Newbie Intro --> Grow Tent-->Seeds?

[MrPicklesCC]

Well, I figured joining a message board would be a good idea/resource as I dive into the realm of Marijuana Cultivation.

My name is Steve, I am 33 years old and father to one. I am from the east coast but recently relocated to Arizona and have decided to give Marijuana Cultivation the ol' college try. I grew Pyschedelic Mushrooms for several years back in college so I like to think I do have a bit of a green thumb and ability to follow instruction.

For my first grow, I have selected Feminized Skywalker Kush Seeds. I will be growing in a 3x3 Lighthouse 2.0 Grow Tent under a 315W LUX CMH. I am running a carbon scrubber with a 4'' inline fan. To finish things off I will be running 2 oscillating fans inside the Grow Tent to help air movement. I have decided to germinate my seeds using the paper towel method, then transplant directly into FoxFarm Ocean Soil (or whatever it is called). After about 2 weeks in little cups, I plan to move to 3-gallon fabric pots.

How does that sound? What is your preferred method of germinating seeds?

I will make sure to make a Grow Log/Thread and post pictures of my progress. I suffered a short setback when I decided to order 2 extra crossbeam supports for the top of the tent (I felt it would help support the weight of the light, filter, and fan better as I will be mounting all 3 inside the tent from the roof) and I had to order replacement Light Hanging Fixture mounts as one was broken, grrrr. So yeaaah, I will not be able to complete tent construction until next weekend BUT that gives me time to learn more

Well I look forward to joining this community and look forward to learning a lot from you experienced folk and sharing with you my journey into cultivation.

FF

 

[MrPicklesCC]

The 315W CMH is what I have; will this suffice for germination, veg, and flowering? I plan to run 3 plants inside the 3x3.

 

[WeedHopper]

I would not plant your seedlings directly into FF Ocean Forest. Its too hot. I grow with FFOF and i can tell you its a great soil but its a little to hot for seedlings. Grow your seedings in seed starter in a small cup untill they are a couple weeks old,,let them get pretty dry where you can pull the whole thing soil and plant out of the cup and then transplant into FF and water. Do not add any nutrients untill absolutely necessary because FFOF has plenty ferts.
My plants love it. I use FF on all my plants including Veggies and Fruits. Once they go into Flower i use FF Liquid Nutrient's like Tiger Bloom and CalMag.

 

[WeedHopper]

This is C99 in FF Ocean Forest. All i add is water. I think this plant is about 4 weeks old from seed in this picture.

 

[user 60570]

Hello Falcon Farms and welcome aboard..

I germinate seeds after soaking them and then into paper towels

all the best with your grow!

 

[ROSTERMAN]

 

[pute]

Welcome FF! Sounds like you have a good plan in place. This is a trial and error process at first. The more research and listening to the members here will help ensure your success. After awhile growing marijuana will become 2nd nature and as easy as driving a car. (Unless you are Tiger Woods).

Have fun and enjoy your new hobby.

 

[MrPicklesCC]

I would not plant your seedlings directly into FF Ocean Forest. Its too hot. I grow with FFOF and i can tell you its a great soil but its a little to hot for seedlings. Grow your seedings in seed starter in a small cup untill they are a couple weeks old,,let them get pretty dry where you can pull the whole thing soil and plant out of the cup and then transplant into FF and water. Do not add any nutrients untill absolutely necessary because FFOF has plenty ferts.
My plants love it. I use FF on all my plants including Veggies and Fruits. Once they go into Flower i use FF Liquid Nutrient's like Tiger Bloom and CalMag.

Thank you very much for the feedback on FFOF; So, I would be better served to use just straight Coco Coir for Germination through the first 2 weeks? (I still plan to germinate in paper towels)

You run FFOF without any nutrients added for Veg and Flowering? I am brand new to this so I am not questioning your method, just asking for clarification.

Any Growers from Arizona/New Mexico? I am wondering how being in such a dry state effects humidity with indoor grows.

 

[WeedHopper]

I Use FFOF and i dont add Nutrients during vegg unless its absolutely needed because the soil is hot enough without it,,,,but i do add FF liquid Ferts for Flowering.

