Hello all, i am attempting to grow inside for first time and while i did a bunch of research earlier i just stumbled accross this site and wanted a expert eye to spot any obvious noob mistakes that i might be making. My set up as a closet grow in virginia. I have a 2x2x4 coolgrow grow tent and a 150watt led light. I know that 150 w isn’t even close to the recommended light level but i was planning on one small plant just to see ive the competentcy to grow for personal use. I’ve been planting 3 seeds at a time so i don’t accidentally kill off all my seeds at one attempt and i didn’t have space for all. The first 3 seeds (i got these seeds from the attitude bank…great place would recommend) i planted straight into soil (organic miracle-grow) and got one to sprout…well that batch the light was all the way at the top of the tent, the one seed that sprouted stretched like rubber band and died. The second batch i attempted to germinate using paper towel method. Of these i thought all had died as only one seed split. So this time i lowered the light, got jiffy pellets (what i should have done from the beginning) and holy cow…even one of the seeds i had written off from the paper towel germinated. I just tried repotting one of the seedlings into a bigger pot but after reading through the beginner basics i realize it probably would have been better to leave them in. I don’t particularly pay attention to the waters ph level and now realize that i need to be. But all that information is in the beginners guide…I planted these about 4-5 days ago. the two in the white cups and the one in the big pot are actually the ones i thought got killed in the paper towel.
Any thoughts or worries about this set up? I’ve already got a case fan on the way and am thinking about getting some strip led’s to put along the sides of the tent. Advice on how to maximize and optimize? I didn’t expect this many to survive and am worried about space. What would you do to fix this mess? sorry about pic quality…will take more on or better on request.
Welcome to the community! There are many many people here that have loads of knowledge, so you are in the right place! Based on what I have learned, most will tell you to avoid anything miracle grow (unless it’s for tomatoes lol). There are lots of grow medium options. I started with sunshine mix #3, and have moved to coco. If you want to stick with soil, someone here has the answers to your questions. Ph is super important so you will need to watch that like a hawk. You’ll have to keep those babies short, in a 2x2x4 you’ll be cramped pretty quick!
thanks for fast response. I will definitely have to pay more attention to what is going in. Distilled water seems like the easiest thing in the world to get…until you actually have to get it.
And when they start getting big, you will go through a lot of it lol.
Welcome @daniel3 . I would get a digital PH meter and TDS meter and some PH up , PH down to adjust your water to 6.5 . Don’t over water your seedling . When it comes time to transplant to larger pots I would get different soil to use . Good lighting is one of the most important items that you can have to grow MJ . I would recommend researching all you can about quality lighting . Folks on here can guide you to good lighting for your set up . Ask your questions here and get good help .
Thanks all for the replies.
@seeddog …all these people talking about ph is knocking it in that it is pretty important. I’ve read that 2-3 sq ft per plant is good and for light they need at least 50 w per plant. Is is more important to have one big deeply penetrating light on he ceiling or would taping led strips to the side be more effective vs buying a big monster of a light.?
I think big monster lights are the way to go , but thats just me . lol . I wasted my money on cheaper lights and wished now that I save my money and bought good ones at the start . They will grow plants but you can see the difference with better lighting . I’m using quantum board LED lighting and would not change to anything else . Just bought a 2nd light yesterday for my other tent .
@daniel3 Welcome to the best place to grow. You will find many fine folks here. I’m not much into soil. I grow in coco and am about to go to hydro (DWC).
For that size tent, pending on what type of seeds you bought, auto, photo, fem…etc. one plant could outgrow that tent easily.
If you can fill out this form so we can better assist you. Feel free to tag someone to ask advise. Just use the @ symbol in front of their name. @dbrn32 is the man for lights and knows how to grow s well…lol. If you stick around, you will see he know his stuff!! 
COPY/PASTE: This “Support Ticket” into your forum post.
Answer these simple questions the best you can.
If you do not know, or do not use something; Just say so = NA
Strain; Type, Bag seed, ILGM… name of strain:
Age from Sprout:
Soil in pots, Hydroponic, or Coco / Brand and type of Soil & Size of Pots:
How often do you water and how do you determine when to do so?
PH of water and runoff or solution in reservoir:
What is strength of nutrient mix? EC, or TDS:
Indoor or Outdoor:
Light system, size and height from plants:
Temps; Day, Night:
Humidity; Day, Night:
Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size:
AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier:
Co2; Yes, No:
Add anything else you feel would help us give you a most informed answer. Feel free to elaborate, but short, to the point questions and facts will help us help you…
Good Luck and look forward to helping if I can, if nothing else I might can get someone that can.
