ready for first transplant?

[Guest]

can somebody show me a picture of what a node looks like? so it's ok those bottom leaves are starting to turn yellow? the 2nd one's now turning yellow, I thought that was a sign of nutrient deficiency

 

[Notcoolzeuss]

in the beginning i was using tap water, then went to distilled until I ran out and got spring water, i'll pick up distilled water, the reason i'm in a hurry for my first transplant is since i don't want the plant to die due to lack of nutes, I haven't given it any fertilizer at all, I'm just using some Perry Foss, peat moss germination soil, and my next transplant would be to fox farms so I wouldn't be in such a hurry to make sure it gets fertilizer.

i had just watered it before I took the picture, I water twice a day just enough to where it's moist, once in the morning and once at night, the reason is those peat moss cups dry up quick, i only water if the soil is dry. my first plant, i was watering every 3 days and it died from lack of water and they're under 250W HPS. although this morning i do think I overwatered, and I always give it cold water, so i'm going to start with room temperature water.

and what's this clearx flush that you're speaking about where can I get it and how does it work? and when should i use it?

Don't worry about fertilizer yet. You have a very young seedling there. All it needs is minimal light, and water for now. You also keep saying that you have these very young seedlings under a 250 w HPS. How far are they from it, because an HID on a two week old seedling is a bit of overkill. A CFL would be much gentler on a young seedling. If you don't have CFL (Compact Fleuroescant Light), you should keep the seedlings at least 3 feet away from your HPS. You keep referring to a previous seedling that you believe died of nutrient deficiency. Chances are, that seedling died because the light was too strong. I've never heard of a two week old seedling dying of nutrient deficiency.

So, what I would do is:

Get the light further away from the seedlings. If you have to feed them twice a day, your lights are way too close. Relax, relax, relax. You're doing fine. Nodes are a fancy term for branches. You see how your pictures of your plant look like a tiny stem with four leaves coming off of it. The stem will get taller, and you will begin to notice new side branches growing off of the main stem. At first, the branches will grow from the same spot on the main stem, and form a "Y". They will begin to alternate, which means you'll have a side branch going left, and then an inch or two above that, you will have a side branch going right. This is referred to as "alternating nodes". This is a sign that your plant is maturing.
Don't worry about all of that terminology for now. When you see your seedlings start to develop new growth, you know the roots underneath are growing too. One can't grow without the other. When you have a few more branches(nodes), you will be ready for transplant. That will take at least a week or two. Don't worry about getting them in the FF Ocean Forest. They'll be fine in plain soil for another week or two. Just remember to get that light away from them. About three feet. As the seedling gets older and bigger, you can slowly move your HPS closer and closer.
You are making the same mistake I did when I began two months ago. You're overthinking everything. MJ is a very versatile plant. They call it weed for a reason. If you use your common sense, you should do fine. All of the complicated stuff you may read about on this site are for advanced growers. You can mess around with all of that later, after you have a grow under your belt. Anyone can grow mj. Maximizing yield and potency is another story entirely. Learning that will come later, with experience.

 

[Guest]

Don't worry about fertilizer yet. You have a very young seedling there. All it needs is minimal light, and water for now. You also keep saying that you have these very young seedlings under a 250 w HPS. How far are they from it, because an HID on a two week old seedling is a bit of overkill. A CFL would be much gentler on a young seedling. If you don't have CFL (Compact Fleuroescant Light), you should keep the seedlings at least 3 feet away from your HPS. You keep referring to a previous seedling that you believe died of nutrient deficiency. Chances are, that seedling died because the light was too strong. I've never heard of a two week old seedling dying of nutrient deficiency.

