a newb Grower On way - Day1

[stoned raiders]

hey all, i have been doing my research on growing cannabis and i am finally ready to give it a go. First off there are some amazing people in this cummunity and I am gonna be asking them lots of questions to make my first grow close to being as theirs (atleast decently) right now i am doing this by trial and error so i started with 5 seeds (3 satori 2 durga mata)

Germination Photo - That was taken about 12 hours after i started. After another 12 hours the tap root came out longer so i decided to put them in the small pots.

Seedling - Day 1- I guess i started my official grow today. I just put them in about 30 mins ago so this is how it looks. My question is tho, how much water shuld i spray, should i keep the the soil relatively moist or let it dry or water like once everyother day. thanks people.

[Markass]

What kind of light ballast is that?

[stoned raiders]

Its a 400 watt HPS ballast. I just thought i put the money towards buying one ballast, so i went HPS. I think it will do the trick to growing some plants. I know this is a stupid question but how much plants do you think a 400 watt HPS can do...

[Dutch Pimp]

That 400 HPS can grow some serious buds. It can also fry your seedlings, if it gets too close. Floros would be better, until the leaves appear. Keep seedlings moist and humidity up. HPS will destroy humidity and suck down water.

[Dutch Pimp]

Get a cheap battery-run thermometer that reads humidity too. One that records high and low readings, so you can see the extremes. Keep it out of direct light, but somewhere between plants and lights. ... you want to stay between 75/85 degrees and as close to 50% humidity as you can...comprende?

[stoned raiders]

alright sweet man, thanks for the info, i ll put up the lamp and swith to 18/6 hours.

[Pass That Shit]

No, you are already off to a bad start. Your seedlings are already stretching and you're gonna make them stretch even more by raising the light. You need to turn off the light right now. I understand you want big buds with that light, but that light is not helping you get big buds right now. Give them some regular light for now if you don't want to go to Wal Mart or Home Depot and get some cool CFL's. Make sure you get the blue packaged ones with the color temp of 6500K for veg. You can put those lights very close to the plants without making them hot and you will see those leaves grow out. They screw in to any light fixture. Since your seedlings are already suffering from overstretching, keep the CFL's very close on them for 24hrs and you will see how much healthier they will look. Good Luck

[Pass That Shit]

Just to clarify, I meant to keep the floroscent lights on them for 24hrs every day for a while. If you turn off the lights, they will keep stretching looking for light.

[latewood]

1st lamp I ever had was a 400w MH highbay off ebay for 60 bucks, and I stripped it and added a Agrosun Gold bulb...It kick butt to this day...I am using it as side light now.
I like cfl's, and they do a nice job to start, but you are better off with the hid. As long as you don't have heat issues.

Your fine with that lamp on those plants. The rule of thumb is: Place your hand on top of canopy. If it burns your hand after a minute, then it is too close, just up it 2-3" at a time until it is comfortably warm at the top of your plants. place a tiny fan blowin in between the plants and the light at all times...This allows you to keep it closer. the 400w gives out so much more light than the cfl's you DO NOT need to have it real close.

dutch Pimp...thanks for helping out, around here. peace

[stoned raiders]

ok thanks alot people, i appreciate the help, i ll post pics a week from now

[babystarbud]

what i did was keep mine on a window sill for a week or so unltill they have a few good sized leaves, and then put them under the light, worked really well.

4-8 plants under that light will be fine, ive got a 400w with six plants under it.

the thing with your set-up as it is....is that a 400w with those small pots will dry out faster. saying that, overwatering is probably your biggest danger in a small pot. as long as the pots have good drainage you should be ok.

the top layer of soil will dry out quite quick in those pots and that light. but that dosent mean they need to be flooded at this early stage.
you can stick your finger into the soil or buy a cheap moisture probe from a garden shop, if its damp underneath then its ok.

youll get a good feel for it as the plants grow, and youll notice that they need a bit more water a bit more often.