@HappyHydroGrower
Strain; assorted seeds from attitude bank. the ones im growing are mig 29, cookies kush, and g13 gigabud i believe. all are autoflowering and feminized
Age from Sprout: 4 days
Soil in pots, Hydroponic, or Coco / Brand and type of Soil & Size of Pots: miracle grow organic potting mix, jiffy pellets, organic compost available.
How often do you water and how do you determine when to do so? once everyother day, push finger into pellet to make sure it’s not dry
PH of water and runoff or solution in reservoir: NA, next on do do list
What is strength of nutrient mix? EC, or TDS: haven’t used it yet but i bought a tube of foxfarm veg nutes. waiting for veggie state before using
Indoor or Outdoor: indoor, but live with a very very very horticultural family, i could probably stealth a seedling or two in our green house and no one would notice until they started turning obvious
Light system, size and height from plants: 1x 150 w full spectrum cob led light approx 18’ above plants
Temps; Day, Night: varies but in air conditioned room/closet. between 70 an 75 most of time
Humidity; Day, Night: Unknown
Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size: none. 1 x 120mm case fan en route
AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier: yes, window mounted ac unit
Co2; Yes, No: No
Sounds like your off to a great start. Not sure about the:
Maybe @Covertgrower @SilentHippie @blackthumbbetty @dbrn32 can she’d some light on your grow. Feel free to give a shout to any and everyone if you have questions.
Typically Miracle Grow isn’t recommended. It has time released nutrients that may not lead to the best result.
As for soil, click on the magnifying glass in the top right corner and search for soil. there are many recipes. I myself am a big fan of Pro-Mix HP. This is soiless. Mostly peat with pH stabilizers and almost impossible to over water with it. I then use general Hydroponic nutrients. (Flora trio series. FloraGro, FloraMicro and FloraBloom). Great stuff and not too expensive. Fox Farm is very popular also.
pH meter is a must. Plants are picky and too much one way or the other will lock out nutrient uptake.
Best of luck. Give a yell if you have any issues. Read the journals here and other posts. They help a lot. 
@daniel3 highly recommended to NOT use the miracle grow product for soil. Fox farms ocean forest, or anything without a time release fertilizer in it.
Update: So i just realized that not all of my seeds were autoflowering and some were photoperiod…oops but ive just started a 12/12 cycle…just got a bag of fox farm ocean forest, ph up and down and test kit, and 4 gallons of distilled water. I know the middle one is stretched all to heavens and the one propped next to the fork kept falling over. But the one in the bigger pot seems to be doing alright. Maybe this is stupid question but are we supposed to cut the netting around jiffy pellets when we repot them? How much long should i give these before i put them in bigger pot now that i have a more ideal potting medium than miracle grow?
@daniel3 there are mixed reviews on the jiffy pots. I believe they’ll be alright. Some people do split the pots and some don’t and others use Pete pellets, you’ll have to find what works for you.
I personally use the pellets. If you have photos then you need to have the light on at least 18/6. Autos will grow no matter what light schedule you’re running.
Also, be sure and not to over water. You should have some kind of dome over your girls to keep the humidity high at this stage, (plastic bottle 16oz or 2L bottle) whatever fits the size pot you have them in, and then just mist the dome twice a day and maybe the soil just a squirt or two.
Once the leave grow to the outside of the pot your growing in, then you transplant up to the next size pot. Burry your plant so the stems has more support around it.
No, they look fine water wise but letting it dry out a little does help with giving the roots air. It’s going to do a lot more damage faster by over watering than under watering.
Unless your family is fine with your plants, keep them out of the green house. They are already easily identifiable…
These are incredibly resilient plants. I’m fairly sure you could go to any vacant lot, get a few shovels of dirt, and grow one in it with un-altered tap water. The quality will suffer, but it will grow. All the nutrients, correct soils, lights, humidity, types of pots to grow in are to make the plant comfortable so it can more easily produce THC and CBD instead of just surviving.
@scavies
Makes sense. So going by the leaves overgrowing pot rule i should transplant the fork one. and i was wrong that one is barneys farm cookies kush
The roots should grow through the net on your pellets just fine, but you can cut it off if you want, just do that carefully in case the grow medium tries to crumble without the net support.
The only downside to moving a plant to a larger container too early (that I know of) is the extra water it’s going to take watering the extra dirt, so it will be easier to over water it. I can see some super experts correcting me and saying something like “well there’s extra nutrient buildup in the soil outside the root grow area” or something similar, but it’s a weed. It will grow pretty much anywhere.
Yes move the fork one now if you haven’t already done it.
Don’t bother aiming towards perfection now, aim for a harvest. Find pictures of nutrient burn and over/under watering for plants that are roughly the size yours are. Keep doing that as they grow so you know what to watch for. This is basically all you have to do to ensure a successful harvest. Play around with low stress training, but get 1 successful harvest under your belt before you try going nuts with PH, humidity, SCROG, or any of the more complicated/high stress training.