soil, pot size and transplanting?

[shoegal420]

I'm planning on germinating my seeds next week but I still need to go buy soil and pots. I've decided on using a mix of FF ocean forest and FF light warrior along with some perlite.
If the stores near me don't have either of those I've read that Happy Frog can be used on it's own, so I thought I'd settle for that?

I'll be growing in a 2x2 tent under 250w hid lights and I need to know the best pot size to get and how many times I should repot.
I was going to germinate the seeds in wet paper towels, then put them in small 2 or 4in. seedling pots and after a couple of weeks, move them to 5 gallon pots for the rest of the grow.
I am still deciding between fabric pots or airpots, which would you guys recommend?
I've also read that it's best to plant them into the big pot once they germinate but I feel like FFOF would be too harsh on the seedlings and I see no real harm in moving them just once. Any advice?

Also, when I put the seedlings in the pot, should I add the ocean forest/light warrior mix or the light warrior by itself?

 

[Snype]

I'm planning on germinating my seeds next week but I still need to go buy soil and pots. I've decided on using a mix of FF ocean forest and FF light warrior along with some perlite.
If the stores near me don't have either of those I've read that Happy Frog can be used on it's own, so I thought I'd settle for that?

I'll be growing in a 2x2 tent under 250w hid lights and I need to know the best pot size to get and how many times I should repot.
I was going to germinate the seeds in wet paper towels, then put them in small 2 or 4in. seedling pots and after a couple of weeks, move them to 5 gallon pots for the rest of the grow.
I am still deciding between fabric pots or airpots, which would you guys recommend?
I've also read that it's best to plant them into the big pot once they germinate but I feel like FFOF would be too harsh on the seedlings and I see no real harm in moving them just once. Any advice?

Also, when I put the seedlings in the pot, should I add the ocean forest/light warrior mix or the light warrior by itself?

You can start them in paper towels or those propagator trays for seedlings but you are growing only a few so I'd go with the paper towels.

After you put them in the paper towels in a ziplock, they should crack within 48 hours under about 78 degrees F.

Then put them into a container that is roughly 4"x4"x4" into Fox Farm Light Warrior but you can put a 1/2"-1" of FFOF on the bottom before you put the FFLW in. Only give them a little bit of water like 10 mL or so and as they grow, add more water when then need it. It is easy to use a scale to weigh your pots with soil mixture before you water for the first time and don't water again until the pot weighs what it did beforehand. Most people tend to over water so I teach my scale technique.

When the roots grow real nice and can be transplanted, you can go to a gallon pot and then 5 Gallon a few weeks later. I wouldn't go right to a 5 Gallon pot from a small one. The gallon pot will hold your FFOF soil once the plants can be transplanted from the 4".

 

[9000]

As far as pot size goes, when growing in soil I aim to use a size pot that that allows me to water every 2-3 days ... I also try to transplant a lot to build up a root system as opposed to putting them straight into large pots, either will work tho...hope that helps

 

[shoegal420]

Thank you both for the advice!

@Snype Thanks for all of the details, your answer is exactly what I was looking for! Once I get all my equipment, I'll probably start a grow diary cause I'm sure I'll need more help along the way!

Also, I love the scale technique and I'll definitely be using it, thanks again!!