Overly anxious first time grower

Hello friends,
First time grower here. Didn’t even start growing anything indoors until about six months ago. (Basil, parsley, herbs mainly) I know most people wait to start their grow journal tell they have a little sprout but I figured I would keep you guys in the loop from the VERY beginning that way you can whip me into shape when I make noob moves. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
Soaked three Northern Light Autos in water and then waited for them to pop and placed them in rockwool cubes. Never used rockwool before either. Got a little tupperware that I flipped upside down and used bottom as my humidity dome.

Have them on a little seed mat and I check the temperature around four to five times a day. I just received my new lights prior to Christmas and it came with a free hydrometer and humidity gauge and now I don’t know which to trust, my old one or my hew one. Look at the difference between humidity! Trying to maintain temp at 70 to 75.

As far as my specs I’m growing indoors with a Vivosun tent that is 4 ft x 2 ft x 4 ft (approx) have a carbon filter and 4 inch fan have checked there is no light holes plus all windows in basement have been blocked off. I have a (supposedly) 600 watt LED by Phlizon ( yes its a cheap Chinese light, I’ll upgrade when I get pro :slight_smile: ) which my electrician boyfriend says uses actually 400-450 watt which I think is right based on the 50 watt per square foot formula that I’ve read on this forum.
(Excuse the dirt it was hard to wrap the cover around by myself in such a short basement and I accidentally threw it on the floor lol)

Here is the inside of the tent. Have 2 7 gallon fabric pots ( I know they are a little large could have gone with 5 gals.

The A pot is 70% Coco 20% Perlite and 10% Vermiculite, B Pot is 80% Coco and 20% perlite. Wanted to experiment with ratios, I might regret it later as I’m sure they will now have different requirements. Have never used coco before so pretty nervous about the nutrient situation. I haven’t been putting nutrients in my water for my seedlings, should I? When do I first start giving nutes?
Here is a pic of my nutes (and CalMag):

Thanks everyone!

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A little late to ask, but did you soak the cubes in ph’d water?

We can’t tell much about purple pics. White light works best.

Please tell me you have a PH n PPM Meter Set. You seem to be on the ball, just checking.
And, there are bunches of free growing videos and articles worth reading as a newbie.

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Welcome to the forum! Our mods are @Countryboyjvd1971, @dbrn32, @MattyBear along with a few others. Just tag any one of them using the @ sign ahead of their handle.

If you don’t have a dedicated PH and TDS meter, it should be the first thing on your list to get. I would recommend this for PH:

https://www.amazon.com/Apera-Instruments-AI209-Waterproof-Accuracy/dp/B078NPH1W3/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1546044546&sr=8-3&keywords=apera+ph20

There are numerous TDS meters for $15 or less that will do the job. You need to acquire Standard Reference Solution along with PH up and down. This will ensure you are in your target PH range of 5.3 to 5.8. Personally I would bias more toward the high end. The container with vermiculite may be a problem as it tends to hold water which is a no no for coco haha! Your pot size is good, lights are more than adequate for veg and could probably take them through flower with it.

All in all not a bad setup for your first grow. Your plants will necessarily be small and if they are autos that may pose a problem: they are gonna get as big as they want lol.

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Welcome aboard. Weather your humidity (RH) is 23 or 32… It is too low. Aim for 50-65+. May need to add a humidifier or diffuser to increase RH. The light appears to be 108 watt actual consumption from the wall. (Which is the most accurate measurement, vs. The BS the sellers advertise.) It will grow fine right now, just maybe not great during flowering.

I’d concentrate on RH and make sure you have quality PH and PPM meters.

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Yes I do have a PH meter and PPM Meter set… but no I didn’t soak the cubes in PH’ed water. ugh… I knew I was already screwing up something. I thought I didn’t test PH until I was ready for runoff. So I just ran down stairs and checked the filtered water I filled in the jugs. It’s at 8.21!! And I believe with coco coir I want my water at 5.5-6 right? So do I need to go buy some soil sulfur and add it to my water to continue watering the cubes?

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K I will make sure and turn on a white light for photos, thanks for letting me know I should have thought of that.

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No no for coco haha I love it. Easy to remember too. One of my friends (who has only ever grown outdoors suggested it) I wasn’t going to put in the vermiculite bc I didn’t see anyone talking about it on the forums but he has been growing for 20 years so I figured I would give it a go. He lives on the other side of the planet so I can’t have him over to assist lol. I do have a PH and just discovered my filtered water is at 8.21… ugh oh

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I got a humidifier and a put plastic sheets over the door opening. By the time it gets up to 50% though I have to refill the tank. I ran a little test in my grow tent and the humidity won’t be a problem because its a fall smaller space and the tent holds in the moisture real well. Right now I am adding humidity to a big basement so I can’t usually get it above 30%. Do I put my seedlings under my big 600 watt light or keep them under the smaller 50 watt ones I got?

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Also which vids would you recommend… if you don’t mind. :slight_smile:

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grow cubes…like rockwool should be soaked in 5.5 ph water…before use.
something to put in your grow journal to help remember what happened and learn.

been growing for years so never checked out the grow videos…

others will be along to give you direction on that. I would just go grazing see what interests me.

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Can you place the humidifier close to a bottom intake port of the tent? If your exhaust fan is running, it should pull the “wet” air in. If you have extra duct, cut a short piece… one end inside the tent, sinch it… other end close to humidifier. (This way you won’t be trying to humidify the whole room)

I’ll tag you on my grow so you can see how I’m adding RH)

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Hello and welcome to the forum! I see you’ve already met some of the members and are getting after it haha.

I think the suggestions they gave you are great. The only thing that I’d like to add, is you should probably just grab bottles of ph adjustment solution. You’ll be applying a lot in coco.

https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-pH-Control-Kit/dp/B000BNKWZY/?tag=greenrel-20

Also, keep that boyfriend around until you’re ready for new light. We’ll put him to work and save you some cash. If you need anything at all don’t be afraid to ask, and best of luck with your grow!

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Off to a great start @shungitewhap you’ll get that ph fixed up. The first step is knowing what you’re starting with. You’ll be good to go. Happy growing.

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Hello and welcome to the forum! All members have given good advice so far. Tag me if you need anything :v::bear:

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Thanks so much! I ordered exactly what you suggested on Amazon but sadly it will not be here until Jan 4th ( and it qualified for two day free shipping so maybe too many people are buying grow supplies :slight_smile: ) so hopefully my little seedlings will be ok till then. I went and bought some bottled spring water and the PH and PPM was a lot better but not optimal. Hoping shipment gets here earlier then expected!

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Also… I am definitely keeping this boyfriend. At least until after I have new custom built lights lol jk.

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Thank you so much!

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Water out of tap and then ran through gravity filter is 8.21. Bottled spring water I just bought is 6.90 with PPM of 165, so thats at least better then the filtered tap. Order PH UP and DOWN, estimated to arrive on Jan 4th so hopefully it makes it before then.

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OK perfect! Don’t have extra duct but will pop on down to the store tomorrow morning. Is the method that you suggested better then just having the humidifier placed inside the tent?

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@MoneyPit Yeah I went cheap on my first light. By the end of my first grow though I will have extra cash stockpiled to do it right. Then my boyfriend can do a custom build. They do have flower and veg switch on the side. Since you mentioned it might not be enough for flower do you think when it is in veg I should run it with both the veg and flower lights on so its putting out the most amount of light? Thanks so much for your help

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