My last few grows I have not had the best luck, though I think I am figuring out where I went wrong and soon I expect some good progress to be made. First it was the gnats, I got those taken care of. Then it was the light intensity, got that handled... and now I am learning my soil was junk.
When I started my indoor growing season this fall, I got all new dirt. A new brand I have never used before. Well this came with lots of gnats, and later on I learn many have had similar problems to me using this garden soil. Seeing reviews online seems this soil is really bad.
So I decided to start over once again, pulling up my nearly a month old seedlings. They started doing the same thing as the previous failed seedlings.
Now I have a few new changes, I added a low wattage LED grow light above where the seeds should emerge. I can raise the netting up or down to adjust the lighting. Eventually I will go back to using my powerful metal halide light. But for now I just want to get them going again without worrying about too much light.
These LEDs need to be kept much closer to the seedlings due to their low intensity. But previously I had to bring my powerful light up to the top of tent to achieve the same LUX output.
For for now I will leave off the 600w MH bulb. But once they get big I will switch it back on. And put my more powerful 1000w light bulb when they really hunger for more light. But for now I will keep it simple for the seedlings.
Still got the fly tape up, but I have not seen a single gnat in over a month. So I think my BTI water along with the sticky traps really helped.. Along with watering less often and with less volume.
As for the junk soil. I amended half of it with seed starting mix. Hopefully this will be a good medium now for the seedlings to grow.
Making more BTI water, though I only use less quarter cup at a time with these seedlings. I need more of it for my plants I have growing downstairs in the seed starting area.
Making it I strain out the "mosquito bits" after soaked in the water for many days.
Eventually I need to replace the bits with new bits.
And now I have another jar of water that the gnats handle, killing them if they drink it.
But honestly my last two grows may have had a lot to do with the poor soil. I did well previously with my indoor grows using miracle grow. But since I am introducing beneficial fungi and bacteria into the soil I decided to skip them this time for my soil. And I guess I messed up and got some really bad soil.. basically just fine mulch in a bag.
So I hope by adding seed starting mix to all the pots and mixing it up well now I will be on the right track with my new soil. Time will tell, hopefully the seeds will emerge any day now.
The new set up looks clean and proper man. It's unfortunate you had to start over but you're maintaining a good positive mindset about it and effectively addressing the logical problem areas. Wishing you the best with the seedlings to come!
Thanks man, yeah hopefully all these mistakes will build up to a good success in the end with all the changes I have made.
If there is nothing to see at all, it is usually to do with the fact that the seed is refusing to germinate (for whatever reason). This is why I prefer the method of soaking the seed well, then placing it on a piece of kitchen roll and placing it in the germination tray. Only when I have evidence of the emergence of 'life' will I place it in the soil.
My motto is always - the proof of the pudding is in the eating!
I have used the paper towel method and it works fine. But soaking cannabis seeds seem to be the way to go.
Ill give them a few more days to emerge.
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Good evening my brother ♥️
I learned a lot from your post, but I still don't know the effect if the LED light is too close to the LED light that is too far away.
Very useful, have a nice day my brother
Yep.. to close and it will burn the plant.. too far and the plants get stringy.
Thank you very much for the information my brother, this is very useful for me 🤗
It's nice that you don't feel discouraged about the outcome of the seedlings because of the soil and you continue to improve more. Well, I'm sure you will get what you wanted. Perseverance is the key.😊
Yeah I think fixing the soil should help.. we shall see.. so true.
Yeah.. I'm hoping this time you will succeed in growing the seedlings.😊
You really have a great system set up indoors. The previous failure may have been due to poor quality soil. Other than that, could the ambient temperature be important? If the ambient temperature is important, I assume you will also set up a heating system inside. I hope the plants germinate as soon as possible.
Ah thanks.. I may need to get some heating pads for the pots when using LEDs. But when the big lights are on, the tent stays around 80-90F which is great for them.
It's crazy how much science actually goes into all of this. We have a kind of rural college near where I live, it's a community one and my wife and I rate scholarship essays for them. I think we have at least one or two kids every year who want to go into cannabis farming, so they are majoring in agriculture. Ten years ago that would have been unheard of here.
Yeah there is a science to it.. By measuring THC yield you can really tune your grow methods.. I do not test mine but hopefully they are pretty high in that goodness.
Hah I bet, there is a big industry in growing now.
Absolutely huge. In the three to four mile stretch between the expressway and where I work there are three to five grow operations. Just the other side of the expressway there is a giant one. The amount of new power lines they ran in for all of these places is insane. They even installed a new substation just down the road specifically for the grow operations. Then we have another three to five distribution buildings in the same stretch. I think the township pulls in $300k per year just in licensing fees and taxes for the weed businesses.
Wow!! This is a whole lot, it takes one with a passion for gardening to pull this off. Well done.
It has been quite the work in progress.. thanks
Waooo!!! Vas a tope con tus creaciones @solominer 👏. Este año es mucho lo que promete tus cosechas será una buena primavera en tus vegetales.. Siempre al máximo en tus creatividad. Saludos desde cuba 🇨🇺 bro 😊🙏🏻
Ah thanks, hopefully these will work out better.
What about introduce manure into the soil to make if rich before planting wont that help with the seedlings growth?
I use liquid fertilizers so I am pretty sure that works the same as manure.
What are the components used in making the liquid fertilizer, this depends too also the soil fertility they are some soil that when tested the ph level might be too acidic for the plant to grow
Damn!!! That's quite a journey for you the last two times friend. I believe and hope it is going to work out this time after adding seed starting mix to all the pots 💯
Ah yeah, well hopefully I get it right this time.
💯💯💯
I haven't heard of growing something indoor, but this one is cool seeing a dedicated light for it to help growing?
Ah yeah its too cold this time of year to grow outside.. so I must grow inside..
Yes they are LED lights meant for growing.. they call them "grow lights".
That's a cool one tbh. We'll wait for your update about this one:)
Your explanations and posts always provide benefits to us and I am happy to see them. I hope you always have a nice and enthusiastic day, my brother @solominer🙏❤️
Ah thanks.. glad you liked the post.
I’m not into gardening at this level yet, but I really admire how you’re figuring things out and not giving up.
Ah yeah lots to learn still. Even if I make more mistakes they are good learning experiences.
After you have solved some of the problems that befell these cannabis seeds, it turns out that there is still one more problem, just like what you said, soil is also very influential for plant growth, even though you have to do it a second time, but I still hope you don't use the wrong soil again to plant these cannabis seeds, tiring work, hopefully you will get a decent result, Keep up the spirit of my friend 💪
Yeah so true, the seedling stage is very touchy. So if I can get that down I should be good.
Yes, that's right, my friend, I have also failed several times in the seeding process, and I changed in a new way, of course it will be fine.
It's cool to see the setup. I have never grown myself but have been shown a couple setups over time.
Ah thanks.. it has been quite the work in progress.
You are identifying issues as you grow your plants, this would eventually lead to success.
Yes I do hope so.
I like to start seeds in peat moss and earth worm castings mix.. I'll be starting some soon
Nice.. hope the medium works well for you.
I use sphagnum peat moss when I stratify seeds in the fridge.. tried the towel method and does not work for long term stratification.