[Dutch Pimp]

ain't nothing ...but a thang......comprende?

[MegaOctane12]

Get your pots under a propagator ASAP, the soil will dry out within the hour under that light, I'm suprised nobody has even mentioned this. Once they pop the soil, take the pot out of the proagator and place it under the light. You want to keep the soil moist consistantly until the place shows itself.

[MegaOctane12]

No, you are already off to a bad start. Your seedlings are already stretching and you're gonna make them stretch even more by raising the light. You need to turn off the light right now. I understand you want big buds with that light, but that light is not helping you get big buds right now. Give them some regular light for now if you don't want to go to Wal Mart or Home Depot and get some cool CFL's. Make sure you get the blue packaged ones with the color temp of 6500K for veg. You can put those lights very close to the plants without making them hot and you will see those leaves grow out. They screw in to any light fixture. Since your seedlings are already suffering from overstretching, keep the CFL's very close on them for 24hrs and you will see how much healthier they will look. Good Luck

They haven't poped yet, look again

[Pass That Shit]

They haven't poped yet, look again

LOL, MY FAULT :thumbsup:

Disregard my post above :confused:

[UMrocksmysocks]

LOL, MY FAULT :thumbsup:

Disregard my post above :confused:

hahahah, good advice tho.... hahahha :p :rasta:

[latewood]

and...keep in mind that you probably want to re-pot in a week...pot roots grow out extremely fast, and there is no need to keep them stunted in small pots...good job everybody, Thanks lw

[Pass That Shit]

"Another thing, people have been telling me about the concept of stretching and is not suppose to be good, and i cant comprehend this. what the hell is stretching and how do i prevent it, if it aint good."

Stretching is caused by the light being too far from the plant. It tries to stretch to reach the light. The way you defeat stretching is by putting the light close to the plant. If the light is close to the plant, you will get way more side growth which is a good thing. The problem you will run into by putting your light close to your plants will be high temps.

Being low on cash flow is not an excuse for not getting some CFL's for veg from Wal Mart or any other box store cause they only cost a few dollars literally. If you DON'T have a couple of bucks, I don't think you should be growing your own WEED. I'm not knocking you for being broke, I just feel that you can spring for the bulbs.

[OmegaVermelho]

The only thing i can add is ... KEEP THAT SOIL MOIST, the HPS can dry it faster that u can smoke a spliff ... and later on if u can and have the bucks for it get a MH conversion bulb, it will be well worth the $$$...happy grow m8

[stoned raiders]

everyone thanks for all the input so far they have been very helpful. True- i will get those floros soon, but for now, after some advice here, i think i am going to put a dome over the plants to keep in the moisture. Well heres day 3- i think things are going well so far, so i am gonna start germinating some more seeds and see how they do in a day. so far i believe the plants look healthy and i hope they keep doing well. tell me what u guys think i will post some more pics in a week or so... take care keep it safe

[Dutch Pimp]

Don't forget the digital thermometer. Worth it's weight in gold.

[latewood]

we are gonna spend all your money...moooowahahahahahahah.lol

[OmegaVermelho]

Oh yes dont forget to by a Ph meter...u will thank me later for this one....lolll

[stoned raiders]

nice sounds good, i ll remember to get that stuff. i just took a look at them they look like there growing, the leaves are starting to come out. i excited to see how it will look in a few weeks. thanks alot for all the advice folks. i ll post pics soon. take care keep it safe

[DonSmokin]

everyone thanks for all the input so far they have been very helpful. True- i will get those floros soon, but for now, after some advice here, i think i am going to put a dome over the plants to keep in the moisture. Well heres day 3- i think things are going well so far, so i am gonna start germinating some more seeds and see how they do in a day. so far i believe the plants look healthy and i hope they keep doing well. tell me what u guys think i will post some more pics in a week or so... take care keep it safe

stoned raiders did you leave them lights on 27/7?
im have the same lights just set them up to day
im in the same boat as you

