Steve's Blossers-Grow attempt 1-Help me out-(New Pictures Every Week)

[offspringfrk316]

Strain:[Blosser]
Lighting:[2 100watt equivalent CFL's (1=5500k and 1=6500k, and 1 18" 15watt Phillips Plant & Aquarium Light ]
Grow Media/Soil Mix:[50/50 Miracle-Gro Organic Choice Potting Mix/Miracle-Gro Perlite]
Fertilizer:[Alaska Fish 5-1-1 and Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed .1-0-1]
Temperature Range:[69 - 77]
Humidity:[70 - 85]
Started From:[2 8" Rooted Cuttings]
Start Date:[03-11-09]

Just got my plants about 2 hours ago.  I called the post office this morning to let them know I'm expecting a package and not to deliver it and that I will pick it up.  I got to my classes at my college and I go home.  And what do I come home to, but the package sitting on my door step, thank god it was upright.  I made my Humidity Dome out of 2 66Qt. plastic storage bins and am currently using 2 18" 15w Phillips Plant Growth fluorescent lights.  I still have the plants in the orginal cup it came with.  And will be transplanted them in a couple days depending on how they heal from the shock from shipping.  I put a bunch of perlite on the floor of the bin and soaked it in water to add humidity to the chamber.  i'm really looking forward to seeing how these grow.  Sally (Left) and Sylvia (Right)  Leave me some feedback and help me out.  In information is helpful as I am a beginner.  Thanks!

Sally and Sylvia
Day 1

[retro_killa]

Very nice set up A++ on that.

I would look into adding some vents or maybe putting something in between the 2 plastic containers to allow the green house gases to ventilate from your growing area. I do not know how much light you are giving your plant with the Phillips Plant Growth fluorescent lights but I would only use about 3-5 hours of indirect lighting from those lights that just my 2cents

But do not take my advice I am a complete n00b to growing Salvia best of luck & I look froward to seeing some more images as you grown

[offspringfrk316]

Thanks for the advice.  When I first bought the plastic containers it came with handles but I pulled them off.  Doing so left about a halfinch gap hightwise by about 4 inches long on either side where the handles use to be so I guess thatll leave some room for ventilation, besides I need to take the top container off to mist it so that will change the air up when I do that as well

[Hero4Evz]

I would not mist too often and when misting mist the container as many people have had issues when keeping the plant itself wet. Also as for the air exchange as long as you lift the bins daily you should be fine. Good idea with the perlite. Normally when I'm rooting I just put water in the bottom of the outer container, but same idea.

[drift]

Nice setup, but I'd raise the plants closer to the fluros. Even with the reflective siding, light loss is exponential as you distance from the lights.

[Hero4Evz]

Being new though keep them that distance. At least till you transplant as harsh light can actually slow stress recovery.

[drift]

Being new though keep them that distance. At least till you transplant as harsh light can actually slow stress recovery.

They're 15w fluoros. You could have them molesting the salvia tops and it still wouldn't stress or burn the plants.

[offspringfrk316]

Thanks for the advice guys.  I think for now atleast until I transplant them out of the plastic cup into large pot, I'm going to keep them at the distance they're at now.  Once I transplant them i think ill boost it up closer a bit and see how it goes.  One other question:  Theres two plants and I'm going to be taking them out of the cup for transplanting obviously and putting them into the same pot.  Are the roots easily separated when taking them out of the perlite?

[offspringfrk316]

Sally and Sylvia
Day 2

Looks Like they're both a lot less wilty and more perked up and less droopy as they were yesterday

[offspringfrk316]

How many hours of light should I give these babies at first to start and for how long.  And then when should I give it more?

[offspringfrk316]

Sally and Sylvia
Day 3

They both seem to be doing a bit better.  Sally is looking a lot better than Sylvia though.  Sylvia is still droopy.  I've now taken them out of the red cup filled with perlite and transplanted them into the pot.  I've also put a box inside the chamber to boost them up closer to the light for now.  Ill take some more pictures in about a week.  How often should I water them?

[Peaches]

Looking good


After i transplant mine i add a little water at the base of the stem once a day for 2 days after that i do not add water as i keep them in a high humidity tank set up so there is not much evaporation.

 If they start to get wilted looking after a while in your chamber check the soil and see if it's dry feeling, then water.

 I have used this method with 17 sallies  with  100% success.

[benderhune]

You can give them 18 hours of light/6 hours of dark.  This allows for a lot of growth but still gives the plant some time to relax.  I run both my lights off the same analogue timer and I've never had any troubles with that setup.  I would have waited a little longer to transplant your plants out of the perlite so they can perk up a bit from the shipping shock, that way the plant isn't dealing with the shipping shock added onto transplant shock.  I think your plants will be able to handle it though, they seem like they're perking up pretty quickly.  Once they get a little bigger you should start weaning the plants off the high humidty environment and let them live outside of a box.  Make sure that the soil looks dry before you water it, but in the high humidity environment that probably won't happen so you can either move around some of the topsoil and look at the layer underneath to tell if it's moist or not, or water it every 1-2 weeks.  Happy Growin'!

[Spearmint]

... just make sure they dont break.  like mine did.  but now i have five and their doing great.  if you want you have two options to get more growth after they settle themselves in.  Option 1 is to cut both plants in the middle, and root them either in the soil and keep a extra bottle over them with humidity and breath in it as much as possible a day to keep humidity up until they shoot roots and you will have four plants.
Option 2 Tie a string to each top of the plants, and bend them over as far as you can without breaking them, then tie them off to something so they stay in that position and they will produce more branches to gather more light off the sides of the plant stalk

or you can play it safe and let them grow lol, i was unlucky and had no choice for option 1 happened by itself... no idea tho.  But i had four, then made a cutting off of the bushy one then i had five, and all of them are doing great!.

[|if3]

To respond to what Retro_killa said, you can give your plants direct light, just as long as it isn't an HID bulb or sunlight. If you use a 600W metal halide, HPS or using the sun: You don't want too much direct light as it's 'unnatural' for the plants.

Flouro's are fine, I have a 42W flouro that's about 5 inches from my ROOTING clone, and it's doing absolutely fine.

Water them when the top-layer of the soil dry's out, since they're in a humidity tent: You'll only need to water them once every two weeks, if that. Just keep an eye on the plants, and if for some reason they dry out quicker than what I stated: water them .

If you want, find an old small fan or something small that moves air, and pump new air into that grow chamber. That way you don't have to worry about forgetting to give them new air .

Give them nutrients in a few weeks time, I'm just started to use half strength, and my plants are ~11 months old. But I know people on the forums who have used full strength since the first month they got them.

I'd suggest getting a carnivorous plant too, aphids suck!

Happy Growin',
James