This is my first post here. I wanted to introduce myself and say hello, I have a feeling I am going to need some help! I am from the Great Plains in beautiful USA where we enjoy a humid continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. I have never grown before, but I have been exposed to a few private grows over the years, so I am not completely ignorant. I am not just diving in with no plan, I have been thinking about doing this for a decade. This is a personal hobby only, and I encourage everyone to assume I do not know what I am doing and provide any feedback (condescending or otherwise) that you may think could help me.
Key parameters
Room: Gorilla Shorty 2x4 tent with extension (5’8") in basement
Light: HLG 300L R-Spec
Exhaust: JetFan 4" (shoutout to Gary from PA Hydroponics)
Fans: Two Gorilla 6" clip on, one blowing on top of light, other below
Media: 70% Rx Green Clean Coco 15% Perlite 15% Vermiculite
Water: Distilled, added Coco-Wet and Cal-Mag, pH to 6.5
Seed: ILGM Girl Scout Cookies Extreme Auto
Containers: 7-gal fabric and 3-gal plastic
The air exhausts out of the side port up top, and I have the bottom vent open to allow air in. I have a hygrometer on the side and another one under the light and I took measurements for a week. It averages 40% humidity right now and 76-77 degrees with the light on, at night it drops to 69 degrees. I plan to get a small space heater to help with that temperature drop.
I am growing two plants and experimenting with containers, one small 3-gallon and a larger fabric 7-gallon. Seeds have been germinated and are reaching for light. I have the light 22" away and the dimmer set to 40% power.
I took a time lapse video, I am not able to post that here, for some reason it will only allow an image. The video revealed a tiny bug crawling/flying around. Should I be concerned about this and, if so, what are my options to eradicate? I figure it’s not an issue until I notice some issue on the leaves, but I want to be proactive. I put a yellow and blue sticky trap nearby. I have used Diatomaceous Earth powder on outdoor potted plants that I bring in for the winter. But of course I have no intentions of ingesting those plants, so I am not sure how safe it would be to use in these.
More pictures/updates (and most likely a horror story ending) to follow! Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any assistance!
Could be fungus gnats. I’m finishing my first grow and also had them lightly early on. I bought some nematodes from amazon and went full offensive. Haven’t seen them since.
Welcome! Sounds like you’re off to a great start! You can get mosquito bits and sprinkle a little on top of your soil since it’s too young to really give a good soaking of dissolved product. Also sticky traps. I just started my first indoor as well, but grew 2 GSCE autos outside and was definitely satisfied with the results. Good luck and happy growing!
Wow, what an excellent idea! Never heard of such things, so I did a little research. Today as a result of your reply, I went to the local hydro store to see if they had nematodes, and they did (in a fridge), but they are a little bit pricey, so he said since I already have diatomaceous earth powder, I should first try a little “moat” around the seedling, medieval style. Laughed my ass off with the whole moat description, brilliant. I will be doing that tonight now that soil is dry. If this fails I will certainly try the nematodes. Thank you for your reply
A grower here suggested soaking a cap of mosquito bits in water for 24 hours and use that to water the plants. You have to reapply every three days since it kills the larvae and not the eggs. Keep using the sticky traps for those that hatch. I used to have sticky traps coated with gnats but now just a few now and then. I use the mosquito bit juice about weekly has a preventive measure.
Last night when soil was dry as a bone, I put a moat of diatomaceous earth powder around the seedlings. I am probably too paranoid about the little bug I saw in the time lapse video, but this can’t hurt. I misted lightly inside the moat this morning, and completely saturated the saucers under the container (water from the bottom up).
There are a couple things I forgot to mention in my first post. I chose the best and the worst seed from the package for this grow. The worst appearing seed (tiny and completely black) is in the 3 gallon pot. The biggest best looking seed is in the 7 gallon pot. Neither of these popped after 72 hours in a glass of water left in the dark at 70 degrees and 40% humidity. I almost threw them away, but thought I would try my old paper towel method. So I put them on a plate, and put the plate on my furnace. Two days later they finally had a tail! We are talking 120 hours total, I think they’re a little shy.
The fabric pot is sitting in a saucer now, but I have a riser at the ready, I plan to lift it up once it gets to the point where it is drinking a lot of water. My light is at 40% and after a couple weeks I plan to increase it 10% each week until the end. Is that a good idea?
