I am failing miserably

[mandysky]

Hello Friends! First Time Grower, First Post…I must say, I am not doing a good job at this so far, not at all!

I do have a green thumb, I have a huge veggie garden, I have a small vineyard on my property which is doing quite well, I grow lots of flowers and things…but this seems like a whole different game and I do not understand the rules lol.

Here is my support ticket, I hope this is enought information, some things I just have no idea about.
What strain, Seed bank, or bag seed (photo or auto)
All ILGM Autos so far, I’ve managed to kill almost 13 seeds. I’ve tried White Widow, Northern Lights, Amnesia Haze and Blueberry.
-Age of plant
This poor little gal is 2 months old…Yikes! The other poor little gal I believe is 3 weeks.
-Method: Soil w/salt, Organic soil, Hydroponics, Aquaponics, KNF
Soil. not sure about the salt, I don’t know what that means. I started with just some seed starting soil at the local Fleet Farm. Apparently that was a mistake. Then moved to my garden soil, another mistake as I’ve learned from this amazing forum that Miracle Grow isn’t a friend of cannabis. The smaller plant is in the garden soil, and dying. The bigger 2 month old i did transplant into Fox Farms Happy Frog. It perked up and grew a few more leaves and I was excited…for about a week.
-Vessels: Type and capacity of container (fabric, plastic, etc)
Currently small pots as you can see in the photos. I do have fabric 5 and 3 gallon pots, but I can’t even get one to get big to transplant into those.
-PH and TDS of Water, Solution, runoff (if Applicable)
As I’m reading the forums, I realize I should get a good PH meter…I have well water. However I have an under the sink osmosis tank for drinking water which is what I’ve been using. I have just sprayed them which again, I believe is a mistake. I have not had any runoff yet for fear of overwatering them. I am really confused on Water and PH and all of that, which seems like it would be more simple.
-PPM/TDS or EC of nutrient solution if applicable
I have ILGM nutrients, but I have no idea what PPM/TDS or any of that really means yet, I’m rather confused on that or how to go about it. Also, I’ve not added any nutrients yet as I was assuming they didn’t need it for a little bit until they got bigger, possibly another mistake?
-Method used to measure PH and TDS
I don’t have one…any suggestions are welcome!
-Indoor or Outdoor if indoor, size of grow space
Indoor, 2 X 4 vivosun tent
-Light system List brand and wattage/spectrum
I started off with the Vivosun light that came with the tent, VIVOSUN VS1000 LED Grow Light with Samsung LM301 Diodes & Sosen Driver Dimmable Lights Sunlike Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants Seedling Veg and Bloom Plant Grow Lamps for 2x2/3x3 Grow Tent. Wasn’t sure if that was enough or even good, I saw another grower with this light but also had a Phlizon 1200W LED Plant Grow Light with SMD LEDs Full Spectrum Daisy Chain Plants Light Double Switch Grow Led for Indoor Plants Veg and Flower-1200W and their plants looked amazing, so I bout the Phlizon light as well.
-Actual wattage draw of lights
No idea at all, how would I find this out?
-Current Light Schedule
I have a timer, currently the schedule is 16/8.
-Temps; Day, Night
During the day with the lights on, it’s about 80 in the tent, at night with no lights it’s about 73-75.
-Humidity; Day, Night
I have cups of water in there but the humidity is pretty low, I believe in the 40s. At night I’m not sure.
-Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size
Yes, VIVOSUN 4 Inch 203 CFM Inline Fan with Speed Controller and Leather Sheath, 4 Inch Carbon Filter and 8 Feet of Ducting, Air Filtration Combo for Grow Tent Ventilation which came with the tent.
-AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier,
I have AC, the tent is in my house, I have a built in humidifier with the house AC but that’s it.
-Co2; Yes, No
No idea.

So as you can see, I have a LOT to learn. But dang, I just am at a loss here. Kudos to ILGM, all seeds have sprouted. I put them in a cup of water and transfer to the little pots when they have a tail. Most have died right then, so I’m very open to other methods of starting the seeds! I know for a couple, I let the tail get way too long in the cup of water, others I’m not sure why they died except the soil, bad watering practice, I don’t know.

I have a few seeds left of each kind. But i’m hesitant to start anymore as I can’t keep killing them, I feel super bad for the poor little things!

Any and ALL help would be extremely appreciated! Kudos to the first time growers who have been successful, love seeing the photos and progress, I am unfortunately not one of those as I am failing miserably!

I tried to take as good of pictures as possible, I didn’t want to move them for fear they would just crumble.

Thanks everyone!

[IslandGrown76]

I am happy to help get you to be successful. First things first: start easy and simple and don’t overthink or complicate things. Give me time to respond later. Those plants are done and should be tossed, shut the lights off and lets start from scratch.