[stoned raiders]

i actually dont really leave them on 24/7. i go 18/6. Heat really aint an issue but apparantly the 400 watt HPS lamps can fry up the seedlings, so i give them 6 hours of darkness and then 18 hours or light

[stoned raiders]

Hey whats up people. i hope everyone is staying nice and high. well its day 8 and i am feeling pretty good, school just started and i love september, cuz i can wear my fucking leather jackets bitches. ok i gots an update. i germinated 5 more seeds. 2 are durga mata and 3 are satori. the other 5 growing very nicely. the photos included are

germinated seeds that started 2 days ago.

5 are seedlings off 8 days

5 new ones from the germinated seeds are about 2 days.

yeah so i took all urs advice, the dome is working nice, moisture is at par. got that electronic meter thing, reads about 25 degrees, so everything i think upto now is going good. leave some advice some comments, thanks to all that helped me out, take care keep it safe

[soccergal]

I think you really need to consider the stretching issue. I mean, it all depends on what you're going for, but if you got those lights closer you could really curb some of your upward growth.

My plants are about 9 days old, and are MUCH shorter than yours. That said, I think not putting the energy into growing upward must allow them to put that energy into growing outward and getting new leafs and what not. Just something to consider. Link to mine is in the sig if you want to take a look at what I mean, mine are like...2 inches tall. But already have, 10 leafs. Just a thought.

[invision]

id lower that light some put your hand under the bulb and move your hand down until it doesnt burn just a little warm......put your plants that close :)

[Dutch Pimp]

25 degrees? ...metric? I hate metrics. I only know F not C.

[stoned raiders]

yeah for sure, i am aware of that. its purely because i dont have the floros, and thats mainly cuz i am lazy and so i am using my 400watt HSP as one lamp. so i have to try to keep the temp under control. but yeah i totally see what ur saying soccergal about the stretching. ur plants have been growing just as long as mine and they have 5 times the number of leaves and much shorter too. its awesome tho. i am gonna lower the lamp and see how it goes. will post updates soon.

[invision]

remember test the heat with the back of your hand under the bulb its works.....

[soccergal]

Sounds good Stoned! Good luck! I'm gonna keep an eye on this thread. It'll be fun to check developement and what not with one another. It also means we may stumble into the same type of problems at the same times.

[stoned raiders]

hey whats going on folks, hope ur all doing fine. Its pretty much been two weeks, and to now i am quite content with what i have. The first batch of 5 i put in first; for two weeks i think their decent. Both satori (3) and Durga mata (2) plants have 10 leaves appearing and they have for the last 2 or 3 days and styll growing. The other 4 new are in day 5. This time i have been able to control the whole stretching thing cuz the first 5 planted were alot more streched out in day 5. I got a few pics of day 13 here, comment on them, tell me if their looking the way they should be. arite people take care and stay fly...

[OmegaVermelho]

Hey hey hey Stoned whats up man i can see that u already have children...looking good my man a bit streched but ok, try and lower the lights bit if u can and keep that soil moist ... keep us posted ok

[stoned raiders]

hey whats up everyone. one of the main reason why i started grwing is because there is shit weed everywhere i almost go. i mean weed her aint cheap and if it is it means it came out of the fucking dealers refrigerator. Whatever so i finally came upon some good weed and i tought i would share it with you. (only pictures bitches not the smoke)muahahhaha. its about 12 grams looks good smoked some, got really fucked, its nice i love rolling the joints with this weed. well me and my boys gotta finish smoking most of this weed so peace out keep it safe people, our next blaze session is dedicated to my moooothafuckin hommie G, puke cannon, see u soon bro

[PukeCannon]

Yo stoned raider (if that is the name you go by these days)....I think your plants are going to die because next time I see you i am going to piss all over them!!! What do you think of that HOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMIE G!!!!!

[invision]

dude did you get popped in both eyes?