Some starter questions

Hello all.
First of all I want to thank all taking part in this as I gathered some very valuable info from here.
I also want to welcome myself .

So it's my first time grow and I don't think of opening more than one thread for the whole process...

I ordered some autoflower seeds and first I'll be planting the Lowryder x nyc diesel. I'd gladly plant the Jock horror (Northern lights x Skunk x haze) as well as the Black Jack (which is said to yield 400 - 500 g/m2 and you be the judge whether that's possible for an AF) and here comes my first questions. Is it a wise choice to plant different strains of AF in one small grow box as I will be using the HomeBox XS...

Getting to the very beginning. I plan to use Jiffy pellets for germination as they work perfect for other herbs I grow.
The next question is about the Jiffy pots http://www.twowests.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/JP.jpg I see they have models that have openings for the roots so they don't get stunned. What I wonder is whether these cups are easily degradable in soil so that I can just through it in the final container with just adding the additional soil without removing it from the cup... I would like to avoid transplanting but I also don't want to put such a small plant in the final 5 liter container as that's not well for any plant in general as of my knowledge...

Now back to the pellets.. I think to place the pellets in the Jiffy mini greenhouse: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ7QsT0dDMgRsSG4QYLFvqcSJyUv0ze09lknDFEU1czf-z3ZQSI

Will this work well as it does for other plants? Without any additional light different types of seeds pop out in a matter of 3-5 days and the temperature is quite high under the lid. Or should I place it in the grow box or under a lamp?

About the lamps... I still haven't chosen final on that.. I wonder whether it will be better to buy many less powerful CFLs or two of the more expensive that one may find in the grow shops i.e http://www.agrolite.com/ficha.php?idioma=ing&art=cfl - a blue 150w and a red 125 w (both sum up to 130 euros...) I just saw some information, stating that these bulbs give 70-75 lumens per watt and that would be like ~20 000 lumens for two bulbs if it is for real... Please advise.

As for the fans I am going to use most probably PC fans with a 12V DC adapter.. I was wondering how bathroom and wall fans work. Maybe somebody gave them a try?

Thanks a lot! Hope my explanations weren't too messy

Go to wallmart and buy 2 4' fluorescent shop lights and bulbs for $40 and BAM! all the n00b veg you need still use those for clones and seedlings. Don't waste $ on LEDs they aren't where they need to be yet to really work that well. Buy a hps for starters 400w or larger its the biggest investment you need to make at this point. Look for one on craigslist. Try and get it with duct-able vents and don't pay more than $150w/a bulb. Its worth it you won't yield dick without it.

Skimp on everything else on this grow just get decent soil(if thats your preferred medium) Get good light that numero uno. And airflow everyone renegs on air when it really is one of the most important things for your plant that people overlook.
I'd move those pellets into a vermisoil (oceanforest fox farms is fine just add perlite it has shit aeration) if you can find the brand into keg cups until they get 10-12 inches tall then transplant into 5 gallon bucket with holes in the bottom(don't forget holes in cups too).

Depends on how big your budget really is.

So what should be the light schedule of the seedlings? I've got a small, pretty hot desk lamp with a small bulb that I suppose is LED. I would even not use any lamps for the seedlings if not extremely necessary, because from what I've seen with other plant seedlings, they pop out just fine only in the mini greenhouse.. You tell me if I'm wrong. As for the HPS - I've decided not to use it as my lectric bill will jump 3 times the one I pay now and that's not acceptable.. I'll use two CFLs ( one red and one blue, or dual) with 150-200w each responding from 9000 to 11000 lumens each. I wonder whether the difference between 150 and 200w for a CFL is significant for a small space...

Also I was advised to plant more seeds in smaller containers but I want my gals to feel comfy so I need some additional advice on that as well... Growing AF in a space of 60x60cm or 80x80cm in 5 liter pots will definitely take a lot of the space but it would also result in maximum yield, right?

The significance of 150-200 is very important when dealing with lighting. You definitely want as much light as you can get. And as for the hot desk lamp I'd make sure the light is LED and not incandescent if you're trying to save money. The other thing to worry about with the desk lamp is not letting it touch any you plants period so they don't get burnt. As for the seedlings I've always just used a wet paper towel folded twice with the seeds inside in a plastic bag in the window to germinate to a size I could pot them. For seedlings I go on 24 hour. 18-6 is fine too I've always felt they grew faster with 24 than 18-6. I go 18-6 when I'm trying to save money from not running the metal halide all the time.

