Basic stuff - not answered in sticky

I recently got some seeds (5) and have decided to start growing my own shit, for my own use. I've read just about everything there is to about growing, and I'm still feeling a little in the dark.

So, I have two of my seeds germinating in a paper towel thing, and that seems to be alright. But my seeds... 3 of 5 are kind of whitish, and 2 are blackish. They're all really small, like only 4 mm across at most. Is that normal? I honestly know nothing about growing, only how to do a large scale thing from the internet.

I have a 100 wt fluorescent energy saver light bulb that fits into a regular lamp hanging over a pot with tin foil shielding any light. This whole set-up is in my basement were it's like 62-65 degrees. Is that okay after i leave the germination/sapling stage and get into the vegetation stage? Do i need more light?

And I only want like 2 plants to start out with, maybe make some clones later... is that good to do? or no?

thanks and cheers.

cannabis seeds vary in size, doesn't mean anything as to potency, etc ... the darker seeds are the most likely to be viable, the whitish seeds are immature, germination of them is usually a gamble ... dont let the seeds sit in a puddle, they can get a lethal fungus called Pythium Wilt ... some advise germinating until you see a good bit of taproot showing, I strongly advise against that, I plant 1/4" deep, taproot 'down', as soon as I see the white taproot visible thru the cracked shell ... taproots are very sensitive, and can be killed just with light, so it's best to get them in the dirt ASAP, in my opinion ... and, dont overwater, the most common death-sentence for seedlings ... good luck :smokin:

So that's at least two seeds i have. Thanks man, I really appreciate it.

And I just found out that my light gives off 1600 lumens. Is that too low for two plants?

That is only enough light for some seedlings. You cannot mature a plant with that light. You will need more. 1600Lumen just isn't quite enough.

It will get your seedlings started, providing it's the right spectrum. But you will definitly need more light and both ends of the spectrum. You did read the section on the forums here about light spectrums and what not, correct?

White seeds are no good usually, as stated by Reaper. Sometimes those little black ones are no good as well though. Sometimes they can be "overmature" which means they are probably dried up inside.

The best seeds you can find are striped, slightly dotted, or brown and black seeds. This means they are fully mature and ready to go. Size really means nothing as far as I know.

Tip - When you buy a sack and find some seeds, put them in some sort of real small air-tight jar or vile. Then place them in the freezer. Only remove this storage decive from the freezer when you plan on removing seeds to grow with. Once you have placed the seeds in the freezer you MUST keep it in the freezer or the seeds will be compromised...

a 100watt cfl is actually using 20-26watts. your gonna need at least 2 per plant if you want to make a go of this.

What if I used more energy saver lights? Like i said, they're 100 wts and 1600 lumens, fluorescent.

So if I used 2 or 3, would that word? I read that i can grow a plant with 1600 lumens, but
it'll take longer.

Marijuana Grower's Handbook

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Originally Posted by BroedOut

What if I used more energy saver lights? Like i said, they're 100 wts and 1600 lumens, fluorescent.

So if I used 2 or 3, would that word? I read that i can grow a plant with 1600 lumens, but
it'll take longer.

Marijuana Grower's Handbook

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Well, you can. But not only will it take longer but your yield (how much bud you get) will be EXTREMELY deminished. You'll get a J thats about it...

I'd use 4 of them maybe even 6 for 2 plants. And even then, that's still being a little wishful.

You'll most likely want to do a SCROG or LST for them as well considering the low amount of light.

3 per plant is a good ratio usually.

alright, so a compromise...

two long fluorscent lights 40 wts 3000 lumens a piece, and 2 energy savers 100 wts 1600 lumens a piece.

Will that work?

And I can't afford pricey shit man, but i really appreciate all of this none the less.

again...the "100w" energy savers give off the same amount of light AS A 100W BULB, and use 20-26w each.

23w bulb gives 1600lums
40w tube gives 3000lums
NOT 100w bulb gives 1600 lums, cuz that would be discraceful for a floro bulb.

you need at least 2 bulbs per plant, no compromise. otherwise your gonna do one shitty yield. you can set up 10 bulbs easily for 50-80$ covering bulbs wires, plugs, sockets, chains, hooks, etc.

