1st Grow - Attempting Organic - Several Questions I Have

Learning2Hydro

Active Member
First of all, thanks in advance for any help I get. I know there are a ton of "help me!" posts every day. So thanks for taking time to help this confused "wannabe grower."

Ok, so now the setup and questions:

I have 4 plants, already sprouted from seed - 2 aurora indica's and 2 white widows. I germinated in those peat pop-up things for tomatos you can get from lowes. Worked great. Now the humidity dome is gone and its time to grow. I should also mention I was not able to get them under the cfl's for 2-3 days after they sprouted. Money is an issue. Currently I have them under 4 23w cfl's and they look great. Will add at least 2 more 23w's at the end of next week. I have a fan for circulation.

1st problem: I put the plugs into miracle grow organic choice soil and now I see that that wasn't such a great choice. They are currently in that soil inside of the small fiber pots you get from lowes to I guess mature the seedlings in. So my plan was to then put those into a 5gal or thereabouts size pot to veg and flower in. This being the case, can I order fox farms ocean forest (or whatever its called) to use in the larger pots to hopefully correct the crappy miracle grow?

2) Can I get by with fox farms only? As in, do I really need to buy additional nutes? I'm trying to spend as little as possible.

3) Should I cut away the fiber pots before transplant?

4) Should I add dolomite, vermiculite (no idea what that's even for), or anything else to the fox farms? I have perlite in the MG already, will continue to use in the new soil.

5) With dolomite, do I need to worry about adjusting ph in the water? Thinking of collecting rainwater to use from this point foward.

I'm sure I will come up with 638 more questions as I go. I am trying to follow SeeMoreBuds book as close as possible. Again, money is a big issue. Need to save where I can. And I still have to purchase a ph meter, possible water meter, large pots, and more bulbs. I know soil is not something to skimp on, but I'm not even close to ready to mix my on stuff up like what is discussed in the organics forum. I want simple as possible this 1st grow. But I want quality clean buds, not chemical crap. So your help and advice is greatly appreciated.

Also, my stores around here are awful. No supply listed anywhere in here can I find locally. A good "one stop shop" online would be appreciated if you can reccomend one. Ideally I would like to order everything at once next Thursday or so to simplify.

Plants are currently at or about day 3 of life. I say "about" since they were deprived of quality light thefirst 2-3 days. They look great though. All have their 1st set of serrated leaves. Looking for that 2nd set I hope soon. I just worry what the roots are doing that I can't see.

Thanks again. I'm just freaking out a bit. Seeds are expensive as hell and if these die, then it will be a while before I can afford more. Aiming for the best quality I can get for my money. Thank and peace. Hopefully I can turn this into a grow thread and post some pics.
 

Learning2Hydro

Active Member
Yeah, that's why I figured those would make a good "holding tank," if you will, until I can get the rest figured out and paid for. Well, SeeMore says to force flowering at what, like 17 days? He started flowering when his plant was 4" tall. I know, seems crazy to me and I've yet to read about someone doing it that early. He says do it then because the cfl's won't do any good if it gets bigger anyway. I'm content with smaller plants fo now. So I guess in about 2 weeks I will switch to a 12/12 cycle. They are 18/6 now, assuming I finally set the timer right. The digital timer I got is confusing as hell.

Man, I got 3 books, have read tons of stuff here; but when the seeds hit the dirt, this crap can overwhelm you. And to think, I wanted to do a hydro setup my 1st time! Talk about crazy! Thanks for the heads up on nutes, I was about to ask for a brand name. One step ahead of me.
 

Learning2Hydro

Active Member
Bump for more suggestions/thoughts. My 1st two fan leaves are getting bigger daily. No 2nd set yet though. Looking promising.
 
Top