Few day old seedling, next steps?

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

Hello everyone,

I have a couple of seedlings i am trying to grow. They are 4 days old. Today after work inaf hours I’m getting a nutrient free soil to put them in. (I just used dirt in my backyard to start) and I want to know how to care for these seedlings at this age, and for the next few weeks to come.

2 weeks, 4 weeks, etc .. i am a complete newbie and planted these seeds as a joke and i found out i have a green thumb! Any info helps.

I’m in New England and it’s turning summer here (for the most part) and I wanted them to be outdoor plants. How would I do that? Or, should i start inside with a fluorescent light?

Thanks :rolleyes:

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

Also, underneath the leaves it looks like it was turning a little brown, i don’t know if this is caused by accidentally overwatering or it was too hot outside today for them. But it’s burnt underneath... so the water is my best guess. Any thoughts?

cogitech · Jun 1, 2018

I doubt they are burned underneath. In fact, I think most cotyledons are brownish/tan underneath.

You are on the right track with the nutrient-free soil. Make sure it has some perlite and peat moss in it. Move them to a SOLO cup for now. That'll be plenty of room for a couple weeks. It's too bad that they are basically in clay right now. That'll make things more difficult. Don't be tempted to remove them from that soil, though. They are very fragile. Maybe when you transplant them to SOLO cups (with drainage holes cut) try to let as much of that packed clay/soil fall away as you can without risking the root systems.

I recommend getting a couple of off-the-shelf 23 watt CFLs from Home Depot or whatever and put them a few inches from them.

Once they get 3-4 sets of true leaves, you can start hardening them off outside.

Once they are used to being outside, choose whether you are going to grow in a container or directly in soil and then come back and ask for more advice.

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

cogitech said:
I doubt they are burned underneath.In fact, I think most cotyledons are brownish/tan underneath.

You are on the right track with the nutrient-free soil. Make sure it has some perlite and peat moss in it. Move them to a SOLO cup for now. That'll be plenty of room for a couple weeks.

I recommend getting a couple of off-the-shelf 23 watt CFLs from Home Depot or whatever and put them a few inches from them.

Once they get 3 sets of true leaves, you can start hardening them off outside.

Once they are used to being outside, choose whether you are going to grow in a container or directly in soil and then come back and ask for more advice.

Thank you thank you thank you! This is EXACTLY what i needed to know. Can’t wait to see the progress :mad:

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

cogitech said:
I doubt they are burned underneath. In fact, I think most cotyledons are brownish/tan underneath.

You are on the right track with the nutrient-free soil. Make sure it has some perlite and peat moss in it. Move them to a SOLO cup for now. That'll be plenty of room for a couple weeks. It's too bad that they are basically in clay right now. That'll make things more difficult. Don't be tempted to remove them from that soil, though. They are very fragile. Maybe when you transplant them to SOLO cups (with drainage holes cut) try to let as much of that packed clay/soil fall away as you can without risking the root systems.

I recommend getting a couple of off-the-shelf 23 watt CFLs from Home Depot or whatever and put them a few inches from them.

Once they get 3-4 sets of true leaves, you can start hardening them off outside.

Once they are used to being outside, choose whether you are going to grow in a container or directly in soil and then come back and ask for more advice.

Also, i can keep them in the solo cup when they have three sets of leaves? This is enough room for them or do i repot ?

cogitech · Jun 1, 2018

Speciallysammy said:
Also, i can keep them in the solo cup when they have three sets of leaves? This is enough room for them or do i repot ?

People do entire grows in SOLO cups. There are competitions here in the forum to see how much bud people can grow in a SOLO cup!

So yes, they'll be fine for a couple of weeks while you figure out WTF you are doing.

Heck, you could leave them in the containers they are in right now for a couple weeks, if it wasn't for that death soil.

Like someone in the other thread you started, I recommend transplanting as few times as possible. As careful as you might be, the plants generally hate that procedure. It has REALLY slowed down a few of my plants in the past. They recover, but it sometimes takes well over a week for them to start growing again. A week of lost growth can make a big difference.

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

cogitech said:
People do entire grows in SOLO cups. There are competitions here in the forum to see how much bud people can grow in a SOLO cup!

So yes, they'll be fine for a couple of weeks while you figure out WTF you are doing. Heck, you could leave them in the containers they are in right now for a couple weeks, if it wasn't for that death soil.

Like someone in the other thread you started, I recommend transplanting as few times as possible. As careful as you might be, the plants generally hate that procedure. It has REALLY slowed down a few of my plants in the past. They recover, but it sometimes takes well over a week for them to start growing again. A week of lost growth can make a big difference.

You are absolutely right! The next time i transplant i want to be the last time i do so. So maybe... growing an entire plant in a solo cup would be a good idea for a beginner like me? And if not, what size pot eventually would i need... i want a decent sized plant, nothing huge, honestly would wanna keep them on the medium/smaller side.

