What do you think?

Hi people, I started this project about 5-6 weeks ago. I completely forget the name of the plant. I also didn't keep a date of when they sprouted from seed. It took about a week or more for that to happen.

Anyway, I really haven't a clue what I am doing :P

Everything is going well so far and I used miracle grow, which I find to be ok. I just transplanted the plants lastnight into their permenant pots. I am using PURple lights, (brand name) they are floresents which I got from the head shop. I also have a 400W high density sodium bulb. The plants have been growing for about 4 weeks now I would say. When should I change from the flouresent bulbs to the sodium bulb?

What do you guys do about the smell? I live in an apartment block and I have a good few air freshners around the place.

This is the setup, the small pot is what they were planted out from.

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture124.jpg



The size:

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture129.jpg



The distance the light is from the plants:

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture128.jpg



Top down view of my babies:

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture127.jpg

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture126.jpg



I am heading away in 3 weeks for one week, any suggestions for keeping them watered? My girlfriend doesn't want me to let anybody into the apartment when we are away, I was going to let my mate water them. I think in the bigger pots they might be ok if I water them before I go. Might be a bit dry when I come home but I don't think they will die. I might be wrong though :P

I understand that I am new here, but I have read over the great material that is here. I have learned from my mistakes and from what a lot of ye guys have said alread. Does anybody have any comments on what I am doing at the moment?

Anybody know how to post an image instead of a link?

Your help is much appretiated :) Thank you.

Whats up??

What kind of soil is that? Maybe next time you transplant mix in some perlite? I used some floros when I first started and I had to keep them almost touching the plants to get good growth. They are small for the age but they look very healthy. Im sure if you lowered it they would show positive signs. How hot does it get?

If you have the proper ventilation then I would suggest using the sodium bulb. You will get much better growth than the floro. It will work for veg cycle and flower cycle so no worries.

Are you giving them nutes?

You should look into a carbon filter for the odor. There are several other options as well that vary in cost. You will need one thats for sure. Dont under estimate the smell...especially living in an apartment.

Good work so far. Keep it up! :stoned:

Thanks for the reply mate, I appretiate it :)

I live in Ireland so you may not have heard of the soil, it's "miracle grow". It's a compost that has nutes in it already. I used it before for planting bedding plants and they grew 2 or 3 times their normal size. Not expecting the same with the weed plants, but this is my first time so I really didn't know what to get. I was unsure about the nutes, but I think I will try that the next time. It's also another â?¬50+ I saved.

I was going to leave the plants in the pots they are in now, or are the pots I have too small? If needs be I can get new pots (i'm unemployed so money is a bit of an issue, trying to do this on the best budget I can).

I don't have any thermometer but I might buy a simple one and let you know the temp. There will be a big increase in temp when I use the sodium bulb, that's for sure :P The weather we are having now is great and the apartment is pretty warm, but I don't see any signs of over heating.

I wouldn't have anywhere for the carbon filter unfortunately :( Would be impossible to lead the duct out of the apartment.

Thanks for the feedback, I was thinking they look a bit small but very healthy. I will keep you posted and take pictures every so often :)

When is the best time to top them?

When is the best time to take clones?

Oh, and I have a problem with my sodium bulb set up. I got a digital ballast and reflector from the same shop. When I plug in the lamp it won't turn on for a while, when it does come on it only stays on for a few seconds, then it turns off, about 60 seconds later it turns on and then a few seconds later it turns back on.

I think there's a problem with the ballast, but this could also be normal? I have no idea.When it turns off the light is very weak blue, but when it comes on fully (after going on and off about 3-4 times) the light is a very strong orange, which I think is normal.

I have no idea about these ballasts and gadgets... :(

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Originally Posted by Vaporiserlover

Oh, and I have a problem with my sodium bulb set up. I got a digital ballast and reflector from the same shop. When I plug in the lamp it won't turn on for a while, when it does come on it only stays on for a few seconds, then it turns off, about 60 seconds later it turns on and then a few seconds later it turns back on.

I think there's a problem with the ballast, but this could also be normal? I have no idea.

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Not normal at all. Check to make sure it's wired correctly or just return it.

Quote:

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When it turns off the light is very weak blue, but when it comes on fully (after going on and off about 3-4 times) the light is a very strong orange, which I think is normal.

I have no idea about these ballasts and gadgets... :(

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Light blue to strong orange is normal, but it should only take a few seconds from when it's turned on the first time. Something's wrong, I wouldn't mess around with it too much, since I'm 'electrically challenged' also :jointsmile:

You had some good advice already, but not much to recommend if you don't have the money to spend on the equipment that you desperately need for a successful grow :( If growing good buds indoors were so simple, no one would be spending hundreds or even thousands of Euros on their setups.

From an older post...

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Things you'll need:
An enclosure to grow in - light proof and air tight for the most part (you'll have an intake and exhaust)
Perlite (even if the soil already has some, its usually not enough)
Nutrients (MG nutes will probably work for you)
3 or 4 different size pots, with the largest being 4-5 gal
a fan for moving fresh air around
ph strips
ph up/down (depending on your water, get the strips first and test it out)
***most important IMO- ventilation. Fan + carbon filter. Getting rid of hot and stinky air while pulling in fresh air to the enclosure. If you do this right the first time, it's easier to scale up (add lights), but most noobs never do.

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When you go out of town, give them a heavy watering, raise the lights and use maybe just one fluoro.

