Typical Newb questions

[mammonista]

Hey everybody,
So I've started a couple of young plants in a small 2'x2' (48"tall) tent in the upper reaches of my garage.
-Heated and ventilated to mid-70s around the clock with a circulating system using a small in-line ceramic heater and separate in-line fan mounted in a 6" flexible foil tube running heated air in at the bottom and out through the top.
-Illuminated from 6am - 12am with four 35watt (135 watt equivalent) CFL grow bulbs ((I have a 600-watt l.e.d. at the top of the tent but won't turn it on for a while yet ?)).
-Humidified to 50% - 55% with an in-tent cheapo ultrasonic humidifier.
One of the plants is a 19-day-old 'White Widow' female that will auto flower in another month or so. It's already in a 5-gallon bucket filled with a generic potting soil and vermiculite mix. The other plant is a 'CB Dutch Treat' female that is about a week old and started in a small cardboard planter that will eventually make it into a 5-gallon bucket filled with Coco and fed with the proper amounts of Cana and Cal-Mag.
In about a month I plan on moving the 'White Widow' plant outside onto the back deck and at that point the 'CB Dutch Treat' plant will be in the tent by itself.
Here are my questions...
? Can I use just regular Miracle Grow as the fertilizer for the 'White Widow' plant in regular soil? If not what specifically should I use that I might find at my local garden center (brand names please!) ?
? When specifically should I turn on the big l.e.d. in the tent in addition to the CFLs?
? When should I clip the center stalk of each plant to make it branch out? The larger seedling already has five sets of leaves on the main stalk...time make it branch yet?
? Once I'm past the danger of frost is there any real downside to moving the 'white widow' outside? I could build a small greenhouse with a plethora of window panes the previous homeowner thought to leave behind.

thanks for all your help!
mark

 

[Nightmask]

Hey mammonista, looks like you're growing pretty good. Not sure if I can answer everything but I'll give it a shot.

? Can I use just regular Miracle Grow as the fertilizer for the 'White Widow' plant in regular soil? If not what specifically should I use that I might find at my local garden center (brand names please!) ?

Miracle Grow seems to be a bit iffy around these parts. Most people don't seem to like it but it does seem to be something newbie growers use (I did) cause it's fairly cheap and easy to get. I can't speak for anyone else but when I used Miracle Grow on my potted plants it built up salts in the soil which I didn't notice being a newbie and eventually killed most of my plants (the plant in the ground fed with Miracle Grow was fine). If you do use it just pay attention to salt buildup (white stuff around the bottom holes) and flush if necessary. As for what else you could use that you could find locally, well, where's local for you? America? Australia? Africa?

? When specifically should I turn on the big l.e.d. in the tent in addition to the CFLs?

Does the LED have different modes? Like veg and flower mode? I think some Mars lights had a button/switch for two different modes but I don't recall exactly what they are. I'd say turn on the LED when your plants start to flower, but you could still turn it on during veg (just try not to burn your little ladies).

? When should I clip the center stalk of each plant to make it branch out? The larger seedling already has five sets of leaves on the main stalk...time make it branch yet?

You mean topping? Most people recommend between the 3rd and 5th nodes (I've heard between 3rd and 4th, and between 4th and 5th *shrug* Hopefully someone else can be more exact). So you can top now on the larger one.

? Once I'm past the danger of frost is there any real downside to moving the 'white widow' outside? I could build a small greenhouse with a plethora of window panes the previous homeowner thought to leave behind.

Any potential downside or upside will be based on your environment. If the frost has past that's one less downside, but then depending on where you are there could be others, like insects, animals, smell, nosy neighbours, plant thieves, etc.

 

[mammonista]

Nightmask,
Dude.... (dudette?),
Thank you sooooooo so much for the info. I'm here in heaven, aka central coastal Oregon, so where what should I buy for potted plants nutrient that won't salt the soil. I'd toss the Miracle Grow in a second if I thought it might kill my plant?
The L.E.D. doesn't have different modes., but it is 30" above the top of the plants right now. Still a risk of burning the plants with too much light?
No danger of thieves, insects, animals, smell, etc. So will an outside grow be safe once the side of frost is past even though nighttime lows dip into the 40's?
mark