First time grower questions

So first time grower and right now im using seeds that friends have saved so I have a lot, I haven't planted yet but my friend did give me some Miracle gro all purpose, I have been reading online and I was just wondering if it would damage the plant when I start. I also so a mini greenhouse thing I was thinking if I could put my seeds in there and plants cause they will be outside and I think it would do wonders for pest control but not sure how it would do with mold control. It's basically like a tray with a plastic cover I was thinking about buying it but I came on here to make sure im not wasting money. Anyways thanks for listening and sorry if these questions have been answered I tried looking, but a lot of them were mixed opinions.

Watch the N-P-K general purpose MG is notorious for 24 or higher in the nitrogen dept.If the 1st number is high then cut the dose 4 ways and see how that works out.Feed ,water,water then feed.If your just getting started it will be a good learning experience.

I used MG all purpose too when i started but what I've learned is it can be scary as far as ferts go. If you have something that is continuously feeding your plants for 6 months how do you know when and how much fert to use? So what i did was I went out and got some MG seedling starter soil. it has some fert in it but it's not continuous feeding. I transplanted into that and waited about a week before using MG all purpose fert. I know im gonna get a lot of hell for using MG but hey man I'm poor and my 3 week old plants are looking amazing. Anyway, switch to this stuff and you should be able to fert as you like. Good luck man.

Thanks a lot for the responses and yeah the MG has 24n but I plan on giving it less than it says to on the box and maybe feed it every week or so. I actually did start to grow some and they were looking fine from just my backyard soil, but in the end I got owned by an epic rain storm of doom ,and as I was stoned thinking I don't have to water them today ; suddenly I remembered I forgot to put holes in the container for water to drain and when I ran to them in epic slow motion while screaming noooooo it was to late it over flowed and there was crap everywhere. But anyone have any ideas on the plastic over them? I actually just saw a post with that and it seemed to work pretty well I'll try it. I also wanted to know If I did put them in that mini greenhouse container would mold become a problem even quicker?

the plastic container rock for germination and sprouting but as far as growth goes your plants are gonna need some oxygen in order to truly grow. I would recommend a cheap easy cfl grow box. I made mine for literally less than $25. It gives you way more control over the elements your plants are subjected to.

Would you mind showing a pic of that if you can, I would make one but I don't know where to start. Also I was probably going to just grow them outside till I wanted them to flower which then a CFL grow box would be useful but I would have them inside to flower 12-12.

I'm home now and have it set up somewhere else but here's a brief description of what I have going on. Its the for real poor mans grow box but my plants are growing great. Ok I took a rubbermaid bin, you know like a large plastic tote container and lined the inside with tin foil. That's right folks, Reynold's Wrap. I pieced the foil in as large of sections as I could and used duct tape to hold it in place. I also covered the inside of the lid with foil. I went out and bought 4 clamp style work lights from country junction for like 3 bucks each. I removed the clamps and lamp shade things. I cut 4 holes into the lid of the box in the shape of a cross just large enough to get the plugs of the light through. I used 4 compact flourescent light, cfl, bulbs I had in the kitchen. I strung the wires through the holes so that the ballasts of the light bulbs rested against and held up the lid. I twisted the wires so they all had equal tension and used a bread tie to tie them together. I use 2 of the clamps from the lights to adjust the height of the lights. I have a 4" little personal fan hangin on the inside of the box facin inward and I have an oscilating fan outside of the box bringing in fresh air. So if you could picture it its a rubbermaid tote on the floor with its lid hanging by wires above it and light pouring out from inside. I've got 2 bagseed plants growing in there and they're both doing really well. Seriously, if you look up and understand the working fundamentals of a grow box you can pretty much improvise one mostly from shit around your house. Hope this helps. As soon as I can I'll get pics up. Good luck bro.

Oh another big thing that helped me out was youtube. Just go on there and search shit like cfl grow, closet cgrow, how to grow marijuana, shit like that and you'll learn a lot.

Thanks a lot ; while I'm researching how to make a cfl grow box I just germinated some seeds last night and they sprouted, Put them outside just to see what happens one in which i will use MG all purpose which I know is high in N but i plan on using less than the box says and maybe once per week gradually raising it a little. I was also wondering if direct sunlight has to be hitting them for them to get some sun or can I just put them outside and they will get sunlight regardless.

dude just leave your plants outside to flower they will do waaay better than a cfl box, and for that matter any light bulb. Miracle grow will work but your much better off buying some proper nutes, if you have 20-25 dollars you could get some flora nova grow and flora nova bloom, I got mine for 10 bucks each but there was shipping. If you cant afford that much, you might get something from the nursery, like E.B. Stone organics bat guano, blood meal, bone meal, and try to get some molasses for flowering, it cost like 3 of 4 dollars. Mix 1 tbsp per gallon of water, or try mixing the whole container with the same amount of water and heating it on the stove, it makes it much easier to absorb since its thinner. And plants can still grow while in the shade, but not as good as if they're in direct sunlight. Seedlings shouldn't be in direct sunlight for too long, that reminds me I'm gonna go check on mine

Well I started out with my seeds on a window sill and what happened was one half of the seeds sprouted and the other half (the farther from the sun) rotted. So in my experience I'd say that they should get as direct light as possible.

K I will have them outside but I was wondering, is there cheap ways to check the pH of your soil. I have a low budget as of now so I'm just going to give it a go with the MG. Also I heard high levels of N make like salt or something in your soil, what is that? Sorry if I sound like an idiot, and again thanks for the help.

hey man heres a link to another post i did. It's got some pics of my set up and my plants. it's a cheap easy design. Let me know what you think. https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/332734-my-very-first-grow-pics.html

You could buy a ph meter for like 20-100 bucks off ebay but your better of mixing some dolomite lime with your soil first to start out balanced, dolomite lime aka garden lime aka agriculture is cheap @ local nurseries.

How would 4 30w cfl do for the veg and what finish am I looking for, cause some say bright white some say warm.