 

[MrPicklesCC]

I picked up some different medium for the first 2 weeks today; a peat moss/ coir/ vermiculite blend. So I think that will be a lot better.

How do you feel about the 315W CMH from seedling through flowering? Can I run the 315W CMH on the seedlings as long as I back the light a couple feet? OR should I spend another 30-40$ on a couple cheap lower wattage grow lights (like the little clamp on lights with 120-150W LED bulb?)

Thank you very much for your advice and feedback. I will be making my first Grow Log here once I finish construction on the Tent.

 

[BoCoGrow]

Thank you very much for the feedback on FFOF; So, I would be better served to use just straight Coco Coir for Germination through the first 2 weeks? (I still plan to germinate in paper towels)

You run FFOF without any nutrients added for Veg and Flowering? I am brand new to this so I am not questioning your method, just asking for clarification.

Any Growers from Arizona/New Mexico? I am wondering how being in such a dry state effects humidity with indoor grows.

I'm growing in FFOF myself. Following is a pic of an autoflower I'm running that is day 31 from sprout as of yesterday, though I've realized that I overfed with Cal-Mag and now she is in the infirmary and I'll be fighting to salvage her.

Please stay away from mixing soil and coco. Coco and soil require different PH ranges. Soil holds nutes and salts longer than coco does. Choose a style that fits you and run with it. If you really geek out about mixing nutes and watering, go with coco. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is soil such as buildasoil.com's 3.0 soil version which is intended to be a water only approach from seed to harvest (everything the plant will need is already in the soil mix).

An alternative to what Mr. Hopper mentioned (starting out the seeds in seed starter mix in a cup), after filling a pot with FFOF, I scoop out roughly a softball size amount of the soil and fill the hole with the seed starter mix, and then I plant the seed there.

To each their own, but I just plant seeds right into the soil. No presoak or anything else. Be cautious with paper towels as you could rip off some young lateral roots when taking the seed out of the towel, and that isn't a great way to start, particularly if you are using autos (I saw you asked about autos in another post).

And welcome! I don't live in AZ or NM, but I'm in Colorado and the winters here are very dry. I have one humidifier running in my 4x4 tent 24/7, and sometimes 2, particularly to keep the humidity up when I'm running the exhaust fan in the 10 x 10 room the tent is in.

I'll copy and paste a detailed description from a long-time grower breaking down how he sets up his FFOF, amends it, and recycles the soil. That will be in a PM. Here's the plant I mentioned above:

 

[MrPicklesCC]

Thank you for your reply--- I did not mean that I would be mixing coco coir and soil. I got a bag of the seed starter soil which you were referring to because I have now heard from multiple sources that the FFOF may be a bit "hot," for the seedlings.

Now I am starting to second guess the whole soaking in paper towel method.. I might just plop the seeds straight into the Jiffy- Natural & Organic Seed Starting Mix (it contains peat moss, coco coir, and verm.) then transplant into 3-gallon FFOF soil when they are ready.

I hate my scientific personality sometimes; I do not like when there are many different ways to accomplish the same thing. I like exact and precise steps.

 

[BoCoGrow]

If you are unfamiliar with Dr. Bruce Bugbee, he has some great videos on growing herb, such as this one: He gets super into the science.

Again, to each their own when it comes to germination style. Lots of people use paper towels. Heck, even the breeders at Mephisto Seeds recommend doing so in their grow guide. I just don't and I've been quite satisfied with the germination rate.

Just keep in mind that seeds like a warm, humid environment. After planing the seeds, I mist the surface and inside of garden "cloche" domes, put that over the soil, and put the pots on a heat mat until they sprout in 3-5 days. Then into the tent and under the light.

Separately, I've attached a Vapor Pressure Deficit table for matching plant stage with temp and RH, in case you haven't found one you like yet.

P.S. while I'm not out of the weeds yet, I just checked on my plants after lights on and they are looking a lot better since giving them a sizable layer of Build-a-Flower top dress kit, topped with some barley straw, and some water (the barley straw helps keep the top dress moist so it doesn't become hydrophobic).

