pepurr
04-04-2010, 04:09 PM
It's been a bunch of years sense the last time I grew any weed. If I remember correctly, it was the year the space shuttle first went into space.
Things have changed a lot in the years, including knowledge about growing pot. I've been doing a lot of reading and getting up to speed.
I have two, ten day old seedlings going. Was getting a little worried about them. I have to do everything on a super tight budget. So here is what is happening.
At first I just got some good old New Mexico dirt from the back yard. I germinated the seeds using the paper towel method. After putting the germinated seeds in the soil, I set them on the window sill and waited.
They came up ok, but I was worried. The only window I have access to only gets about 2 hours of direct sunlight a day. Buying a bunch of fancy grow lights is out. Not enough money for that. So for a partial fix, I put a big sheet of white paper behind them to reflect more light back on them. This worked some what, as they quit leaning over towards the window. Still I wasn't happy.
Next I thought I would put them under artificial lights. Oops! No money for that. I did have two of them light bulbs that do not have white the coating on them. Just glass and a bare filament. Even though they are only 60 watts they are brighter than hell. So, I got out the aluminum foil and started making my two babies a room of their own. I put them under that light and they stayed there for 18 hours. Then they got some darkness. I did notice that the two starter leaves were acting different. Before, the stalk and leaves formed the shape of the letter "T". Now they had formed the letter "Y". Really don't know if that is important, but there it is.
Still, the worry about the light would not go away. I know incandescent bulbs mostly shine in the yellow to red spectrum. I needed more blue. I have read blue is needed for good lush growth, and especially for when they start budding. What to do, I asked my self. I found that CFL shine a lot more blue. Some shining more blue than others. For me at this point I thought any upping of the blue photons would be a good thing.
So I got a GE CFL and screwed it in next to the incandescent. Also, while I was out, I picked up a bag of Miracle-Gro Potting Mix with Miracle-Gro Continuous Release plant food already in it. Says it feeds plants up to 6 months.
Now my babies are out of the New Mexico dirt, and in the Potting mix. They have 1 incandescent bulb (the kind that has no white coating on the glass), and 1 CFL. They are 6 inches away from the lights. Also their space has foil on the sides to reflect light back on them.
Everything I wrote above is up for crits. Any advise is welcome. :hippy:
Things have changed a lot in the years, including knowledge about growing pot. I've been doing a lot of reading and getting up to speed.
I have two, ten day old seedlings going. Was getting a little worried about them. I have to do everything on a super tight budget. So here is what is happening.
At first I just got some good old New Mexico dirt from the back yard. I germinated the seeds using the paper towel method. After putting the germinated seeds in the soil, I set them on the window sill and waited.
They came up ok, but I was worried. The only window I have access to only gets about 2 hours of direct sunlight a day. Buying a bunch of fancy grow lights is out. Not enough money for that. So for a partial fix, I put a big sheet of white paper behind them to reflect more light back on them. This worked some what, as they quit leaning over towards the window. Still I wasn't happy.
Next I thought I would put them under artificial lights. Oops! No money for that. I did have two of them light bulbs that do not have white the coating on them. Just glass and a bare filament. Even though they are only 60 watts they are brighter than hell. So, I got out the aluminum foil and started making my two babies a room of their own. I put them under that light and they stayed there for 18 hours. Then they got some darkness. I did notice that the two starter leaves were acting different. Before, the stalk and leaves formed the shape of the letter "T". Now they had formed the letter "Y". Really don't know if that is important, but there it is.
Still, the worry about the light would not go away. I know incandescent bulbs mostly shine in the yellow to red spectrum. I needed more blue. I have read blue is needed for good lush growth, and especially for when they start budding. What to do, I asked my self. I found that CFL shine a lot more blue. Some shining more blue than others. For me at this point I thought any upping of the blue photons would be a good thing.
So I got a GE CFL and screwed it in next to the incandescent. Also, while I was out, I picked up a bag of Miracle-Gro Potting Mix with Miracle-Gro Continuous Release plant food already in it. Says it feeds plants up to 6 months.
Now my babies are out of the New Mexico dirt, and in the Potting mix. They have 1 incandescent bulb (the kind that has no white coating on the glass), and 1 CFL. They are 6 inches away from the lights. Also their space has foil on the sides to reflect light back on them.
Everything I wrote above is up for crits. Any advise is welcome. :hippy: