First time growing, I'm clueless...

I started out growing on Thursday 4/24, moistening my seeds until they sprouted roots about two days later. I then immediatley planted them. As for now I'm growing them indoors because where I live we have a cold weather front passing through, but I plan to move them outside. Anyway, I used soil from my outside garden, it's got some fertilizers in there, and filled up styrofoam cups with it. It's been 2 days and all i got is in one cup a little white root that just poked the surface. I'm worried I might be doing something wrong. How often should I water them, and when should I start putting them under light?

just keep them moist, not soaked.
don't put under light until you see the sprout.
the white is either the sprout coming up (wait until the leafs show), or it's the tap roots trying to get orientated ( it will turn down back into the soil)

Did you plant with the root down into the soil?
And fertilizers aren't good for seedlings.

I planted them sideways, but does that mean my plants ruined? also, the fertilizer is as old as last summer, so I doubt there's any left, I don't know why I included that.

I wouldn't worry about it. all soil has some nutes and ferts in it. otherwise nothing would ever grow. and don't worry about planting them sideways, it'll just take a lil longer for the root to right itself.

Yah, What orecal said. Damn orecal. All day i been posting. And it seems everytime. You come out with the answer before anyone else does. Good job. Rep points 4 u! And, if its your first time and your using grow lights. I'd reccomend CFL's They are cheap and simple. And its easy to set up a simple grow room. i made mine like last second. And im still building it... The building never ends!!. But yah. Listen to orecal. He seems to know what hes talking about

lol, once again got another real noob problem, If the seed splits open, and like completely breaks apart, is that a good thing? I see the root but also both halves of the seed split apart completely, meaning its completely opened.

well, from experience. i would tell you no it wouldnt grow. But im not sure on that. it might. i dug a few of mine up 2 just to see how it was going. and it messed them all up.

No it's not ruined just handle with great care because you can damage the sprout permanently if you hurt it

HannoMaximus said:

lol, once again got another real noob problem, If the seed splits open, and like completely breaks apart, is that a good thing? I see the root but also both halves of the seed split apart completely, meaning its completely opened.

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Nothings wrong...it just germed too long. Plant it and it will grow, given that you take care of it. How big are the cups?

You can put light on them while they are planted or when they sprout...

Water once a week or less...

Ph your water!!

Well, if you guys actually read what he said. He already planted them which means he dug them up. And like i said. that fucked mine all up. But u can probably salvage them.

you should not have dug them up. i told you they'd be fine......... man, have PATIENCE

lol, definatley. All good things come to those who wait.

Skitzotic said:

Well, if you guys actually read what he said. He already planted them which means he dug them up. And like i said. that fucked mine all up. But u can probably salvage them.

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Sorry...I guess you can take it from here...

alright, one of my three plants is definatley growing good, its sprouted up real nice and everything, and is in fact the same one I dug up, as for the other two, which I didn't even mess with, I just watered, they arent showing anything yet, they've been planted in since Saturday, so should I give up on those two?

Hey Hanno,

I'm no expert or anything, but I'm halfway through my first grow and I've learned quite a bit so far. SO some advice to avoid the mistakes I've made.

Invest in enough equipment so you know what is going on with your plants and keep records of what you do when. It's incredibly hard for people to help you online when you don't know what your PH is, temps are, humidity is, nutrients are. Also, when did you water? How much did you water? Keep track of this stuff. Start a grow journal on this website and write it down there. Put a link to it in your signature. Then people can find out about the history of your grow and give you better advice.

1. Be patient! This is a 6 month journey you are embarking on. You may get some great bud out of it. You may get nothing. Its the only way to learn though.

2. Mylar - $13 online Don't use tinfoil. Get this stuff if you are going to grow inside for a bit. Or just stick with white walls. That works too.

3. Temps/Humidity - $10 at Target This thing will record the min/max temp and the min/max humidity of your grow area.

4. PH - $5 at hardware I notice these things everywhere I go now. It's good for 10 tests of your soil and water and it worked for me. There are home ingredient solutions to raise and lower PH.

5. Moisture meter - $5 at hardware Does what it says. You can see how moist/dry your soil is at the bottom of your container.

6. Nutrients - $30-40 at ? I found mine at Longs Drugs for $30. Get these, follow the chart. It makes it easy for you and takes out a lot of the guess work. Chances are you won't over fertilize them either.

7. Misc. Get a oscilating fan if your going to keep them inside to make the stems strong, cycle the air and keep away molds. Also, get big enough pots (3 to 5 gal), keep a close eye on them for pests if you are growing outside and be ready to react to pests immediately (already have your solution in hand.)

8. And read the crap out of this website. There is a lot of good info in the GrowFAQ. Make sure to look there before you post. And don't trust everything everyone tells you. People mean well, but it's just hard to know when you can't see, touch, live with the plants yourself.

I'm sure not everyone will agree, but that is what I've learned so far. I sure wish I had started with all of this info. It would have saved me a lot of headaches at this point.

Good luck!