Thanks man, and I now have two 40w tubes, plus my crappy energy saver bulbs.

Now i just hope my seeds fucking take.

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Originally Posted by klondike_bar

again...the "100w" energy savers give off the same amount of light AS A 100W BULB, and use 20-26w each.

23w bulb gives 1600lums
40w tube gives 3000lums
NOT 100w bulb gives 1600 lums, cuz that would be discraceful for a floro bulb.

you need at least 2 bulbs per plant, no compromise. otherwise your gonna do one shitty yield. you can set up 10 bulbs easily for 50-80$ covering bulbs wires, plugs, sockets, chains, hooks, etc.

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Hey Klondike - Why don't you post some pics of your plants so that BroedOut can see what a successful grower you are?

Oh, wait, you've never grown a single gram of smokable weed, have you?

PC :smokin:

Good, you got more light. That's always a plus.

Don't be too hasty though.

You are aware that you're going to have to change the light spectrum when you decide to flower your plants, correct?

Are you even sure you're using the right light spectrum for vegetative state?

Yea EXP13, my light spectrum is good, for both vegetative and flowering. I got warm and cool fluorescent lights.

Two of the seeds are now planted by the way, and i'm hoping in the next five days or so they sprout.

But one more question: Is 63 degrees too cold for good growing? Because that's the temperature of my space. I can't really heat it up (not a very big budget), so i wanna know, will it be enough?

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Originally Posted by BroedOut

Thanks man, and I now have two 40w tubes, plus my crappy energy saver bulbs..

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I did all my vegging under a pair of 40w T12 shop light tubes happily for years. You can grow some very nice plants, and a PAIR of shop lights totalling 4 tubes (cool white, daylight, or kitchen and bath- I use cool white personally) is even better.
Keep them 2" from the plant tops at the most. The nice thing about the T12 cool white tubes is that they give off so little heat that your plnats can grow right up into the fixture and not get burned instantly like hotter lights. I'm a HUGE fan.

62 degrees is too low; when you get your lights up and running if you can keep temps at 68-80, you are fine. If you can't do that with just your grow lights, consider adding a seedling heat mat under the pots, that's a $25 investment that will keep the plants VERY happy. A heat lamp is also a possibility, especially if you can mount it under a shelf or something so it heats from below. If the soil temperature is correct, the plant itself can thrive under slightly lower temps than normal. Soil chemistry starts to suck royal ass in the low 60s and the roots can't function properly.

Don't listen to Klondike Bar; he's full of it. He's been banned before for posting piss-poor grow advice.

Thanks man, but how much does a heat mat charge in electrical bills?

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Originally Posted by BroedOut

Thanks man, but how much does a heat mat charge in electrical bills?

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You literally won't even notice. Check the wattage on the back of the package, but it's minimal. Much less than an electric blanket, lol. Comparable to a fish tank heater.

Think of light in terms of the size of the area you're growing in. 12" x 12" (one sq. ft.) needs at least 3,000 lumens to grow; 4,000 to 5,000 is much better. Seedlings and early veg plants are small, so uyou can get away with a little less in veg.

My veg lights for the first 2 weeks have been the same for a couple of years now. Go to Wal-Mart, and get a 10.5" clamp light from Wal-Mart for $10, a Y-adaptor (that lets you screw two bulbs into a single bulb socket) for $1.50, and a pair of GE 100 watt (26 watt actual) 6500k bulbs for $7. It's under $20, and you get a rig that looks like this

http://www.frontiernet.net/~mycomput...t/compact1.jpg

That's from ebay, where a guy is selling the whole thing for about $60 delivered. 300% markup for about 30 seconds of work! Man, am I in the wrong business! :)

Anyway, a couple of those can get 6-8 plants through the first couple of weeks. That's about 3200 to 3500 lumens...keep them a few inches (like 2-3") from the tops of the plants, and you'll do fine.

