Some tips for a newbie

[420Cat]

Hi guys, long time smoker, first time grower here.
I've been reading previous threads and F.A.Q.s lots of useful info and just wanted to say a big thank you for that.

Anyway, I took some plants from a friend of mine who was making a rather distant move. I just couldn't let these plants get left behind. I successfully transported these babies (not really babies they were all ready to go into flowering) to my home, and so I had to build a quick grow room.

Now I've made mistakes, but I did the best I could, cleaned the mold out of the closet, and got lights from anyplace I could.

#1) Mistake is I put the mother plant into flowering, reason is I just didn't have the space to separate the mother from the rest of the group. I've been reading on re-vegging, but I have a feeling since it was a previous mother that it has been re-vegged once, so when I harvest I don't know if I should even try re-vegging it...tips advice here much welcome.

#2) I took about 12 clones, and tried to keep the strain alive, I took cuttings from the lower branches that looked young but had leaves, dipped them in root tone and stuck them in little styrofoam cups with dirt. But they don't look good, (some better than others) as long as one of them survives, I will be happy....I need all the help I can get here.

#3) Electrical, Yeah I'm sticking 3-pronged in a 2 prong outlet, I have 4 lights, a timer and 2 fans going through one AC adapter...I haven't been electrocuted yet, how dangerous is my setup? It's a very old house I'm in, like 100 years. I plan on doing some electrical upgrading to this house very soon, so should it be ok in the mean time? Not like I have a lot of options till then anyway.

#4) The smell, I've been reading about carbon filters, is this stuff dangerous to inhale?

[stinkyattic]

I've been reading on re-vegging, but I have a feeling since it was a previous mother that it has been re-vegged once, so when I harvest I don't know if I should even try re-vegging it.
Yeah you're right, only reveg once.


#2) I took about 12 clones, and tried to keep the strain alive, I took cuttings from the lower branches that looked young but had leaves,Low branches have a different level of hormones and don't root as well. There's a cloning tutorial linked in my sig.


#
3) Electrical, Yeah I'm sticking 3-pronged in a 2 prong outlet....It's a very old house I'm in, like 100 years.Bad combination. You NEED a grounded outlet. Aren't there ANY in the house that you can run an extension cord to?


#4) The smell, I've been reading about carbon filters, is this stuff dangerous to inhale?
The smell of weed? Dangerous? Naw. It's lovely. Less danger ous to inhale the smell than the smoke, lol... now, if the NEIGHBORS can smell it... then you have a problem.

[420Cat]

I didn't mean the smell of weed, I meant to ask is the smell of the carbon vapors dangerous?

And I should have been clearer, even though I'm vegging the mama plant, can I still use it for clones later after harvest?

There's no 3-prongs in this room, only a couple in the house, my computers hooked up to a 2-pronged outlet too...An electrician is gonna come here and fix all of it soon, bout another week, I have an extension cord, but it won't even reach the one 3-prong outlet I have thats downstairs.

[420Cat]

Also can someone tell me approximately how long I have to go until harvest?

[Mr_Green]

Wow you have some good plants there. Now as a new grower just like your self i'm going to give you info on what i'm going off of. I may be wrong but i'm sure some of these growers on here will correct me.

1) I heard that you can Re-Vegged a plant 2 times since it puts a lot of stress on the plant. So after you harvest then you may want to leave some leafs and a few buds on the plant since the new growth will come out of the the buds that you still have on there.

2) from what i have been told you want to look at the hairs on your bud... when it turns a little dark but still fresh then thats is when you want to harvest. There are many tips on harvesting on here so check them out.

3) your outlet needs to be fix ASAP to in sure that your plants get the light it needs and no power shortage. If you can go out and buy a long cord from your downstairs to your upstairs and when the guy comes to fix it next week then go and return the cord so make sure you save everything it comes with.

4) now to clone you may want to cut leafs from the top since they are older they will grow better with that strong age it has.

5) The smell from the filter i'm not sure about. I'm sure everything with that should be fine since many people do use it and havnt said no to anyone who wanted to use it. I jus keep my fan going and my window open since i only have 2 plants. For me it doesnt seem that i need to get a filter since my 2 plants are buy the window and the fan does keep air flowing all over my room...

i hope some of my things that i told you helps you out. but keep us updated so we know whats going on and keep them pics coming.... good luck....look on youtube for a movie called...STONED GUIDE... tells you everything that you need to know about growing...

