NEW GROWER - In need of some guidance... Outdoor grow

[Illini4life]

I would recomend not waiting 2 weeks to get your seedlings out in the direct sun . We go outside on day 2 here with temps often in the 80s. Bring em back in at night under the lights give em about 2 hours of darkness. We also mix our own soil that contains no nutes so we begin feeding on the 1st watering. My 1st grow i was scared to death of burning them in the sun or too much nutrients so i babied a few and was real agressive with a couple . the ones we babied were way behind and never really caught up . Also have gotten better results with the 7 and 10 gallon root pouches as our june and july temperatures hit the low to mid 90s regularly and the plants stay in the blazing sun all day

So I have heard conflicting issues with this about bringing the plants out to the sun and back to the lights. My tomato seedlings hate it, they get light shock and start curling bad even at distance further than recommended seedling distance. I assume you have used this route before, so can you give me a legitimate light/sun schedule like on a 24 hour basis that has worked for you so that I know this is a tired and true method. Thank you so much for your information.

 

[Illini4life]

@the green bandit so I took your advice and I am upgrading to 4 gallon grow bags. Since you have said before the OF is really hot and runs acidic I chose to add more buffer material that is originally found in the bag of OF. This is ground oyster shells as they are almost 100% calcium carbonate, which is the main soil buffer in dometic lime minus all the magnesium. Upon doing research buffering OF seems to be a must because apparently around week 5 the acidity starts to build. I am planning on premixing with my soil at 2 tbsp per gallon of soil, and then around 3 weeks to one month mixing a 1 tbsp per gallon mixture with my feed per week, and will continue to do this til harvest. Does this sound like it could help with the acid problems? If you don't know about the inside scoop on this one could you point me in the right direction to someone who might?

 

[Ladiesinthecloset]

I'm in the same boat. I'm about to start my first outdoor grow. I'm planning on using 5 gallon pots with OF, but I think I'm going use a soil that isn't "hot" for a plug for the seeds. Good luck. I can't wait to watch your grow.

 

[Illini4life]

I'm in the same boat. I'm about to start my first outdoor grow. I'm planning on using 5 gallon pots with OF, but I think I'm going use a soil that isn't "hot" for a plug for the seeds. Good luck. I can't wait to watch your grow.

Hey do some research on buffering ffof. A simple Google search should give you some suggestions for how to lime the soil. I chose the oyster shell route as that's what is orginally the buffer in that soil. Won't be making this purchase again I'm scared and I haven't even started yet