When are the plants considered to be in VEG?
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I start counting as soon as it pops out of the soil.
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I start counting at first feed or after 5th node any earlier and they still need to be treated like seedlings sprouts too much light too dry too cold they are fragile by 5th node they can handle life under the sun greater variables
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Good point. On my calendar (just counting days purposes), it’s all the same to me. But how I treat the plant is totally different until it get’s a bit bigger.
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Takes week to sprout 2-3 weeks to get them to 5th node and into final home those are lost weeks which confuse many new growers veg to me is when she has feet under her. At that point you can start to treat them like a plant with feeds temp swings nutes and really this is when fast growth starts
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When you say fifth node what do you mean ?
5th set of true leafs which also coincides with when you can top and or start to feed
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So how exactly should I treat them before veg? Also is keeping a consistent temp very I’mportant when they are young? Right now I have them on a 18/6 light schedule. The temp with light off gets down to 68 and 77 With it on. If I wanted to keep a consistent temp I would need to keep the light on 24/7 is that ok to do? Also I have a mars hydro 192 which is a 415 watt is a 2-1/2 X 2 ft grow tent. How far from plants should it be?
Sorry all the questions . Still learning and want to do it right .
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I like to keep my girls under a humidity dome until first clip (3rd thru 5th node) then off with the dome and BOOM - hello to veg.
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I am not experienced with LED’s but @Matthew420 is I think prior to veg temps can swing but not much more than 10f so you are in a good range I tend to run lights 20/4 or 24 during first few weeks but dark cycle does help with root development
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When the seedlings are in the dome I run cfl’s @ 24/7. When the dome comes off they go to 18/6 and under MH.
How tall is your tent?
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It’s a 6 ft tall tent. I don’t have a dome on them do you think I should get one. I had one on them until after they sprouted .
I went right to LED after about 2 days (40" high to start) only because I needed to get my heat up a bit. Still just under 70F. It’s a tough time of year, not cold enough to turn my heat on but not warm enough to heat up the basement a little. I use a humidifier to keep RH at ~75%
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And I’m on 18/6, would be more if I wasn’t using LED’s.
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@Deer1 - that’s what I do. Keeps the heat and moisture in. I monitor the rh by putting little petco aquarium hygrometers under the dome. Everyone has a method how to do it. Just adapt what works best for you. I think I heard somewhere that necessity is the mother of invention… lol!
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Ok cool thank you. Do you think plants can be over watered at this stage? Or should I water through everyday?
It’s very easy to overwater them at this stage. Check the soil with your finger before watering. Stick your finger into the soil up to your second nuckel and if it feels dry then water if it feels moist/wet still, then let it sit for another day then check again and if it’s dry then water.
You need to let the medium dry out some so the roots can get some air in between waterings.
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Still have the heat on for our littlest grand daughter…only 5 months old…turned off the heat one night and her small hands were like pop cycles in the AM…lol 
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@Deer1 When I water my seedlings I never pour water into the medium, I’ll just use a spray bottle to make the soil/medium moist. Never saturate it… that’s the fast track to killing them. lol. 
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