CFL/HPS Bagseed Grow [one more for the books] :)

[Schmarmpit]

indoor or outdoor - Indoor
soil, soilless, coco, aero, or hydroponic - Soil
Soil type/brand - Miracle Grow Seedling Starter
Anything you have added to the soil - Perlite (50%)
Soil or slab runoff pH - 6.8-7.0
Water source -Tap
Source water pH - 7.0
Age of plant - Planted two weeks ago (sprouted in about 2 days).
Type of fertilizer - None
Lighting source and distance from plant - (1) 55W 5500K CFL, (1) 65W 6500K CFL (Flourex), (1) 85W 6500K CFL kept close
Air temperature - 78 F
Air % Relative humidity - Pretty dry about 27- 30%
Lighting schedule - 24/7
Dimensions of room - Large shed in the basement of which I use half. 3' X 3' X 6.5' (used). It's cold now and I use a small space heater with adjustable thermostat to keep the temp stable.
Type of ventilation your room has - (2) PC fans, (1) in and (1) out, each with 3" 90deg PVC elbow. Small space heater and box fan on low (for movement).

[Schmarmpit]

This is the second or third grow I've done. I've always used 23W CFL's with decent success but wanted to up the dosage this go around. Every location I've grown in is different. The past two grows have been cut short (right at the end) do to paranoia and apartment inspections. Finally, I have a place which is much more private and has a large basement which NO ONE goes in. I've read the grow bibles, books, forums, and done my research. After all of that I've realized that every grow is completely unique anyway and different strains require different things.

This grow is from bagseed that I smoked and enjoyed. I only plan on flowering 2-3 plants at most with the lighting I have. I addition to the CFL's listed above (true watts) I also have a 150W HPS (the well-known/cheap Vapor tight kind). I will use this later in veg and flowering.

I've attached the first pics of my ladies. They where taken on 11-13-2008.
So far soooooooooooooo smooth.

[Schmarmpit]

From now on I'll post individual pictures of each plant. I'm slightly confused with a couple of plants. Harmony (Pic 1) has weird crinkled leaves. The color is great and it doesn't look like a fert problem as the MG Seed starter barely has any. I worry about over watering because when I did their transplants at the end of week 0 the soil held a lot of water. However, the leaves feel dry to the touch and not limp and I am waiting for the soil to dry before I water again.
The temp of the room is hard to distinguish because it is in the basement. The temps outside are around 30F now. I have a thermometer at the top of the cab and one right with the plants. They average around 76-79F. However, the water I use on them stays in the room and it is fairly cold.

Does anyone know the symptoms of soil which is too cold? I raised the platform they're on off of the floor in hopes to treat this problem.

These are all seeds from the same bud so I don't understand the huge difference in their growth rates (pic 1&2 vs pic 4). The leaves seem to have a naturally pebbled look. Maybe I'm worrying about nothing. Some of the plants seem to be thriving while others seem to be asking for help, as am I.

[konvikt419]

well i dont know if there is any scientific study to back me up. but in my expeirience the plants that grew faster were the males im not saying thy are but mine were . god luck:jointsmile:

[stinkyattic]

Next time you re-pot use lightproof containers.
Also, let the soil dry out fairly well between waterings.

[Schmarmpit]

Thanks for checking out my grow, guys. I may have found the culprit. I used Miracle Grow: seedling starter (MGSS) for 3 of the plants and another off-brand, Walmart type for the 3 others. I did not think it would make much difference as both had very low levels of nutes. However, it's quite obvious that the 3 using MGSS are thriving and the other three are extremely stunted.

Stinky: I have never even thought of that! Duh, what plants would want light hitting their roots? I'll cover them ASAP. Thanks for the advice, I've read a lot of your threads!

I'll post pics tomorrow but it should be rather evident. Now the decision: what to do with the 3 runts? They are yellowing, sad, and haven't grown much from the last pic. The other 3 have grown significantly larger. Should I toss them? I'm thinking of germinating 3 more seeds in their place and switching back to the MGSS. Then, of course, I'll be almost 3 weeks behind when it comes to flower.

I hate to deny the chance of life to anything but I just ate a huge salad last night and feel I should continue my murderous rampage.

[stinkyattic]

Garnishes!
Naw seriously, a lot of time you will see plants outgrow overfert problems suffered as seedlings. It pretty much depends on strain how tolerant of overfert they are. Might as well let them go and see what happens. The worst scenario is they die. And you buy another bag of pot and get some more seeds.

[stkds03]

Well, the culprit to my 3 dieing plants was found last night as I was making covers for my clear pots. Mushrooms were growing in the soil that was purchased from WAL-MART. I could see points were a small mushroom cap and a cannabis root would intersect and it seemed to almost disintegrate the root.
I decided to cull them. It didn't seem like it would be a simple task to fix that issue. So, I'll keep the three healthy ones in the MGSS, start three more seeds and call it a day. A first time for everything, I guess.:toilet_claw:

[stinkyattic]

Was it the walmart composted cow manure product? I've gotten mushrooms from that crap, and it went RIGHT out into the veggie garden.

