johndough's first grow

[johndough210]

so i have done some research and am starting my first grow and have a couple of questions. i sprouted some seeds (using a damp paper towel and a heating pad set on low) in my dresser. they took approx. 36 hrs to germ. now, my first question is how far should you let the taproot grow before you put it in your soil? id estimate mine was about 5 mm or so. from there, i used tweezers to plant the seed (root down) in my soil (seed starting soil from lowes; has perlite, peat moss, and some lime for pH) in a 6" plastic pot. for light i used a spiral flouro (rated at 30 watts, however claims to be brighter than a 100 watt incandescent and puts off 2000 lumens at 3000K) in a desk lamp positioned approx. 2" above soil. i know i will need more light, but i am just using this to start my plants. i keep the soil moist (with a water/plant food mix) with a spray bottle to prevent overwatering. can anyone see anything other that the light that could give me problems?

 

[NoDirtWeed4Me]

Those seed starting soils are usually pretty mild so you should be fine. As for the rest it sounds like you are doing fine for a start, that light should be fine for a couple weeks, but what are you planning on doing for a full veg light, grow room, flowering rooom, and flowering lights? Not trying to badger, just that the more detailed your journal is, the more easily we can help and the more usefull your journal will be to others.

 

[Brett2theMax]

You will definately be fine like NoDirt said, and you are going to need at least a couple more bulbs than one for your plant. If you were to get a total of 3 or 4 you would deffinately be set for the grow. Also what is your PH, putting too much lime in the mix could have thrown it off, but the mix with the moss should be good. What are you planning on doing for your transplant pot? you are deffinately going to need more room for your roots to grow out and down, a 6" pot is pretty small. You should have something between 4-5 gallons atleast. Do you have a fan running on it? if not I would do that as well. For watering only water when the soil is pulling away from the side of the pot, other wise you will be prone to over water and the plant will not look too hot.

 

[johndough210]

i'm not sure how much lime is in the soil, it came pre-mixed in the package. how do i test soil pH? is there a kit i can get? as for my light, i intended it only to be temporary until i can get some funds together and buy the ballast and bulbs and everything. for the transplant pot i have made a bubbler system with a 5 gal bucket with smokeymacpot's plan on another thread. i still need to get a net pot and some hydroton.

another thing, how long does it usually take sprouted seeds to actually show some sort of growth above the soil? i planted germinated seeds on thurs., should they be showing yet?

 

[Urdedpal]

The seedlings pop up when they are ready, there is no set time limit. You grew the roots a little long on your germination next time plant as soon as they crack open but it should be fine. You can buy ph testing kits online or at the store.(I am not sure if Lowes or home depot carry them but if you ask someone should be able to give you a answer on that. One more thing, You started in soil so you should stay with soil it will be easier on you and the plant.(you might damage the root system or severly stress the plant with that kind of transplant).

 

[johndough210]

You started in soil so you should stay with soil it will be easier on you and the plant.(you might damage the root system or severly stress the plant with that kind of transplant).

yeah i kinda figured that. i was worried about the transplant going smoothly and putting the least amount of stress on the plants (i heard the less stress, the more likely to be female; any truth in this?). i guess i'll save my bubbler until i get my soil grows down pat. i have my flouro about 2" above the soil and it regularly dries it out. should i raise the light or water, it feels a little damp when i stick my finger in but it's starting to pull away from the sides of the pot.

 

[johndough210]

ok, i just re-adjusted my lamp further away from the soil so it would stop drying out quickly. it's about 6" off the soil now because i noticed it was getting pretty hot under there. i also made sort of a humidity tent with saran wrap and a rubber band. i poked a bunch of holes in it like a tv dinner for air flow. i'll post some pics when something pops up.

 

[johndough210]

still no growth above soil, should i be expecting something soon? i planted the seeds on thurs.

 

[johndough210]

Could take any where from 2 days to 2 weeks.

that makes me feel better, i guess i just have to wait it out. can't wait to see some sprouts! the humidity tent seems to be working, as there is moisture all along the sides of the pot. the light doesn't dry the soil out as quickly either. i took some of the soil off the top of where i planted the seed so it won't have to use that much energy to break the topsoil. i am going to get a soil pH testing kit as soon as i get paid this fri.

 

[johndough210]

ok, so an update - as i was poking around in the soil to uncover the seed a bit i uncovered the top and saw that the seed had not grown at all. my impatience decided to write this one off as a bad seed (it was a bag seed) and start over. luckily, i had planted some seeds in a garden outside (as sort of a control) and lo and behold they had sprouted. it's still just a seedling with 4 leaves. i'm going to let it grow stronger roots and then transplant into a 5 gal. bucket. pics to follow.

i didn't germinate these seeds, i just buried them in the ground right out of the bag. i wonder why their success rate was better than the germ. seeds?

also, if anybody has any special recipes for soil that you use, i'd love to hear them. i still haven't decided what im going to grow them in.