Winging It In Winter By The Window: Soil Auto Grow

[Jon]

Thanks Jon, those are all good ideas. I still feel confident in my use of the miniature watering can and look forward to trying it out. I'll let you know how it goes

Good luck! Look forward to the report!! Go with what works for you my friend!! Just don't fuc- it all up.

 

[Joe Brewster]

hi carmen here is a shot of my simple precision water bottles
drill a hole in the cap & use a glue gun to flare the tubing & glue it in

I can pin point water on a dime

as you can see some of my seed starters are very small , so I have to be precise

 

[Carmen Ray]

Good luck! Look forward to the report!! Go with what works for you my friend!! Just don't fuc- it all up.

How about this for a rookie question lol... must I turn my light on now or when cotyledons show?

 

[Carmen Ray]

hi carmen here is a shot of my simple precision water bottles
drill a hole in the cap & use a glue gun to flare the tubing & glue it in

I can pin point water on a dime

as you can see some of my seed starters are very small , so I have to be precise

That's an awesome device you've made there Brewsterman, thank you for sharing that.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Good luck! Look forward to the report!! Go with what works for you my friend!! Just don't fuc- it all up.

Jon, thanks for calling me out pointing it out to me before I regretted it! I thought I should test my idea before the seedling is in the solo cup so that I do not fuck it up. I've just remembered that I learnt last night not to moisten the soil prior to transplant, and so I will have to empty my cups and fill will dry soil, no biggie but just remembered in the nick of time.
PS My little watering can does not fit this application

 

[HashGirl]

I tend to add a little water to the hole before the transplant as I believe it helps guide the roots in their new home.

 

[Jon]

Jon, thanks for calling me out pointing it out to me before I regretted it! I thought I should test my idea before the seedling is in the solo cup so that I do not fuck it up. I've just remembered that I learnt last night not to moisten the soil prior to transplant, and so I will have to empty my cups and fill will dry soil, no biggie but just remembered in the nick of time.
PS My little watering can does not fit this application

Hey @Carmen Ray - well my friend, that's how we learn, and you just learned a lesson for many more people than just yourself. That's the best part of asking questions on here. So what if you think it's a "dumb" or "rookie" question. Intelligent people ask questions. Simple as that. They worry not over silly things like their egos. Personally I believe there is an inversely proportional relationship between intelligence and ego.

The good part is that you already have McGuyver'ed the PERFECT tool, in that water bottle targeting device you created. That is fabulous work right there, and dude, use THAT to water the Dixie cups!!!!! It couldn't be more perfect. Now your seedlings AND the Dixies are covered with one watering bottle!

The question on the light is simple. YES TURN IT ON NOW. This is not debatable. Lol. The moment you see something break dirt is the latest you turn on the light. Many do wait in the dark. Personally I never have. I light the Dixies up as soon as the seed is in the dirt and covered because I believe the emerging sprout can "see" or "sense" that there's light up there and more readily gravitates upwards towards the light vs. if it's dark.

I think that covered your concerns as best I can. Good job. Keep asking questions of everyone. There is so much talent here that wants to help you it's quite ridiculous.

 

[Carmen Ray]

I have spent much of this past week trawling journals of some of the finest growers of weed I could hope to learn from. I feel grateful that you folks are here to catch me before I do something that kills my plants. It's so nice to have the company and encouragement! Tagging people now, I asked @Trala to come and join the conversation here not only because she is a lotta fun and knows a thing or five about growing weed, but also because I am going to try to train my plants into a canopy in her footsteps under the tutelage of @Carcass (author of excellent tutorials referenced earlier in my thread and in his current journal). I would like to create a canopy to prevent my plants from getting too tall for the position of the light. I can't move the plants any further away from the light than the table and bench, but I have had a hook put in my ceiling so that I can lower it if needs be. I'm hoping @DV8 will join the conversation here too.

I tend to add a little water to the hole before the transplant as I believe it helps guide the roots in their new home.

Thank you HG, I'll give that a try So that is straight into the hole but the surrounding soil is all dry? and then spray watered or similar until the roots have started to grow?

YES TURN IT ON NOW.

OMG I this! Screw the second paper towel. I've moved the West Coast OG seed into her peat pellet and planted her next to Caramel King. Here they are under their light. They are about 45 cm away from the light now. Is that ok or should it be closer?

that water bottle targeting device you created

That was @Brewsterman who made that. I am going to see if I can fashion something similar!

 

[Jon]

I have spent much of this past week trawling journals of some of the finest growers of weed I could hope to learn from. I feel grateful that you folks are here to catch me before I do something that kills my plants. It's so nice to have the company and encouragement! Tagging people now, I asked @Trala to come and join the conversation here not only because she is a lotta fun and knows a thing or five about growing weed, but also because I am going to try to train my plants into a canopy in her footsteps under the tutelage of @Carcass (author of excellent tutorials referenced earlier in my thread and in his current journal). I would like to create a canopy to prevent my plants from getting too tall for the position of the light. I can't move the plants any further away from the light than the table and bench, but I have had a hook put in my ceiling so that I can lower it if needs be. I'm hoping @DV8 will join the conversation here too.

Thank you HG, I'll give that a try So that is straight into the hole but the surrounding soil is all dry? and then spray watered or similar until the roots have started to grow?

OMG I this! Screw the second paper towel. I've moved the West Coast OG seed into her peat pellet and planted her next to Caramel King. Here they are under their light. They are about 45 cm away from the light now. Is that ok or should it be closer?

That was @Brewsterman who made that. I am going to see if I can fashion something similar!

