 1-2 days, its not going to hurt them.

another thing you can try, is just taking a piece of poly, or even just paper, and cut a little hole in it so you stem goes through, and lay it over the dirt to trap the moisture in.


you dont want them to stretch, even in early stages. it makes them weaker, and more prone to damping off disease.

 

[Smokemupm8]

Hi mate,
Well firstly 2-3 inches is fine height wise, you dont want any burning or bleaching..
But my question is, what type of seed are you using? Are you using an Auto?
Just asking bcos, if you intend to grow in a pc case, that is very small.. You will need to flower it at like 6 inches?? In the ground, a normal marijuana plant can grow between 6- 10 ft tall depending on strain. So trying to limit one to about 50cm - including its pot - is gunna be a mission!! Prob not impossible but I PERSONALLY wouldnt grow in that small a space.. Im not telling you not too, mate its all up to you, its just my thoughts.
GOODLUCK, Smokemup

 

[RoadLizard]

Hi mate,
Well firstly 2-3 inches is fine height wise, you dont want any burning or bleaching..
But my question is, what type of seed are you using? Are you using an Auto?
Just asking bcos, if you intend to grow in a pc case, that is very small.. You will need to flower it at like 6 inches?? In the ground, a normal marijuana plant can grow between 6- 10 ft tall depending on strain. So trying to limit one to about 50cm - including its pot - is gunna be a mission!! Prob not impossible but I PERSONALLY wouldnt grow in that small a space.. Im not telling you not too, mate its all up to you, its just my thoughts.
GOODLUCK, Smokemup

There are some concerns there, you are correct. But, this pc grow case is taller than most at almost 27". It has room for two small plants but they can be productive plants. Using some tie-down/LST methods or simply a grow screen(Scrog) will bump up the yield and control height. Stealthiness is big for me and you cant beat this thing for that One strain is AK-48 and the other is another Indica(shorter height) strain. Think theres two of each going.

We shall see - I also have an outdoor plant thats doing well but I cant keep doing this out there. Too much company!

Thanks for thr reply.

keep the lights close. i keep my 26 watt cfls about 1.25" off the leaves.

and just give them more water. as long as it mostly dries within 1-2 days, its not going to hurt them.

another thing you can try, is just taking a piece of poly, or even just paper, and cut a little hole in it so you stem goes through, and lay it over the dirt to trap the moisture in.


you dont want them to stretch, even in early stages. it makes them weaker, and more prone to damping off disease.

I appreciate the info - especially on the stretch issue. I need shorter, bushy plants to make this work right.

 

[Jimmycricket]

Only misting the soil is only for when the seeds first sprout. You said they basically all have sets of real leaves. Go ahead and dome a good soak on the soil. Letting any extras drain out. Just be sure not to pour the water right at the seedling and instead just go around the edge of the pot.

Then you should have at least 2 days of not needing watering (depending on soil, potsize, and humidity in the box). Once I see a seedling sprout I would wait a couple days, misting the top soil if needed. Then give the soil a real nice soak. Then whenever you see the top dry out squirt it a few times. After awhile you will get a feel for if the soil is faiirly dry under the top. If it is give it another soak. You need the entire soil to have some moisture, you also want the upper parts of soil to dry out a bit. That is what causes roots to want to go out and explore for water.

If theres no moisture down below, then no roots you shall grow.

 

[RoadLizard]

Re: Noob with an intro and some pics. Couple questions too....

Only misting the soil is only for when the seeds first sprout. You said they basically all have sets of real leaves. Go ahead and dome a good soak on the soil. Letting any extras drain out. Just be sure not to pour the water right at the seedling and instead just go around the edge of the pot.

Then you should have at least 2 days of not needing watering (depending on soil, potsize, and humidity in the box). Once I see a seedling sprout I would wait a couple days, misting the top soil if needed. Then give the soil a real nice soak. Then whenever you see the top dry out squirt it a few times. After awhile you will get a feel for if the soil is faiirly dry under the top. If it is give it another soak. You need the entire soil to have some moisture, you also want the upper parts of soil to dry out a bit. That is what causes roots to want to go out and explore for water.

If theres no moisture down below, then no roots you shall grow.

Great, good info, Jimmy. I did read about letting things get a little dry from time to time. That's probably a natural thing versus being damp 100% of the time. I do think I'm getting the hang of it too. On a side note, I carefully helped remove a couple of seed shells that were sticking around on the leaves. They came off easy and with little force. My search on that issue seemed to find a consensus that if they don't fall off in a few days that you can gingerly help them along so I did. I'm excited.... I got me some babies growing!

 

[Smokemupm8]

Yeah mate,
As i said, its not impossible!! And you gotta do wot u gotta do! So if you re fine with the height thats no probs
And yeah LST or Scrog would be needed for this to get as much out of it as possibel.
Keep us posted with some pics once ur up and running Will be some thing different for me to check out!
Later, Smokemup..