My First Grow - I Need Help ASAP

[hairyboblovesthemob]

Hi, I planted these seeds on September 25.

Looking around at all the threads, it seems my plant is rather tall and skinny compared to so many other's pictures. I'm guessing I had my light up too high.

So today is actually it's 6th week.

I am having trouble telling if they look right for their age or not, there are no books or websites that go into detail with pictures.

I can't even tell if I should be able to sex the plant yet. I thought I would be able to tell within the first month.

So my questions are:
-Are they the right size for their age?
-Are they too tall?
-Can you tell the sex of my plant?
-Should I transplant them to larger pots?
-When should I go to 12/12? I have never seen a definite answer for this.
-I tried to prune one branch, as you can see in one of the pictures, but it just sat there, hasn't branched off into two yet (it's been about 3 days and it was just an experiment). So if that wasn't pruning (which seemed to be the way to do it with all the advice I've read in books and online) then what is pruning? And how to do I do it?

I realize my plants are in the corner of a room by a window and I know I'll have to move them to my closet when the time for 12/12 comes. I already have the closet ready, I just have to buy a better grow lamp (does anyone know any inexpensive ones?) and a small fan for ventilation.

You're probably all laughing at my poor cultivation skills. So someone help me! Pictures of my plants are below:

[orangeman]

Your plant has stretched majorly. What type of light are you using and how far are you keeping it from your plant? It looks like you should have been transplanted it. No, your plant isn't flowering and it doesn't show any sex yet.

[oturbojoeo4o]

http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/GrowFAQ%20Basic%20Topics.htm

that link will answer all your questions...just read there

yes they are streched hardcore, no they are not ready to flower unless all you want is a couple bud sites, no you cant tell the sex yet, trasplanting is always a plus

when you want to "prune" or top or FIM you cut the growth tip/node

these are the places you see the "pairs" of leaves emerging from...you cut that tip off to "top" (will grow 2 branches when you do that) or cut about 80-90% of the tip off(FIM=FUCK I MISSED) and multiple branches will grow, sometimes up to 8, varies depending on the cut and the genetics of the strain

check out that link though it has all the best info from overgrow.com

what your lighting, temp, humid, how much u want to yield, money u want to invest..so on and so on

helps to have alot of info before one can help

I HOPE I GOT YOU STARTED....its a nice looking grow for a noob, if the light would have been lower from the start, you would have had beautiful plants about foot tall if that

[hairyboblovesthemob]

I don't even want to tell you what kind of light I'm using, everyone will laugh or yell at me. It was all an experiment to see if some seeds I had would actually grow and they grew! And I couldn't believe it so I planted them and just bought a light from home depot, which seems to have worked so far. I was so afraid of burning it, I keep it about 3-12 inches away from the plants. Since they were growing rapidly I kept moving the light up just a little more.

What can I do to fix this stretching problem?

And also, is this plant on schedule? I thought it should be showing some pre-flowers by now.

It's not too late to transplant is it?

[orangeman]

I bet you're using some soft white incandescents huh? lol

[hairyboblovesthemob]

It was a 120W flouresant something or other, it's supposed to be "day light". I know I know, but I am just the most broke person around and I can't afford fancy lighting equip. I'm growing these in the first place so I wouldn't have to buy weed anymore.

[hairyboblovesthemob]

http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/GrowFAQ%20Basic%20Topics.htm

when you want to "prune" or top or FIM you cut the growth tip/node

these are the places you see the "pairs" of leaves emerging from...you cut that tip off to "top" (will grow 2 branches when you do that) or cut about 80-90% of the tip off(FIM=FUCK I MISSED) and multiple branches will grow, sometimes up to 8, varies depending on the cut and the genetics of the strain



So, when do I want to prune? Not until flowering begins?

[hairyboblovesthemob]

Also, do you know where I can find any pictures demonstrating pruning?

[kindprincess]

no, not too late to transplant... go with a 3 gallon...

your plant is probably realy close to maturity, you could flower now...

how to fix the stretch...don't laugh, i'm serious. take a string and tie it to the top of your plants (one string per top). then GENTLY bend that sucker over about 6-12 inches every few hours until they are practically lying on the ground and tie them off. then, lower your light as close as you can. you can still get good results, you just need a little lst.

also consider getting more lights. if you're on a low budget, get a couple 48" flourecent fixtures and some kitchen and bath bulbs (flower spec) and put them about 1 inch from your plants (bulbs don't get hot so it won't burn)

this will give you TREMENDOUS new growth and give you plenty of verticle room.

i think you should lst, then veg for at least 2 more weeks (to get some new nodes, branches) then flower. by bending the top down, branches will become new tops, and you'l have several plants on one stem!

love, kp :p

[kindprincess]

don't prune/top/fim. too late, your plants are already way too tall... lst. topping helps with young plants, but to get best results, you need to top between 2 and 8 nodes. lst is better, stays squatter and doesn't stress the plant...

