Yea! Happiness is

Happiness is moving your lights up. :seedling: :grin:

Every time, Welcome to ILGM forum @Lightbender. Got some PICS of them there gals?

Here’s a pic from a few days ago. This plant was the runt then after transplanting it it took off. It’s now my best one. I still have an unknown to deal with, you see the seeds I’m using were extremely cheap and I have no idea what strain or anything about them. I did this so I could get my feet wet and if I make a few mistakes then no big loss. I’ve learned a lot on this forum, nice helpful folks here. I’ll be starting a few White Widow autos in a few days. Just waiting on a few supplies to come in that I ordered.

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Welcome @Lightbender . Your going to like it here . How many do you have growing now .

I have 10 growing now. One thing that I’ve learned (once I got on this forum) is soil prep. Just using organic potting soil isn’t cutting it. Several days ago I sifted some soil and I’d say 50% of the soil I have had bark, twigs and wood chips that were just too big. What I was left with was soil that felt like silk. Added some perlite and some worm castings plus a little seed starting soil and I’m seeing improvement.
I had about 20 seedlings going at one time then culled some that seemed sickly, add in a few that just died for who knows why and it’s left me with 10. If I don’t see improvement in a few of the 10 I’ll probably remove them and make room for some autos that I have ready to germinate.
Long answer when all I really need to say was 10.

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Good idea on sifting the soil . I can’t believe some of the stuff they sell and call it soil . 10 plants will keep you busy . Long answers work best for me .

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yall really worried me with your removal of the medium and larger sized chunks so I gotta chime in.
The medium chunks and such of bark act as beneficial beings for a few reasons.
They increase oxygenation to the soil by allowing water and air to pass through.
They act as long term fertilizer by breaking down over time.
Their most impprtant benefit is by allowing a good tilth in the soil. When you have uniform small sized particles you get compaction, which causes roots to grow less and reduces availabke oxygen in the soil. It also reduces drainage which increases chances of root rot.

Now go put the bark pieces back in. Lol

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@HighDesertFarmer LOL. I hear ya and understand what you said. I actually thought about how the bark and twigs would help keep the soil from compacting. In hind sight I probably should have added some of what I removed back into the mix. On the plus side I did add a little extra perlite. Once it was all mixed I took a fist full and squeezed, it didn’t stay a complete ball. I know when water is added it will change some. As I said before this grow is/was for me to work out the kinks before I use seeds that cost more than a few cents each.
As for putting the bark back, ugh… I’ll just make a mosaic with them on the surface. :joy:

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I agree 100% with @HighDesertFarmer on soil compaction , drainage , oxygen to the roots is most important . As @Lightbender has said perlite should keep it loose enough . I’ve seen some soils with 2" diameter wood chunks . If you were growing auto flower plants [ 3 months ] I don’t think much of it would break down into fertilizer in that lenght of time . Does anyone know if wood and bark in the soil invites bugs like Gnats ? I know they feed on fungus in or on the soil . I hate Gnats !

And I also welcome you @Lightbender
Looking good and Happy growing

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