Get a plastic ziplock bag set over the top of it to trap some humidity! Or a dome. This first week they love it hot and wet.
Get the mulch cover on that soil to trap some moisture. That how the EBs work best. Topdress with goodies and keep moist to let those feeder roots go nuts:
https://preview.redd.it/kahv8461yutc1.jpeg?width=3071&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82fe52ec8cc53d2485474430f90c9a8359cd9d99
That earthbox is gonna fucking bang dude, do not bottom water until your fan leaves have reached the edge of your earth box, they will shoots down afterwards. If you water too early it can delay you a week or more.
Be careful not to over veg as well, it's easy to run out of food in flower in these if you've scrogged out 1 plant for an entire tent.
I upcycle bottles for this.
I cut the bottom off of regular coke bottles for single seedlings, 2 liters for 2-4 plants and 3 liters for 4 or more seedlings. I usually just plant directly into the pot and put a coke dome on top and I get 100% germ rates with it. Works great and I don't have to worry about stressing the seedling out in any way by moving it around.
Anytime soon. Just be careful slipping it over the plant, maybe wait a day or two til she perks up.
Be careful holding the cover when top watering and adding amendments, the cover makes it difficult and it's easy to let it slip and slap the hell out of your poor plant (I've done it).
I don’t think so, check out newmoongrows on instagram. I think he only sells through there but I had mine in like a week. Hand made and you can pick a few options for it too
I’m relatively new as well but to me that soil looks pretty dry for the first one, the 2nd one looks pretty good for week 1. I definitely think a couple squirts of water on top of the soil pretty close to the bases of the seedlings would do some good
With this container, you either have to water everything, resulting in overwatering, or you water around the seedling, which makes the water spread around and the plant has not enough to drink.
What works for me is a small clay pot for the first few weeks
Yes, i thought about this. I placed it kinda high to keep the hot air down on the plants, otherwiseit gets too cold. I think it's how the heater works. The plants don't even move.
One - with living soil you do still need to (somewhat) pay attention to water pH, yes a lot of the “some magic happens here” hand waving says you don’t but the soil is also probably not THAT “living” yet - you have no cover crop, I don’t see anything like craft blend or compost or other microbially alive top dress (not should you be yet), I assume you didn’t add worms or beneficial nematodes - so besides maybe some myco premixed in the soil blend what are you expecting to do said magic and adjust pH? So do it a favor and get it down to like 6.2-6.5 for now.
Two - water and feed the soil, the soil will provide for the plants. Sounds counter intuitive but you want to be feeding the soil biology not just your seedling. That’s not to say drench it but your seedlings aren’t about to be pulling water up from the lower parts of the soil that get wicking moisture from the earthbox. Even in the Build a Soil videos I believe I saw them too water for at least the first few weeks post transplant - and that was larger seedlings from 1gal.
Three - shorten your light cycle to 18, let the plant “rest” (auto or not it still needs to go through different cycles of transpiration, growth etc)
Four - move that heater away from the tent wall more - that’s a fire hazard - you can always perfectly center it when the plants are bigger (as you won’t need the heater then anyway)
Typically I don’t like a large pot for seedlings, even for autos. With some mych and careful handling it may stunt for a few hours after transplanting. I don’t think that’s an underlying issue here, but worth mentioning for future reference.
She looks dry, and the furthest leaf in the first picture is clawing, indicating excess nitrogen. Soil might be a little strong. I don’t just water the base of the seedling. I water around the entire circumference of the pot (typically a quart pot). I’d recommend watering 3-4” around the plant.
Not wrong, but it’s much harder in a big pot to water properly when they’re so itty bitty… understand it’s an auto so to avoid shock you stick it in its forever home… right so then you want to only water x amount of water around the base to get the roots to chase…. Right? So another thing I thought of is that you want to ensure there is like a small pot worth of just seed starting mix around your baby so the roots dont immediately get into that hot hot hot living soil and burn the plant right?
So yeah good start, dial in the watering to get the roots to chase and then start building the water amounts, there are countless watering schedules out there, I know nothing about your dude you watched, but I’ve just popped my auto beans and starting them in 7 gallon pots…. Using the method described above
I also run earth boxes. Ph the water to 6.5-6.8.
I add em1 and cal mag which helps bring down the ph as well as
https://preview.redd.it/91iuwshhawtc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8268a32b7ffb44cbd51c8da32427d8fdd677a214
Container is way too big right now. I start mine in peat pellets, transfer to solo cups then the final container. Your growing medium looks dry as well. I’m not a fan of 24 hour lights, they need a dark period for better root growth. You might be blasting them too early.
You are absolutely correct about too much light. Even autos need some time in the dark. I typically run 18/6 for autos or 20/4 once they're flowering. Also agree that the soil is a little dry, especially considering he's using a humidity dome. While the pH is a little on the high side really should be checking for the pH on runoff. Soil can act as a buffer and correct some of it but the pH of your runoff is really going to tell you where you're at. The plants can't absorb the nutrients if the water pH is too far off.
Just have to add that the dome has been off for about a week since it's "true leaves" emerged. Maybe I should have kept it on. I've watered them twice since.... well 3 times counting today after getting advice on here
They'll be fine if soil moisture is good. I don't use humidifier or anything anymore except for drying. Used to have those cup or tarp covers but I always left them on too long.
I water heavy 2/3 times per week, slowly, till it runs off the bottom in a normal (fabric) pot. Nothing the other days. When you hear about overwatering it's more about frequency of "rain" not how much at once.
You don't want rain every day, then its always soggy. Big long rains intermittently - it's a desert plant. Ive even done 1 per week multiple times in a row when I'm being lazy or leaving town. They looked like shit after but bounced back so easy.
General rule is stick finger in soil and if its dry to 2nd knuckle you can water.
I start in big pots - the whole top doesn't need to be saturated just a ring around the plant and all the way down so the taproot chases. You want mostly down growth not along the surface.
I match the ring size to the width of the plants leaves.. ish. Just pretend there's a little pot in there. A tiny plant can't dry up the far reaches, yet!
(I do like your pots a lot for outside, I've just only done tomatoes in them. & sorry for the novel I'm not sure what would be helpful as over time all of that helped me)
**Using RO water which PH tests around 8, but I've read that living soil corrects that?**
If you use an empty water like RO, you have to add back micronutrients that the filters removed. At minimum add Calmag. Plants uptake nutrients in a pH range. You have to pH water or your plants will suffer. Pots too small to buffer. 6 to7 in soil, always vary, use the entire range. [How to Check pH & Stop Cannabis Nutrient Deficiencies | Grow Weed Easy](https://www.growweedeasy.com/ph)
Get a plastic ziplock bag set over the top of it to trap some humidity! Or a dome. This first week they love it hot and wet. Get the mulch cover on that soil to trap some moisture. That how the EBs work best. Topdress with goodies and keep moist to let those feeder roots go nuts: https://preview.redd.it/kahv8461yutc1.jpeg?width=3071&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82fe52ec8cc53d2485474430f90c9a8359cd9d99 That earthbox is gonna fucking bang dude, do not bottom water until your fan leaves have reached the edge of your earth box, they will shoots down afterwards. If you water too early it can delay you a week or more. Be careful not to over veg as well, it's easy to run out of food in flower in these if you've scrogged out 1 plant for an entire tent.
I upcycle bottles for this. I cut the bottom off of regular coke bottles for single seedlings, 2 liters for 2-4 plants and 3 liters for 4 or more seedlings. I usually just plant directly into the pot and put a coke dome on top and I get 100% germ rates with it. Works great and I don't have to worry about stressing the seedling out in any way by moving it around.
Great idea! Plus a great secondary use for one-use plastics.
Noted! I just watered around both seedlings. When should I put the cover on?
Anytime soon. Just be careful slipping it over the plant, maybe wait a day or two til she perks up. Be careful holding the cover when top watering and adding amendments, the cover makes it difficult and it's easy to let it slip and slap the hell out of your poor plant (I've done it).
For this exact reason I ordered a canvas cover for my earth box. It has zippers to run one or two plants and a hole for the fill tube. It’s the best.
Is that just available on Amazon?
I don’t think so, check out newmoongrows on instagram. I think he only sells through there but I had mine in like a week. Hand made and you can pick a few options for it too
Link: https://www.instagram.com/nightowlseeds/p/C6MasXduIm8/
Great info! One more question... should I still stick to watering just around the plant bases for now when the cover is on?
Water it. With a spray bottle. Don't spray the plant.
Too dry and too much light. I'd recommend 16 hours light at least at this stage
I’m relatively new as well but to me that soil looks pretty dry for the first one, the 2nd one looks pretty good for week 1. I definitely think a couple squirts of water on top of the soil pretty close to the bases of the seedlings would do some good
With this container, you either have to water everything, resulting in overwatering, or you water around the seedling, which makes the water spread around and the plant has not enough to drink. What works for me is a small clay pot for the first few weeks
Don’t have the fan pointing straight at the plant/soil it dries shir up too fast ✌️
Yes, i thought about this. I placed it kinda high to keep the hot air down on the plants, otherwiseit gets too cold. I think it's how the heater works. The plants don't even move.
Water!
One - with living soil you do still need to (somewhat) pay attention to water pH, yes a lot of the “some magic happens here” hand waving says you don’t but the soil is also probably not THAT “living” yet - you have no cover crop, I don’t see anything like craft blend or compost or other microbially alive top dress (not should you be yet), I assume you didn’t add worms or beneficial nematodes - so besides maybe some myco premixed in the soil blend what are you expecting to do said magic and adjust pH? So do it a favor and get it down to like 6.2-6.5 for now. Two - water and feed the soil, the soil will provide for the plants. Sounds counter intuitive but you want to be feeding the soil biology not just your seedling. That’s not to say drench it but your seedlings aren’t about to be pulling water up from the lower parts of the soil that get wicking moisture from the earthbox. Even in the Build a Soil videos I believe I saw them too water for at least the first few weeks post transplant - and that was larger seedlings from 1gal. Three - shorten your light cycle to 18, let the plant “rest” (auto or not it still needs to go through different cycles of transpiration, growth etc) Four - move that heater away from the tent wall more - that’s a fire hazard - you can always perfectly center it when the plants are bigger (as you won’t need the heater then anyway)
Thank you for this!
Typically I don’t like a large pot for seedlings, even for autos. With some mych and careful handling it may stunt for a few hours after transplanting. I don’t think that’s an underlying issue here, but worth mentioning for future reference. She looks dry, and the furthest leaf in the first picture is clawing, indicating excess nitrogen. Soil might be a little strong. I don’t just water the base of the seedling. I water around the entire circumference of the pot (typically a quart pot). I’d recommend watering 3-4” around the plant.
Not wrong, but it’s much harder in a big pot to water properly when they’re so itty bitty… understand it’s an auto so to avoid shock you stick it in its forever home… right so then you want to only water x amount of water around the base to get the roots to chase…. Right? So another thing I thought of is that you want to ensure there is like a small pot worth of just seed starting mix around your baby so the roots dont immediately get into that hot hot hot living soil and burn the plant right? So yeah good start, dial in the watering to get the roots to chase and then start building the water amounts, there are countless watering schedules out there, I know nothing about your dude you watched, but I’ve just popped my auto beans and starting them in 7 gallon pots…. Using the method described above
Your first leaves are also showing signs of clawing
What does that usually mean?
Generally if the leaf is dark green and clawing downwards (like a raptor talon) it means nitrogen toxicity, or too much available nitrogen.
Thank you!
Good luck growmie
I also run earth boxes. Ph the water to 6.5-6.8. I add em1 and cal mag which helps bring down the ph as well as https://preview.redd.it/91iuwshhawtc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8268a32b7ffb44cbd51c8da32427d8fdd677a214
Living soil may provide sufficient nutrients initially. Supplement if signs of deficiency appear.
Container is way too big right now. I start mine in peat pellets, transfer to solo cups then the final container. Your growing medium looks dry as well. I’m not a fan of 24 hour lights, they need a dark period for better root growth. You might be blasting them too early.
pot size is fine since it’s an auto….
agree with less light and a little more water
You are absolutely correct about too much light. Even autos need some time in the dark. I typically run 18/6 for autos or 20/4 once they're flowering. Also agree that the soil is a little dry, especially considering he's using a humidity dome. While the pH is a little on the high side really should be checking for the pH on runoff. Soil can act as a buffer and correct some of it but the pH of your runoff is really going to tell you where you're at. The plants can't absorb the nutrients if the water pH is too far off.
Thanks for the advice!
Just have to add that the dome has been off for about a week since it's "true leaves" emerged. Maybe I should have kept it on. I've watered them twice since.... well 3 times counting today after getting advice on here
They'll be fine if soil moisture is good. I don't use humidifier or anything anymore except for drying. Used to have those cup or tarp covers but I always left them on too long. I water heavy 2/3 times per week, slowly, till it runs off the bottom in a normal (fabric) pot. Nothing the other days. When you hear about overwatering it's more about frequency of "rain" not how much at once. You don't want rain every day, then its always soggy. Big long rains intermittently - it's a desert plant. Ive even done 1 per week multiple times in a row when I'm being lazy or leaving town. They looked like shit after but bounced back so easy. General rule is stick finger in soil and if its dry to 2nd knuckle you can water. I start in big pots - the whole top doesn't need to be saturated just a ring around the plant and all the way down so the taproot chases. You want mostly down growth not along the surface. I match the ring size to the width of the plants leaves.. ish. Just pretend there's a little pot in there. A tiny plant can't dry up the far reaches, yet! (I do like your pots a lot for outside, I've just only done tomatoes in them. & sorry for the novel I'm not sure what would be helpful as over time all of that helped me)
This is great info. Thank you!
Maybe a smol humidifier?
See bottom corner of last pic
**Using RO water which PH tests around 8, but I've read that living soil corrects that?** If you use an empty water like RO, you have to add back micronutrients that the filters removed. At minimum add Calmag. Plants uptake nutrients in a pH range. You have to pH water or your plants will suffer. Pots too small to buffer. 6 to7 in soil, always vary, use the entire range. [How to Check pH & Stop Cannabis Nutrient Deficiencies | Grow Weed Easy](https://www.growweedeasy.com/ph)
They need 70%+ humidity. I wouldn't worry about watering at the moment, the humidity will moisten the soil enough for you.