Thank you! I took another time lapse video today, and I saw a couple again, they seem bigger and flying around versus crawling on the soil. So they are undoubtedly growing. What is interesting is that my sticky trap is empty. I am using one of the big yellow sticky traps that say “Sticky Aphid Whitefly” on the packaging. The time lapse video also revealed one landing on and presumably chowing down on the white powder, so that one ought to die soon. I am going to get some of these mosquito bits tomorrow, as sort of an early term abortion approach, I like it! Thanks again
Found another one of these bugs on the sticky trap. I believe it’s a fungus gnat comparing to some pictures, but it’s hard to tell (a bug is a bug to me), so I am trying the mosquito bit solution tomorrow. Thanks for that tip. I have been watering from the bottom to avoid soaking the diatomaceous earth. I sprinkled some more DE all over the soil. If these little sons of bitches aren’t gone in a week, I will try nematodes or completely break down and get a spray like pyrethrin.
Oh and speaking of sticky traps, one fell off its tie and landed on the plant, it was literally stuck to the leaf of a seedling! The horror when I opened the tent. The entire bug colony was really laughing it up, I’m sure. I was able to carefully unpeel the trap from the leaf. But of course some of the sticky stuff remains on the leaf. Is the plant going to die? I have learned my lesson: I need to tie these traps down better so my fan does not blow them off.
I contacted HLG and received an excellent response today:
Here is a breakdown to help you understand the dimmer for your 300R-spec:
30
50
85
120
150
180
205
230
245
250
The 2 click is about 20%
The 4 to 5 click is 50%
The 7 is about 80%
The 8 to 10 close to 100%
This is caused by the manual potentiometer. It isn’t perfect, but it works very well to help regulate light intensity.
I usually say, run the lights at 20-30" above the canopy at the 2-3 intensity for clones and seedlings. They do not need much light yet and can run the risk of over metabolizing/self cannabalizing their leaves.
Once the plants are starting to mature in veg, say 3-4 nodes, then increase the intensity to 40-60%, but keep the height the same.
Once you are well into veg, or are ready to flip to flower, going to an intensity of 60-100% and adjusting the height accordingly.
Also, please note that this is a rough guide. As you experiment with different strains and different media/nutes/styles of growing, things can change.
I am currently at 22" and on the 4th click, so I will raise the light a few inches and turn the dimmer down one click.
I am a little surprised, this seedling with the sticky trap that fell on it, it does not seem to give a shit. It is almost saying “thank you may I have another”
No new adult pests on the sticky traps, and in the time lapse vids now I am only seeing a rare crawly here and there. Between the DE and the mosquito bit solution, I think I have the bastards dominated. I got to thinking about this, and I probably need to chill when it comes to these so-called pests. Must remind myself this is a plant that is supposed to be able to withstand exposure to all of these natural elements.
A little mist this morning, pic looks lime green but it is not. This old iphone camera also seems to want to focus on the soil instead of the plant
The sticky leaf plant in the bigger container looking good too
Pics taken yesterday after a misting. This morning I gave enough mosquito bit diluted water to cover the whole surface.
These plants are not alone; I have some basil seedlings in the tent now they are about 1/2" tall. I also have a couple hydrangea cuttings, and am trying to sprout a couple marigolds.
I have just been watering with dechlorinated tap water, a very small amount of cal-mag (less than half recommended dosage) trying to pH to 6.5. I have not added any other nutrients to the water. As mentioned in original post the coco was amended with worm castings and Happy Frog All Purpose (6-4-5) at 2 tablespoon per gallon of medium as recommended for “new container plants”. Hope this is not nitrogen overload.
I really have not watered much, just a little but each morning. I have only watered enough to cover the surface of the entire pot one time. I kinda feel like I might be under-watering.
The morning after my last post, I gave it a pretty good watering, covered the whole surface. Then I left for 2.5 days. Opened up to some pretty good growth:
The tip yellowing is still there, I am just going to keep watering with 6.5 water for another week or so. If any suggestions please let me know, I am all ears
Wish I could attach videos on here; the timelapse from today of it stretching itself straight up from this tiedown was really cool to watch. They are growing fast and starting to smell a little already