So... what's up with the second username? You find your old password or summin?

[Schmarmpit]

Hahaha, yes. I have been trying to straighten things out with little luck. I posted this grow log in the wrong forum, accidentally used a defunct user name, and I can't figure out how to get it straight. Still working on that.....Schmarmpit is my true calling though.

I kick myself in the rear for not jotting down the brand of that Walmart soil mix. Maybe Perfect Gardener, or something. It was definitely marketed as potting soil and not compost/manure. I did notice when potting that the soil seemed overly moist and warm. It was probably left in the rain for a while, stored in a dumpster, then used as a toilet before it got into my hands. Never again.

[stinkyattic]

Expert Gardener. It's pre-fertilized. Yay, fine secletion of quality soils at wally world... :wtf:

[Schmarmpit]

Some pics of the 3 old ladies. Bertha, Kelly, Tonya. All looking lovely if not a little over-watered. The three other seeds I plan on growing are about to crack and will be planted tomorrow. This will put them about 3 weeks behind. I should be able to make up for the difference during veg and flower them all at the same time. LST is the key!

[Schmarmpit]

I began LST on 2 of the 3 plants yesterday, as Bertha may still be too small. I was away from my place for about 4 days and I thought that they were wet enough to last. Not really. Some of the lower leaves dried to death. The plants are really taking off now so that was not a big deal for them. I ordered the Fox Farm trio of nutes and will be feeding these hungry bitches by the end of the week.

I have decided to wait another couple of weeks to start new seeds. I want to get the timing down so that I will be harvesting in equal increments. My next trip will be over Christmas and I will be gone for 5 days. Does anyone have any experience with the water globes? I'm thinking that may be my option.

Pictures will be updated tomorrow.

[Schmarmpit]

They were transplanted into their final pots yesterday. Bertha had a tragic accident and fell to the ground during the process. She'll be fine though, I'm sure of it. LST has already showed signs of internodal bushing after only a couple of days.

I also added the 150W HPS to the mix. When flower time comes in a couple of weeks I'll switch out the 6500K CFL's for 2700K ones. Yes I know, the HPS isn't providing maximum lumens with my setup but it works good enough and I have peace of mind knowing that if the bulb explodes or the light falls, that glass surround will be good fire prevention.

You can see the dry/dead spots on some of the lower leaves from the lack of water over my recent break. Bertha seems to have slowed down now compared to the others. The nutes should be arriving in the next couple of days and then things can really begin.

[Kronika]

Firstime/longtime I guess. Was a member here long ago but my old username doesn't seem to work anymore so I started a new account. Anyway, I'm familiar with your situation - and I've recently had trouble with the MG seed starter soil. Which may be different I guess from your deal because your trouble is with the Walmart stuff, but I've tried this stuff in the past with terrible problems. The MG starter though works good at first, I put emphasis on first, like the first few weeks, but then I've really noticed a problem with it after that, like yellowing and slow growth. Too much peat and ferts I think. Got to get those seedlings out of it, transplant it to something like the organic MG mix with a lot of perlite, and there is a major difference in health and speed of growth. Just my experience though lately.

Also, big difference to get the little ones under an MH light if you can. For some reason I haven't had great success with the HPS's with young plants, but I've always used low-powered street-light type of deals, like 70 or 150w, not the 430w lux lamps with an added blue spectrum. The 23w daylight CFLs do a pretty good job though with young plants.

[Schmarmpit]

Thanks for checking it out Kronika. A couple of things to note: The MG seedling starter is mostly sphagnum peat moss with a fertilizer analysis of .05 - .01 - .05. I mixed in 50% perlite and it seems to be a fine base soil. I could see how plants after the first few weeks would begin to show signs of underfeeding as the MGSS does not supply much at all. I have Fox Farms ferts coming in today and will be using them throughout the rest of the grow.

The trouble I was having with the Walmart soil also crept up in the MGSS. The bags I bought were wet and had mold/fungus growing in them. This eventually led to mushrooms in the soil and stunted growth in the seedlings. Now I make sure to test the weight of the bags before I buy. There is often a noticeable difference between a good, light bag and a bad one.

The seedlings were lit with only 5500-6500K CFL's. Now that they are in vegetative growth, I added the HPS and the growth rate has increased. So far, the 3 plants left are thriving. Hopefully one will be female and I can get a couple ounces out of her.;)

[Schmarmpit]

Here are some quick updates because pictures are fun. I spotted some alternating nodes and I think I'll put them into 12/12 at the next weekly checkpoint (12-10-08).

They are looking pretty damn bushy now. The growth is so dense that I worry about keeping them too compact. It's hard to get light to the secondary growth without trimming the big fan leaves, but I guess they'll eventually grow beyond that point. Any thoughts on that? :detective1: