ROOKIE GROWER IN TROUBLE!!!

[bloodrungreen]

Greetings to those other growers I'm trying to collect intelligence from... Your expertise on this matter will be very appreciated. As my name states, my blood run green and I have been smoking since I was young. I'm tired of shelling out bucks...so here I am, starting an era of growing my own buds.

I embarked on this mission maybe 6 weeks ago. I successfully germinated my seeds and put them in 4 inch pots. I had 8 altogether. After reading some FAQs on the boards, I am going to get rid of my 2 males and I suspect their pollen might have gotten on my other 6 female plants. What kind of consequences are we talking about if this took place?

As for remaining 6 females, It has been more than 30 days. First three females are growing nicely but nearing only 1 foot. I have seen pictures of bigger plants at one month old. My other three female plants is less than a feet long, does look healthy but... small!

Two mistakes I might have made:

1. I left them in the 4 inch pots too long... I just transplanted them into a bigger pot 3 days ago.

2. The room I built in the basement for the lovely plants... Does not have strong air circulation.

Take a look at my pictures and give me feedback on my setup. I used miracle-gro potting soil. The better females are placed under their own 100w CFL bulbs and reflectors. The lesser females share 4 foot 2-tube flourscent light.

I keep them on 18-6 lighting schedule but occassionally leave lights on for 24 hours since I wanted them to grow quickly. Was this my third possible mistake? Did you see F#1 & F#3 having some flowering done? How did that happen?

I sure hope I don't have to start all over again!

bloodrungreen Reviewed by bloodrungreen on 04-10-2007. ROOKIE GROWER IN TROUBLE!!! Greetings to those other growers I'm trying to collect intelligence from... Your expertise on this matter will be very appreciated. As my name states, my blood run green and I have been smoking since I was young. I'm tired of shelling out bucks...so here I am, starting an era of growing my own buds. I embarked on this mission maybe 6 weeks ago. I successfully germinated my seeds and put them in 4 inch pots. I had 8 altogether. After reading some FAQs on the boards, I am going to get rid of Rating: 5

[bloodrungreen]

F#2 Pictures continued and F#3.

[bloodrungreen]

F#4, F#5, F#6

[bloodrungreen]

I also learned how important mylar is... I guess I need to surround the plants with mylar to maximize the lighting effect. O'well... :jointsmile:

[whoreable]

Its hard to say whats going on with them, there wilting and yellow. Could be too much Nutrients/water.

[Matt the Funk]

Well you made a lot of mistakes....too many for me to point out, although I don't even have grow experience I know a few things. Anyways read up on the boards and learn from your mistakes. The females that were pollinated will simply produce bud with seeds and the bud may not be as good.

[Weedhound]

Yeah, here'd be my list:

You are burning them with those lights first...the lights are so close you can see the pattern of the light burn perfectly on the plants...not to mention the wilting which is either burn, overnute or ph problems blah blah.
You need better air circulation...if they can't breathe well they aren't going to grow well
Better soil would be great and at this point...perhaps necessary
you need to check the ph of your soil and check the NPK etc of your soil
can't be changing the lights here and there....you have to be consistent

You definitely need to do some research and yes... those look fairly fried to me. And with the conditions you are describing them in I'm not seeing alot of hope for their future but perhaps others who grow in soil here would be more helpful (and hopeful) as I generally grow hydro.

Good luck and study up.

[Lord Dangly Bits]

You had them in 4" pots for over a month? What were the roots like when you transplanted? Also, Did you add any perlite to your soil to help it drain? Does not look like it.

[harris7]

you should get your hands on some information and read read read

what i've just found is the HUGE amount of Growing information avaliable on bittorrent.

i've got GIGS of grow videos and you can d/l everything you'll ever need to know quickly.

its worth checking out
if you dont know what bittorrent is, pm me

[bloodrungreen]

Wow. I do feel like an idiot but it'll take a whole lot more than a ruined crop to get my spirits down. I have been doing tons of reading all for naught. They didn't mention if i should be consistent with lighting or probably I was wasted when I was reading that part

As for fan, I guess it was just a dumb mistake on my part. I thought I would get away with it. I am going to run to the store tonight and see if I can salvage my first three females.

I think mylar surrounding will help the environment greatly.

To answer some questions:

Weedhound: I kept the CFLs and flourscent lighting 1-3 inches away from the top as recommended. Lack of a fan really ruined it, I guess.

Lord on Perlite: Nope, I didn't do that. I'll make a note of that. I'm preparing for my next crop.

Harris7: Unfortunately I'm deaf so all of those videos are no good unless they are subtitled. So my information is mostly based on text.

The most sticking point for me before I begin my next crop, can I veg and flower my plants using CFLs alone? I might have been overwatering my plants so I'll be keeping a close eye on that as well.

Is it possible to harvest my plants without using fertilizers at all? Using tap water only? Or there is no way easy out of this and gotta learn the whole science to raising a good crop, eh?

Thanks for the help, dudes and dudettes!