By Jay Marsh
Look at our little plants grow! These lil girls are getting bigger and they no longer fit in the humidome. It is now time to move these girls to their full-time location. For me I found a nice Vivosun 48”x24”x60” grow tent. I found this item a while back on Amazon and placed it on my wish list. I liked this tent because it came with easy to use metal framing, metal framing is what you want! Once it went on sale I purchased it for around $55. I have placed my tent in a large shed which is clean, has a concrete floor, plenty of airflow, and is easy to hide/lock. In my tent I have 2, 600-Watt full spectrum LED adjustable lights which I also purchased from Amazon for a very reasonable price ($79/each) and a small desk/clip on fan ($10). I have also added one shop light LED 40 Watt to the top of the tent for added lighting when I am working in the tent, that way I can shut off the LED Full Spectrum ($25 at Costco – Optional).
Terp Smoothie and Calico Jack Seedlings
I have placed my seedlings on a crate so that I do not have to bend over to check on them. While they are this small I am only using 1, 600-Watt light on VEG mode; this offers around 300-Watts of lighting. I do not want to stress out our little girls while they are still seedlings. I have placed the light 6”-8” above the plants. Because we are using LED lights, they can be placed closer to the plant and will not get very hot. With the temperature in mind, place your thermometer near your plants. You will want to keep the temperature from shifting too much. Seedlings still prefer to be warm (70-80 F) and humid (60%). I have placed the lights and the fan on a timer for 18/6 light cycle. You can see in the photo my tent was a little cold on transfer, so I had to warm it up a bit with a small heater. This will not be an issue once it warms up a little here in Southern Cali. To raise the humidity in the tent, I spritzed the tent walls with water.
Remember to not over water your plants. I test the soil by sticking my finger deep in the soil, when I pull my finger back out if soil is still stuck to my finger then I DO NOT need to water, but if my finger is clean DO water. They still do not need fertilizers yet.
Pro Tip: Stay clean! Wash your hands, clean your tools with alcohol, sweep up your mess.
Safety Tip: Full Spectrum LED lights contain UV light, please wear UV blocking eyewear when working with the plants or turn off your lights for long-term task like trimming and cleaning the tent.
Seedlings with LED light and thermometer.
I really like having the 18/6. I find the roots fan out a bit better. Hope to see your progress. 😁