Few Questions

[thunderzebra]

Hey, this is my second growing attempt (the first was prematurely ended by a vicious hail storm in the first few weeks I put my plant outdoors) and this time I'm growing entirely indoors.

I planted 3 seeds (only had 5 good bag seeds [the kind I like :jointsmile:] and only 3 germinated), 2 in fertilized soil, 1 in non-fertilized soil as the guide I was going by (Todd McCormick's guide to growing MMJ) said to use non-fertilized soil prior to putting plants under the MH. One of the two plants (Liberty One hereafter) in the fertilized soil is doing extremely well, approximately 7"-8" tall, and is ready to be put under the MH. The second plant (Liberty Three) is doing alright, I had initial problems because when the seed germinated the tap root was all spiral-like and caused the plant to grow out of the far edge of the cup, but it recovered and has been growing a steady rate. The third plant (Liberty Two) hasn't grown past an inch to an inch and a half, and I suppose it's probably because it has no nutes.

-I was planning on repotting all my plants today, and putting liberty 1 and 3 under the MH, do you think liberty 3 is ready for the MH, and would it be detrimental to put liberty 2 under the MH also? Or should I just leave it under my fluorescent lamp? The reason I ask is because I plan on sexing a clone under the fluorescent and will be changing the lighting schedule ;o
-Would it be a better idea to leave liberty 2 in the non-fertilized soil and start fertilizing it?
-Which leads me to: I'm planning on making two clones of Liberty One, one to sex it, and the other to give to a friend to plant outdoors (hopefully it's a female :p), how long should I leave the lights on 24 before going 12-12?
-On the one I plan to give to the friend, I kinda had planned to grow it till it was a couple feet tall under the MH lamp to catch it up to the current season, will this work? How big should I let it get before transplanting?

Now I have a couple random questions that I've been thinking about ^_^

-If you clone a hermie will the clone be purely female?
-My first plant didn't have any odor really (the one that got killed by the hail storm) and my two plants that are doing well both smell skunk-like, does this indicate anything good :rastasmoke: or was my first plant just big on personal hygiene :wtf:?

Thanks for your wisdom, and any other tips you could give me I'd love to hear =). I'm enjoying reading the boards alot (spent like four hours last night just browsing through grow logs, the shot glass thing and shit lol) :D

[picture 1=liberty 1, 2=2, 3=3]

[thunderzebra]

I'm stupid, obviously herm seeds are feminized :|

[TheMetal1]

Don't call yourself stupid! :thumbsup:

If you go a day without learning something new... you didn't do enough that day. :jointsmile:

In my opinion you need to:
Trim the cups... Don't trim the cups baby,
Trim the cups... air needs to flow over,
Trim the cups... Don't trim the cups baby,
Trim the cuuuuuuuuupppppppppppppps.

Chaaaaaa (does jazz hands) :hippy:

No seriously though, that's a decent amount of space between the soil surface and the cup rim. That air is just going to hang out there and get funky :hippy:. It would be like spending all day in a super ripe "dutch oven" (and I'm not referring to the cooking vessel).

Mmmmm... I can smell it now.
"Somebody making soup?" ;)

[stinkyattic]

In my opinion you need to:
Trim the cups... Don't trim the cups baby,
Trim the cups... air needs to flow over,
Trim the cups... Don't trim the cups baby,
Trim the cuuuuuuuuupppppppppppppps.
Chaaaaaa (does jazz hands) :hippy:
Ohhhh hahahahaa that was awesome, as well as being sound advice.


It would be like spending all day in a super ripe "dutch oven" (and I'm not referring to the cooking vessel).Yeah... ask my dog about that one... especially in winter. She likes to bring rawhides to bed and when she's cold she crawls under the covers... My bedroom is unheated and often drops into the 40s, and I find myself pulling the comforter over my head... I am often awoken at oh-dark-thirty by Eau de Rawhide Fart, courtesy of Smelly the Dog.

