New Grower Long time Toker, First time Grower

[Animal]

Wow! What a website. I've been hanging around here for a few weeks. I have learned a Ton from reading and following various posts. Feels like family already!
My setup is 3ft x 4ft with a 7ft ceiling fully encased with "double bubble" insulation on all surfaces. I am currently using two 23watt(1500 Lumens each) 5000k cfl's. I will be adding two more of the same tomorrow. Lights are currently on a 20/4 timer. I have a small heater in the room for the cold nights holding temps in the low to mid 70's.A couple of the warmer days temps. hit 80. I have a 10" fan for air circulation within the room. I will be installing a 80cfm exhaust fan asap. I've studied FD's Guide and have my PH'd (6.6)water bubbling away, have used the two cup tiered method for transplant and have mixed up his soil mix also.

Here are a few pics.

Spunky and Lefty Germed in Jiffy Puck Day 1

Spunky in Jiffy puck planted in Jiffy Seed Starter Mix -Day 2

Lefty in Jiffy puck planted in Jiffy Seed Starter Mix -Day 2

Spunky & Lefty on the warming rock Day 2

 

[namvet]

Glad you like the webb site.It's always a fun place to learn the art of mj growing.Feel free to ask any questions you may have and also add your input on things that maybe of interest to others.

 

[Eschatos]

Spunky & Lefty :buds:

What strain are they??

 

[Animal]

Glad you like the webb site.It's always a fun place to learn the art of mj growing.Feel free to ask any questions you may have and also add your input on things that maybe of interest to others.

Thanks namvet for your Service, "we" often don't appreciate those that have or continue to serve as "we" should ....shame on "us". We wouldn't be posting here without said service. I Thank You!
Growing gets in one's head pretty quickly, maybe as much fun as medicating.

 

[Muddy]

Welcome to the New Growers forum. Joe Dirt, Jackal and I moderate this forum and are here to help. Any questions or problems just post them up and well do our best to lend a hand.

 

[Animal]

Spunky & Lefty :buds:

What strain are they??

Spunky & Lefty are femmed White Widow from NL seeds.
They also have two Sisters (hopefully).... April Fool & Slacker also femmmed White Widow from NL seeds. I had lost hope on these two. April & Slacker were germed straight to Jiffy seed starter with no soaking and after 6 or 7 days and no sign of life my noob impatientence won out that's when I soaked 'til sinking two more beans and placed in Jiffy pucks . I kept Spunky & Lefty in a Jiffy greenhouse on a reptile heat rock which kept Temps. 88- 90 and they sprouted in under two days!:booya: It was a good thing that I reused the same starter mix for Spunky & Lefty because little did I realize April & Slacker were coming too. Spunky (1st to sprout) and Lefty (2nd to sprout and "born" with only 1 cotyledon? to the left) were "born" on 3/30. Much to my suprise, April was discovered/born on 4/1 as I spray watered in Spunky's cup . I very carefully dug her out and gave her a new cup of her own. Imagine the suprise when I found yet another sprout in Spunky's cup on 4/4 again while watering:thumbs: I again very very carefully dug this sprout out which was much tougher due to the depth this seed ended up during the replanting of Spunky. Slacker had a three inch stem to her and at least three inches of root. She was excavated when she was just above ground which means she had to have all but touched the bottom of the 16oz. cup, Hardly a "Slacker" but the name stuck. Hopefully I didn't stunt any of the affected seedlings at such a young age, they all look good to this noob.

 

[Jackal]

Welcome to the forum Animal. Sounds like you got a kick start with researching before you got started. Lots of info, around read all the stickies if you haven't already. We're here to help if needed.

 

[Animal]

Thanks for the welcome Muddy, I'm very relieved to have you, Jackyl, Joe Dirt and all the others on board.:dance:
I do have a few questions:

What is the best way to lower the ph of my soil? I'm using FD's recipe and it is currently at 7-7.2 best I can tell. FD's guide reads "I then mix all this together at once. Mix until you think you have mixed enough and then do it some more for about 5 min. After this test the soil's pH. Adjust it to where you need it by using the lime of coffee grounds to go down. Most of the time you will need to bring it down. If you need to bring it up i have used baking soda in the past" Please correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't lime raise and baking soda lower? I made a triple batch of FD's mix and need to adjust down. I plan to use two six gallon buckets and two five gal. (I only have 2 - 6 gal. available) I should add that I am looking to do this is prior to transplanting.
What ratio should I use to adjust?
What is ideal soil ph? 6.2-6.6?
From what I have read I should be transplanting my girls asap
I have been using an aquarium ph test kit, type with drops, to check my water ph and picked up a Rapitest analog soil ph meter. I also picked up a Rapitest digital moisture meter.
Will these devices be adequate or should I look at something else?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Animal]

Welcome to the forum Animal. Sounds like you got a kick start with researching before you got started. Lots of info, around read all the stickies if you haven't already. We're here to help if needed.

Thanks Jackyl,
I finally decided to start my own grow thread and will try to get all progress up today.

 

[The Squid]

Hey Animal welcome to the forum. This place is great and full of knowledge.

Yes, lime raises and baking soda lowers. Baking soda can kill useful bacteria and microorganisms living in your soil so I wouldn't use that. I do know that vinegar will lower it as well. You can just ph plain water to 6.2-6.6 and run it through your pots to lower, and that is a safe way. Run it through until your runoff and soil ph is where you want it and then you're good to go. Just make sure you let them dry up some before you plant in them, you don't want it too wet.

6 gallon is huge. I am not saying it's too big but I usually see smaller containers. 3 gallon is generally the biggest I see but go for it. The bigger the roots, the bigger the plant and the higher yield. All are good things.

Those tools are ok. The rapidtest is cheap and probably won't work long or be correct. I would get a better one. It's also a good idea to get a digital ph meter for checking your water when it isn't clear, like when nutrients are in it. The drops are fine but it's is near impossible to tell the color if the water isn't clear. See what I mean?

As far as ph here ya go>>>