[IslandGrown76]

First things first is dialing in your tent. Your humidity is wayyyyy too low. Let me formulate how to write this up. Hoping my experience will be of help. This isn’t my first rodeo

[ChittyChittyBangin]

Im at work, but give me some time later and ill add to whatever @IslandGrown76 has to say…

[IslandGrown76]

Tag team

[mandysky]

@IslandGrown76 and @ChittyChittyBangin thank you SO very much for your help and time, I greatly appreciate it!

[merlin44]

While you are waiting for assistance from the others, here is a link to a topic that might give you some ideas.

Tips and Tricks for Germinating Seeds

If you are struggling with germination or if you have some great advice for those that struggle getting their seeds going, this topic is for you.

If you have not downloaded and studied Bergman’s Grow Bible. It is free and is another source of great information. Last I looked, some of the information on lighting was a bit outdated (that may have been corrected by now) but it should get you pointed in the right direction getting your plants to the point of needing more light.

[MartyMarajuanaseed]

Ive done the same thing to my seedlings when i was in the dark and before i knew
I❤️GM even existed. Once i joined back in May i learned what it was i did wrong. These people here are very helpful.
What is was that i did wrong was feed them nutrients and over watered them while they were seedlings. I also put the seedlings straight into fertilized soil which is a big no no… these guys will help you.

[mandysky]

I have the Grow Bible and it had great info, I feel that I need to read it again though. Thank you for that link, I really appreciate it!

[mandysky]

I agree, these people here are wonderful! I think overwatering was a problem, then under watering lol. I need to find a happy medium with that definitely! Thanks for your advice!

[MartyMarajuanaseed]

Water to drought… water them then let them dry out almost completely. Over watering is not how much at once but how much how often. Also, its not good to let the soil dry out so badly that its completely devoid of moisture because that kills off beneficial bacterias in the soil.
I wouldn’t be where im at today if it weren’t for people like OG incognito and Midwest Guy and a few others here.

[Adam1jam]

For what it’s worth I’m way ahead of you in the killing plants category. One thing I learned is don’t use peat pots, they stunt growth.

[mandysky]

Thank you for that explanation, I was definitely over watering!

[mandysky]

I’m sorry you’re ahead of me in the killing department, but I am glad I’m not the only one lol. I did not know peat pots stunted the growth…do you use Solo cups like I’ve read a lot do?

[Adam1jam]

I’m trying dual solo cup method. LOSTGIRL posted how to do this in a excellent post. Don’t know if there is a way to link you to her post, I tried but no luck. Try to find her on forum.

[HobbyDobby]

I follow this organic method. Pretty straight forward and difficult to fail if you follow along.

Mr. Canucks Grow

[ChittyChittyBangin]

My germination method.

3 parts water
1 part hydrogen peroxide

Soak seed for 8 to 12 hours. Hydrogen peroxide softens the shell and allows more 02 to the seed, you should have a small taproot appear.

Plant directly into premoistened medium TAPROOT UP about 1/2 inch. Seedling should sprout with 2 days. Once seedling sprouts, mist the inside of a clear cup and cover seedling. Ypu dont need to water the soil, just keep misting your cup. Seedlings get their water from the air, not the ground.

[Mosca]

@mandysky. Welcome to the community, look forward to seeing your grow take off. These grommies are and love to grows take off.

[E31destroyer]

Hey, i see that you had been told to start from scratch. Maybe or maybe not. I’m by no means an expert, I’m on my first grow as well. I started off with 3 seeds, two of which died completely. I mean crunchy brown seedlings. I either watered too much, or not enough, i couldn’t get it right. On top of that, i was dealing with excessively high heat, and no way to cool things down. But, my first seed, she’s still alive, she had only a glimmer of green on her pathetic little body.

That’s where i started. I had tried soil, coir, and i couldn’t seem to figure it out. I’m also a farmer, so i work with plants all the time such as yourself so i thought this would be so easy. Well after struggling and unable to figure anything out, my little baby, i thin was going to die. I then started my last ditch effort into getting her everything she needed. I went and got 5 gal buckets from a local box store, and a 3 inch hole saw, a couple net cups, and some water.

Put her inthe cup, added nutrients to the water and was gone for a week, thinking when i got back she would probably be finished. She’s a froot by the foot auto, and she was way behind schedule. A month in and not single true leaf or 2nd node.

She is a 3 leaf handicapable plant, she made it through, and she’s gotten to flower, sometimes she gets a little neglected and is been really really hot, but she’s in full flower right now, no true leaves, lots of bud sites, and way way way behind schedule.

[E31destroyer]

I do check the ph levels every day I’m home, adjust ppm, and ph, they get fresh water added every 2 days. I found this to help me a lot. If i had more time to keep eyes on them, they’d all have really good color. But i find this has at least some room for error and time to correct the issues that come up. Heat has been the hardest thing to combat. But with the water, I’ve been keeping the roots cool, no higher than 75° their temp on the really hot days in the tent can hit over 85.