Now, TRIM THOSE CUPS BABEEE!

[Rusty Trichome]

...I was planning on repotting all my plants today, and putting liberty 1 and 3 under the MH, do you think liberty 3 is ready for the MH, and would it be detrimental to put liberty 2 under the MH also? Or should I just leave it under my fluorescent lamp? The reason I ask is because I plan on sexing a clone under the fluorescent and will be changing the lighting schedule ;o
If you only have one grow room, I'd wait. MH is a bit of overkill if you've only got the three juvenile plants going. Once you switch, careful not to overheat them. (a raised hood for a couple days works for me) Did you mention the wattage of the MH?


...Would it be a better idea to leave liberty 2 in the non-fertilized soil and start fertilizing it?
I'm not sure a seedling that small would necessarily need nutes this early. What's the drainage ph, or do you have a way to check? Different soils have a different ph. Do you have drainage holes in all the cups? How often do you water? Was the soil with no nutes a mulch?


...Which leads me to: I'm planning on making two clones of Liberty One, one to sex it, and the other to give to a friend to plant outdoors (hopefully it's a female :p), how long should I leave the lights on 24 before going 12-12?
If sativa dominant, I switch when no more than 18" tall. If indica dom, usually around 24". But I do finish in 5 gallon pots. When I was finishing in 3 gallon pots, it was 12" and 18" respectively.


...On the one I plan to give to the friend, I kinda had planned to grow it till it was a couple feet tall under the MH lamp to catch it up to the current season, will this work? How big should I let it get before transplanting?
Sorry, IDK. Beyond making sure she's acclimated to the new scenery prior to switching to 12/12, I wouldn't think there's much to worry about. I'm sure there's some 'Sunburners' here that could answer that one better, tho.


...If you clone a hermie will the clone be purely female?
A clone is a genetic copy of the donor. If she is a hermie, likely, so will her clones be.

...My first plant didn't have any odor really (the one that got killed by the hail storm) and my two plants that are doing well both smell skunk-like, does this indicate anything good :rastasmoke: or was my first plant just big on personal hygiene :wtf:?
Seeds from the same batch will often have different ways of expressing the genes recieved from the parents. Especially with a bagseed variety. Some stink good, but taste like shit. Some taste like shit, but hit you like a sledghammer. You'll have to get to know your own strain, and breed the plants with the traits you like. (selective breeding)

Next time, I would suggest filling the cups to almost full but allowing for space to add water. Soil levels that low creates a stagnant-air condition which the ladies don't appreciate.
Would cut the cups down to just above soil, or carefully slip the semi-dry rootball out, add fresh soil to cup, then replace rootball. A semi-dry rootball won't collapse when transplanting. (or in this case, adding soil to the cup)

Would transplant to larger container as soon as the leaves spread-out and cover the top of the cup entirely.

Good luck.

[Rusty Trichome]

Jeepers...you guys are fast. Or I'm just slow, lol. :jointsmile:

[thunderzebra]

Thanks for the help!

On the cups, rather then trimming would it be okay to transplant them to 1 gallon pots instead? Or are there any negatives to transplanting with a seedling? That said I am going to trim then now :)

I already possess the MH lamp, got it from a friend who moved for cheap, it's a 175W and I have about max 5 ft clearance from where the tops of the pots would be.

I do not have a way to measure the pH (that I know of), however, I'm going to the hardware store tomorrow to buy some things I need in the house (was planning on getting 1-3gal pots as well) and will pick up a moisture/pH meter (if you'd suggest it). If it matters, I'm watering with distilled water which is more or less 7pH, I don't remember much about the non-fertilized potting soil, except it was the only kind I could find and was considerably cheap something like $1 for 8 qts. I water every couple days, depending on how my toothpick looks =\ .

[stinkyattic]

Go up to only a slightly larger pot size. There's a sticky at the top of basic about the canopy; it's useful reading.

If you use distilled water you must use calmag. No choice.