SlowToke's first attempt in Soil.

Let me start out by saying hello to you all. This is my first grow. :D

My friend germinated some seeds he had from his previous bags about 3 weeks ago, he gave me 4 seeds about 4 days after their first stems stuck out from the seed.

I've had all 4 plants potted inside a plastic party cup for about 3 total weeks now, I want to transplant my plants into larger individual pots.

I started with a miracle grow soil mixture that I had laying around the house, and a 60 watt incandescent lightbulb - which I have found out from reading these forums was a big no-no. The stems grew rapidly towards the light during the first week of seedling (which can this time period of seedling still be considered Vegetative growth? when does the veg stage officially begin?) and due to this start its caused some problems for me being now in the 3rd week such as a week bottom stem.

I have fixed the lighting problem for now by acquiring 6x 23watt 1600lumen CFL lights, in a growing space of about... 2'x3' so thats about 9600 lumens? not as much as I would like but its better than nothing for now. Ill worry about getting more lighting once I correct my other issues.

My concerns are that about 3 days ago I accidentally overheated my tallest plant (which looks to be a sativa strain) causing the leaves to curl downward + inward. Some yellow burn marks are visible. Now I'm aware that I screwed that plant up but it doesn't seem to be dieing, as of yet. Will the new set of leaves provide enough energy to the plant for me to keep it? or should I just assume its ruined? (pictures enclosed)

As for my other plants, in the last few days my 3rd tallest (looks like an indica strain) has been doing quite well in the last week or so - with the added light. It seems as though it may be the best plant I have growing. There seems to be no apparent deficiencies as far as I can tell, leaves are a rich green color and other then a tiny bit of curling on the first set of leaves due to a little overheating in about the 2nd week everything seems to be fine.

My 3rd tallest plant is not doing too great but not nearly as bad as the first, the leaves are curled down slightly due to over heating I believe (done in the same time frame for all the plants, I got a little careless one night and didn't check the heat as well as I should have) but the leaves don't seem to be too damaged, more curled than anything.

The shortest and last plant is doing alright, a little pale if I do say so myself but I'm not an expert. but on this plant as well as my 3rd tallest, the very first leaves (from the seeds) shriveled, turned yellow and broke off, is this a problem?

Will overheated leaves ever recover fully? how do I know when i've overheated them to the point of no return? should I germinate new seeds and restart with the correct lighting, soil, and don't overheat?

I don't expect any true yield from these plants, if I happen to make a few grams than that's nice but these are my first grow - and im simply trying to understand the basics here.

Also I'm sure that someone will need to know the ph of the soil's runoff, my source water, and things such as that and I cannot give you any numbers. Ive never tested it. But im currently in the process of getting the supplies I'll need for that.

Please feel free, and I ask of you, to bestow upon me your knowledge of the art of cannabis horticulture. :rastasmoke:

Wonder why..?

Can't post attachments until you have posted 50 times. Try uploading the pics to a photo album on your account and link it in. I'm going to try to answer a lot of your questions but it might take a little while so i'll be back ... try posting those pics for now ...


-secret

1) Strengthen the stem by putting a small oscilating fan in the room. The simulated "breeze" will help make the weak stem stronger.

2) Good job correcting the lights. Are they cool CFL or warm CFL (light spectrum can make a difference but not a huge deal if you are just learning the basics)

3) I don't think you killed your tallest one. Assuming she is otherwise healthy she will just move on with her new growth. Obviously the burnt parts are done but I think you will be happy to see how she'll adapt and work around the problem spots.

4) I assume you mean the little round leaves shriveled and fell off (their proper name is lost somewhere in the molten hops and bong resin clogging my brain). That's perfectly normal; they are only there to get the seedling moving.

5) As for the "overheated" leaves, well first, we'd have to see them to be 100% sure, but as long as they aren't actually burnt/brown/dry then they should have the ability to recover.

I can't really tell you how grim or good things are until I can see some pics, but from the sound of it, assuming you are just in it to learn, you might as well keep going. Oh and make sure you have proper ventilation to avoid heat problems, etc.

pH is key to lots of things, founding that out will be a big step forward.

Goodluck.

-secret

im going to post a new thread - ill put the link below. Its going in a section that allows attachments.

http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-pro...ml#post1954688