Finally starting my Garden!

Excited to join! I have been following for a while now & decided to finally make a profile when I started my garden. We have a great garden supply store near us so along with that, and Amazon we have gotten most of the things that we absolutely needed. I really just want a small personal setup for now. We planted from germinated seed on 4/9. Thumbnail pic is from 4/20!

Our Setup:
We started with five seeds that were very happy to sprout! They are Critical Kush & Laughing Buddha plants. I was able to get a pic of our basic setup uploaded so check it out!
We have a fluorescent light and a 300w LED light (probably get 1 more when they take up more room) that we just got put together.
I just transplanted them into 1.75 gallon pots with some Zen Blend organic soil. Hoping the bugs stay away!
We got a little fan going as well.
Since we live in Alaska we get glacial water from a spout nearby, and I consider that to be an amazing thing I try to keep the soil moist, but I go a day or two without covering the soil with more water.
We have a mister we use in between waterings on the plants & to help keep pests away.
We just ordered some fertilizer & ppm meter, so I am sure I will have questions when that comes, but so far I can't come up with anything!

Please let me know what you think and any constructive cristicism, questions, or comments are all great! I will keep you updated and posted as we go ! Thanks guys!

Cree LED or more CFLs?

Crees in my opinion...always nice when you don't have to deal with heat issues, they last longer than CFLs, less cost to run and you don't have to worry about breaking them / mercury.

Ganja.Queen said:

Crees in my opinion...always nice when you don't have to deal with heat issues, they last longer than CFLs, less cost to run and you don't have to worry about breaking them / mercury.

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Thank you, I was literally about to run to Home Depot! The spectrum of my led now is best for bloom so I'd really like to get some more white LEDs in the veg stage. My fertilizer comes in Monday, so I am really hoping to see a jump!

Also heat is a concern for me because of how small and compact my space could be. I have three fans available tho

I know what you mean! I noticed that my plants did so much better under a few crees up close than they did with a bunch of wattage that had to be kept further away.

You probably know this, but just in case, Zen Blend has some decent nutes already in it so you shouldn't need to fert for a while or else you risk burning those pretty babies. Subbed up to see how things go, I wouldn't mind some critical kush

Good to know, I know they said it was a very forgiving soil! I figured after a cpl weeks it'll need some more nutes in the soil but then again that may be the point where I transplant them into their smart pots! I will have to get some more soil for that for sure...hmmm...maybe I just really need more lights. I feel like they should be a little further along than this by now, but then again, they aren't auto flowering or anything special so I am not sure. I will go light on the fertz at first, I got an awesome sample box of nutes so I don't want to over kill it. I'll keep my ppm meter close, lol! Thanks

My seedlings are about to go into the veg stage! What should my light cycle be? I know when I get to bloom it needs to be 12/12, especially w the CK to avoid herms, I have them at about 18/6 right now..kinda waiting on my new timer :/ the one I got doesn't work! Uh should I continue the 18/6?

I could do 20/4 or 24/7 but I'm nervous about 24/7 with the space and heat..

Okay guys i got a new light setup!!! 4x Cree LED 60W bulbs. Then we have the 300W led also, but thatll be used more when flowering!! && im right on that ya? Cuz its red & blue spec. I felt like my babies were rly slow n behind so i got a light upgrade asap!! Please tell me what u think!

Looking good. Anything over about 16hrs of light is good for veg. I run 18/6 and prefer it
over 24/0 myself. Many people like 24/0 but I dont see a difference in growth.

Those lights should be much closer in my opinion. LED's give off much less heat than
other types of lighting so don't be afraid to get the lights nice and close. I run a 250w HPS
and keep the bulb 5-8 inches from the tops. I just run a fan between the light and canopy.

The angle of the pics may make it look farther than it is but I would drop the lights to about
9 inches away and monitor for heat stress. If they look stressed move up by 1 inch, if they look
fine move down 1 inch and continue to monitor till you find that goldilocks zone.

Subbed and Good luck!

Thank you stoneslacker I think they do look further than they are a little, but after measuring theyre both ~10 inches away. I just didnt want to bleach/light stress them out. I almost think that the zen blend is causing over nute, contemplating flushing the babies but id hate to do that almost. I will stick w the 18/6, i think i like that thee best so far. Hopefully see a heathly growth spurt soon!! I will play with the lights as u recommended tho! I hope they love their new lights thank ya thank ya

MissHeadstash said:

Thank you stoneslacker I think they do look further than they are a little, but after measuring theyre both ~10 inches away. I just didnt want to bleach/light stress them out. I almost think that the zen blend is causing over nute, contemplating flushing the babies but id hate to do that almost. I will stick w the 18/6, i think i like that thee best so far. Hopefully see a heathly growth spurt soon!! I will play with the lights as u recommended tho! I hope they love their new lights thank ya thank ya

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They will be kinda slow for the first couple of weeks as they're building their root system...then they should take off around week 3 or so...it takes time just be a lil patient .

skunkwreck said:

They will be kinda slow for the first couple of weeks as they're building their root system...then they should take off around week 3 or so...it takes time just be a lil patient .

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Ya and i think transplanting them probably shocked them a little. I tried to be so careful, lol. Ill wait a little longer, i can tell they love their new lights, i just am still really concerned about the soil theyre in, starting to get light green and possibly burn but they look better than yesterday.

If new growth is light green just means there starting to grow and the new growth will get darker with age

Theres no new growth thats the problem, they still look like they did over a week ago. And one i am seeing spots on, and she was the best one, and shes also wilting, lmk!! I am about to start new germies and get over it. Lol. I dont think its over watering at all

MissHeadstash said:

Theres no new growth thats the problem, they still look like they did over a week ago. And one i am seeing spots on, and she was the best one, and shes also wilting, lmk!! I am about to start new germies and get over it. Lol. I dont think its over watering at all

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That's ok for a week old sprout .

skunkwreck said:

That's ok for a week old sprout .

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Ahh its not a week old it was planted on 4/09 its like going on FOUR WEEKS

MissHeadstash said:

Ahh its not a week old it was planted on 4/09 its like going on FOUR WEEKS

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Yeah you have issues then...soil could be too hot..ph could be off..lol I may need to go back and re-read your whole thread.

skunkwreck said:

Yeah you have issues then...soil could be too hot..ph could be off..lol I may need to go back and re-read your whole thread.

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Thats what i think, the soil is packed w too much nutes for the babies, i get the ppm meter today, whats the best way to go about this to save my babies!! HELP )

MissH. I would say you have a serious case of grower's fever and can't let yourself
to leave the plants to do their thing. She looks plenty overwatered in my opinion, and
you should always let the soil dry out some before watering.

The top layers will dry out forcing the plant to shoot more roots to seek water. Letting the top 2-3 inches
dry out before watering will definitely help in the growth department. In soil dig down with your finger and if
2-3 inches down it is dry then water, if still moist give it a day. Remember there is plenty of water in the bottom
of the pot and the plant will find it.

And I agree with your's and skunks ph diagnosis. A near neutral ph of 6.3-7.0 is the range for
soil IIRC.