Royal AK photoperiod

This will be my first time growing as well as my first grow diary so, Welcome to all passing by and please feel free to stick around to see how I get on. Any advice or pointers from experienced growers out there or even the not so experienced is gratefully received, even if I do not always follow it :) Just to put this out there I am the one that usually ends up killing the houseplants, so if I manage to pull this off rest assured anybody thinking of giving it a grow should not have any worries. The past couple of years I have researched how to grow cannabis over a multitude of sites. I have also invested in the basic equipment I believe is required for a relatively stress-free grow. Time to put my newly acquired knowledge to the test and take what I have learnt and put it to practice. I am not looking for amazing yields or grower perfection I am just hoping to get from seed to harvest without too many issues or having to invest too much time. Hopefully, this diary may end up showing others that are thinking of taking the plunge that it is not as scary as they may believe. I have decided to grow photoperiod plants to truly test my skills and have chosen Royal AK Feminized seeds from Royal Queen Seeds. Biobizz All Mix is my growing medium of choice and I will be using various other nutrients from the Biobizz range. I have a standard set up of a 1m² grow tent, 6" extraction with carbon filter and a 4" intake both with variable speed control, a couple of oscillating fans for air movement. A small humidifier, a small dehumidifier and a heater if needed along with a temperature and humidity monitor. I will be using a 200w 6400k CFL bulb for germination and the girls first couple of weeks of life then I will be moving up to a 600w Omega dual HPS for veg followed by a 600w Omega Super HPS for flowering. I only expect to run the HPS bulbs at 400w under a parabolic reflector. Germination Day 1 - After letting the beans soak for a few hours in a solution of Biobizz Root-Juice and good old tap water they were dropped directly into the soil about 1cm deep in seedling pots. The pots had each been pre-soaked with approx. 50/60ml of the Root-Juice solution then placed in a propagator under the CFL bulb for warmth. I will be keeping the remaining Root-Juice solution in a small spray bottle to use as needed to keep the topsoil moist. At this stage I am looking to keep the temperature range between 23/27°C and the relative humidity between 70/80%. Not much to do now other than wait and hope they all pop over the course of this week. Fingers crossed. Day 2 - Pots are still moist from their pre-soak so nothing much happening here today folks. Over the past 24hrs the temperature range has been between 24.1/25.8°C and the humidity is sitting around 78%. Hopefully, the girls are doing their magic underground and will grace me with their presence over the next few days. Day 3 - Gave pots a spray with the left-over Root-Juice solution a few times throughout the day just to moisten the topsoil slightly. Temperature range has been 25.4/27.3°C & humidity a steady 75% over the past 24 hours. After a quick look over the pots I've a good feeling I may well be tending to a couple of seedlings come the morning. EDIT: Going to be tending to at least one seedling in the morning. I currently have the CFL bulb about 10" away as I do not want the girls to get too hot being in the propagator, so I am hoping she does not stretch too much! 1 down 2 to go. I will not lie it is a little exciting seeing that first success :) Day 4 - No.1 is up and out, she pushed through overnight and is standing proud at about 1cm high. She still has her sun hat on for now, guess it is a little extra protection from the new light as she starts her journey. The temperature inside the propagator had risen to just over 28°C overnight. I raised the CFL bulb up a little to bring the temperature back down to where I would like it as she does not seem to have stretched too much. I gave pots a spray to moisten them being careful not to get any water directly on my new seedling. This afternoon when I was checking the temp & humidity levels I could see a taproot growing up out of the soil in one of the pots. I probably should have left well alone but patience has never been a virtue of mine. I had a poke around and was correct in my thinking so I carefully flipped the shoot over as best as I could and lightly covered back over with soil. No.2 has made an appearance even if it was backwards, here is hoping I have not killed her off already. Temperature range over the last 24hrs was 24.9/28.4°C and the humidity has stayed a respectable 75%. Day 5 - No.1 certainly is not hanging around she has shed her shell revealing her cotyledons and her first set of true leaves. She is standing tall at 3.5cm already. I was concerned she may be stretching a little as she has grown so quickly so I have lowered the CFL bulb as much as I could. It is now about 7" from the plants and I will monitor the temperature throughout the day. Temperature rose to 30°C from dropping the light lower so I switched on a small fan to blow between the top of the propagator and the light. Thankfully, this did just the trick and lowered the temperature the few degrees I wanted. I am sure I can now see both No.2 and No.3 about to break soil. No.1 is looking good, I think? she does not appear to have grown much taller and is standing beautifully upright. Temperature range for past 24hrs was 23.9/30°C and the humidity is hovering around 73%. After playing around sorting the high temperature it averaged an acceptable 25°C. Day 6 – No.2 has sorted herself out and made a reappearance. I am happy to know I did not kill her off with my fiddling and impatience. No.3 has made it to the top of the soil I can visibly see the bean just sat there, she just needs to push a little further and I will have managed 100% germination. As the girls are mostly out of the soil I have switched on the timer for the CFL light set at 18/6 so the girls get some sleepy time. I did not anticipate the humidity rising so much with the light off and I’ve no idea what the humidity maxed out at today as my monitor only goes to 99%. Even if it were much over that is would not have been for long and I am now aware of the issue. I will remember to fully open the vents on the propagator just before lights out and see where we end up maxing out then. Temperature range for the last 24hrs was 19/26.4°C and once I dialled the humidity in, we were back around 75%. Day 7 – End of week one and not much change today. No.1 is looking well and her leaves are growing. No.2 is showing no new growth and I am concerned for No.3. They both appear to be unchanged from yesterday and both seed shells look barely cracked. I am thinking I did not drop the beans deep enough in the soil to begin. First lesson learnt. To try and rectify this I have filled the pots up with soil. I did not want to interfere too much as I think flipping No.2 the other day left her on her side. Humidity still rose more than I care for during lights out today but I still have a couple of things to try that may resolve that issue. Temperature range over last 24hrs was 18.2/26.4°C and the humidity with the light on was 71%. This could be a short diary but hopefully not. Things learnt this week. Make sure you plant you beans deep enough Watch your humidity when the lights go out Nature is wonderful, I already knew this Watching your girls will not make them grow faster, however they are great listeners Success can be short lived It is not failure it is a lesson learned