Ok, I got my first problem and stress..
Last night I come back from work and what I see is 3 out of 6 seeds have sprouted. A lot! About 3 cm or so, looking nice and healthy except they were all Yellow! That freaked me out quite a bit. I checked online and most probably the Jiffies keep to much moisture in themselves and that way the got overwatered. I tossed them in the box and turned my dual 13 4000 lumen CFL that I will be using all the way. I tried getting rid of some of the moisture from the Jiffies with toilet paper. Kept the temperature at 23.4 C all night through and now they got a more greenish color than last night as you may see on the pics. Unfortunately you won't be able to tell the difference but I need some advice. I'm a bit relieved but not sure whether I need to move them to their final pots or not yet.. Going to get some root stimulator now. I'll be using a manufactured root stimulator on three of the babies and Trichoderma on the other three (if they all sprout that is..) Any ideas on that? For now I regulate the temperature in the box by opening and closing parts of it but I'll install a simple fan today or tomorrow for air flow and next Friday I'll be getting a 100mm 190m3/h exhaust + carbon filter for later...

If this is your first grow, and if you see some more stuff on here, when your plants grow more, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE THE URGE to whip out a pair of scissors and for some reason want to begin removing foilage. Don't ask me how I know this, or why it matters, just know that at some point you WILL probably have such an urge. You must fight it!!! Don't do it man! Let the plant remain green and keep all of it's leaves that it thinks it needs to feed itself later on in its life.

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Thank you! I have another questions regarding ventilation. I have a 187 m3/h exhaust fan running all the time. My box is 60 x 60 x 120 cm. Do I need a fan that blows air IN? Or is the exhaust fan powerful enough for such a small place to suck its own... I also have hung in there a fan to keep the air moving... I read somewhere that I need an intake fan to keep up the co2 levels up but I can't find the logic in that.. Since the exhaust fan is working on full power this means it is getting all the air from the vents openings on the box... Am I wrong?

All you need is exhaust. Air will have to be replaced from the suction which means fresh air will enter by exhausting only.

The only time I add ventilation fans for fresh air is when I want a specific place to get my fresh air from. Like outside rather than having my replacement air come from beneath the house which is on raised foundation homes is where 11% of the air we breathe inside comes from. All that nasty dead shit, fungus and rats breathe deep..... ya random as fuck sorry...

Good to know, good to know

Ok, now this is peculiar... For me at least.

My Black Jack auto is getting a second sprout.... The Jock Horror seed as well I think but that's too miniature to take a pic of... So please check it out and tell me whether this is normal and what exactly it means...

never seen that before

I've seen that. I germinated 3 seeds and 2 turned out like that. I planted them outside and the 2 that were like that are female and will be ready for harvest in a few weeks . The other plant got chopped down .

My point is, don't sweat it. You're going to encounter all types of crazy shit and things that make you worried about your babies. Do your best and let nature take its course and you won't be disappointed.

The very most important thing, and I learned this in horticulture way back in highschool, is patience. If you think something is wrong wait 2 or 3 days for the problem to correct it'self and than ask the pro's.

My .02

Hey there!

All is well and going great!
The yellow color got greenish the next morning after I had put them under light and the right temperature.

One problem though, is that I got greedy and planted 6 seeds in a Home Box XS with one 200w dual CFL. The problem is, that however I arrange the pots, there are two plants in the back of the bulb that get less light than the others. Should I change places of pots?

I really try hard to keep the light as close as possible as to avoid stretching but I'm afraid I'll be getting it from some of the plants..

Check out my setting and the DIY CO2 "generator" I wonder if the position of the tubes is correct. The CO2 is heavier than air, but since the fan is sucking the air upwards, I guessed it would be better to place the tubes at the base of the plants... Amazing thing is that this actually rose the temperature with about 1-2.5 degrees C... I wonder if anyone could calculate using this temperature amplitude how much rpm is emitted from my batch

Also, as you can actually see in the pics, half of the plants are getting the warm light part of my dual CFL and the others the 6500k... I cannot screw it otherwise... Would this be a problem, the plants being AF...? They all are 5 days old form germination - your opinion please

In addition - I can't get my humidity level higher than 34-37% in daytime.... I tried placing jars with water inside the box as well as a sponge in a sealed bag with holes and on top of that a moist towel to hang from above - well all this didn't do squat... Buying a humidifier is not an option unfortunately... I just read it's good to put a bowl of moist perlite in the grow room but after trying all this other stuff I read on the net, I'm being a bit skeptical and also wouldn't want to get mold from it.

i dont want to bash you or anything, but unless you know how to grow, dont grow autoflowers. I started with autoflowers and they dont like mistakes. 1 mistake= low yield. go with regular feminized seeds man.. if you fuck up, you just veg a little longer.

You need a HID lighting system. LEDS/CFLS has very low par. light energy wont reach lower canopy. Unless you top and scrog, LEDS are pretty much useless

Well it's too late for that, mate. I've got 6 babies and all are AFs. Topping AFs? Wouldn't this be a disaster as they are generally up to 40cm in height?

Ok, so I've got 6 plants and 3 strains so that I can make the difference... One of the pairs are dramatically different. Actually this one baby is totally different than all the others. It is not developing small leaf sets from the center which is kinda weird in my opinion. It is as tall as the others and getting as much light as the others and even a bit more than some... Any ideas? Will post a pic to make things more clear later.

So now you can see clearly what I'm referring to... It seems very strange. Please advise

Hello? Anyone any ideas on this one?