First Timer -- I hope they don't die.

[greenbudhawk]

Well I decided I wanted to grow some pot. So I gathered some bagseeds from some different varieties of grass. Some of them very potent, some of them average. The good thing is most of the ones that sprouted have been from the good weed.

I wrapped em in a wet paper towel and stuck em in a little tupperware and put it on my PC Tower. Then I waited a day or so.

The first one sprouted on Feb 9th. Then the next one was the next day, and then a few days later another one germinated.

I'm growing em in a closet. At first all I had was a incandescent, then a few days later I got a 15" flourescent grow-bulb. I think the incandescent made em stretch a little, so I added some dirt to the pots around the long stem.

FYI, I'm growing em in Miracle Grow potting mix. I've heard some bad things, but it's too late. I guess that's what I'm using... I'm just giving em water. Trying to do it properly... not experienced at all with growing plants.

Here's some pics of em at Day 5, so on the 14th, the last one is plant #1 on day 8, you can see how much he stretched:

[stickygreenlightsabr]

I heard another member say that you should be fine as long as you transplant out of Miraxle Grow before 20 days. I think it was Garden Knowm?

They do look stretched and the problem is your light.

You basically have to buy more light. And then when you flower, again more light. You will be wasting your time with the single light you have now.

Can you afford more light? We can show you the way!

[greenbudhawk]

Here's some more pics. This is day 13.

I decided since I might end up with all males, I germinated a few more seeds. You can see the newest member of the family in the back. He's suckin up light from that flourescent tube. I went out and bought some more lights. These are the best I could find. 42W cfls from Wally World. The were $8.50 each. I kept going back everyday and buying more lights. They helped a lot because the plants started growing more.

Pic #2,#3 -- Plant 1, he started out the strongest, but Plant 2 quickly outgrew him.

Pic #3 -- Plant 2, this is a day or so after he started outgrowing the first one. I don't know why he is growing better.

Pic #4 -- This is third plant. He (she hopefully) was a little deformed at first. You can see his deformed leaf in the pic.

[Kush Over]

Well, they have stretched a bit, but nothing too serious. Incandescent bulbs are bad for plants, any kind of plant. They don't produce the correct color temperature or have the lumen output necessary for good growth. You were right for going out and getting a flourescent tube, but it'd be wise to up the ante a bit and get some good CFLs, or better yet, a HID system. You can convert a HPS flood light from Lowes or Home Depot into a good growlight. But if you can only stay with fluorescents try higher kelvin bulbs for vegging [ 4000k - 7000k ] and lower kelvin bulbs for flowering [ 2700k - 3800k ]. Highest -actual- wattage use and lumen output you can find also helps.

Oh, and Miracle-Gro soil isn't bad. In fact, it'd be wise to also invest in a few different fertilizers/nutrients since Miracle-Gro's soil lacks certain trace elements the plant will deplete from the medium before the three months [ if it's the continuous feed ] are up. Contrary to popular belief.

[stickygreenlightsabr]

Haha yes, more light! More and more!

What color are those lights? For veg, you should use some around 6500K, the whiter natural daylight bulbs. You don't want the yellow 2700K bulbs just yet, save those for flowering.

[greenbudhawk]

stickygreenlightsabr -- Hey I just read your post. Yeah, I did go out and get more lights. I ended up with 6 of those 42W CFLs. So I spent about $50 bucks on lights (not couting two fluoro tubes I don't even use...yet).

Here's another update.. I'm putting a bunch of updates on here so you can see how they grew. I started this on the 9th... so they've been growing for a little while now.

Here's pic's from Day 15.

The first pic is #1, the second is #2, and the 3rd is #3. They all seem to have their own growing style.. I planted another seedling too. So know I have 5 altogether.

The last pic shows the current set-up. It's like opening the door to heaven when you open the closet now. I know I should get an MH or HPS (well I know now from reading other posts), but I'm going to try and do it with these cfl type lights.

I'm going to take one more picture right now and post it... (sorry about bombarding this with pics), I just wanted to show you how they have progressed so far.