[420Cat]

Thanks for the help :)

I already went out and hooked an extra long extension cord (kind of funny trying to bu sneaky with a grow closet and heres a cord running all the way through the house), so that problem is taken care of.

I also took a clone that was starting to bud from an upper branch, I will even take more clones from my top branches IF you guys think its ok to do after they've started to bud, I just don't want to lose this strain, I'd be willing to sacrifice the buds to keep the strain going.

The first pic is of of the clone I just took.

[Mr_Green]

Man you got some good stuff going on there... yea try to take clones from the top cuz those are the ones that are mature and they will keep going once they get roots.... other than that just keep them happy... i did look 1st pic and in the background i see some clones not doing so well so you just have to treat the clones as if they are new to the world with lots of light and i mean lots of it... did you check out that one movie i said look for on youtube cuz on there they talk about how the clones need lots of light and they tell you how to keep them nice and happy. Where are you from cuz you have some nice plants that i wouldnt even mind taking a clone from...j/p.. good stuff

[smokinbuds21]

actually i have been doing electrical work for 4-5 years i might not know cannibis but i damn sure know electric

residental is only one fase and a nuetral of course but you r neutral is also ground bieleave it or not you go down to your electrical panle and take the front panle off and you will see theres a bare copper line running straight out side into a ground pole whitch go's 4 feet into the ground

if your only useing 120 volts you will deffintly be fine if all those devices needed a ground to work they wouldnt work period! all you have to do is change to a three prong plug and connect ground to neutral!

[420Cat]

To Mr. Green:

Wow, that guide is very informative, thank you :)
I'll wait till after harvest to take some clones and try again. I've been doing it all wrong, I'd be amazed if any of them survive... live and learn I guess. I know how to do it now though, and thats what counts, thanks!

As far as my location, I'm up here in the PNW (Pacific Northwest),
I'd love to take credit for raising these plants, but I just took em off my buddy's hands and threw em right into flower mode. I really wanted to keep the mama from flowering (not sure how long my buddy had her, at least a year, maybe two), but just didn't have a spot to keep the mother separate, and I had to get the growroom done in a very short time frame. I'm regretting putting them into flower at all now, I should have gotten the cloning right first, but from the video, if I do it right I can take clones from any of the females after flowering and they go back into the veg cycle, (excuse me while I exhale a cloud of smoke and a huge sigh of relief).

I will set up a Rubbermaid grow area for my clones:

http://boards.cannabis.com/growroom-setup/80747-how-rubbermaid-tub-growbox.html


To smokinBuds21:
Your absolutely right, I noticed the copper line you mentioned. I'd mess with changing the 2-prong to a 3-prong, but electric stuff scares the shit out of me LOL! I should get a better timer though cause it's a two-pronger, I have a plug-in adapter for that, (bows my head in shame).

[PharmaCan]

actually i have been doing electrical work for 4-5 years i might not know cannibis but i damn sure know electric

residental is only one fase and a nuetral of course but you r neutral is also ground bieleave it or not you go down to your electrical panle and take the front panle off and you will see theres a bare copper line running straight out side into a ground pole whitch go's 4 feet into the ground

if your only useing 120 volts you will deffintly be fine if all those devices needed a ground to work they wouldnt work period! all you have to do is change to a three prong plug and connect ground to neutral!

About 95% of this is wrong. In the simplest terms, if you use your neutral wire as a safety ground, you take the risk of having an electrical spike going through your neutral wire, in some instances potentially causing a 240v short inside of something like, say, your computer... bottom line you can fuck up a lot of stuff big time this way. :(

Admittedly, the ground and the neutral do join in the panel. But that doesn't mean they are interchangeable anywhere in the wiring. :wtf:

PC :smokin:

[Mr_Green]

anytime on the youtube movie... as a new grower myself i like to past down what the great growers has given me....well you do have a big plant and jus learning from your mistake is what makes you a better grower so keep up the good work and with that whole outlet problem jus get some to do it for you cuz there is no point in you messing something up when you have a great thing going for you.... good luck...

