Just started 2 Days In

Hey I just started my first grow and I need a ton of help. I am 2 days in now..... The seeds just started shedding their shells...... I have 8 plants going. Do I have room in this closet to maintain all those plants? Should the lights be closer? Check out my grow journal, "1st grow needs help," for more detailed info about the grow setup..... Offer advice please because I am lost. How does the setup look so far? Also, how do I fix the light leak around my closet door... And Is my closet a fire hazard. If you want more details just check out my grow journal and offer some help or just say hey.......

For freshly sprouting seeds I usually put the CFLs about 3-4 inches from the tops and once the plants got a bit bigger and more hardy I'd reduce that to about 2". As for size, you could but if you plan on vegging for very long I wouldn't recommend it; personally I'd probably do 6 in there max if I were using CFLs. Also those bulbs you are using look like soft whites which are 2300k you need 6500k bulbs for the veg stage. As for the fire hazard, thats a no. Light leak Lowes sells rubber strips that you put on the bottom of doors to help seal them, that should fix that issue. Biggest issue I see long term is venting, as that room could become very hot. (Also that soil is fine for germinating as they like moisture, but its to wet for the plants themselves to be in to long.)

Nice CFL fixture btw, but keep in mind your going to need far more CFLs then 4 once the plants get going.

Keep the lights a good foot away from the seedlings, once they develope their first set of leaves go ahead and put the cfls a few inches away, pretty much as close as you can get em without burning em, to test this just put your hand under the lights and if its hot on your hand, its hot on the leaves.

And yes you should have enough room in that closet, but what i recommend is getting more cfls if possible.

Also, what temp are those cfls? they look like 2700s

For veg i would use a higher temp color, like 5000+

I'd echo everything the other posters said and add also that you shouldn't let your pots sit in water like that for too long. It's not that important for sprouts, but your plants actually grow faster as they start to dry out. Basically the more often your soil goes from wet to dry to wet again the faster your plants will grow. Looks like you might have fixed that by the last pic, though.

I actually think you'd be ok with that number of plants just flower them early when they're a bit less that a foot tall, because you'll lose about half of them at that point.

Yep. There both right. I think we need more info as well. Are u gonna veg long or bloom early to keep them short. But ur definantly gonna need at least a couple more lights. I'm runing the same light but I'm just blooming clones. From seed u definanly wana try and find some lights with higher kalvin. 6000+ but other then that. Get a litle fan in there if u can and find a way to vent out air.

Thanks for the info...... Yeah I have 6 42 watt 150 equivalent soft white bulbs.... I didn't know if that was going to be too much light for the seeds. Also, I did want to get 6500 k lights but I couldn't find any at the stores that were 42 watt.... Is it ok to use the other lower watts or should I order the bulbs off of the internet (i found lower watt bulbs in the 6500K)? Also, I bought a fan to put on the rack blowing down, but when I got home from buying it I found out I bought the wrong model because mine doesn't point down. I will take it back to get the other one but I think they might be out by now since its getting cold...... If they don't have it anymore, the one I have now will take up some space.... The temps in the closet have stayed around 81 degrees and the humidity around 44 percent. That's with only two bulbs though. As far as the airing out, I guess I could open up the door occasionally or is there anything more sufficient than that. I have been thinking so much about light, soil, and water that I didn't think about that. If anyone has any ideas please tell me because I need to figure out a way of airing it out better. Also, the closet is in my hall so whatever I do it needs to be semi stealthy.... I am probably going to build a box later for my next grow, but for now I just wanted to get growing. Thanks for the head up on the light leak because for now that is my biggest worry. I will definitely go check that out this morning in the next few minutes. Also, thanks for the head up about the water issue. I thought that the seeds had to stay moist at all times so I have probably been over watering. But the seeds this morning lost some of their shells and they look like they might open up soon.. Also some of the seeds have their roots going in awkward directions.... Should I let them fix their self or should I point them in the right direction. I took some new pictures of the light fix and the seed sprouts. I will take more pics when I get the door sealant and another chain to hang the lights closer. Thanks for all the support and keep it coming..... If you want more detail regarding some of my later questions and issues or just to follow and offer advice, check out my grow journal its under, "1st Grow Needs Help." Thanks and keep it coming. Ill smoke one for you...........

