Man! Your queries bring me back 18 months and the forum I was on then had zero auto growers. So glad I found this crew a few months later. Asking questions and reading the serious knowledge that these guys have to share will see you well
Biobizz grower here with 7 grows under my belt, getting good consistency now but still a fresh thing!
For the first couple of grows I planted seeds in lite mix and then transplanted at approx 12-14 days into final home with all mix. This allowed me to get a good feel for the basics without worrying too much about nutes.
Once I'd gotten a bit of confidence I switched to just using lite mix as it gives you a bit more control using the feeding schedules in the biobizz thread linked earlier.
I still transplnt but now usually at 7 or 8 days. I simply slice the bottom off the seedling pots and place them into the final pots. This helps avoid any stress during reporting.
I'v still got half a bottle of grow but as soon as that' done I'll be substituting it with fish mix as it comes recommended by some of the top folks here.
Around the 4/5 week mark I used to notice calmag issues. These I've resolved by mixing crushed dried eggshells into the soil for calcium and Epson salts into every second (ish) feed for magnesium.
Frequency of feeding drove me crazy when I started. I ended up overwatering and getting gnats. As said earlier you will get a feel for it after a while. For myself, by late flowing I find I generally water every 3 to 4 days giving 4ltrs between 3 22ltr airpots. Just remember that keeping the soil permanently wet can lead to bugs.
For seedlings, I keep them in a humidity dome until the get transplanted. I generally find I spray the top of the pots twice a day. When lights are off I take the dome off so that they have some breeze from the fan which helps stop them reaching too much and becoming unstable.
4 day olds getting transplanted on Sunday (day 7) Sunday
If you're planting in the final pot you can use clear plastic bottles cut in two as make shift humidity domes. The seedlings don't have a developed root system yet so they take on a lot of moisture through their developing leaves. I struggle to get humidity above 50% so without the dome I've had seedlings wither and die.
Mistakes will happen but that's part of the learning. Don' beat yourself up as it' all part of getting the feel for your environment, medium etc.
Feck me I better stop rambling!
