sir_root Germinated the seeds in two separate glasses of water, so I could keep the strains straight. They germinated after about 20 hours in the water at the top of my closet, where it is dark. I planted them in a rapid rooter and put them in the seedling tray and put it in the tent. The Grow lights are on and there is a table in the tent to make it easier to work with. PAR meter shows around 180.
10/18/2025 - After about 3 days, I got sprouts on the Cinderella's Dream, but the Black Cherry has not emerged from the rooter, yet.
I found that I was steadily getting about 72% and had pretty high VPD in the space, so I made the leap and invested in an AC Infinity T3 Humidifier and T3 heater. The heater is set to 75 degrees F and the Humidifier is on the VPD setting for .7. Now I am just letting everything equalize.
Seedlings are on a mat, with a fixed temp. Grow lights are measuring about 200 on the PAR meter. VPD is coming down.
10/20/2025 - All three of the little ladies have sprouted. I moved the grow light down to about 10" from the seed bed, to reduce stretching.
Light level is 25% and PAR meter is reading around 280. VPD holding around 1.1. The humidifier is managing pretty well, but it does not get much lower than this at these higher temps. Tent temp 77 degrees F. I also adjusted the interior circulation fans to put a bit more of a breeze over the seedling tray, to see if I can get them to strengthen up.
10/21/2025 - I am running an 18/6 lighting schedule, with darkness starting at 9am, until 3pm daily. This just works best for my own schedule, as it is easier to just leave everything alone during daytime hours. That pesky work thing that I still need to do.
Seedlings have stopped growing "up", which I am very relieved about. I was getting concerned about stretching. I believe they are focused on root development, so I am monitoring the rooter to make sure it does not get too dried out. Tent humidity is helping here, I believe.
I moved some of the circulation fans around, so they are blowing down and across and up and across from opposite sides. The seedlings are getting a very nice breeze, which I hope will strengthen them up.
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Used method
Glass Of Water
Germination Method
1
Week 1. Vegetation
22d ago
1/2
7.62 cm
Height
18 hrs
Light Schedule
24 Β°C
Day Air Temp
6.5
pH
No Smell
Smell
62 %
Air Humidity
22 Β°C
Night Air Temp
25.4 cm
Lamp Distance
sir_root 10-22-2025 - Still growing. Second set of true leaves have started to emerge. The Black Cherry is catching up to her Sativa sisters in height, but everything else has stabilized.
Hopefully by this time next week, there will some additional growth. The breeze from the circulation fans seems to be helping keep them strong.
10-24-2025 - The plants have not changed in height, but I am starting to see more above ground growth as the second set of main leaves is coming in. I am keeping everything consistent. A little spritz with water from my spray bottle (ph 6.5) to give a little moisture, but not soaking the rooter medium. They seem happy, swaying in the gentle breeze from the circulation fans.
I started setting up the irrigation lines, to get ready. Optimistic that I will be at a point this time next week when I can move them into the pots.
10-26-2025 - While the plants have stopped stretching and I am seeing the second and third sets of true leaves, I am still concerned with the rate of growth. I turned the lights up from 20% to 25% last night and moved the lights up about an inch. Everything is looking good still this morning, no wilting or other changes. Plants are actually turning the leaves up a bit, but I am not seeing any deformities in the shapes of the leaves. Entering another dark period now and will see how they look coming out of it. I am really debating on transplanting them today into the grow pots. I am a little concerned that the rapid rooters have not expanded and are not blocking enough light in the grow tray, for the roots to really be able to grow.
So, a question for growers out there, please. I am starting my seedlings in rapid rooters. So far, I think things are going well. That said, I have noticed that the rooters do not entirely fill the space in the tray. Should I add some soil to give them more "deep" darkness?
There is no need to do that. Roots will form inside the rooters just fine. The compact cubes are making them easier to be transplanted later.
Imho they already look big enough to go into a real pot. π
sir_root 10/27 - I have decided it is time to repot the girls into larger 3 gal pots. After the dark cycle today, I will move them this afternoon.
I was looking for a solution to watering around my plans, once they are in the larger pots. Most of the watering ring things I saw were overpriced and got pretty crappy reviews, so I made my own out of irrigation tubing, which has emitters every 6". I am using a LetPot automatic waterer, since I will have multiple moisture sensors in the space, so I can trigger watering from anywhere.