[Kush Over]

To be honest, after spending all the money I did on CFLs for my first grow years ago, which came to almost a hundred dollars, I regret not going with a HID system from the beginning. Even if that meant converting a 150w HPS flood light into one, it made that much more a difference at harvest. You can still veg with a HPS, too. Just throw in some daylight spectrum to prevent serious stretching[ they claim it's daylight spectrum, but daylight isn't stark fucking white ], maybe a SCRoG net and some LST, you're good for vegging. Maybe it was just my micro grow space, but it also helped with space for the plants, a lot.

[stickygreenlightsabr]

I agree with Kush. If you can afford it you first time, get an HPS.

Technically if you look at the Sun, which I wouldn't recommend, it will look pretty white because the Sun's surface temp is around 5800K.

[greenbudhawk]

Kush Over, stickygreenlightsabr: Thanks for the advice so far.

Here's a pic I just took of all 5 of my babies.

I just transplanted Plant #2, the other two older ones are going to be transplanted soon. I hope I did that right.... I read a little article on how to do it.

Plant 2 is growing good still, but he does have a little yellow and brown tip on two of his leaves. The rest are fine. This happened about 5 days ago and has been fine since.. I don't know what that was.

You can see the other two I planted... they are growing better I think than the first ones did at that age.

I also added a little fan to the closet, cuz it gets a little warm in there.

So this is them at day 19, posing for the camera:

Let me know what you think so far, and any tips you got.
Thanks for looking at em.

[Kush Over]

Oh, sorry I haven't been making comments on the plants. They look great. CFLs aren't bad, but to get ultraviolet radiation deep into the buds for them to grow tight is important. Or, at least to me. But I'd still like to see a fellow grower get the most out of a plant. With that said, have you considered topping? I know some people may disagree with topping at such a young age, but I've topped at the start of the third node and produced bushier than all hell plants, and they stayed short.

[greenbudhawk]

Yeah I know the cfls aren't ideal, but I'm going to stick with em for now. I've already spent a lot of money (sort of..). My girl gives me crap every time we go to the store I'm wandering around the garden and the lighting section getting more crap.

When they flower I do have a feeling I will go with HPS from everything I've read. Trying to keep this as simple as possible...

Topping... I don't know. I'm a little nervous about it. I've been reading up on it. I definitly am interested in doing it if it'll increase my yield.

Thanks for the comments and advice so far. I'll post some more pics when they start growing a little more.

[Kush Over]

..My girl gives me crap every time we go to the store I'm wandering around the garden and the lighting section getting more crap.

Oh, God I know how that shit is! Fucking pain, physical and mental. LoL

And as far as converting a 70 - 150 watt HPS flood light into a growlight is cheaper than you think. Like, a 150 watt HPS flood light you can buy, offline, from Lowes for $79. Here's the link; http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=42543-290-MFL150HPSRC&lpage=none

Not sure if it'll be available local to you, but you can get an idea as to the price of them from that. I like the flood light fixtures anyway --- they provide protection to the plant from the bulb in the event it comes too close.

Oh, and you shouldn't be afraid to top them. Plants are resilient, perhaps more resilient than us. Just make sure that the strain takes to topping at all. If it's just bagseed, chances are it will and you'll be blessed with many heads.

[greenbudhawk]

Kush - Thanks for the link. I'll have have to hit you up around flowering time to see about that floodlight.

I transplanted plant #1 this morning. He was looking droopy. He seems to have pulled out of the funk... I hope anyways.

I may try to get your help with topping them soon. I don't want to screw it up.

[greenbudhawk]

Hello,

Just wanted to update on my plants (day 26) and ask a few questions.
The growth seems to have slowed a little. But I think it is still steady.

I had a scare today... came home and the lights had just turned on. I opened the closet and my biggest plant was tipped over at the top. Basically, the upper 3rd had bent over. I grabbed a piece of plastic and put it in the dirt and propped it up. About 20 minutes later I checked on it and it was back standing straight up. Does anyone know why that is? How I can avoid it?

