SlowToke's First grow in Soil

[SlowToke]

Let me start out by saying hello to you all. This is my first grow. :D

My friend germinated some seeds he had from his previous bags about 3 weeks ago, he gave me 4 seeds about 4 days after their first stems stuck out from the seed.

I've had all 4 plants potted inside a plastic party cup for about 3 total weeks now, I want to transplant my plants into larger individual pots.

I started with a miracle grow soil mixture that I had laying around the house, and a 60 watt incandescent lightbulb - which I have found out from reading these forums was a big no-no. The stems grew rapidly towards the light during the first week of seedling (which can this time period of seedling still be considered Vegetative growth? when does the veg stage officially begin?) and due to this start its caused some problems for me being now in the 3rd week such as a week bottom stem.

I have fixed the lighting problem for now by acquiring 6x 23watt 1600lumen CFL lights, in a growing space of about... 2'x3' so thats about 9600 lumens? not as much as I would like but its better than nothing for now. Ill worry about getting more lighting once I correct my other issues.

My concerns are that about 3 days ago I accidentally overheated my tallest plant (which looks to be a sativa strain) causing the leaves to curl downward + inward. Some yellow burn marks are visible. Now I'm aware that I screwed that plant up but it doesn't seem to be dieing, as of yet. Will the new set of leaves provide enough energy to the plant for me to keep it? or should I just assume its ruined? (pictures enclosed)

As for my other plants, in the last few days my 3rd tallest (looks like an indica strain) has been doing quite well in the last week or so - with the added light. It seems as though it may be the best plant I have growing. There seems to be no apparent deficiencies as far as I can tell, leaves are a rich green color and other then a tiny bit of curling on the first set of leaves due to a little overheating in about the 2nd week everything seems to be fine.

My 3rd tallest plant is not doing too great but not nearly as bad as the first, the leaves are curled down slightly due to over heating I believe (done in the same time frame for all the plants, I got a little careless one night and didn't check the heat as well as I should have) but the leaves don't seem to be too damaged, more curled than anything.

The shortest and last plant is doing alright, a little pale if I do say so myself but I'm not an expert. but on this plant as well as my 3rd tallest, the very first leaves (from the seeds) shriveled, turned yellow and broke off, is this a problem?

Will overheated leaves ever recover fully? how do I know when i've overheated them to the point of no return? should I germinate new seeds and restart with the correct lighting, soil, and don't overheat?

I don't expect any true yield from these plants, if I happen to make a few grams than that's nice but these are my first grow - and im simply trying to understand the basics here.

Also I'm sure that someone will need to know the ph of the soil's runoff, my source water, and things such as that and I cannot give you any numbers. Ive never tested it. But im currently in the process of getting the supplies I'll need for that.

Please feel free, and I ask of you, to bestow upon me your knowledge of the art of cannabis horticulture. :rastasmoke:

[SlowToke]

In response to oSecretGardeno, I do have a fan that I run on oscillate, so i'm hoping the temps will stay a bit lower for here on out.

The CFL's are Soft White.

Also I think its time that I transplanted each plant into their own cups (same ones buy individual cups) any thought? should i just put them in larger pots?

Much help.

[XmaxxX]

ok so for the start if this was my grow I would cut down those plants and start over with your new cfls.
the reason are:
plants look ill and very stressed! this can cause loads and loads of problems later on
plants are too fucking stretched an the stretch is huge between every node so you cant really minimize it in any way. you wont be able to get anything out of them and eventually they might even die.
you have 4 plants in one small pot this is a big NO for a grower.. 1 pot per plant!

EDIT!!!

now that i look close at the pics you can actually save your shortest plant there
just repot it into its own pot and when you do bury the stem up to the first set of leaves(it will start producing roots when its buried)

[SlowToke]

Ok, I am currently germinating a new set of seeds that I plan to start growing as soon as they sprout.

I've been looking at peoples plants that are a mere 2 weeks old and they have many more leaves, and much less stem - so the feeling of chopping them down and restarting has crossed my mind more than once.

As far as stress goes - yeah, I'm not gonna lie if i were that plant I would be hating my life so far as well.


Will the CFL's that I am using as of now promote less stem growth and much more leaf growth to my next crop? and is there anyway to tell if a plant will be of a sativa strain or indica strain from seeds? I'm partial to the effect that it seems indica gives more-so than sativa - also growing space is of the essence.