But once plants start getting bigger, it's a different story. I figure on a decent plant taking up 1 sq. ft. minimum...1.25 is more like it. That's about 6,000 lumens per plant for a good grow. To flower a plant, that's 4 of those 23 watt CFLs. HPS is much more efficient, and you get better light under the canopy to develop lower stems and buds. You'll do better with an HPS. Still, you can drop $80 and get 4 of those two light reflector rigs, and put out about 13,000 lumens...enough for two plants.

btw, don't worry too much on energy costs. Running either 125 watts of CFLs 24 hours a day, or 250 watts of HPS in a 12/12 uses about about 90 kilowatts of energy a month. Find out what you normal charge is per kilowatt (or kWh) per hour. It's about as the same as using a clothes dryer for about 18 hours a month...at .10 a kWh (which is the average in the United States), it's about $9 a month. IMO, you have to have a pretty good sized grow operation (600w or over) to really affect your energy use...and even then, there are ways around it. When I grow, I use laundromats...and it almost completely cancels everything out.

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Originally Posted by Roughrider

When I grow, I use laundromats...and it almost completely cancels everything out.

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Me too. Laundry sucks a lot of juice.

I really appreciate it. In the meanwhile, i got a space heater keeping my stock warm.

Stinkyattic, I'm actually going out right now to get a heat mat.

if cost is a concerne you can figure that you are spending about $6 per CFL and if you have 5 plants at 3 bulbs per thats $90. You can get a 400 watt hps from HTG for a little over $100 plus shipping.

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Originally Posted by Doctor Whoov

if cost is a concerne you can figure that you are spending about $6 per CFL and if you have 5 plants at 3 bulbs per thats $90. You can get a 400 watt hps from HTG for a little over $100 plus shipping.

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You can make your own for less than that.

Check out 1000Bulbs.com. They have everything you need to build some crazy stuff.

6 bucks a cfl? you sure about that?

I just went out to the shop and picked up a few things that i wouldn't mind getting your opinions on (which have so far been great; especially you stinkyattic!)

45 watt 2900 lumen cfl (big thing too)
2 32 watt cfls that go at 2100 lumens
2 23 watt cfls with 1600 lumens.

i have more, but in the mean time, for 2 seedlings and one germinating plant, is this enough? It's at 77 degrees F.

Here's a pic, and my closet is now like a mini sun. I have only the nearest three lights turned on (are you really sure it's 6 a pop?) and the rest are in waiting. There's a fan (since this is a closet work) behind the nearest light, and you can see the clamp.
How's it look?

Looks like enough light but:

1. Those lights seem to be the wrong spectrum. Those are flowering bulbs without question. You're looking for the blue.

2. NO CLEAR POTTING. You should not and can not use clear potting for your seedlings. You'll develope problems way early on in the growth and will have a very difficult time reviving the plant/s.

3. Lights are too spread out. Get them closer together over TOP of the plant/s.

The more spread out the bulbs are the less efficient your growspace will be. Putting them closer together in a more organized mannar allows you to direct the light at the plant/s much more efficiently. On top of this, it makes it a lot easier to raise the lights as the plant/s grows. Not to mention it makes the project a little more sophisticated in a sense that it can be ran and monitored for higher safety.

Keeping them closer together will also make it easier for a fan to dissapate the heat away. This is because it's all comming from a more congregated source.

You will find that you'll be able to use more of the light for the plant/s and they will develope more rapidly... Right now there are a few of those lights which are placed too far away from the plant that are doing nothing but running up your electricity bill and producing heat.

I suggest getting some mylar, a piece of wood, some wiring, and get creative.

Bottom line is, you need to make some sort of hanging hood to eleviate your lighting complications.

Just my humble opinion...:jointsmile:

Thanks, and i did make some improvements, but the general setup is still the same

And I'm an idiot; how could i think that a clear bottle was a good container?

I changed that, but now i have some questions and pictures.

Picture one - first seedling: this one looks pretty good, with the first set of leaves already coming up. I think in the next two days it should be good.

Picture two - second seedling: this was my good plant here, it sprung up hard and fast and was looking good. Now it's slowing down ( i can only hope its just building up roots ) and slightly yellow. What's wrong?:wtf:

Any help please?