The beginners story with lots of questions

[1st timer]

Hi

I started growing 3 seeds 2 months ago pretty much to the day.
I dont have pictures of the seed sprouting because it was just an experiment and i wasn't thinking about it too much. Now they are like children.

A month and a little bit in, i didnt water them for 10 days and they dried out and pretty much all drooped, all looked dead but weren't fully brown. This is my post asking what to do and some helpful answers.
Also has pictures. http://boards.cannabis.com/basic-growing/206501-newbie-just-about-killed-all-his-plants-help-please.html

[1st timer]

Im trying to find out how to attach files on an ipad i am chilling. Theres more coming

[1st timer]

it says im not allowed to post attachments?

[1st timer]

This is what they looked like after they weren't watered

[1st timer]

this is what they looked like when they recovered. this is 1.5 months in approx.

[Dutch Pimp]

that looks about right..lesson learned

[1st timer]

this is what they look like now. 2 months in.

[1st timer]

using internet explorer is as painful as having a plant die on you.

HOW I HAVE BEEN GROWING THEM

I started in a tiny pot. Completely on natural sunlight, thats probably like 12 hours a day. Not strong. Even then through glass as near a window.
I think that's why they are moving so much slower than some of the pictures on this forum that other people have posted.
Longer stems although they didn't get much incandescent light. I guess just not much light.
Question 1- can incandescent lights interrupt sleep cycles? should i be bothered about sleep cycles if they are still in veg phase?

[Weezard]

Edit:

Well Dang! I posted this in reply to your, "says I can't post attachments message".
Then this posts in the thread where you have posted a bunch of 'em.
Well done!
Meh, the advice still applies though, yah?


If you read the T.O.U. you'll find that you need more posts to be able attach pictures.
"How now, brown tou?" :D

It prevents porn spamming, etc.
It also helps folks learn that hunting for a solution is much more rewarding than "baby-birding", (sittin' on one's ass screaming feed me.)

So, poke around in the FAQs and archives.
Read a few troubleshooting threads so you will know who gives good advice, and who tries to give good advice. :)

I'm in the latter category, but I do try, and occasionally, pass a "pearl".
It's up to you to know the difference, yah?


Aloha,
Weezard

[1st timer]

After they dried out and i posted pictures, someone on the forum told me to replace my teracotta tiny pots for larger plastic (don't dry out as quickly) pots. good advice! when i transferred them i lost some roots which stuck to the pot and some which were hugging the stones at the bottom (i guess because i watered them from below some times).

they are getting 16 hours weak sunlight/ basic daylight at this point of time. through a window, direct sunlight for about 3 hours in the day, but a very bright room with basically all windows.

i bought a bulb. basic CFL which is 10 times the size i thought it would be compared to what i originally had in my head. it's the length of my forearm and the width of calves. it's a 6400 (i think?) which was suggested on the forum as a flowering light, but could support veg.
they now get 16 hours of daylight/ sunlight 5 days a week and two days of the week get 5 hours topped with the CFLs. i put them in the cupboard and give them the CFL light.

[1st timer]

thanks weezard.
i'm posting this as a grow log for other beginners to maybe learn from.
it has questions i would ask, so maybe helps other people first time growing as i hope you senior guys share these pearls!
plus, if i can get a few questions answered in the process anyway ;)

[1st timer]

-i haven't been concerned with humidity. it's maybe 50-60% humidity outside on a permanent basis. these are indoors.

-they are well ventilated, with alot of fresh air, but not so much direct breeze from fans or from open windows.

-temperature inside varies through the day between 18-26 degrees celcius.
it was colder in their first month

- i grow with soil (coco in the small pots initially)

- i germed them in disposable little cups which you can plant directly into the soil and disintegrate naturally. i took them out though when i planted in the mini tercotta pots. because the pots were small, the little disposable cups looked big and would probably take 5 years to dissolve in coco coir.

Q2) i've seen alot about 16:8 daylight hours to darkness. they are in veg phase, does pushing their light exposure artificially help them veg quicker? is sleep cycle only for flowering stage? i have heard 24:0 is fine for veg. do they have to be in these ratios, or can they get like 19:5 for example.

- one is autoflowering, two are not. all feminized. from the netherlands.

[1st timer]

yes! for some reason when i switched to chrome and not i.e. it suddenly allowed me to post attachments. i hadn't posted anything in between. i thought of minimum seniority before being allowed to post pictures, but i think my first 3 posts ever had pictures, so wasn't sure.




Edit:

Well Dang! I posted this in reply to your, "says I can't post attachments message".
Then this posts in the thread where you have posted a bunch of 'em.
Well done!
Meh, the advice still applies though, yah?


If you read the T.O.U. you'll find that you need more posts to be able attach pictures.
"How now, brown tou?" :D

It prevents porn spamming, etc.
It also helps folks learn that hunting for a solution is much more rewarding than "baby-birding", (sittin' on one's ass screaming feed me.)

So, poke around in the FAQs and archives.
Read a few troubleshooting threads so you will know who gives good advice, and who tries to give good advice. :)

I'm in the latter category, but I do try, and occasionally, pass a "pearl".
It's up to you to know the difference, yah?


Aloha,
Weezard

[1st timer]

- i try to use rain water which i collect in a little plastic pot on the roof. if i run out and the plants need water, then i use tap water which i leave out for a few hours to get sunned and lose whatever chemicals they may have in them.

