My first real grow & Can I save save un used coco coir

Thanks, I thought I would have to wait. I have feminized seeds on order here, This grow is kind of a fill in - learn stage. I think I will just wait it out and see after the plants get to a foot and a half or so, then switch to flowering. Even though I have been reading non stop about this stuff. I still have every thing to learn. And yep, I am in a 6 plant state, Calif. The last time I did this. The male plant was about 3 times the size of the female. When it comes to being patient. I am terrible. I am figure this will help me to be a little more patient. I have always been into cars or bikes for my hobby. With that, I could just work non stop if I wanted to get things done. This seems more like a drive in the country. take it slow and enjoy the ride. :smiley:
Thank you for the advise

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Brother i started growing in dec '16, my first plant i learned so mich and I had an issise and lost it. The second grow was 1000 years ahead of the first and it always improves. You cs2n never learn it all, I’m constantly learning and talking to people about different techniques. I have something in mind and after I get the ones I have now out of the way, i beleive I’ll embark on that adventure haha

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I am starting to think have read so much that I am foggy brained. I know that no matter how every thing turns out this time. it will be better than the last. As as you say. I will learn more with each grow. I am probably over thinking the germination stage. I want it done so I can grow lol My neighbor started my last plant. He came by one day, handed it to me and said here you go. I never though much about it till I had the plant here… After that, I was hooked.

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Yes there is a lot of information out there. I honestly don’t read a lot all the time. I break it up because there is so much. I’ve been reading about grafting and fluxing lately. Both have me fascinated

Welcome, sounds like you have a good plan for everything. One thing I noticed you might need soon is a TDS pen, they are pretty cheap & help you know how much you are feeding & how much is being absorbed by the plant. TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids & tells you how much stuff is in your water, there is also EC or Electronic Conductivity, same thing just on a slightly different scale/measurement. :+1: :smile:

Thanks Buds007, I will look it up and get me one. I would rather spend a few more dollars now as to waiting till I have issues. I saw that when I ordered my ph meter. I just didn’t know what it was. I just finished building a little tray to drop all the planters in. I can put a drip pan under it so I can remove it to drain the excess water with out disturbing the plants. I am going to make another one for the final pots.@Dieselgrower, I have a folder with articles for every stage on growing saved. It’s nice to be able to get answers explained to questions that I may not be to sure about in here. All I need now is for the little seedlings to start showing there little faces lol If I have questions for other things, Say lights or any thing that is not really related to the coco. Should I keep them here or start a new thread with that topic. I am all good for now. just for future questions I may have. You guys are a great help. I really appreciate it.

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If it is a question I would look through the fourm before posting a new topic to see if you can answer your own question. If you can’t find then either ask it in your own journal or start a new topic in the correct field. If that makes sense. Holler if you ever need anythin brother and I’ll help as much as possible.

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I have found most of what I look for. There is one odd question I have. For seedlings. How much light should I give them. There are tons of the same question but no one answers it for what I need. I know it should be 18/6 hours. I couldn’t find how much actual light though. 23 watts? - 200? or more. I was thinking a 23 watts to start then after a week or so, bump it up to 84 and then when they are plant looking. Give them 336 - 420 or? I have not found how much and how soon.
Thanks DG

It really depends on what you have and what yoir budget can handle. I have always started my seeds under whatever light I’m gonna use. I just watch them closely, I have that luxury since I just a vet that sits around the house and watches his medicine grow haha. Knock on wood I have only lost one seedling and that was my real first time growing. It was a big bud that dampped off.

So basically, I don’t have to worry about giving them to much light, correct? That was my concern.