I've had some yellowing of the leaves. Especially on the bottom leaves of plant #3. Why is this? Is it too hot? I have a little fan blowing... but it is kinda warm in there (6 42W CFLs). The first 3 plants have had their initial two leaves yellow and basically die...

Question about misting... Do I need to do it? What benefits does it bring? I have a spray bottle I bought, but haven't used it yet. Should I?

I'm going to California this weekend. I'll be gone for a week. What should I do about the plants? I'm worried I'll come home and they'll be dead. That would suck! I know I'm going to have to raise the lights a little so they don't grow into them and burn. They are going to be very thirsty... I usually water them twice a week. Should I be worried about them drying out too much? There's a product at Wal-Mart that is supposed to allow less watering. They look like little silicone balls... anyone used these?

Another question... (Sorry about all the damn questions)... When should I flower? I'm thinking on doing it within the first two weeks after I get back from my trip. The oldest plant is 26 days old. So that would make them about 50 days or so when I planned on flowering. Does that sound good?

Any help on my questions from you experienced growers would be greatly appreciated...

The pics are:
#1: All 5 plants.
#2: Plant #2, the biggest one.
#3: Plant #1, he has a similar amount of leaves as #2, but is considerably smaller. Does this mean anything? Does the growth rate and size indicate sex at all?
#4: Plant #2 again... a top down view.
#5: The two younger plants... the fall backs, incase the others are males.. They are around 12 and 14 days old now.

Thanks for the help! :rasta:

[sheist]

OMG plant #2 looks soo beautiful.. plant #1 seems to have suffered a little damage.. I wouldn't say to worry about the plant's size, it could be a low-rider, in a sense.. i would say to lower the lights, get them closer to the plants.. but good job overall, this shit looks good.. I was skeptical of the setup at first, but it IS doin the job, I must say.. props, my man..

[Kush Over]

...Does anyone know why that is? How I can avoid it?...
If it just went kind of limp, that's something I can't explain. I've had plants do this, literally turn to fucking rubber in my hands and then stiffen up on the stems and the fan leaves be open less than an hour later.



...I've had some yellowing of the leaves. Especially on the bottom leaves of plant #3. Why is this? Is it too hot? I have a little fan blowing... but it is kinda warm in there (6 42W CFLs). The first 3 plants have had their initial two leaves yellow and basically die...
If they're yellow and dying, it's probably due to low levels of light. This is pretty normal in grows where low levels of light are present, but it should be fine. I'd still invest in a better light, like we discussed. You'd be amazed at how much you can have saved if you would have went with that HPS, but it's still not too late if you're willing to invest. I'm assuming each of those 42 watters produce about 2,700 lumens, correct? 42 x 6 = 252 watts; 2,700 x 6 = initial 16,200 lumens [ I say initial because the light's efficiency slowly diminishes; so we'll assume the mean of the total lumens, over a long period of time being on, will be in the neighborhood of 13,000 lumens ]. Now we divide 16,200 by 252 and we get roughly 64.25 lumens per watt. That HPS floodlight I posted a link to earlier produces 16,000 initial lumens [ 13,000 mean ] for only 150 watts in a 8¼"[W] x 8¼"[H] x 5½"[D] housing that holds the bulb, ballast, a neat little aluminum reflector, and a glass face that protects the plant's upper foliage from any kind of burning [ well, the glass still gets hot as fuck if not ventilated at least a little, but not nearly as much as the bulb itself ]. If we take 16,000 and divide it by 150, we get roughly 106.6 lumens per watt. That's a little more efficient, enery wise, and safer. I like the set-up, but wouldn't you like to eliminate all the wires and make it one light? It would also be a little easier to deal with temperature.



...Question about misting... Do I need to do it? What benefits does it bring? I have a spray bottle I bought, but haven't used it yet. Should I?..
You can mist the leaves lightly, I see no harm in it. I find it cleans up the plant a little and provides a little relief to some plants in dry enviornments. Personally, I foliar feed with 1/8 teaspoon 15-12-12 to .5 liter RO water and my plants love the shit, no burns.



