New Grower First grow. looking for some help along the way

[1guy1plant]

Long time "enjoyer." I am 44, professional, relocated from oklahoma to florida a couple of years ago for a cool chick ( who does not smoke so odor will be an issue later) and to move from representing new home builders to wrongfully accused and/or over charged individuals of various crimes and I have had a terrible time establishing a reliable relationship with anyone that supplies enjoyment. As a result I have spent the last few months researching and following here which ultimately resulted in me ordering from nirvanashop.com five fem auto blue mystics. My previous hobby was rc airplanes and I will admit that I am sad that I did not think of this before. pics are posted below. Over the last two months I have been researching, building my grow box and purchasing supplies. I have been out of town alot or i would have started this 3 weeks ago. I plan to upgrade my grow equipment soon ( I am gonna go hydro) but I want to at least have one grow with my original plan.

today- i planted 3 blue mystics in jiffy starter soil and started to germ in solo cups, misted with 6.5ph water. I have them under two 26 watt 2700 k and two 23w 5500k cfl's about 8 inches over the solo cups/ . I went two parts soil and 1 part per-lite using the tiered method. i am growing in 3 gallon pots. I mixed my ultimate soil mixture to transfer to in a week or so in a plastic storage bin. 2 parts top soil, 1 part cow shit , 1.5 parts per-lite.lite, ,.5 part peat moss. i plan/ hope to post pics of a 3 seedlings soon and maintain this journal through the cureing stage. any questions, comments, or input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Duckster]

Hey Guy welcome aboard. Nice little set ya got there. Make sure you don't have light leaking in while your babies are sleeping. Looks like your box is about 2.5-3 feet tall. Are you going to try some LST to keep your girls short? Good Karma!

 

[oldster]

Welcome to AFN 1guy. Looks like you have a decent setup. Does your starter soil have any nutes in it? Not sure which Jiffy Mix you have. I have had much better luck using starter soil with no nutes at all just peat, perlite and some limestone to offset the low pH of the peat. As to your transplant mix it sounds like it may be on the heavy side with all the top soil and cow manure. Just my 2 cents

 

[1guy1plant]

my box is 20"w x 36"l x 40"h. I do plan to lst. I have spent alot of time building my grow box but i have it in a 5'wx5'lx9'h closet and I am thinking about just growing in closet. ( running 2x4s to hang my lights on.) I ordered 6 inch ventech fan filter combo. i plant to run the duct work through the filter into the attic and splice into my dryer vent out the roof. I live in an addition where my neighbors are about 25 feet away. I do have light leaks but it is in closet in my utility room and i can turn that light off as well. I plan to go 20/4 and have the dark period while i sleep and i am hoping bc they are autoflower seeds it wont be a big deal.

 

[1guy1plant]

oldster. my soil does seem heavy when i water it. I have added alot of per-lite and i hope that helps. I am some what limited in my options on soil additives.

 

[oldster]

You may want to consider adding a bunch more peat and perlite to it to lighten things up. Have you checked the pH of the soil yet. Now is the time to get it corrected before you put your plants in it.

 

[1guy1plant]

the soil ph is around 7.2. I am hoping that the peat will break down and lower it over the next week before I transfer. i have 3 gallon jugs of water going with an aquarium pump and an air stone in each with a ph of 6. Will that level it out? I have the fox farms trio. I have read that will also lower ph. I can not tell you guys how excited i am. Should i leave lights on 24/0 until seeds pop out.

 

[oldster]

So much depends on how much buffer chemicals are in the soil that it is hard to predict. I would probably add some aluminum sulphate to the soil to bring it down to the 6.6 to 6.8 range since it will climb as it dries between waterings.

 

[1guy1plant]

Thanks, I will try and find some today.

 

[ThaGreenBandit]

Your local gardening nursery should carry it