Welcome to the forum, even if you are testing people's patience.
Do you just ignore what people are telling you or what? EVERYONE has told you NOT to feed them for the first 3 to 4 weeks!
If you had read the stickies and the resource links, you wouldn't be arguing like this.
You have also been told several times that PH is critical through out their life, not just the first weeks.
Why is it that people post that they are inexperienced, ask for advice and then argue with everything that people tell them? If you want to hear the truth to the best of the poster's knowledge and beliefs, then ask away; but if you just want people to agree with you, then write to yourself. This is NOT intended to be a personal attack on you because it happens all the time.
If you are getting totally conflicting advice, then you need to decide what makes the most common sense but even then arguing with the other point of view doesn't earn you points, even with the side you believe.
Also, the PH for soil is usually listed as between 6.0 and 6.5. I know some people grow at 7.0 and if it works for them great, but another thing you need to know when talking about PH is when are they measuring it, before mixing, before application, after runoff/draining, or the soil PH, because frequently it will change depending upon when and how your are measuring it.
Follow your nutrients manufacturer's instruction for when to adjust the PH, before or after mixing them because some nutes are PH neutral -- that is they don't change the PH of the water they are mixed with significantly -- while others are buffered meaning that they try to adjust the PH of the solution, in which case you mix them, wait for a while for the PH to stabilize, test the PH and then adjust it.
In any case you do NOT feed seedlings or fresh clones until you get new growth that is starting to get paler than when they first started. For seedlings, that is usually around the time that you have 5 or 6 sets of REAL leaves not counting the to false leaves that first appear as or shortly after the sprout emerges from the medium. If you are sprouting them in soil that already has nutes in it, you risk burning and killing them and when you start feeding them start with very dilute mixtures and gradually work your way up to full strength. Personally I prefer to star them in Black Gold that does NOT have nutes in it. In fact that is what I use all the way through growing in soil.
I apologize for getting in your case, but you wee going no where and I get so tired of watching people ask for information or advice and then try to argue about what they get back. If you don't understand what the answer means, then ask for clarification, but don't argue. That arguing with the answers will result sooner or later in people seeing your name and just skipping the post altogether or at least not giving you answer.
There is more knowledge and help on this forum than anyone person can ever learn, but there is a lot of misinformation too, usually given in good faith, but occasionally just given to screw with the person asking the question because the person asking POed them. Learn to sit back and wait to see what the common position is rather than getting in arguments --maybe another way to put it is to be a little humble. I;m still learnig this and I'm 62 so it isn't an easy thing to do.
People respect my answers, at least for the most part, not because I'm any smarter than anyone else but I LISTEN and think about the answers I get or what I read in the answers to other people's questions.
People tell me I'm doing great with my grows, way above my experience level, and it is only because I listen to other more experienced growers and try to incorporate it into my operation and technique USE OUR FAILURES TO AVOID MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES. I also have been lucky to have excellent mentors and to get some great varieties by accident because I sure didn't know enough to make informed choices.
Remember, while there are simple basic things that just plain do not work, by in large we are growing domesticated WEEDS that have grown wild for eons on nearly every continent and in nearly every climate that you can think of. The most common fatal mistake that even experienced grower make is "loving their plants to death" by over watering and/or over feeding them. Also, it is a lot harder to cure over watering or over feeding than to correct/recover from under watering and/or feeding.
You will get groups of people who share different opinions that other groups on almost any issue, but usually both groups are right, because you will never be able to duplicate exactly some one else's technique and certainly not their results.Like which light cycle to use when vegging -- some of our very senior members who get super results swea by 24 hours a day lighting during veg, while oters swer by18/6 and other by 16/8. I use 16/8because that is what I was taught and I have more important things to learn first than which on is the most effective and productive. Maybe once I get the other stuff down I will start trying longer lights on periods, but not yet. If it works -- don't mess with it is always a good idea. Another one is keep it simple, and in my case ending with stupid to spell out KISS.
Good smoking and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