'course i top and lst...so...

love, kp :p

[hairyboblovesthemob]

lst?? I thought I knew so much from reading so much about cultivation, but I haven't heard of half of these terms. So yeah, what is lst? The tying down of the plant?

[kindprincess]

low stress training...
here's a site for basic reading. lot of info and if you read EVERYTHING you'll know enough to come here and give suggestions/recomendations, not to mention have excellent results... not everything is here so, do come back, ya hear?

http://www.marijuanahydro.com/maturemarijuanaplants.html

lots of info...

love, kp :p

[oturbojoeo4o]

did you even look at the link i gave you man...LST low stress training, you slowly bend the main stem to expose more of the secondary growth to the light, it evens the canopy out, and cause the plant to be shorter

i do LST, FIM, Top, i have to plants and im using all kinds of different methods

FIM+LST is my fav so far check out my grow log, i just totally raped one of my plants of all its fan leaves and left on the secondary growth and the top set of fan leaves

the other plant i left alll the fan leaves but i did more LST to the secondary growth

[kindprincess]

lst rules, turbo...right on!

love, kp:p

[hairyboblovesthemob]

I looked at the link, in fact I read through a few things I hadn't known and bookmarked it for use later on. But I only looked at it for about 20 minutes and then went to Taco Bell. Turbo Joe and Kind Princess, both your replies are really useful. I'm glad to have found a community like this. Thanks a lot.

[hairyboblovesthemob]

Also Turbo Joe, those lights you're using, I'm using the same exact ones. Glad to know they are good. Tomorrow I'm going out to buy bigger planters and once I know my babies are not in shock I'll start LST. Thanks!

[oturbojoeo4o]

basically with the lights we have, called CFL compact flouresents, they create very low heat, especially the daylight ones(5500k and up) blueish in color

i keep mine a little over an inch away from the plants, i move the plants or adjust the lights everyday if not 2wice a day, since my fan in there doesnt occulate(however the fuck u spell it i dont care)

you wanna keep them small while vegging cuz when you flower the nodes start to space out and the plants start to stretch(spacing on stem between pairs of branches)

seems like you know all about watering since youve made it this far

i recommend more CFLs...and it you like to create something out of nothing like i do, then you can make your own growlights with security lights as i did

they sell compact flo securty lights are homedepot. and they work perfect for veg

what lights are you planning on using when you flower those mofos?

[hairyboblovesthemob]

I was planning on just buying more of them and setting them up to a timer in a closet. Would I need different lights?

It's a small closet, but bigger than that desk you're growing yours in. My only problem now is venting. The closet is small on width but goes pretty high. Would I still need to drill a hole for venting? Or could I just have some small fans running on them? I rent this apartment so drilling holes for vents would not be cool.

As far as watering, I read a lot about the beginning stages of cultivation, so I know up to that, and how to/how much to water them is included. I had NO idea I was supposed to prune them so early, I never saw any time frame for that. But now I'll know for next time. I plan on growing some more ASAP.

[oturbojoeo4o]

if you are worried about heat then i would go with more CFLs to flower with but the SOFT WHITE, or WARM WHITE...theyare down in the 2700K of light spectrum, perfect for flowering walmart carries 150w equivilents which is like 42w in actual wattage

im using the 70watt HPS out of a security light from homedepot, but there is a website that sells smaller, like 35 watt and 60 watt HPS lamps(HPS=high pressure sodium, the standard for flowering your MJ plants)

[hairyboblovesthemob]

Can I still FIM by the way? Or is it also too late for that? Even after seeing pictures here: http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/768.htm I still have no idea where the fuck to cut if I do this.

[oturbojoeo4o]

in the big pic you wanna cut all the pink off to TOP it

but only 80-90% of it off to FIM it...so you have a little bit of pink left, like a little nub

on the little pic i drew, you wanna cut all the dark green area to TOP it

of cut 80-90%off and leave anything underneath the FIM line i drew

hope that helps a little

[hairyboblovesthemob]

You are the man Joe. Can FIM be done anywhere besides the top? Such as side leaf-buds that are growing?

[oturbojoeo4o]

i wondered the same...but i think most people stick to FIM or TOP the top node because it depends on the genetics how many times it can handle it

i really cant answer that question with a definate answer sorry bud