New Grower First Grow - White Dwarf Autofem - Indoors

[FooManBlue]

Finally got around to starting my first grow, and thought I would share some pics of my three seedlings. Today they are 10 days old, from the day they were pre-moistened seeds sowed in soil. Following the Tiered Method, having started them in 16oz. party cups filled with 80% Fox Farm Light Warrior and 20% vermiculite. Kept them in a dark room sitting on a warming pad for the first 3 days after sowing them. Currently have them in a tent under MH 250w 4k light placed 11" above plants on 20/4 schedule. Have fed them only ph-balanced water (about 6.3) until the last feeding two days ago, which included Microbe Brew mixed 1/2 teaspoon per gallon. Will eventually transplant to 3 gallon smart pots containing 75% mix (OF 50%, LW 50%) and 25% perlite.

Couple of questions for anyone who cares to answer:
1. Looking to transplant to 3 gal. pots no earlier than day 13 (this coming Sunday). Sound right?
2. At the time I transplant to the bigger pots, planning to switch light source to MH 6.4k bulb (from current 4k), and maybe even bump up to 400w (from the current 250w), as I have a dimmable ballast.

Thoughts?

 

[The Squid]

Hey foo man. Glad to see you got your grow going here. Everything looks and sounds just fine so far for the most part, assuming you have all of the other stuff in order; Temps, ro, ventilation, all that.

One thing, back that light up to about 18 inches until they get a little bigger. Just last night, I found out I had mine too close at 12 inches and was bleaching one of my seedlings, Muddy let me know and I backed it up immediately until they get a couple more sets of leaves.

Starter soil is good, other transplant mix is fine too. Glad you did some studying before getting started. Transplant time is fine since you have fems, no possibility of having wasted space and soil on a male later so anytime after a couple weeks is fine.

I don't see anything wrong with switching the lights out, or even using the higher watt one at two weeks, but still keep it higher up than 11 inches above them until they get some more growth and can handle it.

 

[FooManBlue]

Thank you for the advice, squidherb. I'm in the 4hr dark period currently, so i'll go ahead and raise the light to 18" right now. Cheers!

 

[The Squid]

Anytime man. Don't be afraid to ask. If I seem like I am not getting to it in time, then PM me. No worries, I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

[Muddy]

The heat from a 250 watt won't be as bad as a 400, so the light height may be okay. Just watch your node spacing. Ideally you want to keep it at around 1". Raise or lower your light to maintain that spacing.

 

[FooManBlue]

The heat from a 250 watt won't be as bad as a 400, so the light height may be okay. Just watch your node spacing. Ideally you want to keep it at around 1". Raise or lower your light to maintain that spacing.

Thank you, Muddy! I raised the light to 18" above plants last night, but I think I will stay with the 250w setting on my ballast for now. Have been able to keep a steady temp=74.3F, RH=39 so far during "lights on", and temp=69.1F, RH=49 during "lights out". I have the gear to exhaust heat and odor, but have been doing fine with passive air to this point.

I did notice that my seedlings appeared less green, with perhaps a yellowish hue, during the past 20 hours; otherwise, they look healthy. I took pics today, but have not uploaded/posted them here because the yellowish hue wasn't discernible in the pics. Have been following the thread linked below, and took note of your advice to Animal about nitrogen deficiency. I suspect this my be the case with my seedlings, as they've been in the 16oz. party cups for 11 days now, and may have consumed all the nutrients in my light starter mix (80% LW, 20% vermiculite).

https://www.autoflower.org/f44/long-time-toker-first-time-grower-7797-2.html

So I am considering following the advice you gave about spraying the seedlings with 1 part household ammonia to 10 parts ph'd water for 3 days. Have a few questions about that:

1. Should I spray directly onto the seedlings or onto the soil surface?
2. One spray, two, three,...?
3. My seedlings are due for a watering tonight. Should I spray them in addition to their scheduled watering?

I plan on feeding them just ph-balanced bubble water tonight. I last fed them 3 days ago with ph-balance bubble water mixed with Microbe Brew (1/2 teaspoon per gallon), and plan on feeding them this mix (w/Microbe Brew) in another 3 days when I transplant them to the 3gal. smart pots (at 14 days, from seed sown in soil). Sound right?

 

[BigJohnny]

Hey Foo, I'm not in a position to offer any advice, only best wishes. Good luck with your grow, man.

 

[FooManBlue]

Hey Foo, I'm not in a position to offer any advice, only best wishes. Good luck with your grow, man.

Thanks for the encouragement, BigJohnny. Hoping for a decent harvest in 8-10 weeks.

 

[The Squid]

Without pictures I can't tell, but if it's yellowing or pale greening from the center out, but otherwise looks really good, then that sounds like what I was having happen, which Muddy said was bleaching. I only have 220 watts of cfl. The Nitrogen could be the problem. Muddy will know more of what exactly to do. I'll make sure he comes around again when gets back on, so we will get you straightened out.

 

[FooManBlue]

Without pictures I can't tell, but if it's yellowing or pale greening from the center out, but otherwise looks really good, then that sounds like what I was having happen, which Muddy said was bleaching. I only have 220 watts of cfl. The Nitrogen could be the problem. Muddy will know more of what exactly to do. I'll make sure he comes around again when gets back on, so we will get you straightened out.

Thanks for the comments. I raised the lights less than 24 hours ago, so i'll be patient and not rush into anything. Yeah, they're just a slightly lighter shade of green, very slight yellowish hue all over (not at the tips).