Update; Seedlings! Advice? Thoughts? Comments?

ProphetNova

Member
Yo yo, here's some updates on some things I got brewing.

General Situation/Dates;
Planted the three with their couple sets of true leaves on the 31st of Jan, and the three babies on Feb 4th. They're coming along nicely, I think. I also am a first time grower. I've had two seeds die so far. I know why, however. Poor attentiveness to the dampness of one of my rockwool cubes.
Autoflowers, all of them. ILGM Super Auto mix, Gorilla Glue, Girlscout Cookies, Bruce Banner.

Personally, I've never grown anything from seeds, and have a hard time even keeping house plants alive. Though, after investing all the money I did into my new hobby, it has made it much easier. It's super cool to see the plant go through growth spurts, and to watch it grow and thrive with just light and some PH adjusted tap water.

You can see the temps in the pics, however, it's the morning so I keep it a few degrees cooler at night.

Concerns/Questions;
First and foremost, do they look healthy? They look pretty healthy. Bright green. But that's my personal opinion that comes from complete ignorance of never having done this before. Any feedback is appreciated!

How much will I get from this, come harvest? Roughly of course, as the amounts can vary. But in your experience with your first auto grow, how much did you get?

Technical Specifications;
Overall, I try to keep it roughly 70% RH, and ~75F. No nutes yet. Just water PH'd down to ~6.2ish. (Did 5.6 for germing the seeds due to the neutral 7.0 of the Rockwool) Watering every other day, about 600ml/plant for the older girls, ~250ml 2-3 times a week for the younger gals.
I'm running a TWS2000. It's doing really well, it seems. ~30% on the dimmer, ~18 inches from the soil top. I ordered a second one that will be here in a few days, since I saw that it would be hard pressed to provide adequate light for 6 plants come later in Veg. Running FF Happy Frog in these 5 gallon fabric pots.

Lessons Learned/General Thoughts;
I would definitely keep track of watering a little better. I've been eyeballing it, and I watered them yesterday morning. It may have been overwatered by just a bit. I'm likely going to hang a whiteboard with each girl and water schedules with exact PH for each plant and the exact amount.
Also; label the plants. I labeled them a few days ago and probably confused the strains which is a huge bummer, but for my first grow I knew I would make some mistakes.

The amount that I planted is also a concern. I didn't expect as many to survive as they did... So now I have 6 healthy girls. My grow tent is DIY for sure. PVC pipe with the pseudo-mylar material that they use in attic radiant barriers for my inner wrap, outer wrap is the black 6mm thick construction plastic self-tapped into the frame. It's approx 4x6x6 ft. So it'll be tight, and I think this may be the max amount I can house lol.
 

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MickFoster

Well-Known Member
Because I'm a first time grower, and I read that autos you can plant in their final containers.
You can plant any seed in their final container, but the growth will be slow. Maintaining the correct water/air ratio will be a challenge until the roots become established........which will be a while.
Here are 2 week old plants started in small containers for a reference.
14 days 11-8-21.JPG
Good luck.
 

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
Because I'm a first time grower, and I read that autos you can plant in their final containers.
There are some that say it's bad to transplant autos and you should start in your final pot. I have had zero trouble transplanting autos and find they grow better and faster when started in a Solo cup and then going to 3 gallon pots. Very few autos I've run needed a 5 gallon pot but the larger yielding strains could benefit from the extra root mass. Temps in the low 80s seem to work better for LED grows and humidity should come down as you enter flower to 55% or so. It's your first grow so go easy on nutrients and just focus on good watering habits and the environment for now. Best of luck with your grow and feel free to DM me if you are having problems.
 

ProphetNova

Member
You can plant any seed in their final container, but the growth will be slow. Maintaining the correct water/air ratio will be a challenge until the roots become established........which will be a while.
Here are 2 week old plants started in small containers for a reference.
View attachment 5260007
Good luck.
Oh wow, that's huge. For my next one I'll definitely have to do that!

There are some that say it's bad to transplant autos and you should start in your final pot. I have had zero trouble transplanting autos and find they grow better and faster when started in a Solo cup and then going to 3 gallon pots. Very few autos I've run needed a 5 gallon pot but the larger yielding strains could benefit from the extra root mass. Temps in the low 80s seem to work better for LED grows and humidity should come down as you enter flower to 55% or so. It's your first grow so go easy on nutrients and just focus on good watering habits and the environment for now. Best of luck with your grow and feel free to DM me if you are having problems.
I'll pump the Temps up a bit. I've heard it was a mixed bag, and I figured that if I can just plant it in the final container and loose some grams on the table so I can focus more on the basics for my first grow I was okay with that. I'll probably take ya up on the offer here at some point! Besides the slow growth, do they look healthy in your opinion?
 

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
Oh wow, that's huge. For my next one I'll definitely have to do that!



I'll pump the Temps up a bit. I've heard it was a mixed bag, and I figured that if I can just plant it in the final container and loose some grams on the table so I can focus more on the basics for my first grow I was okay with that. I'll probably take ya up on the offer here at some point! Besides the slow growth, do they look healthy in your opinion?
They look healthy but a little small for their age. If your grow area is 4x6' you have 24 square feet. A good general rule of thumb is approximately 40-50 watts per square foot of lighting which puts your lighting needs around 1000 true watts. It's a big space and it would need some decent lighting to utilize it. You can use less than that for sure but to really maximize your space you need a lot more light than you have now.
 

ProphetNova

Member
They look healthy but a little small for their age. If your grow area is 4x6' you have 24 square feet. A good general rule of thumb is approximately 40-50 watts per square foot of lighting which puts your lighting needs around 1000 true watts. It's a big space and it would need some decent lighting to utilize it. You can use less than that for sure but to really maximize your space you need a lot more light than you have now.
I ordered a second MH TWS2000, they claim 3x3 coverage during veg, so two would be good?
 

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
I ordered a second MH TWS2000, they claim 3x3 coverage during veg, so two would be good?
It depends on how much of your area you want to use. Two lights that cover 3'x3' would be coverage for 18 sq ft and leaves you with 6 square feet of poor coverage. You can leave a border on one side of the tent where you don't have plants and put fans or whatever there and see how it works for you. Your area is kind of an oddball size but a good led designed for a 5x5 might be the best bet. Your final yield will depend on how much light you can provide assuming a healthy plant and proper care. LED grows are easy to hit 1 gram per watt used so it's kind of a question of how many grams do you want or need to grow.
 
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