My 2010 Outdoor Grow!

Okay, so the seeds have been germinating for 1 day now, 3 have sprouted of the 25 seeds that are germinating. I picked up a bag of miracle grow soil to grow in (is this a good soil?)
Once all the seeds have sprouted I'm going to fill dixie cups (plastic beer cups) up with Miracle grow, poke a hole in the bottom for drainage and place them under 3 CFL lights in my closet.
After they are in my closet for 1-2 weeks and have sprouted I am going to move them to my outdoor location.
Once the plants have grown to be around 6-10" tall I am going to move them into 5 gallon buckets with Miracle Grow to finish the grow in.

I just have some questions:

1. Is Miracle Grow a good soil
2. Is it Necesary for me to start the plants under a CFL using 24 hour lighting?
3. How often should I water the plants?

*ANY OTHER TIPS OR ADVICE WOULD BE GREAT*
*IF IM DOING SOMETHING WRONG PLEASE TELL ME*

This is my first grow!

Thanks, stoners 4:20

BurtonEvan said:

I just have some questions:

1. Is Miracle Grow a good soil
2. Is it Necesary for me to start the plants under a CFL using 24 hour lighting?
3. How often should I water the plants?

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1: Ive used miracle grow organic before and found it too acidic. I had to water with Alkaline water to balance it out. This year I am using a different mix. Some potting soil, perlite and guano.

2: As soon as a planted seed comes out of the ground it needs light. 24 hours of light is ok because you are starting late. Get them in the ground before june.

3: Start off watering with a mister spray bottle or you will over water them. Just mist the top of the beer cups. Spray them till its damp and soaking in slightly.

First things first never miracle grow soil. Go with fox farms or some other soil .
You can start plants under what ever lighting scheudule you please. 18/6 is what i perfer tho. To answer your watering question... give them 1/2 the pot size of water. So if you have a 1 gallon =2 quarts of water. Good luck hope this helpd.

Well is it nessacary for my to use CFL's? Or would it be fine to put them out in the sun as soon as they are germinated?
Here's the weather for my location in Canada starting on Wednesday:

Wed:
HIGH:16 C (61 F)
LOW:9 C (48.2 F)
and it will be raining

Thurs:
HIGH: 16 C (61 F)
LOW: 8 C (46.4 F)
and sun/rain


Fri:
HIGH: 19 C (66.2 F)
LOW:11 C (51.8 F)
and will be sunny

Sat:
HIGH:18 C
LOW: 10 C
Sunny

I am located in Southern Ontario. Near NY State

So should I start them under CFL's until the weather warms up?

dude.... miracle grow is ok... it will work when in a pinch... and it doesnt have to be organic.... but i believe personally that u should not add any nutes when using MG until they are atleast 12" or so...

and remember for every foot of growth you need a gallon of soil!!!

starting the plants inside are a big plus... keeps them from being snail bait and they are resistant to frost.

but you can do it either way...

beware of rabbits deers raccoons gamewardens... you know the usual..

u can NEVER be to careful

BurtonEvan said:

So should I start them under CFL's until the weather warms up?

Click to expand...

Yes, at least until you have a few true leafs. It will give better chance of success.

Its still a bit early and risk of frost is possible.

I have my starts inside for another week. In my area, we are very close to the time things can go outside.

Okay, well for starting them indoors (20 plants) would this work:

A 24" flourencent bulb 10" above the cups (2 rows of 10)
in a closet?
I dont have a fan or anything though.

Yea it will work. Keep the light a bit closer to the tops of the plants and the stems will not stretch. A fan is not really a necessity at this stage.

Okay... perfect and I just checked the temps and within the next week and a half its going to be in the 20's (C) during the day and like 14 at night. So thats perfect!
Now i just gotta buy a 24" bulb lmfao

Whats a good way to make sure animals dont get to my plant?
My friends plant got ate by a rabbit last year haaha
And spices or something that will keep animals away?

I dust the area around the plants with Ground Cayenne Pepper. Maybe 2 applications 2 weeks apart at the start of the season.

Okay man thanks for all the help!
Will a 24" Flourecent bulb be good enough to get 20 plants started? OR should I get some CFLS?

I don't think it will be enough. Can you fit all the cups in a line directly under the bulb? If not you probably want to get another one, or you can go the CFL route. I'm using (2) 18" fluoros side by side and that is enough to get me by for about 3 weeks. I'm not an expert but I seem to be having pretty good luck with it so far. I didn't want to have to invest a lot in my setup since I knew I just needed something to grow for 2-3 weeks until they go outside. I have a 250w hps that I wanted to use but it was getting too hot for my grow space. I think I have some pics of my setup in my journal in my signature if you wanna take a look. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. Once they hit the sun they will start taking off. Mine were only about 6" tall when I put them out at 3 weeks old. In a week of being outside, even with the shitty weather, they pretty much doubled in size and added 2 new nodes. I'm actually a little worried they might get TOO big having put them out so soon.

But like someone else mentioned, when you go with fluoros you want them really close to the light. I usually try to keep them about 1/2" away. Which means you might have to adjust the light and/or the pots twice, sometimes three times a day at first. They don't all grow at the same rate so I put the light so it is 1/2" from my tallest plant, then use something to boost the rest up to that height. If you do the CFL's you'll probably wanna keep them a good 6" away at first, at least. I fried my first few seedlings back in March because I had the CFL's too close. They get hotter than you think so be careful. I've had leaves actually touch the fluoros and not burn.

You'll figure out your own style and how you want to do things. This is a fun and challenging hobby, but it ain't brain surgery, haha.