So, what I would do is:

Get the light further away from the seedlings. If you have to feed them twice a day, your lights are way too close. Relax, relax, relax. You're doing fine. Nodes are a fancy term for branches. You see how your pictures of your plant look like a tiny stem with four leaves coming off of it. The stem will get taller, and you will begin to notice new side branches growing off of the main stem. At first, the branches will grow from the same spot on the main stem, and form a "Y". They will begin to alternate, which means you'll have a side branch going left, and then an inch or two above that, you will have a side branch going right. This is referred to as "alternating nodes". This is a sign that your plant is maturing.
Don't worry about all of that terminology for now. When you see your seedlings start to develop new growth, you know the roots underneath are growing too. One can't grow without the other. When you have a few more branches(nodes), you will be ready for transplant. That will take at least a week or two. Don't worry about getting them in the FF Ocean Forest. They'll be fine in plain soil for another week or two. Just remember to get that light away from them. About three feet. As the seedling gets older and bigger, you can slowly move your HPS closer and closer.
You are making the same mistake I did when I began two months ago. You're overthinking everything. MJ is a very versatile plant. They call it weed for a reason. If you use your common sense, you should do fine. All of the complicated stuff you may read about on this site are for advanced growers. You can mess around with all of that later, after you have a grow under your belt. Anyone can grow mj. Maximizing yield and potency is another story entirely. Learning that will come later, with experience.

thanks for that thorough post! my first plant died from lack of water, I was watering every 3 days and it was under 1 CFL and it was doing good, then I put another CFL directly above it and then it died. HID is about 2' away. So you think it would be ok for the plants to go from HID to CFL? it won't stress the plant or anything? I don't want the same thing happen that happened last time. After posting pics of that plant when it died everybody said it died from lack of water, since those peat cups dry up real quick. There are 2 plants growing so should I add 2 CFL's again? just keep them farther away?

 

[Notcoolzeuss]

thanks for that thorough post! my first plant died from lack of water, I was watering every 3 days and it was under 1 CFL and it was doing good, then I put another CFL directly above it and then it died. HID is about 2' away. So you think it would be ok for the plants to go from HID to CFL? it won't stress the plant or anything? I don't want the same thing happen that happened last time. After posting pics of that plant when it died everybody said it died from lack of water, since those peat cups dry up real quick. There are 2 plants growing so should I add 2 CFL's again? just keep them farther away?

The people that told you your plant died from lack of water were probably right. It's not so much that your peat cups dry quick, as the lights are too close, and therefore drying the soil before the roots can absorb any water. You can use the HPS or CFL, it's up to you. Obviously, the cfls will use less electricity, but if you don't feel like swapping out the HPS, and your electric bill is not an issue, you can absolutely keep them under the HPS.

Just remember, when you water your plant, you want the roots to soak up that water, and carry it to the rest of the plant. If your lights are too hot and too close, the soil will dry out quicker than the roots can absorb water. I believe that this is what killed your last seedling. You only need minimal light at this point. Once your seedling gets a little more growth, and a little stronger, then you can blast it with light. Right now, it needs water more than light, and it's been getting the opposite.

If you keep using the HPS, keep it about three to four feet away until it gets a little stronger. If you switch to the two CFLs, you could probably keep those about a foot away. The CFLs run MUCH cooler than your HPS does, so it won't dry out the soil as much. I hope that helps.

In two months, you could end up looking at this:

 

[Guest]

there still aren't any nodes yet, so I'm just waiting, but I had another question about transplating, these pots are only 3" so it's ok to let them grow until they get a few nodes? I don't want the roots to have any problems

 

[Notcoolzeuss]

there still aren't any nodes yet, so I'm just waiting, but I had another question about transplating, these pots are only 3" so it's ok to let them grow until they get a few nodes? I don't want the roots to have any problems

You should be fine. Here, look at this picture. These clones were vegged in these tiny, 8 ounce, plastic cups for 3 to 4 weeks. You can see that they had quite a few nodes before I transplanted them. I recognize those peat pots you're using, and they are smaller than the cups I used. Your roots will be fine. It's all about patience. Believe me, I feel like I started this grow a year ago, and it's only day 24 of flower. You're at the hardest part now. Once they start to grow some nodes, you'll see a difference in them everyday. You're almost there.