First Time grower.. any advice?

Hey everyone, I am totally new to indoor growing, and after some research, this site has the most knowledgeable forum contributions IMO so here I am.

Anyways, I have always entertained the idea of growing my own bud, but until 3 days ago I have not attempted it. I received a plant as a gift from a close friend and I gladly accepted.

I currently have it in my closet inside a cardboard box lined with foil. It was in a much smaller pot when I first got it, but we transferred it to a larger one with some soil I was provided with from the original owner. I went to a nearby indoor gardening store, and one of the employees gladly helped me get some things for my 'tomato plant.' I got a new bulb (pictured) for the lamp I was using, some Ph tester and balancers, and the plant food. I have been watering it once a day, and I was told to give it food every third day. I have been leaving the light on for 18 hours, I'm thinking I should go to 12 on 12 off at the end of the week.

I also bought an LED light off of ebay for 40 bucks, so that should be arriving in the next few days. I'm currently a pretty broke college student, so I can't go drop 200 on a light very easily. I was also thinking of throwing like a desk fan on the floor next to the box in the closet, as I have seen several people with that setup.

It's only one plant, I don't expect on me getting a huge yield from it or anything, I'm more looking forward to raising this baby for some fun experimenting.

Here's a few pictures of the setup too, any advice or pointers for me would be greatly appreciated! :jointsmile:

Using CFLs exclusively, you want to have (at the minimum) 30w per square foot for the vegetative stage... preferably with a 'cooler', or blue color spectrum. For flower, you'll want to at least double the watts, and use bulbs that are 'warmer' or with more of a red color spectrum. The more lumens you can pack in, the better. Given that you're able to exchange air around the plant and keep the temperatures in check.

I'm just now starting to venture into the world of LEDs, but you should find some interesting LED facts and answers in these threads:

LED growing- An instructional grow log
The perfect LED grow light

And this is a great resource for anyone new to growing: Grow FAQs

Take care! :jointsmile:

Thanks for the fast reply! One more question.. how old do you think this plant is? Like when does it change from the vegetative state and begin flowering? assuming that it is in veg. state right now that is.

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Originally Posted by ChR0n1k700

Thanks for the fast reply! One more question.. how old do you think this plant is? Like when does it change from the vegetative state and begin flowering? assuming that it is in veg. state right now that is.

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Hard to tell how old it might be, bud. Depends on if your friend grew it from seed or clone, what kind of lights he was using, etcetera ad infinitum. But it looks like it's definitely mature enough to flower if you're ready to do it. One thing to keep in mind about these amazing plants is that they may triple in size during flowering. They can get absolutely huge, and fast.

Check out that FAQ link I posted, and find 'preflowers' or 'preflowering'. That's one method of figuring out maturity, alternating nodes is another. You don't want to force flowering too early, which can really stress the plant, and won't even work unless the plant is ready to flower. Yours definitely looks mature enough to flower, by the way.

You'll get to all this, and a lot more, as you keep reading up on the subject. If you're planning to flower soon, definitely read up on lighting, photoperiod, bloom nutrients, grow room conditions, etc., and you'll get a good idea what all needs to happen in order to make things happen.

Take care. :jointsmile:

Yeah, I figured it would be nearly impossible to tell the age without knowing the previous growing conditions.. I have no idea what they were.

After looking over that FAQ I can for sure say my plant is female, I can see the little white hairs or 'pistils' very clearly. I guess tomorrow I'll start a 12/12 cycle and hope the buds grow.

Maybe even try this water cloning method I was reading up on.. sounds like it will be cheap and easy. :cool:

Thanks a lot for your help, I'll update with some pics in a few days if you're interested.

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Originally Posted by ChR0n1k700

Thanks a lot for your help, I'll update with some pics in a few days if you're interested.

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My pleasure, and absolutely! I love progress reports, especially from folks who are just starting their journey! Keep on reading, too. There's a TON of information in the backlogs of the Growing forums, as well as the FAQs you've already discovered. If you're ever having a real hard time finding an answer to a question, then don't hesitate to ask. Most of us enjoy being able to help a fellow grower out. This is a great community, one that actually cares for the well-being of its members... and their medicine! :jointsmile:

Update time!

Shot some pictures today after watering because I can totally see new growth... how's she lookin?