Bonus: the buds have turned purple, the sugar leaves are starting to turn purple, and trichome production is underway. I have to say I'm impressed by Roc Bud Inc.'s genetics. These plants still have 30-40 days left to go, so if all goes well, they should be stacking on the buds.

 

[MrPicklesCC]

Yeah, I am liking more and more the sound of putting the seeds straight into the seed potting mix to germinate, then popping them straight under the light.

Again-- with my specific question, the 315W CMH, will this be too much to put on the seedlings? Or can I run with it as long as I back it off of the plants by a couple feet?

Thank you for that graph! I had not seen one or even knew they existed. I will definitely print it out and add it to my binder of helpful resources

I plan on running the tent for a couple days with no plants or nothing in it; just lights and fans running that way I can get a base idea of what kind of temps/ rH we are running. If Humidity becomes and issue, I will have to adjust on the fly, same with temperature. Although I feel like if I keep my house at 74/75, the plants should be about perfect at 77/79

 

[BoCoGrow]

Yeah, I am liking more and more the sound of putting the seeds straight into the seed potting mix to germinate, then popping them straight under the light.

Again-- with my specific question, the 315W CMH, will this be too much to put on the seedlings? Or can I run with it as long as I back it off of the plants by a couple feet?

Thank you for that graph! I had not seen one or even knew they existed. I will definitely print it out and add it to my binder of helpful resources

I plan on running the tent for a couple days with no plants or nothing in it; just lights and fans running that way I can get a base idea of what kind of temps/ rH we are running. If Humidity becomes and issue, I will have to adjust on the fly, same with temperature. Although I feel like if I keep my house at 74/75, the plants should be about perfect at 77/79

Unfortunately I can't help with the light question. I hope someone else here can. To be transparent, I did some closet grows in San Francisco like 20+ years ago, so I'm in the process of relearning things myself, particularly since I'm using an LED light which is new type of light for me. Have you contacted the light manufacturer to ask for their thoughts? I emailed mine about the light intensity setting and height above canopy, and they responded with a suggested starting point (more of a "different plants like more or less light, this will be a safe starting point.").

Not suggesting that you have an endless budget, but if you can afford an exhaust fan for your tent like this AC Infinity Fan + Controller, they are sweet. Using their app, you can program min/max temp and RH and the fan will turn on/off and adjust the fan speed when conditions go out of bounds. Similarly, Inkbird has a humidity controller that you can connect with a humidifier AND a dehumidifier, and the Inkbird will automatically turn those on and off as needed. Personally, I would like to automate as much as possible in my space, but that will take time and money.

The topic that is most difficult for me is nutrients. There is so much information out there, and conflicting information, and again, everyone does it differently. And it is frustrating that cannabis isn't like a kid in that you feed it and it says "yuck" immediately after; I've been feeding my plants the same combination of things multiple times per week, and only after 30 days do they start showing signs that something is wrong. Hope I can fix it, but as another grower said, it is going to look worse before it gets any better.

 

[WeedHopper]

Boco thats why i told him to use seed starter and let it dry when ready to transplant because you can remove the whole thing from the cup without disturbing the roots and put it into the FF.
As for lights, I am using CFLs and a 4ft 6 tube HOT5 system.
https://www.marijuanapassion.com/threads/hoppers-growing-cheap😁.79159/post-1115670

 

[MrPicklesCC]

Well thanks to you two gentlemen, I now feel pretty confident about at least getting them to the seedling stage.

Now I need to figure out more specifics about this light. I will take that to the Cultivation Forum.

Thanks again!

 

[ROSTERMAN]

Hey Pickles Its You Baby I love it..................

 

[MrPicklesCC]

Your username is funny to me. I know a man who goes by the name Rooster Cogburn and swears he is related to the real Rooster Cogburn. He owns an Ostrich Farm near me called Rooster Cogburn's Ostrich Farm. I actually worked for him 1 summer on his farm.

https://www.roostercogburn.com/