I've Smoked Weed for over 4 Decades; this is my First Attempt at Growing Anything.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, McCumcumber! I enjoy learning the science here, a little at a time. I've started watering every other day, but not very much. I'm aware I've got a lot to learn but I've also believed in the KISS principle in other areas of my life, so I will just try not to obsess. My ability to make close up pictures may be affecting me too much, since I can see every tiny thing.

+REP for Teaming with Microbes

I am a proud owner and recommend that every single grower who is attempting a soil or organic grow BUY THIS BOOK. It will demystify soil biology in a easy to read format, which is no easy feat considering the subject. Good 'ol Jorge will only get you so far and is a great place to start... but for a more scientifically supported book, Teaming With Microbes is an indispensable resource.

im not sure if you did or not, But from the books i read, they say you shouldnt not be feeding with any sort of nutrient until it has a true set of leaves. depending on what soil you bought, your soil is provided nutrients, at least enough for the first 2 weeks of plant life. Just feed your plants water during their seedling life UNTIL THEY HAVE TRUE SET OF LEAVES ( usually 4 to 6).. after that it is good to feed them, but when they already have the nutrients in the soil for the first 2 weeks, you need nothing but a good environment, good air, good soil, and good water..

Too far??? 400 watts @ 1.5' is on the edge of too close, they are only little seedings and don't need that much. They aren't stretching either, so he is definitely good.

Also, feeding at week 3 is another a bad idea. So long as he can transplant into good soil he shouldn't need to feed for quite some time. The rooting medium should hold him over until roots are established, after that it's time to transplant. If you have feed them, they have been in the same medium too long. Period. This is soil not soil-less.

No I have not done any feeding at this point. The consensus seems pretty clear on this. They are in FF Seed Starter soil. I have a bag of Happy Frog for the transplant.

Sub'd up for this grow. GoIng to be a good one

I appreciate all the positive energy and support here. Plus the perspective of your collective experience is.....priceless!

Green Revolution said:

+REP for Teaming with Microbes

I am a proud owner and recommend that every single grower who is attempting a soil or organic grow BUY THIS BOOK. It will demystify soil biology in a easy to read format, which is no easy feat considering the subject. Good 'ol Jorge will only get you so far and is a great place to start... but for a more scientifically supported book, Teaming With Microbes is an indispensable resource.

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After seeing so many people agreeing with you on Amazon, I went ahead and ordered this book. It sounds eye-opening, thanks for the tip!

shotrocker said:

After seeing so many people agreeing with you on Amazon, I went ahead and ordered this book. It sounds eye-opening, thanks for the tip!

Click to expand...

Perhaps a silly question as we are talking about organic growing here (at least I think we are)

but on amazon.ca (I'm in Canada) I noticed that there are two copies

1. Teaming With Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web

2.Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web

which copy is being recommended here?

shotrocker said:

http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325813956&sr=8-1

Click to expand...

Thanks.. I bought it too.. along with the Bible

http://www.amazon.com/Cannabis-Grow-Bible-Definitive-Recreational/dp/1931160589/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325814914&sr=1-3

I would say that looking at other people's grow journal for an extended was a sobering experience.....except I have some Sour Diesel and Blueberry to smoke. I have been complimented about my setup and, yes, I invested money in good equipment. But it looks like any Tom, Dick and Harry can do better than me, no matter how ghetto or threadbare their setup. As my plants near 3 weeks old, my conclusion is that either everyone else pictures somehow make their plants look much bigger and healthier or, more likely, I screwed the pooch. I will continue to do what I'm doing, best I can, but I sure am looking forward to germinating the next bunch of seeds I have under T5s and skipping the ridiculous errors i have made so far with this group. Too early, right? Maybe they'll rally, huh? Just feeling discouraged

just keep at them. I think you may have stunted their growth with the h2o2, but they will survive and start to grow more soon enough.

I wouldn't worry man. Things will come along. The seedling/initial vegging stage seemed painfully long to me also. I've got my first set of clones ever taken and they don't seem to be doing much...

Haven't seen a photo in a while, once you put them into some pots though (not sure if you're ready for repotting yet) and the roots fill out the pot they really explode in growth.

Here are pictures of the Sad Eyed Ladies of the Lowlands, (my basement), on days 20 & 21, (plus the beleaguered Bonsai Tangerine Dream on day 30 something!!!!). They actually look better today then yesterday.Due to Fear of Overwatering, I have been giving them stingy amounts of water every other day. Yesterday I decided to try to drench them and figure it will be likely 3 days before I water again. They seemed to have needed the water. Now, Day 20 & 21 is when I would normally think about transplanting and going to veg, right? But though new leaves are showing they are mostly an inch and a half to 2 & 1/2 inches tall. I accept the belief that I stunted them by watering with water with H2O2. But, what do you think I should do with these now?
On the one hand I feel like a rube, on the other hand, most things I ever learned, I learned through making mistakes. I've also lowered my expectations of my potential harvest here. It takes the pressure off and allows me to think of these as my Lesson 1 plants. I plan on germinating some easier seeds with T5's in a couple of weeks, no matter what.

The Bonsai Tangerine Dream on day 26. (She went through Hell.)

A beleaguered pair at Day 21; Wappa, on the left, and Chocolope.

A relatively happy Blue Diesel on Day 21.

This is exciting man.
So many people have been here - it's kinda cool to see if you make it without killing them all.

That is not a cut at all either - until you can't remember how many you have killed you haven't really grown.

In my limited experience I have learned to just go ahead and repot a seedling if it won't grow.
I figure it means I got it too hot or something and the soil (soilless in my case) is crap.
Repot into some of them kegger party plastic cups with a few holes in them and about a half cup of water for the first watering and don't rewater until the cup feels 'empty' when you pick it up.

Good luck man - I'm subbed if I can figure how to do that here.

Oh yeah - pH don't really mean much for one that young; so don't mess with pH until you see if they make it a week from transplanting.
You might have already taken them lower than they want to be.

If your tap water is 7 then all you really need is about 1/8th teaspoon of apple-cider vinegar per gallon bought from the grocery store to bring the pH to acceptable level.