First grow - Big Bud

[AngryFish]

Hello,

Thank you for showing intereset in my grow log.

This is my first grow and I am very excited about it. I ordered my seeds (Big Bud) from dutch-seeds.com, prices there are average, I paid 30 euros for 10 seeds.
Now let's see what kind of growbox I have. The box is located in a room which is 16c warm constantly. The box is 90cm long and 60cm wide, and 50cm in height. Looks like a rectangle. The growbox has no cover whatsoever, but for better light reflectivity I have painted the walls with white paint.
The plants are growing under a 400w HPS lamp. Constant temperature in the box is about 26-28c degrees.
By the way, out of 10 seeds, I got only 4 plants whos sex are yet to be determined (feminized seeds are for the win). Now that I find really weird. I was germinating seeds by using the "paper towel" method, 8/10 seeds had the roots, then, I planted them into a growing medium, about 1cm deep in the soil. Out of 8 seeds only 4 turned into seedlings. When I planted germinated seeds into mediums, I kept them under some 5x CFL's and the average temp. in the room was 16c, perhaps that's the reason why 4x seeds died.
About the soil. At the moment the best I could get was a peat/perlite mix, I'm yet working on finding the right ingredients for a soil mix.
Meanwhile I've been thinking about adding nutrients. As far as I know, nutrients should be started to add when the plant starts the vegetative stage, about 2 weeks after turning into a seedling. I would like to know if that is correct, though.
And yes, I forgot to mention that I have a ventilator blowing air, the fan is like the one you see in bath rooms, which sucks all the hot air out, only thing is I've put the fan backwards and now it is sucking air from the room where is 16c and blowing air into growbox and there is another pipe where half of the air goes out. The reason why I bought such ventilator was its cheap price and I tought it could well fit into growbox. The ventilator is on all the time when light is on, because without it, the temp. inside the box warms up till 30c which is, of course, too hot. And yes, air exchange is needed too.
What concerns me also is the fact, that at the dark period which is 6 hours the temp. in growbox lowers to stable 16c and stays at that low, I was wondering if such a temperature change can somehow negatively affect my plants?
Everything cannot be explained in the words, therefore I will add some pictures too. But that after a couple of hours.
I will try to keep this growlog updated so it is interesting for both, you and me, my reader. Also, I believe this growlog will deepen my knowledge about this great plant marijuana which we cultivate.
Thanks for reading, pics inc. soon.
Almost forgot to mention, the plants are currently 6 days old and they have developed 4-6 leaves each.

[AngryFish]

For some reason, I couldn't find the option to edit my original post, therefore, I'll post my horrible pictures here.

http://img13.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0067vc0.jpg

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/875/img0066aj2.jpg

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/9488/img0067rt0.jpg

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/3866/img0073np0.jpg


I'm really sorry for the quality, but Iphone camera is [censored]. Very soon though, I'll get a digital camera. Will try to improve my grow log.

And yes, some pictures are upside down :/

[theeviltrees]

Hi Angryfish,

About your temperature worries, I'm not sure if its bad for the plant or not, but my Temps go down to 16C every "night" and they are still fine and still alive at 35 days.

you could do with some more soil in those pots though (to just over where the "ridge" in the pots is) - Don't just put more soil in though. and check the pH of the soil too.

Good luck!:thumbsup:

[AngryFish]

Hey guys,

Its been a while since I started my seedlings. Finally, I managed to borrow a digial camera so I can make some better pictures.

Here they are. As you can see in the pictures, some of my babies seem to be ill. I wasn't adding any nutrients so far. Yesterday was the first day I added some light NPK nute tea and some more N for greener leaves. I've also checked my pH levels and they seem to be neutral. I was keeping my plants under a 400w hps, but today switched to a 150w one (yeah, have to save the 400w for flowering, hopefully). As far as I know a 150w hps should be ok for 4x plants for vegetative stage. Will see.
The leaves are yellow probably because I've been very paranoid with watering (rule number uno: don't drown your plants!), i've been wrong, yesterday I watered them thoroughly and today they show signs of recovering.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7076/dsc02947kh8.jpg
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/4159/dsc02946ps7.jpg
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/1963/dsc02945fx8.jpg
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2240/dsc02944nc4.jpg
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/3858/dsc02937ct2.jpg

Going to add some pictures of my growbox soon. Please, leave some comments :) By the way, they are about 15 days old.

[AngryFish]

And yes, I somehow am unable to edit my previous posts, for that I apologize. Here is a picture of my growbox. I'm still trying to think of ways to improve it.

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/2561/dsc02948.jpg
By angryfish (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/angryfish), shot with DSC-W55 (http://profile.imageshack.us/camerabuy.php?model=DSC-W55&make=SONY) at 2009-03-02

[Shovelhandle]

looking fine, angryfish

[bigtopsfinn]

I've read that temps below 21C are harmful for growth. Maybe a portable heater with thermostat would be good... that is if you get a bigger space eventually. That box looks quite small for 4 plants.

The temps are the likely reason your seedlings died, either that or your soil had fertilizer in it already and they burned up the young seedlings.

[AngryFish]

Perhaps you are right and temp. as low as 16c may be harmful. Anyway, now they don't seem to have a problem with the low temp. at night. The soil I used was without any nutrients, afaik. At least pH in the soil seemed normal.
I'm very curious about how the plants will like the new 150w HPS instead of 400w, because, now the average temp. when light is on, is approx. 24-25c.

By the way, not too long ago I got a good deal on cannabisseeds.com, 12 feminized super silver haze seeds for 20$, which is a bargain imo. Actually, I was a bit surprised, because i've seen quite a lot of people complaining about that seeds company. I got my seeds after about one week I think.

[detroitfish]

looking good keep up the good work :thumbsup:

[AdsByGoogle]

Awesome. I was planning on getting me some big bud. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to this.
Whats all that white stuff on top of your soil OP?

[denialisback]

lovely plants, and an even nicer breed to grow well done!

peace,
Denial

[AngryFish]

Thanks for showing interest guys, it is a pleasure for me log all this when I see other people posting here too.


AdsByGoogle,

Those white things on the top of my soil is called "perlite", it helps to form the soil "texture", so more oxygen gets to roots, and also it holds some water in it. Perlite is cheap too, so imo, it is a good product to buy.
Recently, I've bought some coco to replace my soil for future plants. I must say that it looks very promising, also coco has some other beneficial characteristics, it stays moist for longer than average dirt soil, it is also easier to wash the nutrients out, in case if you overdose. Although, I cannot verify this information, but i've read about coco in many forums, including here and those who chosed it were quite satisfied.


Also, today I checked about how my plants are feeling under the new circumstances (remember, I switched from 400w HPS to 150w HPS), I must say that plants are looking more healthy with each day. Soil is still moist, although last time I watered was 2 days ago.
What i'm still concerned about is my temps. Now, with the new hps the average temp. in room with lights on is 19-22c, and about 16-18c at night. Now, as far as i know, the most important thing in vegetative stage is roots, i've read, that if the root system is in relative warm, everything should be fine. I haven't figured that all yet.
However, i understand that something should be done about the current low temp. problem. The first thing that i can forget about already is obtaining a small heater, the room i use for growing i share with my family member, who grows tulips, tulips unfortunately require average temp. no higher than 18c, therefore i have to adapt. The possible solution i am thinking about is building a new growbox, more like a closet, i yet need to figure out all the dimensions, but that thing for sure is on my "to do" list.
I would like to ask a question too, when i can possibly start to recognize the gender of my plants? They are about 18 days old. Afaik, plants start to show their sex when flowering stage begins, i wonder is that truth?
Thanks,
And expect more posts from me in the future :)

[bigtopsfinn]

Growbox is def a good idea, there's a lot of good info here about making it perfect.

As for sexing, I have vegged for a month last time and more than a month this time, and have yet to see preflowers until the second week of flowering... maybe its just my strain. It's said, however, that you should veg for as long as you see the preflowers (maturity), which will let the plant flower better (or something like that:stoned:lol)

[AngryFish]

Its been 4 days since I last posted. Things hasn't changes much since the last time. As far as my observations go, plants are looking fine, leaves are looking healthy greenish. I still haven't noticed any signs of pre-flowering, although, they are close to being a month old.
Also, I'm slowly planning to construct a better growbox for flowering phase. I was thinking about switching to 12/12 in about 2 weeks.

Anyway, here are some pics.

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8985/dsc02967g.jpg

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/8043/dsc02966b.jpg

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5606/dsc02965rmg.jpg

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9088/dsc02964p.jpg

[AngryFish]

Hey folks,

Been quite busy lately so there were no updates from me in this log. I finally managed to construct a new grow area, not all of my wishes are completed there of course, but I'm still working on that.
I also did the last planned transplanting, plants are in their final pots, hopefully they are big enough. I'm not sure what's the liter capacity of those pots though. With the new grow area, I also changed my lightening, now they are under a 400w hps, instead of 125w hps i used before. Now, once i changed the lights, the temps changed too. With the light on i have a constant 28c temp. in the area. I think it could have created some sort of shock for plants, because, before I had constant 20-21 degrees. I haven't moinitored yet whats the temp. in the area at night, but my guess its a bit more than 20, which i think its fine.

What ya guys think? Now that i have a camera with me, i'll be able to provide more pics.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/5228/s4010001.jpg

[quarteroy]

Hey, I am a novice but are the bottom sets of leaves on your plant yellowing from the pictures it appears so. Is that why you thought the temp was bad? Most likely Yellowing bottom leaves means low nitrogen levels in your soil. If you add some thru good nutes it should help It also slows growth (wich you dont look like you have a problem with) also look for purple in your stems also an indicator. Hope I'm not overstepping my bounds just have just had the problem before and thought you might like the info.:jointsmile:

[FrostAie]

looks like they are coming along pretty good the soil may be a little dry and I dont think its a nute deficiency because they were yellow when the plant was way less mature. Try giving them a bit more water and make sure the light is not to far away. The bottom leaves will yellow and die but usually after its a little more mature. Now that they are old enough try using diluted water soluble nutrients and maybe even get some ph testing strips to see the run off PH level

[AngryFish]

Hehe, thanks for posting guys.

The yellow leaves started to appear when these plants were much younger, I was paranoid with watering and they started to dehydrate. Since then I have eliminated my paranoia and I'm watering them well. Their leaf color is healthy greenish, so I suppose they have enough N. Today I've worked a bit with my ventilation and got the constant temp. down to 25c. What I still have to do is make the walls white, so less of the precious light is wasted. Also, I need to close all the extra holes where unwanted light is coming in. I'm starting to slowly prepare for flowering stage.
I've been very careful with adding nutes so far, I'm adding them once a week, a weak macro+micro element solution. For flowering I have prepared some additional Phosphorus 18% which can be "melted" in the water. For watering I use rain water only.

I'm really happy that I am not the only one posting in this log, hope you guys like it.

[FreshNugz]

I am hooked on this one. I wish you all the best of success with your grow. I agree with your preps too. I was considering that strain for my first grow as well, heard good things about yield. Haven't started but I'm watching to see how you do..hope to learn lots. From noob to noob..looking good so far. :thumbsup:

[AngryFish]

Hey guys,

It's been a while since the last time I posted. I have both, good and bad news. Let's start with the bad news. First of all, I had to get the plants out of my house, the people I am living together with didn't like my project when the plants started to get bigger. I had one week time to find new home for my babies. After a couple of days of searching the new "spot", I finally managed to find a person which will finish my grow. The new home isn't a perfect place for them, since the "new gardener" isn't very skilled. I haven't been able to see my plants for a good two weeks now, I am sure after a week I'll manage to get some photos. Plants are about a week into flowering now, there is insufficient amount of light for them right now, only a 125w HPS, but in the nearest future, I'm hoping to get the 400w going.
It really saddens me, that I had to move the plants out of my house, since I loved and took care of them very much. Hopefully, I will be able to finish the grow and get some sticky buds, time will show.

As soon as I get some pictures, I'm going to post them in this log.

[denialisback]

Hey guys,

It's been a while since the last time I posted. I have both, good and bad news. Let's start with the bad news. First of all, I had to get the plants out of my house, the people I am living together with didn't like my project when the plants started to get bigger. I had one week time to find new home for my babies. After a couple of days of searching the new "spot", I finally managed to find a person which will finish my grow. The new home isn't a perfect place for them, since the "new gardener" isn't very skilled. I haven't been able to see my plants for a good two weeks now, I am sure after a week I'll manage to get some photos. Plants are about a week into flowering now, there is insufficient amount of light for them right now, only a 125w HPS, but in the nearest future, I'm hoping to get the 400w going.
It really saddens me, that I had to move the plants out of my house, since I loved and took care of them very much. Hopefully, I will be able to finish the grow and get some sticky buds, time will show.

As soon as I get some pictures, I'm going to post them in this log.
aww shit sorry to hear that dude, hope things sort themselves out :)

Peace,
Denial

[Shovelhandle]

And they were looking so well...
I've seen this scene here at cann.com before. Good luck on your proxy grow, Fish.