Starting over. Few initial questions guys.

[orion7769]

Hello guys, sadly things outside of my control made me decide to stop my last crop of 12 plants two weeks into their flowering, which with your help were doing really great at the time. However i'm on my way to start things over and i try not to think about the negatives of the situation that i went into and look it as an experience to learn from. I will start a journal here but before that i need to clear few things up. My first question is about the pre-fertilez soils that says "nutrients for the first 4-6 weeks". What does this actually means and how it depends ? This time i will add perlite to my soil and i'm wondering how this will affect that also ? Also, how much perlite do you guys suggest to mix with the soil, where there is perlite present but i guess is very little in percentage ? And of course i want to ask about the timeline of the germination process and early vegetation, which i always fails somewhat. Do i need to use destiled water for the germination, or i can you plain tap water ? Some people say to PHd the tap water to 6.2 for the germination, some say i doesn't matter. I was thinking of placing the seeds in a cup of water, till they start to sink, then move them to a paper towel till the show 1 inch root, then move them to sponges and will place them under the lights and only after they show root from the bottom of the sponge to move them to their final place, which will be 15l air pots. I think of pre-soaking the soil in the pots, the day i place the seeds in the sponges, so it has some time to loose moisture. From that point, what is the optimal way of watering the plant, since i cannot give it runoff with every watering, since the plants will be very small for a few weeks ? I saw people use only sprayer to keep soil moist at the top the first few days. How will i know, that the plant is ready for a normal watering cycle and so on ? Thanks you guys !

[Farmall2]

orion7769 Well you’ve got a decent list and I’ll see where I can direct you based on my own successes

In germination there are several methods and the one you describe is pretty popular. I soak for about 24-36 hours in total darkness or until is see a tail emerge. Then I would move them to a paper town wetted down on a plate, and covered with another paper towel, slid into an inflated ziplock bag and placed into a dark warm cabinet somewhere. As a longer root develops I will place them into Fox Farms Ocean Forest in a solo cup with drainage holes. As they emerge with embryonic leaves, I then place them under 6500K 23Watt CFL bulbs about 3” from the top of the cup for threes weeks on average always maintaining the 3” distance for 18 hours on and 6 hours off. I also use a 7mway splitter and 5-6 bulbs suspended over a serving tray that hold 12 solo cups in a circle

i mix NO EXTRA perlite into that mix. The seedlings will do well not feeding them anything but you pH’ed water for those same 3-4 weeks. Water lightly, don't saturate the soil and guide water around the roots. Young seedlings might handle overwatering better than adult plants but try not to test that ! Spring water is better than distilled water ... the distilled water may contain elements of the metals used for that still. Not all but I have tested distilled water for marine aquarium use and found some extremely heavy with copper . Potable tap water should work fine unless the ph is way off neutral. Mine is 8.2 but works for me.

i’d steer clear of sponges...they may trap ultra fine root hairs and tear them when trying to transplant into soil cups. Pre-wetting your soil? I dont’ ...I add a shot glass of water when I transplant as well as a touch of mycorrhizae to the transplant hole. In my case, I re-pot into my 5-7 grow bags around week 3-4 and then add about 500ml ph 6.5 water every time the plants FEEL dry and light weight by lifting the pots.

[Farmall2]

I type like I play guitar so some words may not be totally clear... if you can’t decipher a few, just say so

[D.A.A.S.69]

Welcome back 7769 I do about the same as Farmall2 except I add 20-30percent perlite to my soil, even when I used soil like KindSoil, or FFOF, I use dug up soil from our huntin land and it ain't got no perlite in it, so I have to add some to it.
I sprout my seeds in a glass of tapwater that I set on top of that black box thing that the cable guys hook up to your tv, maybe it's called a modem, but I ain't sure about that ,
it stays warm, and as soon as I see a tail sticking out i put em straight into my pots, if you got fresh seeds you will see sprouts in 24-36hours.
You can put em in Dixie cups an transplant em if you want to, they might grow a little faster that way, for awhile if your transplant didn't hurt anything, but I grow autos an don't want to take a chance, of slowing them down with old my old hands, I used to transplant alot with no problems ,but now I just stick em in their pots, and in 2-3days you will see them come out.
And for the first week or two, I water in a little circle around the young plant, using about a half cup of water,
when they get bigger then you can start watering normal.
I use cfls for the first couple of weeks, then they get full power.
Thats a shame you lost your plants, I sure hate that, I've lost a few myself, like when people pop in that shouldn't have popped in, lol, but it ain't funny.
Your gonna do fine, plenty of fine folks on here, if you get in a bind, that will be glad to try to help you.
GoodLuck 7769
I wouldn't use them sponges either.
I know some fine growers on here that start there plants in peat pots, then they just stick the whole thang into there final pots, roots will grow right thru them,

[SoOrbudgal]

Lots of great advise, you can do this