First Grow - 2600 + watt CFL!!!!

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Originally Posted by drudown11

"I am aware that many growers shy away from MG - However in my experience, MG is a wonderful product as long as you use it correctly for your precious ladies. Never use it as directed, always water it down by at least 40%, and if your paying special attention to your girls, you should be able to make any corrections you need to.

I realize this is my first grow, but I also realize first and foremost that this is a weed. Too much attention, and you'll kill it, honestly, its best to sit back and do nothing than to over do it."

If this is your first grow, how do you any experience using Miracle grow on marijuana? I think its cheap and lacks the proper nutrition for a cannabis plant. Over time the plants becomes deficient in micro nutrients that Miracle grow does not provide. It also contains too much Urea Nitrogen and makes plants foxtail during flowering, decreasing yield and quality. There are many products out there that will give you better results and will only cost about 30-40 bucks if you stay cheap.Botanicare, House and Garden, Advanced, Fox farms, the list goes on and on.

As for lighting schedules, I use 18-6 because i get better growth that way. Ive also used 24/0 and 18/6 for rooting cuttings with different results. Cuttings under the 24/0 lighting don't root as fast, and don't root as vigorously. 24 hours of sunlight is not natural for marijuana, under ANY circumstances. A good motto to follow for cannabis cultivation is this.................When in doubt, Imitate nature. Your trying to create the perfect environment for this plant to thrive. Temps, humidity, light schedule, CO2 levels all need to be controlled. This basically means that your trying to create a Southeast Asia or Humboldt County in your cabinet. Easier said than done lol

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Drugdown,

Your advice is great, and I've been taking most of that into consideration - I put the grow log here for people to learn, as well as for myself to learn of my mistakes, to help safeguard future grows and increase overall yields.

Heating - I flatout said (scroll up) that the plastic cabinet is no good for ventilation - And it would not be used for anything besides veg (I have the temp at a steady 74 degrees now)

yield expectations - With proper LST and FIM I know what i'm capable of producing with the strains I've picked out, realizing that there is no need to invent the wheel, i plan on using techniques that you don't see outside of disney for trellis work. Can I produce that much? It would be nice, but we'll see - In the end, I will be pulling at least that much per plant, but for now, I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed and keep experimenting and learning.

Nutes - I've never said I haven't grown MJ, I said this is my first actual grow. I've never grown more than bagseed, and that was just in MG potting soil with a few standard bulbs on it (only yielded about 30 grams dry, but considering all I did was water it, turned out pretty good) My experience with MG extends to a full veg garden that produces peppers, tomatos, herbs, corn as well as beans. That being said, if I'm noticing issues while growing that are nute related, or the yields aren't where they should be I'm more than open to something else.

Cabinet Space - Once again I had already addressed this, and i just returned from my shopping trip - is an 8 foot 2'x4' cabinet good enough for you? :P I've picked up my supplies as well as my ducting, and I'm just waiting for a free day to construct. I have also choosen my intake/exhaust fans, and I've picked up my meters :P

As far as a good yield with CFL's - That point I'll actually go toe to toe with you on. Why don't more people use halogens more for MJ? because most hologens are 5k clear, not because they aren't a good value, but there are 2700 and 6500 halogens out there that can be used (why, when it puts off almost as much heat as an HPS?) I'm sure there are people that are using halogens to produce, and getting good yields from it. Are they wrong? Nope... its their choice. As for myself, I'm using 75% power draw of a 600w HPS, and getting 2150 watts. Are my overall lumens lower? Yes indeed, but my lights are 90% closer than yours are. Every inch of my plants will be covered in light, and when I move, if its deemed I do indeed need to turn an entire room into a flowering room, I will - I'm more than dedicated to the process and have the funds to do what is best. However, there is more than 1 way to skin a cat -

So please, feel free to give extra advice, but please, respect my efforts if you haven't noticed I'm including lots of pictures and responding to questions as soon as I can, I'm here to help overall, not just take.

OH- Forgot to mention, I said earlier in the thread that I won't be using those small containers (I have no intentions of being rootbound) I have 3 containers 18"L 6"W 6"D that I'll be putting them in while they're still in this cabinet, the roots will intertangle, however they'll have more room to streatch, helping the overall end yeild. In the 2x4x8 cabinet I'm getting ready to build, I will be using the same technique with larger boxes - As far as Co2 - I will eventually be getting there, for now I want to work on everything else.

Thanks for the lighting advice on the schedule btw, I can actually see how the plant needs that darkness to work on the roots.

Thanks Again!

we planted around the same time. I would love to see u continue to post so I can see how my progress is going. You seem like you know what ur doing. If you dont mind.

Your enthusiasm is great low, and I wish you the best. Trial and error is a lot of the fun. MG, though, sacrifices your nutrient control from start to finish. MG is like feeding your newborn baby cream-filled doughnuts six meals a day. Your baby will live, but it's easy as hell to feed her the right thing. I would give girls their first sip of bat guano tea around two weeks after they're above ground because they don't need or want it until then. That tap root needs plenty of exercise. Also, hit a MH and/or HPS with a good fan and buds can be inches away. It's never better to flower with CFL, but with a confined plastic cabinet it's understandable. But you're looking at popcorn buds versus big sticky tomatoes.

I suggest 10-2-1 bat guano for veg, and cactus juice (mine is 2-7-7) for flower.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by 9ski9

Your enthusiasm is great low, and I wish you the best. Trial and error is a lot of the fun. MG, though, sacrifices your nutrient control from start to finish. MG is like feeding your newborn baby cream-filled doughnuts six meals a day. Your baby will live, but it's easy as hell to feed her the right thing. I would give girls their first sip of bat guano tea around two weeks after they're above ground because they don't need or want it until then. That tap root needs plenty of exercise. Also, hit a MH and/or HPS with a good fan and buds can be inches away. It's never better to flower with CFL, but with a confined plastic cabinet it's understandable. But you're looking at popcorn buds versus big sticky tomatoes.