[smokinbuds21]

take your panle of in your home and find out theres a strip bolted inside of the panel where you screw wires into it there is green "ground and white "neutral" if they arnt in the panle together then why would you cross the wires doesnt make sence i know take you r panle of in you r residentail home and find out if its old that is!!!!!

i said it will be ok if your running "120 volts" dp research before you but in on someones help investagate you will find out the same exact thing im saying

if you wanted to run something like 208, 220, 240, 480 you just simply cant for your ground reasons you can always put 2 or three pole breaker in the panle and make you r own grown like i said and run all new wires how much are you really trying to grow?

120 should be ok if your doing just personal grow you can wire up almost any ballast to 120 volt cant beat me about electric unless your an electricain!!!!!!!!!!!

[stinkyattic]

smokinbuds, my ex boyfriend used to call himself an electrician too and claimed to have 6 years' expericence... yeah... he had 4 years at Tech (high school) and a few jobs as an apprentice, most of which he got fired from.

So as with all things on the internet, electrical advice is to be taken with a grain of salt, adn the best advice is, if you are doing something that can KILL you if done wrong, HIRE A PROFESSIONAL.

[Mr_Green]

yea get a professional.... best to be safe than sorry.... good luck...

[smokinbuds21]

yea good point this is just the internet something that serious should be handles by a company that knows whats going on!

i know alot of people say there one thing and not the other i dint goto no tech school but i did goto apprentice 4 years of school and passed i help do most of the new cvs with drive through pharmacy 24 hrs around here that is baltimore and dc and all between sorry for arguing on your thread 420 cat

i dnt know what it is but where ever i go pharmacan comes and starts stuff why? i dnt know but for now on i will ignore his ass hes tryin to start trouble im sure i was right but you still deffinitly need a expert:)

yea good luck have a nice grow:rasta:

[PharmaCan]

i dnt know what it is but where ever i go pharmacan comes and starts stuff why? i dnt know but for now on i will ignore his ass hes tryin to start trouble im sure i was right but you still deffinitly need a expert:)



I have nothing against you. However, if I read someone giving faulty advice about something that I know about, I will say so. I haven't criticized you, only the advice you are giving.

Now, I have 40+ years experience in construction and had my journeyman's card before you were born. Over the years I've installed at least a thousand electrical panels.

...and, not to brag, but the last time I got a correction on an electrical inspection was in 1989.

But I suppose you might know more than me about electrical...:D

Anyway, that's why it's best to take Stinky's advice and get a professional to do it. :thumbsup:

PC :smokin:

[smokinbuds21]

well if im right you had a failed inspection when i was 8 years old impressive but dont know how far i can bieleave that not calling you a lier

ive done all types of panles my self ive done mvp panles that supply 6 diffrent panles and cummunications panles that have people turning the lights on and off 5000 miles away from a computer ive never applied for my journeymans liscens but everyone tells me i could get it because i do it all with my hands

if you did this for soo long why didnt you ever get to the electricain test?

ive herd that test is sooo hard!!!! maybe thats we have had diffrences you know diffrent electricains have there own way

seriously you have never seen residentail panle that has ground and neutral on the same strip?!

ive seen it but if your on the west coast it could be diffrent down here and its not just one house theres been many house the new houses might have there own neutral bar dnt know when we did heavy ups "panle upgrade" we always put the ground and neutral on the same strip

i do apologize for making you angry in any way i hope you dont get botherd if i ask you for electrical advise in the future!

[smokinbuds21]

no hard feelings pharmacan you know electricain and gardeners we got a lot in commen!!!

i do admit i shouldnt be so jumpy you no young blood young dumb full of !@#

alright hope to run into you a gain pharmacan but on good notes

happy growing:stoned:

[stinkyattic]

I'm glad you guys are being civil about all this.

Smokin, if I can give you some constructive criticism, it is also entirely possible that someone might misunderstand your posts because of the lack of punctuation in them.
You're talking about something really technical, so it's even MORE important to use excellent grammar and punctuation, and really spell it out for the rest of us who might not instinctively know what you are talking about.

