New grower needs advice

[Limolax]

Hi there every1
Great site. Some very usefull info here. Now here is my situation.
I've killed 3 seedling so far due to different mess up. I live smwhere that I don't have access to many of the materials suggested in different grow guides or diaries. Specialy in the field of growing medium and fertilizers. Now here is my question

Whats the best growing mediom and method of growing for me to grow marijuana with what I have available to me?

So here is my situation :
My veg room is a closet (1M) w in (0.4M) d in (2M) h and has 4 fluorescent lamp at 20 wats each the lamps are hanging half meter higher from the ground by chane so the height is changeable. Also has a PC fan circulating air and an intake hole that gets room temperature air at around 22-24 centigrade I have no ideas what the humidity is but it should be all righ. I live in a 4 season city not close to the ocean but not dry either. My options are limited in growing medium for Ex. There is no good rock wool cube if any. Or even sterilized potting soil. What I so far found that is sterilized and good quality is:
Coco peat
Peatmoss that is mixed with around 30% Perlite and Vermiculite
Posting soil that is not baged and sterilized
I didn't use the potting soil but mixed half coco and half peat + perlite and vermiculite. My problem here is I feel(I might be wrong) it keeps what're for too long. What can I add to it so it drains faster?? I use hand watering by the way. I'll try to post a pic later. My pots are a bit bigger than 300ml cola can. I use Nestlé bottled water or similar to it the PH is between 6.7 to 7.2
I ve killed 3 seedling I think I fed them too much and too early or maybe too much watering.
I am moving to a new place so I have couple of month before I try a new seed. I wanna learn as much as possible before my next try so I apriciate any advice or link to any guide that can help me in my situation. My 1st concern is what to use as grow medium? Can I plant in coco and peat mix all the way?
I will document my next run with pics and everything

 

[Mikell]

I love coir and would suggest going that way, after a bit of reading.

But no matter what, unless you live in the desert, drop the vermiculite. It a water sponge. Overwatering happens to almost every new grower, and the vermiculite will exacerbate this.

 

[Limolax]

Thx Mikell for the quick response.
As I said the vermiculite and perlite are already mixed with Peatmoss. All 3 come in one bag.
So are you saying its best to grow in pure coir? I also got some very small lava rocks. Is it good if I mix some with the coir to act like perlite?
So far Ive not been able to get my hand on perlite over here so the very small lava rocks are the closest thing I could get or I can just get some small rocks maybe ?!
Thx again

 

[Limolax]

I got 13 feminized seed from Vancouver seed bank from my last trip there. Already killed 3
Since I am gonna move to a new place in 2 month I put an end to my attempts at growing for now and wana learn more till I have the new place ready. I have bunch of seeds that I got from weed that I bought and smoked different time. Do they germinate? From what I red some might. I throw them in a cup of water anyways. If any germinate I can experience with that instead of my original seeds. Idk when I can get good seed again so I can learn with thise free seeds ( if germinate ) and when I feel ready I try the good seed. I am gonna check the seeds tomorrow. I hope some will germinate

 

[Mikell]

Ah, misread the vermiculite bit. Guilty of skimming.

I prefer the lava rocks myself, it doesn't migrate up through the soil like perlite. Actual rocks would not be preferable. Each "aeration" amendment has it's own properties, some are better at holding nutrients (verm), water (verm) or air (perlite, lava).

Not "best" to go with straight coir, just my preference. Some people add castings, perlite, verm, etc, depending on their needs/opinion/environment. You'll find a bevy of different approaches in the coir sub-forum, each has it's own merits.

Killing/unintentionally harming plants is par for the course. Like walking around a corner too fast and kicking a puppy. You've got the time to read up now, which should help avoid some of the common pit falls Couldn't agree more on your plans with the bag seed.

 

[bucketswithsoil]

Killing/unintentionally harming plants is par for the course. Like walking around a corner too fast and kicking a puppy.
.

Good one!!

 

[Limolax]

Thx again.
I started reading on coir and planting in some mixes of coir. My question is if I go with pure coir or with a mix of coir and some small lava rocks for holding air. Then how often should I water? Ive red when planting in soil touch the 1 inch top of the soil if dried its time to water.
But red smwhere else that don't treat coir like soil. So I don't know what technique to use. I believe the coir in the top or surface of the pot gets dried way faster than the bottom. Since I killed 1 or 2 seedling cause of root rot I am very concern about watering. I was planing to water once a week if I plant in the Peatmoss + verm and perlite. But now that u say coir well I am gonna try that with some lava rocks. So how often do I water ? Every other day ?

 

[Limolax]

Actually if more than 3 of the seeds germinate I am gonna try different mix of whatever I have available as growing medium including pure coir and coir+lava. What about nuts ? When do I need to add fertelizer ? I can't really get any organic stuff so all I can get is chemical fertelizer made her. Not many well known brands here. Anyways I have green Kristalone (19-19-19)for my veg phase and seedling. So if I use coir when should I start fertilizing?

 

[Limolax]

I don't have access to coco specific nuts. Shall I just try with another grow medium since I am a first timer anyway or chemical fertilizers will do the job in coco ?

 

[Mikell]

Conventional fertilizers and coir are peas in the same pod. I've never used a 1-1-1 fertilizer, though I'm sure you can find a few examples here to gauge result. I would ensure it has a complete nutrient profile. Coir specific nutrients have more Calcium than soil or hydroponic, but you can get the same result with a supplement.

FWIW, I believe you'll get better result with your fertilizer in a peat dominant mixture. Either way, you'll want something different to lower nitrogen when you flower.

Watering by weight is a more reliable method, coir, peat or otherwise. Lift the pot after watering and wait for a roughly 1/4-1/3 drop in weight before watering again.

The difference with coir is after 2-3 weeks, she'll start asking for water more frequently. At that point you can feed daily, and eventually ramp it up to multifeeds if you prefer.

Trying coir and peat isn't a bad idea. Each has it's own foibles, and only a bit of playing around will tell you which you prefer.

 

[Limolax]

I have 3 different fertelizer all are made here so they might not be good quality except the kristalone than comes from Netherlands I think
Kristalone 19-19-19 plan to use on seedling
20-8-8 for veg
10-30-20 or smithing close to that for bloom
Also have a micro fertelizer
Oh btw some of the 16 seeds are showing sighn of germination. Already put 3 in wet paper towel. Hopefully in a day or 2 I am gonna plant in at least 3 different medium. I really wana aim for coco. All I red about coco was that is better than anything if treated right. Since I have the time to attend to my plant everyday I think coco would be fun. I ve flushed my coco 3 times already and is ready to be planted in. Thx again Mikell for the great advice u provided and pointed me in the right direction.

 

[feeblebunny]

Limolax one thing to keep in mind with coco coir is that it can be over watered despite what some will say. There is no international standard for texture in coir to which all mfr's conform. So you have to use good judgement which comes from experience as to how much and how often to water it. Coir can vary from very course chips and long fibers to a very fine texture like dust and everything in between. You wouldn't want the roots of seedlings sitting too long in drenched coco coir dust as they will die. Strive to create small airy spaces within whatever medium you use. With that in mind perhaps fine perlite would work for you if you have that available. You can't over water it but once they start growing you will have to water often as it will not hold much water. So this would be just for starting them. Some nurseries carry a seedling starter mix or even a kit that contains a seedling tray and the medium. That might work well for you.

 

[Granger2]

I can't add anything to the sound advice by Mikell. Just want to butress the no vermiculite thing. And if you don't use coco nutes just get some Ca and Mg. Good luck. -granger

 

[Limolax]

Thx all for all the great tips. I've planted 2 seeds in 2 different medium. One in pure coco and the other one is in Peatmoss mixed with 30% perlite + vermiculite. I guess I have to water the one in coco way more often than the one in moss ha?