Q)what do people think of the current pictures? you can see the browned up leaves have unfurled slightly, but are still dead at the tips. there is new growth on the base of them though.

Q) is this the correct height you think? do the stems look strong enough? what height will they get to, other people's plants look a lot shorter in some pictures, but some people have ridiculously tall (probably sativa?) plants?

Mine are mixed- one is a haze, one is something called nepali which i think was more indica and the third is something more sativa. i don't know which are which because i didn't label them when they germed. (one of the 3 is autoflowering, i dont know which) you can tell im'm new to this ;)

Q) what are the next steps to make them happier without spending any more £. ?

[1st timer]

hello everyone. thanks for advice and for dropping in. I hope fellow first timers have learned a bit from this and i hope more seniors drop in for wisdom :)

i have upgraded to 20l (5gallon) airpots. looks like a pretty cool invention, so worth the minimal $$ investment if they work the way they are supposed to.
i have moved up to 24/0. 12 of those are on natural sunlight, 12 are with a 250W flowering CFL.
i have bought the mylar type material and covered the area, looks like this is helping quite a bit. more bang for my 250W buck.
i bought ph down and a ph tester and have no started monitoring the ph levels a little bit. it's a soil grow, so i'm not OCD about what goes in and comes out, just trying to keep it at 6 going in.

[1st timer]

these are the pictures.
you can see the new pots, the low stress training bend, the pinched bend which has now recovered and started growing upwards.

i would be grateful if i could get some advice on the leaves at the bottom. i have quite a few leaves and don't really know what to do about them- i hear at flowering stage, some people get rid of the leaves at the bottom?

i would also be grateful for advice on my droopy leaves. 2/3 of the plants have had droopy leaves since day 1 basically. i am now monitoring ph levels, they are in a massive pot, the soil is bio bizz and cana coir mixed, with a wee bit of perlite. they are on bat guano and bio bizz green (the generalized all purpose type of food for cannabis)

[Esteban1]

Are these staying indoors or outdoors? Reason I ask is they will get to be up 2 3 x's the size. Thought I'd inform ya.


:thumbsup:

[built2spill]

Esteban1 is right on. Once flower is either induced or happens naturally outdoors, the plant will stretch to nearly double it's size or better. If you are growing indoors then you should start flower soon or those plants will hit the ceiling.

As far as the droopy leaves I am stumped. Could be watering issues. Over or under watering can cause similar issues. Over watering can cause the leaves to look like claws where under watering causes wilting, dried out leaves and eventually death. It could be that the plant was just transplanted and is experiencing shock. It could be the PH of the new soil or water is off and the plant is being locked out. I can't say for sure if it's any of these or non of these.

Cannabis likes lots of water yes but it does not like wet roots. Do the pots feel extra heavy? If so they have lot of water in the soil. Super light pots means you need water. Try to let the soil dry up before watering. A great trick for new growers is to add some water absorbing crystals to the soil. This helps to prevent over/under watering, I use them outdoors now, this being the fourth year, and I have had plants succeed where I always had watering issues. Even through the last 7 day heat wave I had no wilting on all but one plant.

[ghost83]

Ur plant is stressed. could be a water issue. maybe Ur plant is outgoing its pot. u said its been over 2 months. what size pot is it in?
they say that cannabis needs 1 gallon per month old. so if u have a plant that has veg for 2 months and
u are gonna flower it for another 2 months u should have a 4 gallon pot. i think this is why a lot of
growers prefer 5 gallon pots. i feel like 5 gallon pots are used the most. just my suggestion. i can only go by what the picture shows

[Dictionary]

1st timer. First off ill start by saying I'm only into my second grow. But my first indoor grow of three plants yielded about 2 oz from bag seed. (Pretty good smoke) but looking at ur grow it looks like u need to adjust a few things.

First thing is apparent overwatering. Water until runoff begins to come out and let pots dry pretty good before next water/ feed.
Next is the lighting. While Mother Nature makes the best light for plants, while indoors the sun can not successfully veg a plant. You should maintain an 18/6 photoperiod or a 24/0 period. I would stop the window sill treatment as this could get u noticed as well, and this small amount of sunlight is not useful. That cfl that u have is great I would get 2-3 more of those and place them within 3 inches of top of plants. Your plants have stretched due to lack of light giving u a plant that will soon not be able to hold its own weight let alone any buds. Light is the key to producing good plants that will have a chance to bud. These plants are not to far gone I believe and could make a come back. I would work on getting the droopy leaves healthy again and then I would LST them. I would circle the plant around the top of the pot tying it down. That would allow more light penetration and slow down the stretching that has already occurred.

I will be starting a log in the morning after work for my current grow. I have 12 plants all 12-20+" tall in a 6x6x9 closet. They all grew under about 298 actual watts of cfl. Mixed with spiral bulbs and t8 4x2 fluro tubesx3. These bag seeds didn't stretch at all nor burn when at 2-3 inches above tops. Hopefully in the am I will be able to post all my log stuff so newbies like myself can see that with little investment one can actually grow some bud. Keep growin and take advice/criticism with a grain of salt. Lots of good resources out there as well just google marijuana cultivation and look for indoor grow guides. These usually will have enough info to not overwhelm you but give you the general idea of how to begin with good odds of being successful. Again dry those plants out(look over watered) and LST them before flowering. I am currently tryi g LST on several of my babies and the results are amazing I have one LST plant with 32 tops!!its healthy and still vegging for another week or two. Again look for my log I should be able to start it later today. FYI my total investment is under 200$.