After about 6 days, the seedlings seemed ready to enter the vegetative stage. I ran into my first problem the weekend after the seedlings got started. I was going away for Saturday and Sunday, and needed a way to make the light come on and off at the right times.
The solution was this digital outlet timer that I got at Home Depot for like 16 bucks. It has two outlets, and can be programmed for up to seven different configurations. Once I got it home, I took a few minutes to learn how to set it up right, then was able to head out for the weekend.
When I got home and checked on the plants, I realized I should have switched the light out sooner. Turns out that long stem thing I mentioned in the first post was true. You can see for yourself in the images how long the stems are.
I also realized I had an incorrect light schedule. I was doing 16 hours on, 4 off, but this only makes for 20 hours. Hopefully this won’t mess the plants up.
Over the weekend the furnace in my house had gone out, so the whole place was pretty cold. However, I have a space heater to keep the place warm, and I can use the digital outlet timer to turn it on and off when I’m away.
I transferred the plants into different containers because the cups weren’t draining properly and were soaking wet all weekend. So, I made another trip to Home Depot and picked up some potting soil, and a light bulb made for indoor plant growing. I read that the best lights are metal halide or high-pressure sodium, but I couldn’t find bulbs that specified this, so I went with the one linked above.
I found some plastic flower cups in my basement, washed them out real good with soap and water, and transferred the plants from the plastic cups into the pots. This was a difficult process since I had to cut the cups apart with scissors, then carefully move the plant without the compost around it breaking apart. I almost ruined one of the plants because I couldn’t get it in at the right angle and it got a little beat up.
Once they were in their new homes, I filled them in with potting soil. Since the stems are so long, I put them in pretty deep and filled it up, so as to give the plant more support, but I need to figure out a permanent solution at some point.
With this new light bulb, I changed the light schedule to 16 on, 8 off. I did this at the end of a 4 hour off period, so it shouldn’t bee too much of a shock to the plants. They’ll stay in the vegetative stage for a while, so hopefully they can get some strong growth during this period.
If anyone has tips or observations on how I can improve my operation, please leave a comment!
Aesliip’s Grow Series:
Tags: DIY, home grow, lighting.
By:
Lewis Hill. Permalink: 
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