My first grow - Any advise appreciated

[h1ghpr13st]

Greetings all

This is my first time growing. I have been lurking around the forum for the past month or so soaking up all the information I can get to ensure success.

I have built two grow boxes, one for veg and the other for flowering. They are 2' x 2' x 5', with 2 MH lamps in the veg box (500w total) and 2 HPS in the flowering box (500w total).

I went to the dump and grabbed 4 UPS cooling fans (not sure about their cfm), but they move quite a bit of air. One each for exhaust and one each for air flow inside the boxes.

I am currently germinating a Greenhouse seed's Green-o-matic auto. I soaked the seed in water for 24 hours and put it into a coir peat plug yesterday. Keeping my fingers crossed that it pops up a seedling.

Once it does, I will put it under a cfl (5600k, 23W) lamp for about three weeks before moving to the grow box under MH lamps.

Now my questions:

1. After the seedling pops, I plan to leave it in the coco plug for the 3 weeks that it will be under a cfl. After this I will pot it, plug and all, into a mixture of cow manure, vermicompost, bonemeal and perlite. I don't have access to most of the various growing mixes that you folks in the States and the UK have, so this is all I could buy. What do you think of this mix? Will I need to use nutes at any point in the plant's life?

2. Do I need to use any nutes for the three weeks that the seedling will be in the coco peat plug? I understand that the coco plugs are neutral (?)

3. The pH of my water is quite high (from a well about 100ft deep), so how do I drop it? I do not have access to the pH up & down products. Is it ok to use vinegar/ baking soda (depending on whether it needs to be raised or lowered) and let the water stand for 24 hours before watering my plants?

Will add pix of the grow to this thread as time progresses.

Thanks all.

 

[h1ghpr13st]

Nobody?

 

[buddyb]

if the seed sprouts it should be fine in ur cube for awhile so theres no need to worry about nutrients this early in growth. with ur soil i would be careful it kinda sounds like it might be to much for a small plant and u might be risking burning ur plant. ur better off getting a store bought bag of soil for house plants to start off. im not too sure about how to fix the ph. hope that helps somewhat

 

[h1ghpr13st]

Thanks mate. I'll have a nosy around the garden shops today to see if I can find some soil

 

[closetorganic]

Since I grow in soil and try to be organic that mixture could probably grow a plant. I guess other factors are involved like, is the cow manure composted already? You should make a mix and water it to maybe cook it a little first to stop extra nitrogen from burning your plant. I also dont think your seedling would do the best in the the coco plugs for 3 weeks without fertilizer. I also never used coco plugs and am gonna guess theres not much nutrients in them. I also have never grown auto flower strain that I heard just flower automaticaly on age not light schedule.
I know that vermicompost wont burn plants. My last clones I cut got root hormone and put straight in a wormcasting perlite mix in a solo cup . So my thought would be for you to plant your seedling plug in vermicompost in small containor like solo cup. There will be some nutrients then and in 3 weeks it should be rooted up for transplant if you have to wait that long. You will probly need more nutrients for this grow if you dont have already. My last thought is maybe running one metal one hps through grow and maybe consider compost tea making from your mix to use on foliar and waterfeedings.
Oh Im not expert either just my 2 cents here and ph wise vinegar is acid I have tap water that is at 8ph and I let it sit 24 to dechlorinate and add my ferts that buffer it down to 6.6 6.8 It might do the same with well water which all in all might be better? The soil mix might buffer also too. You can check ph of tha run off there too. Best of Luck I know there are way more experienced growers here to help
Pictures help for problems and as much info on set up feedings waterings every detail for best help.

 

[reparboon]

if you use vinegar make sure you get distilled white vinegar. i have used it in hydro when i ran out. i find that fresh squeezed lemon juice works better thou. (make sure you strain it very good). best of luck and happy growing

 

[h1ghpr13st]

Thanks for the replies folks..

So the latest is that after planting the soaked seed in the coco plug, the seedling popped up on 14th. This morning (16th) the cotyledons are unfurling and I can see tiny true leafs coming out too! is this normal for an auto?

I will give it till the 20th (6 days) in the coco plug before moving the seedling to a mixture of manure, perlite, vermi compost, and regular soil from my garden. The ph of this mix is at 7, my water after pushing it through our filtration plant comes out at about 6.5 pH and 5 ppm. I expect that the soil should have adequate nutes to keep my baby going for a couple or three weeks. After this I will start giving her a very mild solution of growing nutes. The bottle I have says the ratio is 10-10-10. What do you think?