...I'm going to California this weekend. I'll be gone for a week. What should I do about the plants?...
Get a timer. That should be one of the major things on your list, anyway. As for watering, water one good time before leaving and that should be sufficient enough.



...When should I flower? I'm thinking on doing it within the first two weeks after I get back from my trip. The oldest plant is 26 days old...
Well, you could flower now. If you've got the space for it and want tall plants, let them go a couple more weeks. If you intend on having short plants, I'd seriously induce a prolonged night cycle soon, because those babies gonna swell up. Maybe not, though. Seems you may have been blessed with Indica phenotypes [ see attached image below ].



...Does this mean anything? Does the growth rate and size indicate sex at all?...
Some people will refute that it does, that females grow slower than males or vice versa. The truth is, it's all in the phenotypes and enviornment that triggers certain attributes in a plant to arise. Along with this, added to the equation are the nutrients and their levels present within the growth medium.

[scooterjay]

the last pic is going to be a male.....my recent experience had two that looked like that.....damn!

[Kush Over]

Sorry, but the sex of a plant can't be determined until either pistils or balls are showing. Those plants are still too young and in the vegetative state. Otherwise, male or female, a vegging plant looks almost exactly like the next one.

[cam55]

im growing some plants in my house and i want it to grow faster so what do i do

[greenbudhawk]

Hey, Thanks for the help.

The leaves on most of them do like more like the indica picture. There are like three, maybe four different strains represented there. The three older ones are from some two different bags of good weed. Kind of why I wanted to grow them. Not the best in the world, but pretty potent. The last two are a little closer to schwag (gets ya pretty high, but not for any prolonged period of time)... they look and smell like the older ones at this stage. Heck I don't know though...bagseed.

I do have a timer on em, so they will stay at 18/6 while I'm gone... just worried about them drying out I guess.

I think I will flower shortly after I get back, on the 20th. I have a whole closet for space. Right now they are about halfway up the closet. I think it'd be great to get an ounce or so at least. Seems like a lot of work to get any less. But I'll be happy with anything... just to say I did it.

As of now, I think I'm going to CFL it the rest of the way... it'll be a good test to see what can be done with some cheap-o Wal-Mart lights. That being said, I may buy a few more, is there another type of cheap light that I could add to supplement them during flowering?


If it just went kind of limp, that's something I can't explain. I've had plants do this, literally turn to fucking rubber in my hands and then stiffen up

Yeah, that's what it was like, rubber. It didn't do it today. Standing straight up at attention today. Hmmm.. I'm a little worried that it'll go limp while I'm in Cali, and noone will be here to lift him back up...he's just gonna have to do it himself (herself, I mean. ;) )

Anyhow...big thanks for the help so far. I'll just keep on keeping on for now and let you know if I need some more advice.

cam55---
I don't know what to tell you man. I'm a total newbie. Just read all the other grow logs and whatnot on here. I learned an ass-load from those. What's your set-up like right now?

[orangeman]

Are you still feeding them straight water or have you purchased some nutes yet?

[greenbudhawk]

I'm just using water.

I've got em growing in Miracle Grow soil it "Feeds Plants Up To 3 Months!"
So I'm scared to use any nutes. It also "Grows Plants Twice As Big!" If it doesn't work, I'm going to write a letter to the company demanding they send me an oz. of the finest herb they can find as compensation for their false claims.

I may start giving them nutes in a month or so...
Do you think that's a good idea?

[sheist]

Miracle Grow's got a nute system that hits all at once and destroys the plant at a given amount of time.. i'd say to transplant ur bitches into regular soil.. i bought a bigass bag of plain soil for $1 at walmart.. especially if ur gone for the week, u dunno wat'll happen to them wen u get back! it might be all hell! be safe, man..

If you get liquid nutes, you can add a little bit to your water system.. its somethin to invest in.. I bought 3-4 bottles.. for each stage, even.. I'll be doing it to my darlings when they're ready.. yours are ready..