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

cogitech said:
People do entire grows in SOLO cups. There are competitions here in the forum to see how much bud people can grow in a SOLO cup!

So yes, they'll be fine for a couple of weeks while you figure out WTF you are doing. Heck, you could leave them in the containers they are in right now for a couple weeks, if it wasn't for that death soil.

Like someone in the other thread you started, I recommend transplanting as few times as possible. As careful as you might be, the plants generally hate that procedure. It has REALLY slowed down a few of my plants in the past. They recover, but it sometimes takes well over a week for them to start growing again. A week of lost growth can make a big difference.

Also, i had NOOO idea you could grow a full plant in a solo cup, hell, i think i might do that for the sake of simplicity. The roots don’t get any longer than the cup itself or what? They don’t get jumbled? I was under the impression they had crazy long roots, no idea why... Sorry, so many questions :???:

cogitech · Jun 1, 2018

SOLO cup grows are not for beginners. Yes, the roots get crazy long and they will get root bound and I am not sure what magic those crazy bastards use to mitigate that situation.

Stick to your plan. I'd say a minimum 3 gallon pot but others would say 5 or bigger.

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

cogitech said:
SOLO cup grows are not for beginners. Yes, the roots get crazy long and they will get root bound and I am not sure what magic those crazy bastards use to mitigate that situation.

Stick to your plan. I'd say a minimum 3 gallon pot but others would say 5 or bigger.

Perfect clarification

cogitech · Jun 1, 2018

When you transplant into the final pot, build a decent soil out of ProMix HP (or similar), earthworm castings, perlite and dolomite lime. I say soil, but this is actually a soiless mix, technically.

Then you need to think about nutrients. I use General Organics. The GO Box is very convenient and people get good results. But there are a lot of options. Too many, really.

Or you could get some "hot" soil like Fox Farm Ocean Forest and just let the plant get nutrients from the soil.

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

cogitech said:
When you transplant into the final pot, build a decent soil out of ProMix HP (or similar), earthworm castings, perlite and dolomite lime. I say soil, but this is actually a soiless mix, technically.

Then you need to think about nutrients. I use General Organics. The GO Box is very convenient and people get good results. But there are a lot of options. Too many, really.

Or you could get some "hot" soil like Fox Farm Ocean Forest and just let the plant get nutrients from the soil.

and this is stuff i buy online, or at my local Home Depot?

cogitech · Jun 1, 2018

You should be able to get much of it at Home Depot, but I am Canadian so I can't say for sure. I get my GO Boxes on Amazon.

Some of your fellow Americans will have to chime in about where to get stuff. You have time to figure it out. Any grow shops in your area?

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

cogitech said:
You should be able to get much of it at Home Depot, but I am Canadian so I can't say for sure. I get my GO Boxes on Amazon.

Some of your fellow Americans will have to chime in about where to get stuff. You have time to figure it out. Any grow shops in your area?

i second this question!!! where is everyone attt

Tfunk0704 · Jun 1, 2018

Hydroponics stores, deff homedepot but watch out for like miraclegrow and shitty stuff like that. I use 80coco 20perlite all bought at homedepot, just ph it. And def get a bigger container, like that other dude said, those guys/gals who do that are not beginners

Chip Green · Jun 1, 2018

You can get something worth using at Home Depot.
The Dr. Earth brand is useable for sure. A $12 bag of the all purpose variety Dr. Earth, and a $17 bag of Vigiro perlite.....
Mix a 70%- 30% ratio(ish) soil to perlite, that will get you going.

Tfunk0704 · Jun 1, 2018

And if no one told you get a t5 light for veg and hps for light or if money’s tight then just a hps. New soil, no nutes 2-3 weeks then any of those combination grow nutes. Your looking for N-P-k and cal/mag for nutes. Go extremely light at first and keep on learning. Good luck

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

Chip Green said:
You can get something worth using at Home Depot.
The Dr. Earth brand is useable for sure. A $12 bag of the all purpose variety Dr. Earth, and a $17 bag of Vigiro perlite.....
Mix a 70%- 30% ratio(ish) soil to perlite, that will get you going.

Great reply, thank you!! I needed names and all haha great

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

Tfunk0704 said:
And if no one told you get a t5 light for veg and hps for light or if money’s tight then just a hps. New soil, no nutes 2-3 weeks then any of those combination grow nutes. Your looking for N-P-k and cal/mag for nutes. Go extremely light at first and keep on learning. Good luck

I'll keep this in mind thank you!

Speciallysammy · Jun 1, 2018

I will definitely be checking back in with this forum in a couple weeks. You guys are awesome :joint:

Few day old seedling, next steps?

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