Oh duh, sorry, stoner error. Well, you get the point. Sorry @Brewsterman, didn't mean to give your credit to someone else!! As far as the light, you don't need much at all for a while. Keep it lowly lit. If you have an app to measure, you want around 200 ppfd. Hardly any light. Most will start increasing the power as the plant develops.

 

[Azimuth]

I just use a small, 4oz pudding cup to water small containers. I can dribble it out in drops if I want. Works great.

But I do like the looks of Brewsterman's tech.

 

[Carmen Ray]

f you have an app to measure, you want around 200 ppfd.

Thank you Jon. I hope I used the app correctly. I held the phone flat using the front camera to measure. If I hold the phone directly under the light exactly where the peat pucks are, it gives me a reading of between 450 and 460 ppfd. . I have no dimmer attached. What would you recommend?

I can dribble it out in drops if I want

Thanks Azi, that's the trick isn't it. I have thought of trying a syringe... just thinking of what I have on hand.

 

[Jon]

Thank you Jon. I hope I used the app correctly. I held the phone flat using the front camera to measure. If I hold the phone directly under the light exactly where the peat pucks are, it gives me a reading of between 450 and 460 ppfd. . I have no dimmer attached. What would you recommend?

Thanks Azi, that's the trick isn't it. I have thought of trying a syringe... just thinking of what I have on hand.

That's a little bit high, but you might be okay there and then you can keep it that way til you have four or five sets of leaves. If you'd feel better at lower numbers simply raise the light a bit. To raise the numbers lower it. That easy.

 

[InTheShed]

Both seeds have cracked. Caramel King had a little tap root so I transferred her to a jiffy pellet which was soaked in water and mycorrhyzae solution as per directions on the packet

I'm confused by your placement of the peat puck on top of the cup with the dirt in it. Is that just temporary while you wait for the seed to pop and then you will completely bury it? I would put the puck in a small dish and leave it there until you're ready to plant it, and then bury it in the solo cup. If you leave it on top like that the tap root may get down into the new soil before the sprout even comes out the top and then you won't be able to bury the peat without ripping the tap root out of the cup of soil.

And I'm one of those people Azi mentioned that takes the cover off the puck before planting. I cut the bottom open before I drop the seed in as well.

How about this for a rookie question lol... must I turn my light on now or when cotyledons show?

Now, like Jon said!

In terms of watering, I just tip the solo cup and water down the outside edge to get the soil wet, while leaving the peat dry. I water enough to see it wet all the way down to the bottom (clear cups for the win!). The peat will get moist just by being in contact with the soil but not so wet as to damp off the sprout.

 

[Jon]

I'm confused by your placement of the peat puck on top of the cup with the dirt in it. Is that just temporary while you wait for the seed to pop and then you will completely bury it? I would put the puck in a small dish and leave it there until you're ready to plant it, and then bury it in the solo cup. If you leave it on top like that the tap root may get down into the new soil before the sprout even comes out the top and then you won't be able to bury the peat without ripping the tap root out of the cup of soil.

And I'm one of those people Azi mentioned that takes the cover off the puck before planting. I cut the bottom open before I drop the seed in as well.

Now, like Jon said!

In terms of watering, I just tip the solo cup and water down the outside edge to get the soil wet, while leaving the peat dry. I water enough to see it wet all the way down to the bottom (clear cups for the win!). The peat will get moist just by being in contact with the soil but not so wet as to damp off the sprout.

Nice catch on the peat puck placement Shed!

 

[Carmen Ray]

I cut the bottom open before I drop the seed in as well.

Done and moved to a different container, thank you Shed! Lol, I was trying to be neat and orderly. I would have been miserable if the tap root had become damaged. Thank you for explaining how to water into the solo cup

 

[Carcass]

Speaking of watering....

just thinking of what I have on hand.

I use one of these dollar store squirt bottles for watering seedlings, works well once you start adding nutes,too!
(assuming you use water-soluble nutes)

 

[DV8]

Thanks for the tag in!
Many familiar faces here, Im sure you are in good hands. Its especially nice to watch the grows when seasons match mine.
Hoping to learn a bit through osmosis, winter autos in soil sounds like a very reasonable place to do that. Ill grab a quiet seat up the back. Cheers.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Speaking of watering....

I use one of these dollar store squirt bottles for watering seedlings, works well once you start adding nutes,too!
(assuming you use water-soluble nutes)

Thanks! This does look perfect. I will get some tomorrow. I need to get 1 gal / 4 litre pots too I just remembered.

Thanks for the tag in!
Many familiar faces here, Im sure you are in good hands. Its especially nice to watch the grows when seasons match mine.
Hoping to learn a bit through osmosis, winter autos in soil sounds like a very reasonable place to do that. Ill grab a quiet seat up the back. Cheers.

Welcome DV8 , thank you

 

[Carmen Ray]

And now that you have the app working on your phone you can measure the light at different heights and use this from Royal Queen Seeds as a general guide:

Thank you. I found it. I had completely blanked out on this. I've moved the peat down to table height which brings them in range. This app seems very useful to have and that RQS guide is very helpful.

Sorry your update got orphaned because of my question. I am ecstatic for you that you have some pollen and holding thumbs again for viability. Everything is beautiful, Shed.

 

[InTheShed]

This app seems very useful to have and that RQS guide is very helpful.

I'm sure Jon can translate their table into PPFD if that's what the Photone app gives you!

Sorry your update got orphaned because of my question.

No worries at all! If it wasn't yourd it was going to be the next two posts either way. If I was paying attention to the post numbers I would have bumped to the next page.