1st grow questions

[NorthBrook19]

Hello all! Around two weeks ago I got a bag off a friend; it was not the direct pursuit that started this endeavor. As all the buds were broken down, I found a couple beans and thought to myself to stick them in the dirt. It took a couple days, but one finally sprouted. At this stage, it is past the embryonic leaves, has two little leaves around an inch and a half long, with two smaller leaves developing (which in turn have two even smaller leaf beginnings). After thorough scouring, I have come up with a list of questions I need answered (and believe me, I've looked through a lot of the FAQs and a lot of the forums.) I am going to be using Children of Bodom's rubbermaid container design (along with the air filters). Currently I am just using an incandescent bulb to get the seedling going on. My questions are:
1)How long should I wait until transplanting my seedling to a bigger pot?
2)Soil mix recommendations(preferrably organic)
3)Light cycles for it (Should I be lighting up my seedling for a certain # of hours, with gaps ATM?) & how to tell when to switch cycles
4)Any resources on TLS
5)Estimates on a growing timeframe (when should I be entering vegetative/flowering/harvesting)
6)Sex determination (what stage I can find this out in or not, and uses for males)
Since I have not acquired the materials nor built the box yet, what should I do with the seedling in the meantime? A CFL is definitely something I could get just to tide the baby over until the grow box is built. Appreciate all help, concern, comments, and questions. I hope this to be an ongoing learning experience!

[SunnyD]

1.) I would say once you see them doing well maybe two nodes then transplant them, be gentle, in vegetative growth the roots grow 3x as fast as the plant

2.) I don't know if Fox Farm Ocean Forest is organic or not, but it's widely used with great success

3.) Lighting is all preference...for Vegging you can either go 18/6 or 24/0...try it and see which one works best for you, make sure your light is close enough to the plant to prevent stretching, but not burn it

4.) idk what TLS is...

5.) Vegging vs. Flowering time is all preference as well. Vegging longer means you will end up with a larger plant and more yield, some people grow 12/12 from seed...it's up to you, how big do you want it

6.) It takes a couple weeks into flower usually...from what I've seen

You could have figured that out with enough reading here. It's not ALL in the FAQs...

Good luck :thumbsup:

Sunny

[SunnyD]

Do you mean LST instead of TLS?

[stinkyattic]

Link in my sig, also 'continuous canopy' sticky in Basic are very helpful.
I like to let my plants get just a hair rootbound before transplant. Teh root ball holds together better, and they really seem to appreciate their new homes.

[NorthBrook19]

Thanks for the advice Stinky; I've looked through your link a couple of times, as well as seeing the grow room thread that came off your original thread. I think that the plant is stretching a little, due to my use of incandescent (changing it soon to CFL's; hopefully build that bodom box soon). I did mean the LTS method (or whatever its called) to tie the plant down, due to space concerns. Would going 24/0 using a couple of CFL's make it get into the vegetative cycle sooner, or would 16/8 work out better? Thanks again!

[NorthBrook19]

At what point should I be able to tell the sex of plant (cycle as well)? If it is a male, would cloning off it just produce all males, or would it be possible to get females off this? I'm going to be transplanting the little bugger by Monday; the cup holding it is running out of root space quickly. 2 pairs of noticeable leaves now, with one of the pair's making another already! I even see more growth in the middle and on the side. Will post pics once a camera is acquired, and my mobile won't do it justice.

[NorthBrook19]

I was really disappointed by the lack of response, but sometimes that's how it is. Anyway, it's almost a month since I last posted about my girl. I transplanted about two weeks ago and built a stealth box. 3 cfl's in it at the moment, 24/0 cycle. When should I start the tying down and the 12/12 light cycle? It's 6 1/2 in. tall, 5 nodes. 3rd and 4th node leaves have some brown tips that I trimmed (dead parts=unnecessary?) Any nutes I need to be adding to it? Just wanna know how to tell sex and get the best yield out of it. Definitely want to harvest before xmas!

[diz280]

I duuno too much though a response is always a good thing.

What I read about LST is that should be started before the plant gets to ridged. and way before the 12/12

What I have heard 12/12 can be started when you are half way with the height of the plant you want. (the taller the more real estate for buds) This is also the time you find the sex of the plant. look around - you'll find what you need in most sections. Growing take ALOT of research - mostly all right on tnhis site with good grow logs and documentation. Like all plants it uses the NPK - the plant needs mostly N and P right now. every other week with nutes.

you probably need some N from the yellowing of leaves - plants do need food so if you haven't been I'd get some to it - just not too much to kill it !

after 12/12 give it some P & K not so much N.

[NorthBrook19]

I'm thinking that with the lack of Nitrogen that could cause some of the browning that I'm seeing. It's only six and a half inches and the stem's a little stretched, so I'm gonna wait until it's 2 feet to put it into flowering. I know that after the fifth node or so that I should star LSTing, but haven't gotten that far yet. My baby's getting big enough now that I have to have the bottom of the stealth box and raise it up to the lights. Should I have only one light going on it? (It's really only big enough to fit under one....so how should I get it so that there are multiple growths for it?)

[diz280]

I have the same grow box you are using, are you only using 1 CFL?

I have gone with the 3 CFLs 100W 6000K setup with foil taped around the whole the inside. Though I know as per plans it should have 6 and I am working on getting that. . (The more light the better your grow)

Remember the food is much needed, and the sex of the plant could weigh on this with stress and PH and such.

hope this helps a bit

[NorthBrook19]

I have 3 CFL's in it at the moment...it's just the lights set up in it right are in odd positions (2 on one side, at polar ends of the box, and then one on the parallel side in the middle.) Just need to get some more light fixtures and wire them in! I would set the baby underneath 1 CFL and let 'er go (still in baby mode, and putting it in the middle didn't seem like it was getting enough light. However, I have yet to make the box reflective (going to be spray-painting the insides white; foil causes burn spots and light distortion-upgrade to mylar sheeting if you can!) She's only around seven inches, but growing fast enough that I have to use the bottom quite soon (only using the top atm...ghetto I know). What sort of food should I get for the plant? Everything I've gotten for the setup has been free, and I know I need to invest in some quality nutes. Any recommendations (?-?-?)? Installing a couple computer fans into this weekend too; I know that'll help with stem strength, etc. Still gotta get some pix, but hopefully once I do it'll be close. Also, what are the benefits of topping? I've seen Bodom's multiple growing points on his plants and want something that crazy! Still need to read up on that tying; how tall should a tied down plant be before entering it into flower? Thanks!