new grower. need some help

Ghetto: Don't worry, no problem, big deal, nobody cares. If the THC hits your brain your set up is awesome. Not all of us have the time or money for big professional grows, with lots of nice flashing lights and shiny buttons.

Light: When you say the CFL is 100 watts, I'm going to have to assume this is the incandescent equivalent, for a gross wattage of 23 or so. You have plenty of light at this point for two seedlings, and IMO the light is just a tad close to the plant at this tender young age. If I'm wrong about the wattage thing, it's waaaay too close. That distance is about right for after 2 weeks of age. I am growing 7 potential mother plants right now with 2 2700K 23W CFL's, and I can't believe how fast and healthy they are growing. Lighting is not real critical until you switch to flowering mode. Then it is extremely critical if you want any weed for your efforts. The more the better, the proper colors in the proper proportions.

Purple: Don't worry at this point. I don't think you said what variety you are growing (By the way, what variety are you growing?), but many varieties have hints or downright blatant tones of blue and purple. I see a lot of purple in my stuff at various times. It could be temperature related, PH related, nutrient related (Magnesium deficiency?), or all or none of the above.

Water: Stop worrying about water so much. Over watering is one of the most common mistakes of beginners, along with frying them with nutrients. I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish by misting, but it's not needed for new sprouts with 2 tiny leaves unless you're trying to foliar feed. Remember the KISS method and don't smother them with attention. They'll do best if you can just leave em be. Water with a tiny bit of B1 PH'd to 6.8. Only when the dirt has almost completely dried should you be watering again. This will probably be in a week or two depending on the atmospheric conditions of your grow area. At that point when you water again you could add some fertilizer at 1/4 strength or less, with a half jigger of JD, and lower the lights to as close as possible without causing heat stress, about 1 inch. Backpacker is right about the signs of over watering in that it looks very much like under watering. Under watering looks perhaps slightly more, uh dead I guess. Over watering makes em droopy and sad. Any of my dirt plants don't even get looked at for watering until I start to notice a bit of droopiness. I just check em once per day, or less if I just watered.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dankleader420

i added some tin foil around my grow area^^^
will this help at all?

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I would stick with a flat white wall or get some mylar. Tin foil doesn't diffuse well and makes hot spots. It's also not that great at reflecting. Many people believe that flat white is best, but either that or mylar do great, though mylar has hot spots.

thanks opie. yeah, i read more about the tin foil and decided to take it down. i have flat white walls. the CFLs are 26w. about how far away should i keep them from the plants at this point? i have one in a lamp for right now because i have nothing else so its not as close so i put the other one a little closer, kind of inbetween the both of them. i was thinking about going and buying two more CFLs. the 2700K ones. but i will probably wait a while longer until they get more towards the flowering stage.

and about the variety. its just from bags throughout the past few months that i have smoked and when i find a seed i held onto it. If it came from good pot, would that make it have a good chance of producing good pot?

Your lights are fine for now, except I would have at least one that's reddish color like the more common 2700K, and I would raise the CFL maybe 2 inches. If I could only choose 1 light for everything and it couldn't be HPS, I would have a warm, or reddish CFL about 2500K, but 2700K is fine. Starting about now or in a couple days you could start lowering it gradually, maybe an inch a day until it is about 1 inch away, but watch for signs of heat stress when it gets to it's final position. On the other hand if the plants are used to it that low at this point, and show no sign of heat stress, I might just leave it right where it is for a few days, then begin lowering a little.

Aint nothing at all wrong with bag seed as long as the seeds in the bag are from good plants. Good plants make good seeds that make good plants.

yeah, i was thinking about buying a 2700K light and replacing it with one of the 6500K lights so i have a warm and cool like. would that be a good idea?

also, the first set of leaves are still small, but they seem to be curling down quite a bit:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/i...0/DSC08241.jpg

im not sure if its anything because its still so small but i dont want to just sit and watch it die already because i didnt do something about it.

quote=dankleader420;1807423

yeah, i was thinking about buying a 2700K light and replacing it with one of the 6500K lights so i have a warm and cool like. would that be a good idea?
Yes. Trust me you will like the results much better with a mix. Plants do better with a full spectrum, kinda like what comes from the sun.

the first set of leaves are still small
No problem. So is the plant. Patience.

but they seem to be curling down quite a bit:
Over watering

when should i water?
i have read that when they are seedlings you should always keep the soil moist. and others say to water and then wait til the soil dries before you water it again. so im not sure what to do. im going to hold off on the watering a little. will the leaves start to straighten out? i havent watered it today. last time i watered was last night around 12:00 or so. also i have just been using a spray bottle, makeing sure to not drown the plant, well so i thought.
but i guess i was spraying too often or something. should i just water like every other day? and what should i use to water? just like pour the water on or what? and how much water should i use for each watering?

At this point since you are overwatering I should suggest letting the soil dry out, and then water.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dankleader420

when should i water?
i have read that when they are seedlings you should always keep the soil moist. and others say to water and then wait till the soil dries before you water it again. so im not sure what to do. im going to hold off on the watering a little. will the leaves start to straighten out? i havent watered it today. last time i watered was last night around 12:00 or so. also i have just been using a spray bottle, makeing sure to not drown the plant, well so i thought.
but i guess i was spraying too often or something. should i just water like every other day? and what should i use to water? just like pour the water on or what? and how much water should i use for each watering?

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I kinda thought I already gave my 2 cents on this, but here goes again. When you plant a seed in soil, keep the seed warm and moist, not wet. Normally I will plant a seed, flood the container with water and a little B1 like SuperThrive, until it runs out the bottom good. That is usually enough to water until 1 or 2 weeks after the plant has started growing. If you have dry conditions, or for some other reason you suspect that the dirt 1/4 inch down might be getting dry, you need to alleviate that situation. You could flood the container again, or preferably just get it moist again by misting. It's OK if the top crust of the soil is dry, it just needs to be moist where the seed is. Once it gets moisture, don't ever let it dry out.

Once the plant has started growing it is sending roots about as fast as foliage, and the soil down deeper is still moist for a week or two. Plants do much better if the roots have to do a little searching for moisture. So again, normally you flood the container, wait until the soil is almost completely dried out, then water again. By that point the plant should have some nice foliage. However, watch your plant carefully for any signs of drooping from lack of moisture. The first time you see that you'll know about how long you need between waterings for that particular container and stage of life. As they grow older, they need more water. If they have a couple tiny baby leafs, they don't need much water. If they have a couple pounds of foliage, they need a lot of water.

I hope that helps a little. I'm off to buy some T-5s I think.

Oh yeah, be sure your PH isn't all whacky. The soil, water and nutrients should be about 6.8, give or take a little.