Go slow, its my first time

Hello all, I am a total beginner and am trying to help out my father with his legit medical grow and was hoping someone could help me out with a few questions. There are 6 seeds my dad plans on planting 3 purple train wreck and 3 blue dream and was wondering if this set up would be alright for the seedling stage and how long it would last until he has to step up the lighting etc. He plans on getting a 600watt air-cooled hps with a grow tent once it is time to do so but for just planting the seeds and getting them to sprout and grow a little bit do you all think this will work out? Check out the pics for what he plans on using to sprout them. Any info on how long this set up would last him and what he needs to add if anything would be much appreciated.

Those 4 bulbs will be good enough for the beginning stages of the plants life but for 6 plants youre going to need a lot more lighting sooner than you think. also those are pretty powerful CFLs if they are 1600 lumens each, but you need to worry about getting an even amount of light to all your seedlings otherwise some might stretch to try to reach the light..what kind of set up were you planning on having the CFLs in? Just straight across? That could work until the plants get to maybe their 5th node when theyll need transplanting.

And 600 watt HPS is great! I've never used them to veg plants but when you put them in flowering youll get some resin coated monsters..

Also if youre starting your seeds in those cardboard seed starters, youll need to transplant them once the plant is established. So after the first set of true leaves come out you can go ahead and transplant to something a bit bigger, either into a 1 gallon or a solo cup, youre choice. I usually just plant directly into a 1 gallon smart pot.

So the plan was to germinate the seeds by placing them in purified water for 24 hours or until cracked then putting the seeds in damp paper towels in a dark room thats aprox 80 degrees F until a taproot is visible after which I was going to put the seeds 1/2 in down into presoaked Kellogs organic patio plus soil inside those cardboard starter things in that black tupperware deal with a clear lid placed over them and those 4 CFLS straight across directly above at about 6 inches. I have a question at this point, what humidity will I have to keep it inside the tupperware deal? After seeds break the ground I planned on taking the top off the tupperware and lowering the lights to about 3-4 inches. This is where I'm at loss of how long I can keep them in this described set up. 1 or 2 weeks maybe? By then my father planned to have the tent and his HPS hood set up at which point we were going to transplant each seedling into 5 gallon smart pots and go from there. Does all of this sound accurate? What things would you guys change to ensure everything goes well? Thanks for the responses

howzzitbra said:

So the plan was to germinate the seeds by placing them in purified water for 24 hours or until cracked then putting the seeds in damp paper towels in a dark room thats aprox 80 degrees F until a taproot is visible after which I was going to put the seeds 1/2 in down into presoaked Kellogs organic patio plus soil inside those cardboard starter things in that black tupperware deal with a clear lid placed over them and those 4 CFLS straight across directly above at about 6 inches. I have a question at this point, what humidity will I have to keep it inside the tupperware deal? After seeds break the ground I planned on taking the top off the tupperware and lowering the lights to about 3-4 inches. This is where I'm at loss of how long I can keep them in this described set up. 1 or 2 weeks maybe? By then my father planned to have the tent and his HPS hood set up at which point we were going to transplant each seedling into 5 gallon smart pots and go from there. Does all of this sound accurate? What things would you guys change to ensure everything goes well? Thanks for the responses

Click to expand...

Once your seedlings sprout its a good idea to keep a relatively high humidity, I usually put a small clear bag over them. I take the bag off and give them lighting once they are fully sprouted, at the point I lower my T5s to about 3 inches and go from there. Its not a good idea to keep the seedlings in those little cardboard seed starters for long. You got the right idea at 1-2 weeks. Remember that you'll also have to keep a close eye on them and water them more than you would a bigger pot because they'll lose soil moisture fast as its a very small amount.

Also, get some good soil. I've used kellogs organic before and I didnt get very good results.. If you can, go to a hydroponic store and get some nice soil, I use Fox Farms Happy Frog to start my seeds then I transplant into Fox Farms Ocean Forest.

Thanks for the advice! I Think im gunna change it up then and do the red solo cup and plastic bag deal. By relatively high humidity are we talking like 60% or like 80%. Also, with the solo cups, do I poke holes in the bottom of it? Will look into the other soils but from the research i have done ppl said kellog (specifically the organic PATIO PLUS) is a knock off of ff ocean forest and that it's composed of the same materials. Is this false? And lastly does everything else seem to be good? The germination technique and everything? Again, thanks a bunch for the input

MMcare said:

Thanks for the advice! I Think im gunna change it up then and do the red solo cup and plastic bag deal. By relatively high humidity are we talking like 60% or like 80%. Also, with the solo cups, do I poke holes in the bottom of it? Will look into the other soils but from the research i have done ppl said kellog (specifically the organic PATIO PLUS) is a knock off of ff ocean forest and that it's composed of the same materials. Is this false? And lastly does everything else seem to be good? The germination technique and everything? Again, thanks a bunch for the input

Click to expand...

I have used both kellog and ocean forest and ocean forest is so much better, you can tell the difference just by looking at it. totally not true that its a knock off of ocean forest, its just not very good soil. but it works.

Your germination technique is the exact same one I use, except sometimes depending on how much the seed cracked in the water, I just plant directly into moist soil.

Also, remember that your taproot CANNOT become dry at all during the germination process otherwise it will die. When you use the paper towel method, place the paper towel inside of a plastic bag and put it ontop of something kinda warm, I put it ontop of my TV box. And keep an eye on them, check them daily because they will germinate super fast especially if you use the water cup method first. I had seedlings fully germinate and try to sprout inside a paper towel once only after 3 days.

When you put the germinated seed into the soil be careful not to damage the tap root or touch it, just very gently plant it (taproot facing down) into some already wet soil then put a plastic bag over the solo cup until the seed sprouts. Once the seedling sprouts and you see the cotyledons (the first 2 leaves the seedling will have) open up, take the plastic bag off and lower your lights to around 3-4 inches.

After that you're pretty much good to go, just be careful not to over water. And yes, poke several holes in the solo cups so they can drain out. Also, make sure you use the cups that aren't clear because roots dont like being exposed to light..

You can tell if the seedling needs water by picking up the cup, if it feels like its time to water. If it still feels pretty heavy from the last watering, check on it again tomorrow or something like that.

Awesome, i think i pretty much have my plan Now! I really appreciate your help! Thanks!