Total Noob: 1st Grow, Train Wreck Autoflower

[George Mc]

May I add that you should also have some sort of raised bed so the bottom of the pots aren't flat on a solid surface and can drain a bit.

Fabric pots are great but if the bottom can't drain it's a sump for root infections.

I have my pots sitting on top of a 2 in concrete block that I leave down inside of a small pan. I'll wait about an hour after I water and go in there with a mini wet vac and suck the runoff out of the drain pans. it only takes a minute to do it that way and then I dump it outside

 

[NOOOBIENOT]

I use these with a drain pan underneath to catch the run off they are called elevators and they are great when you are using cloth pots as they allow the bottom of the bag to drain properly and allows air in from the bottom to get at the roots , amazon for $5.00 each and come in different sizes

 

[NOOOBIENOT]

I bought these bags about 2 weeks ago and I really like these better as my cloth pots were always getting a green moss on the outside of the bags and the new bags breath even better than cloth ,they are called radicle bags .

 

[NOOOBIENOT]

I use this mini electric pump as it is easier than hauling around a shop vac ,amazon for $30.00

 

[cphil]

Day 2: no sign of the plant sprouting up above the soil.. temps hover between 76-82 degrees 24 hours a day, humidity is around 30-50% throughout the day... misting the top of the soil with a spray bottle of ~6.5 pH water every few hours to keep it from drying out

 

[George Mc]

Day 2: no sign of the plant sprouting up above the soil.. temps hover between 76-82 degrees 24 hours a day, humidity is around 30-50% throughout the day... misting the top of the soil with a spray bottle of ~6.5 pH water every few hours to keep it from drying out

In my opinion every few hours is way too much water. Granted I've only had two grows but I only water the soil with a spray bottle once in the morning and once at night. I'm sure somebody else will chime in here

 

[N420]

ya i agree with not spraying to much i only do it when the top of the soil looks dry with good success

 

[OldMedUser]

So maybe put like a baking rack or something on top of a pan and have the pots sit on top of that?

Sure. That would work. Anything that will allow water to flow out easily. There's plastic racks you can buy just for that but with a little imagination You can come up with something free. I bought 20 2.5 gallon plastic pots/waste baskets for 25 cents each and just drilled a bunch of 3/8" holes in the bottoms and so they aren't flat on the bottom of the catch tray used a glue gun to put little legs on the bottoms of the pots so water can drain away freely. Cheap like borscht!

 

[cphil]

So pictures always help, right! haha

On the left is pre-watering.. the last time I sprayed the pots was about 2 hours ago. It seemed dry to me. The right is after misting the pots down which seems much better (to me...).


Here is an up close! Again, pre-water on the left, post-misting on the right. This is the seed I planted from ~2 days ago that is finally hitting the surface it seems:

 

[cphil]

Regarding humidity levels
My seeds are just sprouting above the soil now, or will be extremely soon. My humidity is between 35-40 while temps hover around 80. I think the humidity needs to be higher. I have a big bowl of water, a small humidifier running on high, and I spray the walls down sometimes. What other ways can I increase humidity without decreasing temp? Should I get a warm mist humidifier so I can afford to lower temps from the heater? Hang a wet towel in the tent? Thanks!

 

[N420]

if your fan has a speed controller dial it down that will keep the humidity that your adding from being sucked out to quickly that will raise your humidity. I was dealing with humidity of around 30% adding a controller really worked well for me

 

[cphil]

if your fan has a speed controller dial it down that will keep the humidity that your adding from being sucked out to quickly that will raise your humidity. I was dealing with humidity of around 30% adding a controller really worked well for me

Thanks for the reply. My exhaust fan does have a speed controller on it, and it’s already on the lowest speed setting /:

 

[cphil]

The one on the left is finally breaking out of its shell..... get it... lol
And we are finally making progress on the first one which was planted about 3 days ago. The third one I am assuming is a goner

 

[cphil]

Is this normal? It's been a day since just hiding in the cracked seed...

 

[N420]

ya that is normal you could spray it with a little bit of water and gently try to remove it

 

[cphil]

Well... confirmed.. 2 of the 3 seeds are sprouted and getting on their way.. the 3rd one died I guess. So I'll be doing this grow with just the 2 plants

 

[cphil]

so after watching a lot of youtube videos and doing more reading, I am considering getting 1-gallon cloth pots to do some better root training. Right now, my 2 sprouts are in 5-gallon pots, which I am now realizing are far too large and I should have transplated once, or even twice between getting to this point.

TL/DR: am I able to remove these sprouts without harm and move them into a 1-gallon pot... then back to the 5-gallon?

 

[Elvin]

I bought these bags about 2 weeks ago and I really like these better as my cloth pots were always getting a green moss on the outside of the bags and the new bags breath even better than cloth ,they are called radicle bags .

Hmmmm. . . . heavy-duty window screen or . . . . I sew my own bags using landscape fabric and the use of mesh is kind of intriguing.

 

[Elvin]

so after watching a lot of youtube videos and doing more reading, I am considering getting 1-gallon cloth pots to do some better root training. Right now, my 2 sprouts are in 5-gallon pots, which I am now realizing are far too large and I should have transplated once, or even twice between getting to this point.

TL/DR: am I able to remove these sprouts without harm and move them into a 1-gallon pot... then back to the 5-gallon?

Keep them in the 5 gallons; alot of us put our popped auto seeds directly in their final pots (even avoiding Solo cups) believing that because of autos' short life the avoidance of possible transfer shock (and the time the plant takes for recovery instead of growing) is important. Sure, you might be able to scoop them out but why risk the time lost with transfer shock as you build your way back to the 5 gals?
Just avoid soaking the soil with too much water which causes root-rot; you do not need to keep that entire 5 gallons of soil wet, just where the roots are (and a few inches lower than the root level so they "grow" as they seek that water).
Remember that "outside" is a way bigger pot than anything we use and somehow we manage with that size.

 

[cphil]

I know I’m being a big paranoid, but since this is my first time I just want to make sure I’m on track! How do these 2 sprouts look?