After the dark period, I repotted the seedlings into their pots. 1/3rd Cali Super Soil, the rest Fox Farm Ocean Soil.
Used my sprayer to water them in and ran the drip system for about 20 minutes to get the pots wet.
I have a wifi enabled moisture meter setup, so I can track the soil moisture level.
With the wifi irrigation system, that lets me turn on the drip system. No nutes to this point. Water ph 6.5
10/31/2025 - Moved my sensors down in the tent to about the same level as the top of the pots. I might move one up later, which is just an external sensor, but I found that the heat at the bottom of the tent, under the lights was about 3 degrees hotter than what I had set the heater at. VPD was good, but was skewed and obviously they were running pretty hot. Sats were responding well, but I noticed some upward leaf curl on the Indica, so I am hoping this one adjustment helps. Will let things run for 48 hours or so and see how things proceed.
10/30/2025 - I just had to upload some updates from the last couple of days. Just running the light cycle and maintaining humidity. I still run about 77 F during the "day" and drop to 71 F for my 6 hour dark cycle.
The plant saucer upside down in a larger plant saucer seems to have worked well. Allows the runoff and keeps the pot out of it. I am going to drill some holes in the smaller saucer to let some of the runoff drip down better. All in all, they all seemed to have taken to the repot well. The Black Cherry (Indica) is going a bit slower, but today it looks like she will take off in the next day or so.
The Sats have all officially started their first nodes.
They are watered in well and will let things sit and not setup an automatic watering schedule yet.
I just uploaded a recent pic of the one Indica plant I have. I know first grow, mixing Sativa and Indica, maybe I am taking on too much.
That said, I am a bit concerned about her leaf development. Is it my environment? Should I just be patient?
Leaf structure can vary a lot depending on the dominant traits. As long as your environment stays balanced and youβre not overwatering or overfeeding, just let her settle into her rhythm. Growth often slows a bit before a burst of new energy patience always pays off
sir_root 11/3/2025 - I spent a lot of time making slight adjustments last week, to attempt to get a more stable grow environment.
Moved the heater and humidifier sensors to the middle of the tent hanging down about 18" above the lights.
I am leaving the lights at 20" and turned them up to 75% intensity. DLI is between 28 and 30.
One of my circulating fans started acting up over the weekend. It stops oscillating, which has prompted me to order two new fans from AC Infinity.
I will admit, I am a bit disappointed that the fans supplied with this kit from The Bud Grower, failed after just a few weeks.
I will continue to monitor for any stress, but all of the plants have seemed to adapt to the higher light levels well.
They are growing very quickly now, so I expect I will be topping at least the Cinderella Dream ladies later this week and getting them ready for manifolding.
I noticed a little bit of curling up at the ends of the Sats. The leaves are still more or less flat, except for one which is curled, but I think that is because of one of the circulation fans.
So, earlier today, I moved the lights up about 6". I measured and they are now 20" from the top of the tallest plant. I may move that fan up tomorrow, but it is on low and moving again.
I also watered them again, for 3 minutes. The moisture meter was showing 24%. The outer part seemed dry, even though I could tell the root ball was still damp. Anyway, was a sprinkle.
Metrics at the last check(That I can measure). VPD .88, tent temp 77 F, Lights 75%
I also noticed that the edges of the fan leaves are curling up a bit. I suspect temp and light intensity, since I had just raised the light level. I moved the lights up another few inches, so now they are 20" above the top of the tallest plant. Will let this ride for a couple of days and see if they improve.
The little Indica girl is starting to catch up to her cousins, so maybe she will be ready too.
11/5 - They all seem to be doing really well. Noticed my watering system was siphoning a bit, so I moved the res to the floor and added a check valve to the line. Really glad I only fill a little water at a time, so I didn't have mess.
The little ladies are well through the third node development and it looks like they are taking off.
Noticed something today. I had the heater turned down to 75, because I had to leave my house before the end of the light cycle. I generally bring the temp down. When I went to check on it, tent temp was 77, about 20" above the lights. I think the lights and my heater were competing. My humidifier was cranking all the time to get VPD down to .8. Now, heater is set to 75, tent temp is 77 during light schedule and my VPD is holding strong at .79. Humidifier has barely run all day, except in dark cycle.
I really dislike that I can not respond to answers to my questions.
Thank you to everyone who responded. Maybe you will check out my diary and see this.
