First time grower looking for help

Grow Cycle Preparations
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Hi there! First time grower here. Did a lot of reading and researching around. I’m a little fuzzy on some details. Can anyone review the below and offer any advice? Any help will be much appreciated <3

Purchases:

  • Seeds - Berry autoflower mix pack - mainly interested in the blueberry.
  • 1.5” Rockwool Starter Plugs for Hydroponics, Rockwool Grow Cubes, 1 Sheets of 28 Plugs
  • Alotpower Seed Trays, 10 Pack Seedling Starter Tray Humidity Adjustable Plant Starter Kit with Dome and Base Greenhouse for Seeds Growing Starting (12 Cells per Tray, Green)
  • Glass Spray Bottle
  • Half gallon bucket thingy to water plants (already have one)
  • 247Garden 5-Pack 5 Gallon Grow Bags/Aeration Fabric Pots w/Handles (Black)
  • FoxFarm FX14054 Happy Frog Nutrient Rich and pH Adjusted Rapid Growth Garden Potting Soil Mix is Ready to Use, 12 Quart

Tent purchase:

  • CoolGrows 2x2x4 Feet Small Indoor Mylar Hydroponics Grow Tent (24"x 24"x 48")
  • Phlizon Newest 600W LED Plant Grow Light,with Thermometer Humidity Monitor,with Adjustable Rope,Full Spectrum Double Switch Plant Light for Indoor Plants Veg and Flower- 600W(10W LEDs 60Pcs)
  • BN-LINK 24 Hour Plug-in Mechanical Timer Grounded Aquarium, Grow Light, Hydroponics, Pets, Home, Kitchen, Office, Appliances, UL Listed 125VAC, 60 Hz, 1875W, 15A, 1/2HP (1)
  • Hurricane Wall Mount Fan-12 Inch, Supreme Series, 90 Degree Oscillation 3 Speed Settings, Adjustable Tilt-ETL Listed, 12-Inch, White
  • iPower GLFANXINLINE4V2 4 Inch 190 CFM Inline Duct Ventilation HVAC Vent Blower Fan for Grow Tent, Silver
  • iPower GLFILT6M 6 Inch Air Carbon Filter Indoor Plants Grow Tent Odor Control Scrubber with Australia Activated C for Inline Fan, Reversible Flange, Prefilter Included

I’m not married to any of the stuff above so feel free to critique the gear if you would like to. The iPower stuff I read is loud I guess. Are there any quieter alternatives?

This is how I understand it. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Step 1: Germinate seeds by placing them in a cup with water. Put it in a dark room. I only want 1 plant to start. Do I germinate just 1 seed or 2? I’m not sure. I read I’ll need 2 seeds per plant with autoflower seeds just fuzzy on the details.

Now I wait 24-48 hours to allow for a tail to grow.

Step 2: Place seeds in rock wool starter plugs. Put plugs in trays. Put the trays in the dome. Water. Spray twice a day. I think this is 2-3 weeks if I recall. Do I need to put it under a light or is the humidity dome good enough? It get’s pretty warm in my back room. Some suggest a 35 CFL light and some don’t.

Step 3: Once plants gets its roots transplant to 5 gallon grow bag. Let the plant grow to about 14” tall.

Step 4: Put the plant in the tent with the light. Now with autoflower plants I shouldn’t need the timer right?

I have no clue how to assemble the tent lol. I’m sure I can figure it out though. So once I have the plant in the tent and the tent configured it’s just a matter of watering, spraying, pruning, and watching the plant grow. Not sure how to prune though. Suppose there are YouTube videos.

I know I missed a lot of details above and that’s where I’m unsure about or don’t know. If you can help that would be awesome! <3 :slight_smile: Thank you in advanced!

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If your only wanting to germinate 1 plant than i would only use one seed. If you ordered your seeds like i did they should be good quality and germinate just fine.
The website i ordered my seeds from was kinda sketchy and they still germinated just fine. As a matter of fact when i read online how to germinate the seed in a glass of water like your talking about it said the seed would sink to the bottom and at that point i was supposed to put it in a wet paper towel until it sprouted a tail but mine sprouted a tail while it was still floating in the glass of water.

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You can throw the light to them as soon as you plant them and yes you might as well go ahead and set your light timer for 18hrs

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Yes you tube has pruning videos and probably a video for just about any question you have but that what i did.
I know you won’t have to prune for a while but when you get ready to look up the lollipopping technique.
Also what do you know about l.s.t. because that technique can more than double your yields?

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You have have enough room to do 2 autos in there especially for a first grow where your not being optimal with that much airflow

Starting seeds personally I just soak my seeds for 24 hours in 1/2 cup water with 1.5 tsp hydrogen pyroxide then i plant in my final pot of medium that is at least half saturated(but ffof is a little hot so some use a gentle soil in starting area) dome it and 3 sprays twice a day.
Also im a little more aggressive with my light schedule 20/4 for autos(yes you can do 24 hours but they start to get tired and start getting deficiencies easier) you may also want to pick up some hydroponic cal mag and a bloom fertilizer as ffof tends to run out mid flower if they’re doing well

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My suggestions and comments, you can take them for what they are worth which probably isn’t much.

Rather then rock wool consider buying some seed starter instead. Rock wool is great for hydroponics but a little harder then necessary for a soil grow. If you want to plant directly into final pot, just place the germinated seed into a depression filled with seed starter. The seed starter makes it hard to overwater and once roots develop they’ll grow into the soil where they are fed. You can dome the seeds with jars or something rather then getting germination set and rockwool stuff. Me, I prefer to start in small pot or cup filled 2/3 with happy frog, top filled with seed starter, placed in germination dome and transplant when established.

Please consider a taller tent, you can thank me later. An new player on the block is AC Infinty, they have sub $100 tents, get the one up from the 2x2x4.

I see you are ordering a 4 inch fan and a 6 inch charcoal filter. I think you need to order the same size items to make connection easy. A 4 inch fan with 4 inch filter is good for a small tent.

A 12 inch oscillating fan is a little much for a small tent, can you find a 6 or 8 inch?

A good light is the single most important item you can buy. Avoid any red/blue LED lamps with veg and flower switch. Look for a lamp with a natural white spectrum. They are the current state of the art with many advantages. They cost a bit more but are well worth it. Mars, Spider Farmer and HLG are common brands that you can look at. If they are out of your price range shop around for inexpensive models, they are still better then red/blue. If you need help ask.

2 important items that are missing are a pH meter and a ppm meter. The pH meter is especially important for maintaining healthy plants. Good ones start at $50 and up. Don’t skimp or it gets frustrating. Again, if you want specific recommendations ask. A ppm meter is inexpensive, think $10-20 and brand doesn’t matter.

When germinating seeds it’s important to keep them warm. Seedling mats are available, but you can use heat from a light or cable box or similar. 75-80 degrees best.

You can start out 24/0 while seedling coming up, but once the second set of true leaves form you should consider putting the lights on a timer. The plants do better if they get a little rest. The least amount I would do is 20/4, but 18/6 would be more common.

The goal is to get you off to a good start. It can seem overwhelming but we are here to help.

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Welcome to the forum @KatieKat0716 ! You will be limited in posts for a little while but you will have a chance to chat more. You are in great hands here and already have some great advice @CMichGrower @GreenSnek @Krayzie30

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