@bob31 My grow details are outlined in the first post on this thread/topic. I think I have most of the important components of my grow listed there. Glad to elaborate if you wish.
Update: @bob31 I have studied the pruning articles you referenced, thank you, I learned a great deal. I will now need to wait until I have plants to actually observe to bring it all together (I have never seen a live MJ plant). I will likely be using a combination of all of these to determine which results are best for my setup. Even though I have just started my grow, I am keeping a detailed daily log (not much to log until they sprout) so that I can learn from both my successful and unsuccessful methods.
Update (amended): Day 5 - Four days since planting seeds in soil after 12 hour soak, two of the Gold Leaf seeds have emerged, WooHoo! Small victory
@merlin44 ,I too was one of those concerned 1st timers. Bagseed rules here. Use it to figure out how not to kill your plants. Follow a log book as to your temps distance of lights watering etc. it’s easy for us to forget stuff for some reason. That way you can go back and make changes. Read the forum in all your spare time, there is a wealth of GOOD info here. After killing my first two go rounds with inexperience, I found that by following my advice given above, I was able to produce these WW plants. Those are 6” pots 13 days from germination.
Thanks @Greasemonkey , All great advice. I started my grow log and journal before even starting the actual grow. As you say, too much to remember without good notes.
Excellent looking plants, good job. I hope that mine are that nice in a week or two.
Day 6: All three Gold Leaf (ILGM feminized) have sprouted and are nearly one inch tall in one day. None of the three White Widow (ILGM feminized) have come up yet. Temperature is 73 - 78 F and rH is 65 - 81% inside the dome, soil pH just a bit less than 7 (pH pen arrived damaged so this is from a cheap two prong meter). No idea why the White Widow have not sprouted, I am hoping that they are just a bit slower to start due to the specific strain. Any thoughts? @neckNflu@Flyr@Myfriendis410@Greasemonkey@bob31@Rugar89 or anyone else…
I am definitely thinking it’s just a strain taking its time. Especially if you’re having good luck with the other ones so your method should be sound. They are all individuals and unique to themselves and how they grow. Great job. You got me itching to start my gold leaf seeds. I still have probably 3 weeks though.
Enjoy your growing and keep up the good work.
Hopefully its just strain related as @neckNflu said. Give them a few more days.
I don’t use peat pots. I use the soak and paper towel method and wait for a tap root. This way I know for sure when they have germinated.
@neckNflu@Myfriendis410@Rugar89 Thanks for the feedback and information, patience is called for, I guess. @Rugar89 I did think of using paper towels for that very reason but decided to put them in soil to minimize the chance of damaging the tap root during transfer. It is like shooting in the dark, though.
Update: In the last hour, two of the three White Widow seedlings have emerged, the other should not be too far behind. We are 5 out of 6 at this point. Might be 6 for 6 when I get home from work in about 12 hours.
I don’t bother with the paper towel. I soak in distilled water with 3 or 4 drops of peroxide in it (softens the husk) and into soil when I see a tap root. I’m at 100% so far.
@merlin44, The H2O2 is safe Don’t mix it 50/50 or anything crazy. I had a pint of water and a teaspoon of H2O2. Mine popped after two days and so far I’m 100% too.
@merlin44. Yep. there’s many articles explaining the benefit of H2O2. A lot of the articles are way too scientific for me but they pretty much say it can be good for plants if used correctly…
Day 7 update: Five of my six seeds have sprouted and appear to be doing well. The environment inside the dome is stable with temp ~75 F and rH ~70% and the soil is slightly moist. I dug up the one White Widow seed that failed to emerge in order to see what was going on under the surface, it has done nothing, I will give it a couple more days before giving up on it. With five plants I will have plenty of plants to learn from during my first grow.
The three Gold Leaf seedlings are about 1 1/2" tall and the two White Widow seedlings ~1".
Day 8 is coming to a close, all of my seedlings are doing well except one White Widow seed which is still showing no signs of life. I don’t know if five out of six ILGM seeds is a reasonable germination rate, I have no experience to compare to.
I just increased the light level by putting put them under one of the full size LED panels now that the plants are all growing but stretching a bit under the starting lights (smaller LED panels).
Environment is stable at 75 F +/- and 65% +/- rH. Can not get an accurate pH reading because I just received my second defective Bluelabs pH Pen in a row. They keep sending my used/returned items and I keep returning them. I don’t get it
Is having 2 - 21/2" seedlings 8 days after soaking in water to start germination reasonable or are these a bit behind what would be expected? It is worth noting that they only have the rounded leaves that first emerge plus a set of small “normal” looking leaves that are a nice green color and are growing each day. @neckNflu@Myfriendis410@Flyr@Rugar89@Greasemonkey@bob31
@merlin44, Evening amigo, I can’t say about the WW but my GL were the same size at the same time. About this time i had to keep telling myself to be patient and not love the little girls to death. By the way, I almost killed one of them by over watering it. Why don’t you take some photos so we can see your success? Photos help document their rate of growth. Compare one week to another if ya know what I mean. Way to go dude. Those Bluelab people better get it together. One more thing Merlin. @ReMoLu has WW and they sprouted and were about the same size after the same time as yours.
I have been doing as you suggest, just looking in on them each morning and evening and misting the soil when it starts to look a bit dry (every other day). No real watering just yet.
I will see about getting some photos, sounds like a very good idea. Thanks @Flyr for the suggestion.
Update: @Flyr I took a few photos but will need to get my white light installed (still building my grow room) the purple light ruins the shot.
Again, thank you @Flyr , I just don’t know what to expect from one day to the next. There is a lot more information on what goes on when the plants really get going but not much describing what we are going to see in the first couple of weeks. @ReMoLu
That way you can go back and make changes. Read the forum in all your spare time, there is a wealth of GOOD info here. After killing my first two go rounds with inexperience, I found that by following my advice given above, I was able to produce these WW plants. Those are 6” pots 13 days from germination.
I hope that mine are that nice in a week or two. 
, gotcha there. I suppose that we are not intending to “disinfect” the seeds so no reason to be too carried away with H2O2. Thank you.