They don’t really need a lot of light at first. That’s why people use a few CFLs. Once they get 3 or 4 leaf nodes you can crank up the light to full. Like 35-50 watts per square foot. They really do need about 50 to make thick buds but will vegetate with 35…

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You can give them too much light in means of intensity. I was mearly stating my situation. I don’t have a way of not starting them under the lights I grow with. I will usually start my lights at 35" and go from there, but every plant is different. The 4 seedlings I have now went right under the 600 and. 450w lights with no problem starting at around 34 or so and are now 30"

Thank you both of you. That answered my question perfectly. I will start with two 23 watt bulbs then when the plants look like they are doing good. i will add the rest of the lights. I was going to go with 504 watts over all. I have more if I need for the sides or any shaded ares.

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Sounds like you got her licked brother. Holler if yiu need anythin

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He can take a cutting put it in a bottle of ph water and put it in 12/12 and see if it starts to show sex

Thanks DG, And for the cutting, How old would the plant have to be for that? I have nothing but time and plenty of lights to give it a shot.
I had 3 of the seeds in the rapid routers pop there heads out today :smiley: The other one should be close. I put the rooter plugs in the small containers. I hope it was not to soon. I also added

a few lights to the plants now. I have a feeling I am going to learn a lot between the germination and first 2 weeks. if nothing else. it will get me used to mixing in the cal mag and checking the ph. I ordered a TD meter too. Should be here pretty quick. I feel a lot better after seeing the seedlings appear. it has been about a week but seems like it was a month lol I think I have an idea that will allow me to set the lights up to keep them exactly where I want them as well.

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To make a cutting from the plant would require it to be fairly big.

Hey guys. I have one more quick question. I just got a TDS meter. I under stand how to use it in regards to it telling you the ppm. What I can’t find is if your numbers are not what you would like. How do you know what to do to fix it. I have watched a ton of videos on youtube today. All were useless. Not one tells you any thing more than put the meter in the solution and here is your number. If that was all you were after. I could see no reason for any one to buy this. So, I am hoping to gain a little more wisdom here.
Now on a brighter note. I got my AK-47 seeds a few days ago. I was hoping to get the Blue Dream today to start them as my first real grow. The up side is The over all growing sounds to be quicker for the AK’s. After doing more research. I learned that from beginning to end is twice as long as I had though. I read it takes almost 2 months at the end to cure these. Good thing I am not in a hurry lol
For the seedlings I had started. I let them go today in order to start the AK seeds. I learned a great deal in the week with those seeds. I made the decision based on I know these seeds are female. I would have to grow the others out before I knew what I had. The up side was in 3 short days. The seedlings I let go were all ready close to 1 1/2" tall. I have the new seeds in a bowl of water now. I will start germinating them tomorrow. I have surgery monday. I figure by tuesday or so, these should be ready for the rapid rooters.
Another strange this was, when I started the seedlings for the others. I started with 3. Two were 3/4" tall & the other was about 3/8" when I put them in the coco coir. I gave each of the tall plants a 42w day light bulb. The 3/4" one got a 42w flower bulb. I turned set the lights to come on with the timer. When I got up in the morning. The little one with the flower bulb was as tall as the other 2. This is the little guy when I left it at night and what it became by morning.

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Lil girl shot up overnight! She’s like the Lil sister not wanting to get left behind
And if your checking TDS of your feed mix and you think it’s a Lil high, all you have to do is add some more 6.5ph water
Too low of numbers add a Lil more nutes.
Or am I not understanding you Q.
@Not2SureYet

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@Not2SureYet

Try measuring the water before you add anything, that gives you a baseline. Add the nutes you want to use and measure again. Subtract the baseline number and you know how many PPM the nutes added.

If your baseline PPM is high then the final PPM (with nutes added) will be even higher, maybe too high for the plants. In that case you can try running the water through a filter or buying distilled water. The downside to that is you will reduce the amount of Calcium and/or Magnesium and have to add a supplement

Note: TDS meters are really measuring EC (electrical conductivity) and they do a conversion from EC to PPM. Unfortunately there are two ways to convert EC to PPM (scaling factors 0.5 & 0.7). Make sure you know what the conversion factor is when comparing PPMs with other people or use EC otherwise the numbers are meaningless