Haven't killed them yet - watering & grow box question

Hey!
Well my little seedlings have survived the weekend.

I've got three two in pots that are about 6inches and one in a small 2.5inch pot. They have two CFLs and are sitting in a south facing window.

I've been spraying them whenever I see them (3 times a day) and the last two days I also gave them a big drink as well as the spray. They seem to be getting pretty dry.
Should the soil always be moist or do they mind getting dry? I won't have a chance to get to a garden centre to get a soil moisture measure.

Should I put them in some sort of white box? They'd probably lose some of the sunlight they're getting through the window if I did this..... don't know what is best.

How long do they take to flower/harvest???

Thanks for all the help!!!

Some pictures would help a little to get a better idea of what ur talking about by losing light. I would think by my visualization that you could make a 3 sided white box leaving the front facing the window open and still have ur CFLs going only if you dont have nosey neighbors. Then you wouldnt lose alot of light. I dont know about watering or spraying that often. Try watering once every couple days & possibly spraying about the same. I would spray at night or right before the lights go out. Water real good (not soaking them, if you have good drainage) then dont water for another couple days. You want the soil to get dry about 3 inches down. Make them want some water and they will do better.

thanks,
the 3 sided box is a good idea will see if I can work something up tomorrow - feel like I'm on Blue Peter (for any of you who used to watch it!)
Have attached some pics but don't think they give a good idea of the setup. I'll have to start sticking my fingers in and see if they are dry....

lucy said:

thanks,
the 3 sided box is a good idea will see if I can work something up tomorrow - feel like I'm on Blue Peter (for any of you who used to watch it!)
Have attached some pics but don't think they give a good idea of the setup. I'll have to start sticking my fingers in and see if they are dry....

Click to expand...

Gosh they're lil babies!

Okay a few observations. 1) The pots they're in are too big - you should start each seedling in a small 4 in diameter pot - one for each seedling and let them grow their roots out to fill that pot and then pot them up to the next size. 2) Each seedling should be in it's own pot - you'll have a hell of a job separating them out once their roots have intertwined. 3) A low wattage cfl in the right colour spectrum (6,400k) should be fine for their light source at this stage, but you will have to upgrade the lighting as they get bigger. 4) You need to understand how to water your plants correctly using the 'wet/dry' method. Plants in smaller pots require watering more frequently - ones in larger ones less so.