I suggest 10-2-1 bat guano for veg, and cactus juice (mine is 2-7-7) for flower.

Good luck!

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Thank you so much for your feedback! I'm going to flower this first crop on cfl, and then if its determined I can do better with HPS, I will switch. I just didn't really want to mess with it honestly. the idea of the cooling system and ventilation really didn't appeal to me. However, its something I'm struggling with CFL anyway, so I might as well, and if its determined that I would have yielded better from HPS from the beginning, well, then I'll have learned a very valuable lesson. At any case, the grow log will still be here for others to learn from :)

As far as vegging nutes, the soil is 21-7-14 and I have my organic stuff which is 7-0-0 I think. My bloom booster is alright, but I might actually go get some tiger bloom. I wouldn't mind buying proper nutes in all honesty, but I haven't found a place near here yet to buy anything. That was one of my major issues with lighting, I didn't really have someone I could talk to face to face. I would have saved myself quite a bit of $ on seeds as well. I should have actually started with bagseed.

At any rate, I'm hooked, and i'm trying to make this the best possible grow i actually can. Will most garden supply stores carry these nutes? If not, whom should I order from that will both ship discretely as well as to a PO box?

P.S. For Ghost - Yeah, I'm going to keep posting pictures. still waiting for Hazel to unfold some more.

Thanks!

Personally I can't stand when someone clicks on someone's grow journal reads it, and immediately starts hating. This is your shit and people come on here to try to get you caught up in your own words and make it look like you don't know what your talking about or lying. When if they opened their damn eyes and actually read like adults instead of looking at the pictures like a child they would see you addressed and made it known of your issues. Listen man your journal is very educating and you have always responded to my problems as quickly as possible unlike half of the people on this site will look at your thread and breeze by, although when they see an opportunity to try and make someone look stupid or wrong they hop on it. Unbelievable. Hey check out the journal tomorrow my phone broke so i can't post pics today so I will post pics tomorrow. The kids are moving right along and would like to know what you think. Awaiting patiently for some pics of the super plants, let's get those up a.s.a.p

AWESOME AWESOME GROW LOG!!! Will be keeping up daily. I absolutely love your attention to all the details, it is incredibly insightful and a great layout i hope to copy my next grow. I hope everything goes well for you and the best of luck!

still no pics dude!!! come on ik those babies have punched through and opened up they should be very camera ready by now,let's see them.

I'm sad to report that it looks like Hazel might just be leaving us. I'm not going to post a picture of her because its not pretty, it seems that the little part of the shell thats kinda gooey when they first pop was somewhat grown onto the new stem, so the leaves never popped, I removed the shell and I've got her mostly covered trying to bring her up, but I'm not going to give up hope.

Here is a picture of our sweet Amy - As you'll notice, unlike some other 'professional' grows I've seen on here (my thread, I can say it if I like) This amateur has successfully avoided any stretching issues. Look at the size of that stem! I called it like a pro when I said she was gonna be a good one to follow! Problem is that if we lost hazel, I'm going to have to get a 60 day bloomer to catch up to Amy (doable)

Here are two shots of Amy - I do have home made soil standing by (coffee grounds, cocoanut fiber, perm and verm) and I'll probably be hatching in that from now on as well, it's very light and fluffy! Enjoy the pics!

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You guys will also be VERY happy to hear that I just got the greenlight when we move to take one of the spare bedrooms and fill it with CFL's, HPS's, OR and here is my favorite part LED's. I've got permission to fill at least a 10x12 room with whatever I want. If I can find LED systems that will do 6x6 areas for less than 3k a piece that are of great quality, they're mine! And you guys get to watch (and smoke if your close enough)

Anyway, if I can't find great LED's at that price, I also have full permission to go with a fully automated hydro Co2 system with the iphone app from SG (Thank god for high times mag and me having a wife that kicks ass!!!) So, with all this news, guess who can't wait to move now?

BTW - Been super busy at work, haven't been able to start on the new closet yet.

As far as Hazel dying, I'm sure I can confirm this in the next few days, for now, she's sickly, looks dehydrated, and tips are starting to yellow (kinda limp as well) No real point in posting a picture, but I am going to do some seedling research.

The big part of soil gardening is making sure you replant in bigger pots at certain times to reduce the chance of getting rootbound. The small 1 gallon pots you have there are only enough to support a half ounce to and ounce plant. If you really want to get 8 ounces per plant....... I can help you do that. Your cabinet isn't big enough to support 1 plant with 8 ounces on it. 8 ounces per plant would require You to scrap the cabinet, convert the whole god damn bed room, get some 10 gallons pots, and some 600 or 1000 watt HPS'. Probably 3 or 4 lights to support that much bud growth.
With LST and other types of training, its possible but still not easy. Try moving a plant that big too, LNI doesn't pay pot gardeners unfortunatly. Think about the total weight on those fuckers too when theyre fully flowered and the pots still wet! I have trouble moving plants of that size by myself lol Its hard for a plant to support the weight when it has grown up with the absence of wind and environmental stress. The stems are naturally weaker due to the environment of an indoor garden. Stakes, string,wire ties, zip ties, fishing line, whips, chains , and whistels ;) can all be used to help keep them upright and give them added strength.

I know this is your first time but it sounds like you wanna grow some pot.............. Those CFL's will keep you from yielding like the pros.

damn bro dropping some $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ I like your style.