the rubber for the door..... does that only stop the bottom light or is there anything for the cracks on the side of the door also..... I plan on flowering early because I recently moved and I don't have a hookup yet where Im at so I want to smoke and I also didn't think that the closet would handle that many when they get too big. And I got a little over eager with my first grow. I didn't even think the paper towel method of cracking the seeds would really work so I used a lot of seeds. Also should I buy more than 6 lights. they are 150 equiv but I could buy some to put on the sides of the plant. I would have to build something for that though. How soon should I flower? I was thinking at maybe 2 - 3 weeks or when they get 12 to 15 inches tall. Could I go a little taller? But I still want to get my smoke on sooner than later though.

I got some 27 watt 100 watt equivalent daylight CFL's. They are rated at 5500 K. Should I use those now and use the big 42 watts later. I also got a bigger chain to lower the light fixture. In the pics I am posting you can see that. Are they close enough now? I couldn't do to much more with that by myself though, my girlfriend will have to help later if it is still a problem. Still, do I need more lights than I currently have? Hey, I also got the stuff to seal up the door. Brilliant idea and much thanks. I think I still need a tarp to cover the ground though. I measured the 3 quart pots I will be putting them in and they will all make it in the closet. I also put a temporary fan in until I try to take my other back for exchange. Is it defeating the purpose of using it by having it up above the setup on the rack. I included pics. I actually think I may still have enough room to put it in the bottom of the closet. What do you guys think? I will post later with some more pics. They are growing bigger every day...........
The whole setup......



Trying to get the sealant in.....



DOOR STOPPER!!!!!!!!!

If there are side leaks on the door, the only two options I know of are build a deeper inside door frame (those small boards that your door hits when it closes) and add something such as the foam used to seal window AC units to line them. So when the door shuts it should hit the foam and force it to compress slightly. Other option is hang a blanket on the inside door framing that just drapes down like door beads so even if the door is open the blanket should be working as a second separate one. 3 weeks veg sounds good, but don't be disappointed if your plants are not 15" by that time because if they grow with nice tight node spacing under CFLs theres a decent chance they won't reach that height. The 5500k bulbs you got are pretty close to the full spectrum ones, meaning they will help/work for both veg and flowering, but are not exactly the spectrum of either so there not quite as strong as say a 2700k 27watt would be for flowering or a 6500k 27watt would be for veg. Light distance looks good now though and yeah I think you have enough bulbs for now, just add a few more as the plants grow in size. As for the fan, remember you need to use it to control heat, but also to stress the plants so they grow nice thick stems, so however you place it or them try and get some air flow going through the plants

seemeat420 said:

Hey I just started my first grow and I need a ton of help. I am 2 days in now..... The seeds just started shedding their shells...... I have 8 plants going. Do I have room in this closet to maintain all those plants? Should the lights be closer? Check out my grow journal, "1st grow needs help," for more detailed info about the grow setup..... Offer advice please because I am lost. How does the setup look so far? Also, how do I fix the light leak around my closet door... And Is my closet a fire hazard. If you want more details just check out my grow journal and offer some help or just say hey.......

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get lights way closer. and i dont think thats enough room for 8 plants maybe 6. closet dont look like a fire hazard and ur gonna wanna vegg with 65k and not 27k 27k is for flowering

That soil is toooooo wet.

Thanks for all the help.... I am using some sealant that is working good at blocking out light.... I also found some 40 watt 65 k lights on the net but I also found a brand of 24 or 27 watt 65k that might be at the store. Should I go for more watts but wait or should I get the lights now? About the soil, I thought I was supposed to keep them moist but I now realize through other people and you guys maybe not so much.... I was also planning on using moisture control miracle grow but I think tomorrow i will take that back and trade it for some regular soil. I bought it because I thought it would help but people have been telling me it is a bad idea.... Do any of you know where to get the good lights? How soon should I transplant?