[SlowToke]

just repot it into its own pot and when you do bury the stem up to the first set of leaves(it will start producing roots when its buried)


Do you mean... the first set of leaves other then the seed leaves? (Im talking about burying it up to the first edged leaves?) :confused:

[XmaxxX]

Do you mean... the first set of leaves other then the seed leaves? (Im talking about burying it up to the first edged leaves?) :confused:

yes you can go up the first set of true leaves if its not too much.

and yes your 9600 lumens will be more then enough to produce decent veg growing, just make sure the lights are close to the plants(around 2 inch)
and you will be fine.. i just moved to 12/12 with 8 plants which i grew under only 3 28w 6500k cfls

if you have any questions feel free to ask.

i attached a picture of a leaf that was nearly the size of my hand and thats only 2 weeks into veg with 3 cfls

[SlowToke]

The problem I face with moving the plants to within 2 inchs of the lights is the heat - my oscillating fan is too powerful to place directly inline with the plants - it will blow them over, its a floor fan around 18".

EDIT: Since the lights would be 2" from the plants I don't see how I can overcome this other than getting a smaller - more precise fan. (The grow area is NOT enclosed - just shielded well enough to trap the light, not sealed enough to have an exhaust fan or anything like that).

Also why do you think my crop is slow growing? due to the stress or just a lack of adequate living conditions?

Also I just transplanted my 2nd and 4th tallest plants, the two that were doing the best. Ill post the pictures as well.

When do you think these plants will need larger pots? and how large? 3 gallons I think would be sufficient for them. I have a total space of about 4 feet of height for these plants so I dont want them too tall.

[SlowToke]

Is it imperative that I add nutrients to my medium? How much more will my plants flourish if the proper nutrients are maintained throughout the veg + flowering cycle?

Whats more important for my first time growing, proper nutrients (unless a deficiency arises), or more lighting?

Is Co2 that much of of an issue that i should worry about adding more Via compressed Co2 tank every so often?

Just thoughts..

[SlowToke]

So, its been another week and my plants are doing alright I suppose.

I'm enjoying this ;) lots of attention and patience.

Anywho, I'm currently growing under my 6x23watt CFL's in about a 1x2x2 area - quite small but its alright - the plants are small for their age too! lol.. (cry)

I figure its due to the stresses they went through their first few weeks on earth, lots of temp changes, overheating, too much nitrogen, lil too much water. All the good nooby mistakes right?

Anyway I felt like posting a few pics of them as of tonight.

I have a few questions - how long should I wait minimum before switching to 12/12's?

Would clipping some leaves down promote new leaf growth? Would it be beneficial to me at this point?

Like I said im in a 1"width, 2" tall,2" deep area and I cant have the leaves touch the lights - so I cant grow too tall. Is there anyway to keep the plants shorter? Or maybe to promote more girth to them (wider) and not so much height?

I'm aware genetics plays into this - as well as Indica or Sativa but other then that are there any tricks to it?

Also I plan on doing my first flowering cycle with no added Nutes seeing as how I dont want to blow my money until I can get one successful cycle in.

Anyway I'm having a great time doing this and I'm learning tons from you all so thanks very much for making this site so informative.

Many thanks and Happy Holidays from me to all of you.

(Roll a phatty for the fat man!) :rastasmoke:

EDIT: Does the closeup pic of the leaf look alright to you? Meaning, do you see any deficiencies? I know I overheated a few of the leaves on both plants once or twice - but its better now. cant cry over spilt milk.

[SlowToke]

bump

[GoldenGraham84]

holy questions batman!

first, before you switch to 12/12, you want your plant to be sexually mature. this means either preflowers, or non-symmetrical nodes.

second, no. don't cut the leaves. leaves=energy for plant, even when damaged. 50%+ damage/yellowing means you can remove the leaf, but many growers never cut anything until harvest.

third, LST. Low Stress Training. train (tie) the top of the plant so its lower than other nodes. this will make the lower nodes compete to become the main cola. research it on here, you'll see.

fourth, blow the $7-$10 to buy Jack's Classic Bloom Booster (or similar bloom booster at your local greenhouse/gardening store). cheap and effective. wouldn't hurt to have a high-nitrogen veg nute either. bet you could get both for under $20 locally.

the leaf close up looks a bit heat stressed. if you've moved your lights already, good job.

read, read, read

stay safe
-GG84

[SlowToke]

Let me get this straight, the plant will either form the 2 hairs to indicate female, or the green thing w/ a ball on the tip (cant explain im a little medicated...:rastasmoke:) anyway the male thing.

And this will occur during veg? How long into Veg? (in nodes, or average nodes, and in time if you can please)

Also, you mentioned LST - then after that you mentioned tieing down the top node lower than another node. Would this not make the leaves face down as well? lowing light absorption?

And can the stem take a bend like that at this point in my grow?

I have fixed the heat issue - I had been experiencing problems with my lights and ventilation, but its been fixed.

Also I mentioned before the space I was using, 1'x2'x2' space. Will the bloom booster make me outgrow my confines? is there anyway to... keep the plant trimmed or something in some way to utilize the booster but not outgrow my area? I put some effort into making this area, its a shame if I had outgrown it that quickly!

But hey, I'll do what I gotta do, so let me think what you guys think and get back to me please.

Thanks!

[GoldenGraham84]

it might preflower. some do, some don't

yes it would lower light absorbtion i guess. on all my LSTs the plant turns its leaves to face the light within 2 hours.

i didn't mean snap the stem and there, you're done. LST can be done gradually. slowly tie it down further and further. a loop of string with a slipknot works well.

the bloom booster'll only aid with essential nutes for flowering, and give you bigger buds. trust me, its worth it. tie any "too-big-growth" down if needed.

[SlowToke]

Ill start to tie the top node down gradually, should help with height a whole bunch.

Also, will my plant eventually shoot off into two side-by-side nodes? Because earlier you mentioned non-symmetrical nodes, and I'm not sure exactly how you could tell that unless your talking about leaf count or something.. or maybe stem lengths.. please clarify :D

And if I do purchase the bloom booster - should I add it to the plants when I start 12/12 or once the first flowers begin?

I haven't researched too much on the flowering phase - seeing as how I need to make it through veg before I can worry about it flowering! So its very possible I will answer my own question before someone responds, but hey - its still help :)

Many thanks.

[GoldenGraham84]

ok look at pic 4 in post #9. see the way the side branches come out from the main stem at the same point? thats symmetrical nodes. when the node comes from only one side of the stem, then another from the other side at a different height, thats alternating nodes. i would start the bloom fert a few days after starting 12/12. the lst will cause your lower nodes to increase their growth rate, meaning you could have a bush instead of a tree.

[SlowToke]

Thanks for the help!

You made it much more clear about what to look for, this should help me out bunches.

So with lst, eventually my stem should look like.. an upside down "U" ? When the plant grows wouldn't it burry into the ground? or will it turn right side up and grow towards the light again?

[GoldenGraham84]

not a "u." a good way is to lst the top down (gradually) till its horizontal, let the lower nodes branch out and up, then repeat (if you are vegging for more than 3 weeks longer). basically, make a canopy with growth through training it.

[SlowToke]

I looked up lst last night, I managed to use the technique and its helped quite a bit already with height. :)

Also I picked up some new CFL's, 40watters - 2600 lumens vs. my 23watters.. :stoned:

Only replaced 2/6 of the lights with those though - my lowes was running low on stock.


Not much news other then watchin' the babies grow.

[GoldenGraham84]

cool cool. this thread should be moved to grow logs now, or you should maybe start a new thread in grow logs. i know magiccity just got some mazar sharif seeds. and he should be a little ahead of you grow-wise, but not by much. perhaps you guys could help eachother along the way.

this is just an opinion, but those 42 watters seem to give more heat per lumen than the 23/26 watters. keep an eye on those temps. best of luck slowtoke. :thumbsup:

[SlowToke]

I agree, this is not exactly a problem thread anymore - and if Stinky or someone with the power to move this could to the grow logs, that would be appreciated :)

Ill post new pictures of them in a few days, I'm currently germinating roughly 6-7 more plants at the time being, if this second batch seems overall better (better is subjective so what I truly mean is more compact, and more of an Indica than a Sativa) I will abandon these babes, give my thanks and gratitude to them for teaching me alot already, and continue to pamper my new ones :rastasmoke: