First grow: Dutch Passion's "Shaman"(sativa) in closet. low budget.

[Trekkie]

Hi all,

This is my first time growing. I'm looking to learn a lot this first time around, and hopefully at the end of this to harvest some quality bud.

So, It's been MONTHS since my last smoke, I've moved recently and I've got no connects where I am now. Even if I don't have a huge harvest, I think my tolerance has gotten so low, that I can stretch even a wimpy yield for a long while. So long as the plant doesn't completely croak, it'll be a success as far as I'm concerned.

Adding to that: I'm broke; so I'm doing this the cheapest way feasible with what I have available to me, which, in this case, is:

a 4ftx4ft closet with an irregular ceiling that slopes from 4ft to ~7ft high.
Some Dutch Passion's feminized "Shaman" seeds, which are a sativa dominant strain - so growing with my ceiling limitations may be tricky.
Biggest compact fluorescent bulb I have ever seen. It's a 65 watt, 2700k beast. Check pic. I put a sharpie marker in the shot for scale. I haven't come across any grow logs of people using such a bulb(I'm sure I'm not the first, though), which makes me curious about how this will turn out - in its description online it states it puts out the equivalent of 385 watts. It'll be installed once I can fashion a big enough reflector for it. For the moment I'm vegging with an el cheapo 23w cfl.
adjustable ghetto light suspension using laundry cable and other stuff I could scrounge.
80mm pc fan in the wall with a ghetto-rigged activated carbon filter for ventilation and smell control. haven't done this yet.



Here are some first pics from day 4:
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Anyone have any suggestions how I should train this girl as she grows, considering my ceiling situation - or any other constructive criticisms?

Trekkie

[drudown11]

Switch the 6500k Blue CFL's for veg, the plant will grow shorter and stockier with less stretching. You should be able to find them at most hydroponic shops and even most hardware stores. The bigger the better.

If you plan on actually harvesting a decent marijuana plant, your going to need 3 or 4 more of those lights to illuminate the plant once it flowers and doubles in size. Once you flower(flip over to 12/12) you should then switch from the 6500 k bulbs to 2700k bulbs. The red end of the spectrum promotes flower growth and size.

6500K - 400 Watt Equal Compact Fluorescent

2 of those bulbs i posted above me will be moooorrreee than enough to grow some decent cannabis. Just remember to switch the spectrum from 6500k over to 2500k when you flower. Just like nature's transition from summer to fall :)

[Trekkie]

Thanks for the advice drudown11, I got 6500K bulbs on the way, and I'm working on a new lighting arrangement. In the mean time though I got the plant vegging under the 65W flowering bulb for the past 5 days or so, just since it's the strongest thing I have available at the moment, the plant seems to appreciate the extra lighting.
My sweet lady seems to be showing signs of some problems though. I'm not sure if it's some kind of mold or a nutrition deficiency or what.

The first pic is from yesterday when I noticed one of the first leaves had some brown/yellowish spotting toward the tip. It looked really mild though and there were no signs of anything similar in the newer leaves so I was hoping the problem would just correct itself.

Today though, it's suddenly much worse. the discoloration has spread on the first leaves and they're starting to almost look crumpled, and the new leaves are starting to look a little rough too, mostly toward the tips.

Anyone have any idea what this is?? :-/

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[Trekkie]

Hey everybody, it feels like things are finally getting going with my plant. I was out of business for like 5 days waiting for some f*cking oil-based paint to dry in my reflector, but that's past now and my baby girl is back on track. Here are the latest pics from day.... 53?

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haha I got this pot for free at this second hand shop. I hope the peacock imbues the plant with some psychedelic properties deserving of the strain name "Shaman." :rastasmoke: I'll almost definitely have to get a larger pot for it in a few weeks though

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You can see I topped it once already. I'm thinking i'll top her again, is that a good idea? Also the weird leaf discoloration I had going on before seems to have corrected itself after I repotted it in some better soil. Though there are now a few leaves at the top that got a bit burnt from touching the bulbs.

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close up of the first 'topping'.

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better look under the hood. I've got two 65W 6500K CFL's on her now. Got them extra cheap on ebay, 11 euros a pop :) Coated the reflector with titanium white paint(which also happens to be one of the slowest drying pigment in oil-based paints. I will never mess with oil based paints again -.-)

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Overview shot of my current arrangement. Got some other nice stuff sharing the rays :)

I appreciate any suggestions! This is my first grow so I'm worried about making stupid mistakes >.>

Also, can I determine at this stage whether this plant is female or not? I got feminized seeds, but I want to be sure...