Quick Critical+ Grow Diary

[PedwarUrgain]

Hello everyone,

 

It is now officially on, and our Dinafem QC+ seeds are germinating as we speak. We've spent the last six weeks buying everything we need (final total was around £350 as we had trouble finding a tent). Now everything is good to go for our first ever grow.

 

Here's what we have:

 

1m x 1m x 2m grow tent (our ceiling is exactly 2m high - it was a tight fit!)

250 -600w dimmable HPS

4" extractor fan and carbon filter

6" Fan

Fabric pots at 3.8l and 10l

B&Q Verve compost (the only thing we didn't get online)

Perlite

Biobizz Bloom and Grow

Thermometer/hygrometer/Ph tester

A few other bits and bobs

 

Thanks to everyone who helped on kit selection and advice, and a big thanks to Attitude seeds. We ordered 5 QC+, and got 6 freebies pretty much next day for £40. 

 

The plan is to soak the seeds in water until they pop then put them in tissue until they're ready to go in .5 litre plastic pots. I'll try and update every day, and hopefully we can keep on top of any issues that crop up. If you see any problems before we do, please feel free to jump in with any pointers.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

PS, there will be plenty of photos just as soon as I can figure out how to post them - I don't think I'm at the required number of post to post photos?

[Larry Badgeley]

As it is your first ever grow maybe sowing the seeds into the starter pots would be easier?

I know people have their preferences but a good 24 hrs soaking in water with a smidge of seaweed, then into the pots which are moist. Into the tent with the lights on for warmth and cover the pots with something like cardboard to keep the light out. After a couple of days the action will start. 

 

Sorry to ask is QC+ auto or photos? Lights on 18/6. 20/4 or 24hrs?

 

Will you be using a heater for temps? Your roots must be kept warm.

You don't need a ph tester as the soil should do that

[PedwarUrgain]

15 minutes ago, Larry Badgeley said:

 

I'm always open to suggestions. I'm just going by what I've read. 24hrs in water then straight into pots does sound easier though.

 

They're photos (just very quick) and unless told otherwise 18/6 is what we will be going with. 

 

The tent is in a small room which is easy to keep warm. I've put a thick layer of bubble wrap under the inner tray to make sure they don't get cold from the floor.

 

The Ph tester is just because the more things I can check, the better I'll feel.

 

Thanks for your input!

[Larry Badgeley]

Those 6 hours with lights off will see a dramatic drop in temps regardless of how warm the room is. I am in the loft which is carpeted and heated but it doesn't stop a fluctuation in the temps especially in the winter months. Not for the first time here is one way to keep the temps up at root level: With this little tube heater I can maintain an ambient temp at lights off. Drip tray goes on top of the pallet

 

[PedwarUrgain]

Yeah, that had been on my mind a bit, especially after last winter. I have a spare electric heater with built in thermostat that I can put in there to keep it warm at night.

 

I've  seen tube heaters for around £20 so might invest. What wattage would you recommend?

 

PS, figured out how to post photos:

Edited December 3, 2018 by PedwarUrgain

[ursus1000]

21 hours ago, PedwarUrgain said:

1m x 1m x 2m grow tent

 

21 hours ago, PedwarUrgain said:

250 -600w dimmable HPS

 

21 hours ago, PedwarUrgain said:

4" extractor fan and carbon filter

600w is a lot of heat in that size tent,I think you would be better with a 6" fan/filter combo.

[PedwarUrgain]

On 12/4/2018 at 11:02 AM, ursus1000 said:

 

 

600w is a lot of heat in that size tent,I think you would be better with a 6" fan/filter combo.

Thanks for the input. It seems to be doing OK at the moment with temps around the mid 20s. Having said that, its only on 250w at the moment so I don't cook the seedlings.  If I have a problem i'll consider an upgrade.

[PedwarUrgain]

So much for daily updates but hey-ho, life gets in the way.

 

Its now Friday, so, its been 4 days since popping them in a glass of water. As suggested, we soaked them for around 18 hours and put them straight into small .5 litre pots.

 

Next morning 4 of the five seeds had sprouted, the 5th appeared a day later.

 

Temps are hovering around the mid 20 with 250w of light sat around 50cm above the pots. and now they look like this:

 

 

The humidity is sitting around 45% which is a tad low I think? So I bodged some humidity domes out of bottles to keep them comfortable. They seem to be doing the job - along with regular misting.

 

 

Question - When should I ramp the lights up?

 

Thanks all!

[ursus1000]

I use a 200w cfl for 2 or 3 of weeks before putting under 600 watts.

[Dinafem-Mark]

What a tidy looking set up

 

It looks like you've done your research, built a cool room which should work very well moving forward 

 

It looks like you have most bases covered with a well thought out plan. Let's see what you can do with our "Quick Critical"

 

Good luck my friend. I'll keep dropping in as you update 

 

All the best 

 

Mark...

[Dinafem-Mark]

On 07/12/2018 at 0:47 PM, PedwarUrgain said:

Question - When should I ramp the lights up?

 

 

Personally I would keep on the 250w setting until your in bigger pots with more established plant's. This should be around day 14-21 then increase the power. You are working with a dimmable ballast, correct?

 

I would make my next increase to 400w then see how the ladies reach whilst monitoring temps etc if all is well after say 7 day's. Increase to full 600w keeping the "boost" mode in reserve 

 

All the best 

 

Mark..

[PedwarUrgain]

It is now six days since popping them in water and and 4 days since they sprouted - nothing much to report.

 

All the seedlings are now between 6 and 9cm tall and looking fine as far as I can tell.

 

Light on temps are hovering around 26c and lights off around 21c. 

 

I've been struggling to keep the humidity up, which is surprising as I thought it would be the reverse. The Humidity inside the grow tent tends to drop to around 37%, so I've been misting quite regularly to keep it up a bit and with the humidity domes, I managed to keep it up around 70%, but that doesn't help them overnight. So, I have now put a damp towel in the bottom of the tent and the humidity is stable at around 57%. I have also taken the humidity domes off them as they are just about too tall for them already.

 

Like I said, nothing much to report.

 

22 hours ago, Dinafem-Mark said:

 

You are working with a dimmable ballast, correct?

 

Yep, it is a dimmable ballast - 250, 400, 600 and 'boost'. Still using the 250w setting with the light about 50cm above the pots.

22 hours ago, Dinafem-Mark said:

Let's see what you can do with our "Quick Critical"

 

Good luck my friend. I'll keep dropping in as you update 

 

All the best 

 

Mark...

Thanks Mark, the pointers are very much appreciated! 

 

Question about watering: When I planted the popped seeds, I gave the compost a good watering then let them drain until they stopped dripping. On day three I thought they could use some water as, but only a small amount. They have not been watered since then and the top of the soil is still damp but not wet. The pots feel lightish. I'm using a compost and have added 25% perlite to help drainage. Any advice on watering? 

 

As always, thanks everyone!

 

I'll round off today with a photo from each of the last two days.

 

Day 5 from seed

Day 6 from seed.

Edited December 9, 2018 by PedwarUrgain
Additional info

[PedwarUrgain]

Day 6 - Quick additional update.

 

Got a little worried they were stretching a bit too much. I would imagine its because the light was so far away (50cm). So, I have moved the light closer - about 30cm away now, moved the fan closer too so they are getting a little more breeze. With the light on, fan closer and the tent door open just a bit, the temps are around 27/28c now

 

Also just watered them just enough for a little bit of run-off.

 

lastly, the compost in the pots was around an inch below the top so I gently topped their compost up. I read somewhere that you can basically re-pot them a bit deeper if they're stretching too much. That sounded a bit dangerous to me, so I thought topping up the pots was a friendlier option with the same result.

 

That's all.

 

 

[ursus1000]

20 hours ago, PedwarUrgain said:

I've been struggling to keep the humidity up, which is surprising as I thought it would be the reverse.

This will rise as the plants get bigger.Some folks use a humidifier during veg to raise the humidity.

[PedwarUrgain]

48 minutes ago, ursus1000 said:

Some folks use a humidifier during veg to raise the humidity.

Thanks! This is my backup plan. For now the damp towel in the bottom of the tent is doing the trick.