Hi all, I am on my second year of indoor gardening (last time in 2024 – see picture with overgrown mini greenhouse) and learned a lot about soil, lights, watering, and air circulation my first go around, so this year I'm paying some special attention.
So for these seedlings I started them off as usual, with a heating mat and humidity dome (22 April) in 3 inch nursery pots until I got sprouts (27 April) They went under a couple 100w grow lights (about the same distance as they are from the current lights) for a week until my proper light came in (Spiderfarmer SF1000) and I have been bottom watering them when the pot feels light. I have a general fan at the bottom for fresh air through the gap, and then an oscillating fan nearish the canopy. I gave a very diluted serving of a balanced fertilizer (20-20-20, 1/4 strength) a few days ago
So, I'm currently growing:
– Lots of basil varieties
– Muncher Cucumber
– Birdie and Moment Microdwarf Tomatoes
– Double french marigold
– Red zonal geranium
– Doe hill pepper
– Tons of other herbs and some flowers separately but this post is primarily for the above plants.
My equipment:
– 2 pvc tiered greenhouses with cover (small ventilation hole at the top of the cover)
– 2x Spiderfarmer SF1000 with the Samsung diodes/uv (one in use)
– 2x true 100w Daylight garage lights
– Koscheal true 130w (when veg+bloom settings together) blurple light
– Tons of gooseneck blurples (Yes I learned my lesson)
– 3 oscillating spiderfarmer fans + desktop fan
– Balanced fert 20-20-20
– Nitrogen fert 46-0-0
– Phosphorous/Potassium fert 0-52-34
– Rootmax mycorrhizal fungi
– CalMag powder
– Coco coir
– Worm castings
– Seedling soil
– Potting soil
– Perlite
– Fine pumice
– Coarse pumice
Last year with cheap grow lights, my seedlings looked VERY different. Leggy, a bit bland/pale… well, it sure looks different this time! It's genuinely shocking how stocky and thiccccc the stems are. But… does it look like there could be problems starting? Also, super interested in Kratky and DWC! (I was thinking of putting an aquarium air stone into a 5 gallon "kratky" bucket for a future plant)
TL:DR I want the best advice you can give. I am willing to invest in this hobby because it brings me joy. I have some balcony space where I plan on hosting one cucumber, tomato, pepper, basil, marigold, and geranium each, but the rest will be indoors permanently and I'd like to get some blooms/veggies indoors. My balcony faces northeast in zone 5b. I am anticipating expanding my indoor system and would love advice from experienced gardeners.
by AfterPerception
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