For flowering, I have another nutrient solution that is at 5-15-50. Does this sound like overkill?

Thanks

 

[LivenBurn]

For flowering, I have another nutrient solution that is at 5-15-50. Does this sound like overkill?

I have read that AutoFlowers grow best on bloom nutes... being as they have an almost non-existent veg. state?!? I haven't grown an AutoFlower yet, so don't really know how true that is...

 

[buddyb]

Thanks for the replies folks..

So the latest is that after planting the soaked seed in the coco plug, the seedling popped up on 14th. This morning (16th) the cotyledons are unfurling and I can see tiny true leafs coming out too! is this normal for an auto?

I will give it till the 20th (6 days) in the coco plug before moving the seedling to a mixture of manure, perlite, vermi compost, and regular soil from my garden. The ph of this mix is at 7, my water after pushing it through our filtration plant comes out at about 6.5 pH and 5 ppm. I expect that the soil should have adequate nutes to keep my baby going for a couple or three weeks. After this I will start giving her a very mild solution of growing nutes. The bottle I have says the ratio is 10-10-10. What do you think?

For flowering, I have another nutrient solution that is at 5-15-50. Does this sound like overkill?

Thanks

Just remember to use 1/4 strength

 

[cannasensei]

Lime juice is a great Ph buffer as well.

Ur soil mix sounds like its gonna be way too hot man. If h have rich farmland or the like nearby I'd take and sterilize a few wheelbarrows worth and mix it with the base u mentioned. Like 80% dirt 20 mix. Cow manure isn't the most ideal for mmj but that vermicompost will do wonders. Perhaps look into brewing your own organic teas using the worm castings. Pleant of great recipes out there in the mmj community and many can be sourced in most parts of the globe.

 

[h1ghpr13st]

Thanks for the advice Cannasensei..

I don't have farmland close by, but the orange, mango, passion fruit, custard apple and lime trees in my yard seem to thrive in the ground. So I will add some of this to my mix as you suggest.

I haven't considered making compost tea because it sounds like a bit of effort, and I'm a lazy bugger

My Auto has grown into a 2" high seedling and I can see a bit of the root poking out the side of the coco plug. I should probably transplant her into the soil immediately to avoid exposing the root to light for too long, right?

I have also got a Positronics seed's Critical #47 germinating alongside since the 11th. The cotyledons peeked out at me from the coco plug this morning.

Some bad news, the damn white flies have found the plants already! Is it safe to use an organic pest control solution that contains neem oil and just spray it on the plants at such a young age? Of course, I will dilute to about 1/4 the manufacturer's suggested dosage.

 

[h1ghpr13st]

Oh, and for my next soil mix should I just skip the cow manure, and only use the vermi-compost, perlite, bone meal and soil?

Btw, awesome grow journal Cannasensei

 

[cannasensei]

Growing may not be for you if ur lazy brother. Lol
Thanks man. Make sure u sterilize ur soil in the oven before u use it. I would skip the manure personally but experiment if u like. UT not gonna want to put her in anything but soil until the cotyledons shrivel up and die off. The cotyledons sustain them for the first few weeks. I wouldn't hit them with anything but maybe a drop per gallon of blue.dawn until the cotyledons fall off personally. But u might be able.to.get away with some safer spray or the like. I wouldn't risk it unless the plants really start feeling the effects of the bugs before the cotys drop.

The weak solution may help. Of course this is.all just one opinion hopefully others will chime in with theirs.

 

[h1ghpr13st]

Hahah, i'm usually only lazy till my first toke. But with my beer brewing, these guys growing, working 6 days, and a wife who is carrying, time is bloody hard to come by! Lol.

I read somewhere that passing boiling water through a pot of soil would be enough to sterilize. Have you heard of this? I want to avoid having the kitchen stinking up cos of soil in the oven.

I will transplant to a little plastic cup with just soil as you suggest and move to my growing mix once the cotyledons falls off.

I have three bag seeds growing for the past 3.5 weeks as a practice grow. They have had some white flies on them for the past couple of weeks but I don't see them being affected in any way, so I will wait till my Auto and the #47 grow at least two sets of true leafs before giving them the pest control. I also noticed some spider threads on the practice plants so looks like I have spider mites too! These guys are now on my roof basking in the warm and breeze days we have here. The monsoons don't kick in till April so I might let the bag seed plants grow till they are ready to harvest too.