I've never seen a residential panel with ground and neutral connected either btw... and I've been around construction my whole life too. As far as my understanding of electricity goes, that doesn't even make sense! In fact I am thinking that it defeats the entire idea of having a ground at all. But what do I know... :D

[PharmaCan]

Neutral wire - completes an electrical circuit - runs unused electricity to ground.

Ground wire - a safety device that diverts electricity to ground in the event it escapes from where it should be.

Granted, both of these eventually go to ground; and granted, the neutral and ground bars are required to be bonded to each other in the panel and, in fact, in modern panels there is often only one bar which is shared by both the grounds and neutrals.

Nevertheless, the neutral and ground wires are not interchangeable. Sure, one will function as the other, but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

PC:smokin:

[420Cat]

I know the 3-pronged outlets aren't really grounded from the house inspection, still I feel its safer for me to use those until I have the wiring properly grounded. Thanks for everyones help :)
As far as smell goes, I made a carbon scrubber (accidentally bought kitty litter that said "with activated carbon!") big mistake! I went back and bought the kind with crystals and more pantyhose (they must think I'm a freak at the store), but the point is the smell throughout the house is gone! Now I won't get suspicious looks from household visitors :)

The clones I've taken some have dies, but I'd say 6 or 7 look like they might make it, only time will tell there I guess.

[Mr_Green]

yea if your clones make it then that will be great and yea the smell can get a little out of hand so good luck to you on that.... so what kind of set up did you use to get the smell out?

[420Cat]

I used the custom carbon scrubber method, I keep it in the closet during light hours, and take it out during the dark cycle but keep it going in my room. This is the coolest invention known to man. Mine has vents on the bottom, there's several ways to set it up, but I like the standing tall method the best.

The buds have just started to show some red/brown hairs, but for some reason every pic I tried to take of them came out blurry...I'll try to take more pics later.

[twoguysupnorth]

i thought you were supposed to use activated carbon in filters? this is the first ive ever heard about it being dangerous? can some one clear this up? thanks.

[smokinbuds21]

yea exactly right pharmacan right on the nose.

anyways those clones look good i started clones and only half just started growing new leaves and others falling over i guess i cant save them happy growing!!!!

your right stinkyattic i should use the spell check more often i start typen fast and mess up sorry for any inconvience:) and also a lttle bit of late night :jointsmile: had to do with some of it also lol

[stinkyattic]

420Cat, that is a VERY cool scrubber. WOW! I might just have to cob together something like that and give it a whirl.

[Mr_Green]

Thats a nice filter... i got to make one soon but my plant is still very small for any type of smell.... so how did you make that one? i want to get started making one now so when the time comes it will be all good.... the only thing that got me thinking is.... how in the world does that little thing clear the smell so quickly... good luck on your new buds... take some pics if you can...

[420Cat]

For the most part I followed the instructions in the original thread:
http://boards.cannabis.com/growroom-setup/90173-how-carbon-filter.html

Instead of solid end caps, mine are vents and the screen is tight enough to prevent any leakage of the crystals. The only reason I got those though was because I couldn't find solid caps lol! And the only other thing I did different was put my $2.49 reducer on upside down because there was no inner part for the chicken wire to clamp on to. So flipping it worked just fine. I just used my mini-fan that I already had to sit on top which works just great. I may duct tape it on eventually because it doesn't quite attach to it, but for now it sits on top just fine, its not going to fall off or anything.

As far as getting rid of the smell (which was becoming a problem) all I can say is that this really does work, I'm extremely impressed with this, and the total cost:

Reducer $2.49
4" Clamps $2.39
3" Clamps $2.39
4" vent cap (about $3.00)
3" vent cap (same)
Pantyhose $2.39
1 Foot of Chicken Wire cut from a roll (I don't know, didn't keep the receipt, but it was cheap).
Kitty litter Fresh step crystals (about $7.00)
One Mini-Fan Approx $12.99

Small price to pay to eliminate your bud odors.
Seriously, major thanks to Children of Bodem for posting "how to".

[Mr_Green]

Damnn all that put together is hella cheap.... looks like i'm going to be saving close to $30.00....very cheap and yes thats a big saving compare to the bud you will be racking in...

[Mr_Green]

How is the growing coming along?