Sadly, no money and no idea what you're doing = most people won't take the time to help. :wtf: Keep reading the stickies, especially the noob guide to growing the dankness as well as the noob guide to growroom setup.

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Originally Posted by bigtopsfinn

Not normal at all. Check to make sure it's wired correctly or just return it.

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I rang the shop and I will return it tomorrow and get a new ballast, they will test it in their shop to see if it is faulty. When I get the new ballast I will hook up the 400w high density sodium. Should start seeing some really nice growth out of them. Since I took the above pictures my girls have grown almost an inch. Lowering the light helped a lot, thanks for that :)

Quote:

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Light blue to strong orange is normal, but it should only take a few seconds from when it's turned on the first time. Something's wrong, I wouldn't mess around with it too much, since I'm 'electrically challenged' also :jointsmile:

You had some good advice already, but not much to recommend if you don't have the money to spend on the equipment that you desperately need for a successful grow :( If growing good buds indoors were so simple, no one would be spending hundreds or even thousands of Euros on their setups.

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I spent about 450 - 500 euro already on materials, (it's expensive here and everything adds up, from the chains to the thermometer). Today I got a PH tester and thermometer. I will get new pots and perlite when the time comes :).

I only have a small setup so I think the equipment I have is enough. Apart from the carbon filter I think I have everything?

My mate grew some beautiful plants with just a sodium bulb, an old reflector, small fan and basic soil/pots/nutriants. He didn't use a ballast, floresent lights or propogator. Nor did he use a ph tester.

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From an older post...



When you go out of town, give them a heavy watering, raise the lights and use maybe just one fluoro.

Sadly, no money and no idea what you're doing = most people won't take the time to help. :wtf: Keep reading the stickies, especially the noob guide to growing the dankness as well as the noob guide to growroom setup.

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When I said I have no idea what I am doing, I meant micro managment. Such as the height of the lights at different stages, when to change to the sodium light etc etc. I have gone through lots of information and looked at your grow logs (very very impressive and inspirational). There are still things that I am learning as I am a first time grower. I will take onboard everything you guys suggest as best as I can. Unfortunately some things I cannot add, like the carbon filter as I have no outlet. I selected plants that wouldn't grow big. 60cm - 70cm is the range of these ladies, if I remember correctly.

The temprature in the closet now is 82F. The PH level is 7. I think that is a bit high maybe, but the plants look very healthy. It should be around 6, right?

The closet is well preped for light. Used several types of tape to make sure no light gets in during dark hours. 12 hours of light with the flouresents is good now?

I just checked my bank account and I bought the materials on the 1st of June, it took me about 5 days to get the rest of the materials together and to set everything up, then a further 3 days to germinate the seeds. That leaves me with approximately 4 weeks of growth from sprouting.

Where the new branches begin and at the tops of the plants there are these long hairs, are they pre flowers? If they start growing buds now is that too soon?

Here is a picture of the hairs.


http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...DSC00188-1.jpg



The help is great, thanks a bunch, as a first time grower I am just excited and looking for support I guess :) I will let you guys know how I am doing over the comming weeks. Your advice and support is most appretiated. Thanks :)

Glad to help if I can and happy to hear that my trials have been an inspiration to some people. Apologies if I came off condescending at all, as it was not my intention. It's just that there are soooo many noobs coming through that think they can throw some seeds in dirt and grow dank. But I think you're definitely on the right track and doing the right things :thumbsup:

I'm still a little unclear about your enclosure, if it's light proof you should be able to make an exhaust hole and intake hole. Unless of course there are walls and doors that you don't want damaged. Regardless, that HPS will bring the temps up over optimum without good ventilation.

My very first grow I only had a 400w hps and a large fan blowing on my plant. I had a cab that I could close for the night, but no way to keep the door closed or even slightly ajar without huge heat spikes. By the end of flowering, my whole apartment building stunk like a skunk.

Even without venting, you can still use a carbon filter/fan combo to clean the air, it just won't work as efficiently. Growers using CO2 do this in closed rooms since they don't want to vent out the CO2. As long as the temps are in range and the plant gets plenty of fresh air, the ventilation is not really a problem. The problem comes with the paranoia of thinking everyone who passes your house knows what's going on in there. Even worse is that you get used to the smell, so you won't really know how much it stinks until someone else tells you.

I don't see preflowers which are very small, fine, white hairs. Check here: Text This whole guide is really a good place for almost anything you want to know. I just click CTRL + F and type in something like "preflowers" and it takes me to it. CDOT guide

Hope things go well for you and just keep reading and asking questions along the way.

Checked the pictures, yea my plants have pre flowers on the top and first leaf set.

I'm off to get my new ballast hopefully, then gym then to my mates house who just got in some quality Amsterdam weed via post. I will give you a proper reply tomorrow.

Ciao for now guys. :) :rasta:

Just an update, any opinions or suggestions?

I found out the plant name, it's called "Fast Bud", doesn't grow that high and is ready to harvest in just over 7 weeks. That just gives me 2 weeks left, although I can't see that happening... Here's the plant, hope it's ok to post this link. Fast Bud (Sweet Seeds) feminized - Azarius

I've noted a few things I done wrong so far and I will be more prepared for the next grow, which will start in 4 weeks.

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/DSC00191.jpg

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/DSC00190.jpg

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/DSC00190.jpg

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/DSC00193.jpg