When to Use Nutes?

Ok so i just moved my lamp to about 1" above the first set of leaves on my four plants. I'm using 2 40 watt Verilux Instant Sun with Phosphor3 bulbs, each with an output of 2100 lumens. I'm doin 18/6, and i have a fan on a low setting circulating the air near my growing station whenever the lamps are on.

I water the plants with distilled water in a spray bottle about once a day, and i don't give them that much. i like to wait until the soil is nice and dry (i don't have a moisture meter yet).

I also don't have a ph meter. yet.

Three of my plants are about 2.5 weeks old, and the other is only about a week and a couple days old. The three older ones are getting ready to sprout their second pair of true leaves, and one looks like it's beginning to shed it's cotyledons.

basically, i'm wondering if i should start to use nutes yet, and if so, which kinds? i'm gonna run to the store within the next few days and get a moisture meter and a ph meter anyway, because i wouldn't want to start using nutes blindly. any idea what i should expect to spend?

also, i need help determining how much water to give them. like i said, i water about once a day, and only if the soil looks dry. i use a spray bottle and i mist them when i water them, and probably give them only about one ounce of water at the most. i do this because i don't want to disturb the soil, because it's positioned in such a way to give my little stems the maximum amount of support. should i just pour water on them? would this be more effective?

if they are recent pictures i'd hold off the nutes for another week...as far as watering goes....while they are small like that you want to be gentle with them while watering...don't just dump it on...you can keep the soil wet tell they are around 4 inches tall then let the siol almost dry b4 watering again...then from there on ..water tell it starts to come out the botton of the pot...then don't water tell the top 2 inches of soil are dry....just polk your finger in and check...again be gentle with the roots...also you can also lift the pot and tell if its still very wet...
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here are alot of good threads on here to help pick which firtilizer sounds best for you

also with fertilizer less is more ....start at 1/4 or 1/2 strength

yeah, those pics were taken right as i was posting this thread lol.

the older plants were all between like 5" and 7" tall, but obviously very very leggy. i just buried them so they wouldn't keel over lol.

plus i want short stocky plants.

so they actually have pretty intricate root systems goin on behind the scenes. i was surprised when i dug them up during transplantation into bigger pots.

should i still hold off on the nutes? and what about the water? still the same?

yeah i'd still hold off for a couple days after the transplant to give them nutes....what soil are you using?? also those lights arn't putting off enough loumes for a short bushey plant...add a few compact flourenent lights..or better yet metal haloid or hps (you can get 150whatt hps at most hardware shops for like $50) which is a good starter light the more whatts/loumes the better...yeah and for the watering at this point wait tell a couple inches are dry b4 watering then water well..overwatering is one of the biggest errors new growers make...

i'm using miracle gro potting mix right now. i won't use it for any other plants though because i hear that it's ph level isn't close to 7. also, i'm definitely going to upgrade my lighting setup in the next two weeks or so. i'd love to find a secondhand 400watt hps somewhere. are the 150watt ones any good? also, will these come with a ballast do you think?

i got the lamp and bulbs i'm using now for about 30 bucks. if i can't find any good hps lamps, should i just buy another lamp like i have right now? or should i just wait and get the hps? how many lumens should i be shooting for?

Crayola said:

I water the plants with distilled water in a spray bottle about once a day, and i don't give them that much. i like to wait until the soil is nice and dry (i don't have a moisture meter yet).

Three of my plants are about 2.5 weeks old, and the other is only about a week and a couple days old. The three older ones are getting ready to sprout their second pair of true leaves, and one looks like it's beginning to shed it's cotyledons.

basically, i'm wondering if i should start to use nutes yet, and if so, which kinds?

also, i need help determining how much water to give them. like i said, i water about once a day, and only if the soil looks dry. i use a spray bottle and i mist them when i water them, and probably give them only about one ounce of water at the most. i do this because i don't want to disturb the soil, because it's positioned in such a way to give my little stems the maximum amount of support. should i just pour water on them? would this be more effective?

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i dont think you marijuana likes to be wateded everyday. your plants look a bit small for their age. it might be a bit early for nutes. give them a good amount of water when your feeding them so you wont have dry spots in the soil. then pick up the pot and get a good feel for the mass. when the pot feels light again( 3-7 days probably) its time to water agian. if you are watering too often the roots wont grow very fast and you may drown your plants. DO NOT pour the water right on to your plants!

awesome. yeah, i definitely was thinking that my plants looked small for their age. i always see pics of plants at 2 weeks who have tons of leaves. thanks for the advice!