6500k would be good to get now as you probably won't be vegging for very long and they are not really needed for flowering. (Some say they help, and I don't disagree but with CFLs your often working with so many primary spectrum bulbs as it is that adding many more is just to big of a pain)
As for the soil, sadly I cannot really give a suggestion on whats a good brand from stores like Lowes as I'm yet to find one myself. Miracle grow Organic, and Miracle grow moisture control are probably my two favorites though as with a bit of perlite they seem atleast to me to not clump as bad as some of the others.
Moisture wise, water is of course the lifeline of plants, but at the same time they also need air which you starve them off when you have to much water in the soil. Generally I prefer to do a strong watering and then wait a few days till the soil is pretty nice and dry and then rewater them, hard to say exactly what to look for though as its kind of something you just get a feel for as you grow. (Stick your finger in the soil about 2-3 inches to tell how moist it actually is as the lights will dry the surface)
Transplanting wise I would probably try to do it sometime in the 7-12 day range from actually sprouting. That should give them time to grow enough in strength to handle the transplant and also enough time afterwards to do any recovering/adjusting they need to do before you kick them into flowering.
As for lights, when I did CFLs I always just went to lowes on payday and I would get me another pack of whatever spectrum I was needing, until I eventually had about 450watts of actual CFL wattage which suited my space, but price wise Amazon usually has good deals. May also want to consider buying some t12 fixtures from lowes (9.99$ around here but I forget bulb prices) and putting one or two in the corners of the closet for nice addition side lighting as that many plants in a space like that will get pretty crowded.

Mind telling us what type of sealant your using? Always helpful to learn new ideas

seemeat420 said:

Thanks for all the help.... I am using some sealant that is working good at blocking out light.... I also found some 40 watt 65 k lights on the net but I also found a brand of 24 or 27 watt 65k that might be at the store. Should I go for more watts but wait or should I get the lights now? About the soil, I thought I was supposed to keep them moist but I now realize through other people and you guys maybe not so much.... I was also planning on using moisture control miracle grow but I think tomorrow i will take that back and trade it for some regular soil. I bought it because I thought it would help but people have been telling me it is a bad idea.... Do any of you know where to get the good lights? How soon should I transplant?

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Wait for more wattage... Your seedlings wont need that much light

Thanks for the input..... The sealant I am using is a window seal. It's a rubber foam weather strip. The only problem is I have to cut it to size and its hard to do that with the super adhesive on it. Its a pain to work with.. I also thought maybe a spray sealant might work but I opted for this. It works really well though. And the rubber door seal is looking good too. Also, the 40 watt light bulbs were probably misprinted because some other sites said they were 2700k, but I found some 26 watt 6500k at walmart so I will be heading over there in a little while. Will 6 be enough as long as I keep them close. I will also be checking out the side lighting. I guess I am going to keep the miracle grow moisture control. I just have to try and not over water. But thanks for telling me to wait until it is dry rather than keeping it moist because that will help out. I am posting some pics of the plants because I have one beauty that is already starting to have leaves and fan out. I moved the fan thanks to all of your inputs and now not only is it helping with strong stem development, the temp has dropped about 8 degrees. I had another fan in there too and it was doing even better but that was the fan I sleep with so I will be buying another later. Sadly, some of the sprouts don't look to good as of now. I tried to post some pics of those also. There is one that still looks like it has never moved. there is another that the white root looks dried out and it was laying down and the stem was starting to curl so it could straighten up but because the drying root wasn't strong enough it didn't. Those are the worst two but I have 3 strong ones. 2 that look like they just might have slow and weak growth and 3 for sure bad ones. With all that said I was planning on 8 plants so I bought 8 3liter pots (I know thats not big pots but I was going to do 8 in a small space). I also bought 4 3gallon pots so later when I buy good quality seeds I can have 2 to 4 good size plants. What should I do? Should I use the smaller and try to save as many as possible. Or should I go with the ones that look strong and have 4 good size healthy plants. What is the better choice. This is my first grow so I don't know whats going to happen tomorrow. I only want to smoke at the end of all this. I can't tell if they are hopeless or salvageable.

If the roots are starting to dry out, move the light up and keep temps down, also make sure the soil doesnt get too dry