CFL growlog, round 2 of 1st grow

[jkalb42]

I started growing these a few weeks ago, i'm not really sure exactly when...but it hasn't been too long. i was growing all three in one small pot, it was all i had, and today i decided i better transplant them. they were growing in MG continuous feed up until today. I think i may have made a mistake by transplanting them into straight Scott's Premium Topsoil. am i ok on that? also, i made this grow...box...room today. I'm planning on making a divider in the middle and maybe get a SOG kind of thing going. the fan is pretty big, it was the only one i had though. too big? Thanks, ill try and keep this one updated. im still calling it my first grow since my last plant had to be "let down" before i left for Christmas break. let me know what you think!

jkalb42 Reviewed by jkalb42 on 02-19-2009. CFL growlog, round 2 of 1st grow I started growing these a few weeks ago, i'm not really sure exactly when...but it hasn't been too long. i was growing all three in one small pot, it was all i had, and today i decided i better transplant them. they were growing in MG continuous feed up until today. I think i may have made a mistake by transplanting them into straight Scott's Premium Topsoil. am i ok on that? also, i made this grow...box...room today. I'm planning on making a divider in the middle and maybe get a SOG kind of Rating: 5

[jkalb42]

Here are some pictures of what i hope is at least 1 female. is there something more that i should be doing to them? im still going 24/0 with 4 bulbs, 120W i believe. they are planted in scotts premium topsoil in an 18 gallon rubbermaid and they get watered with those MG Singles packs, i haven't read about anyone else using those, but my plants arent dead yet lol. i havent found a place where i can get good ferts and soils, all my stuff is from home depot.

#1: all three plants together
#2: the runt
#3: the biggest one
#4: the middle height plant
#5: the nasty pot they were growing in before

[GoldenGraham84]

i'm pretty sure there's some stuff wrong. but i only've ever done hydro so i shouldn't be too pretentious here.

the soil isn't perfect, for sure. i know roots like oxygen, and i'm not sure how good the drainage is in that top soil. perhaps adding some perlite/vermiculite?

i'm sure a lot of people might chime in and lecture you on not having 3 plants in the same planter.

also, you don't want to be feeding every watering. salts and whatnot will build up. try a water, water, feed, repeat cycle.

i hope some soil pros jump in and give advice. other than that, good luck and welcome to the CFL grow club.

stay safe
-GG84

[jkalb42]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, i figured i'd get some heat for the three plants in there, once they're done im going to find some square pots or something that will fit nicely in there. I've been doing feed-water-feed-water, with a drop of superthrive to every gallon, I'll try going two waters to a feeding though. should i not put the superthrive in every watering also? I thought about picking up some pearlite today, and after seeing the topsoil out of the bag, i think youre right, drainage looks minimal. how would i go about putting that in now that i've already transplanted? any pointers on the grow box would be great too, keeping in mind its not done yet and i ran out of tape lol. space blankets are awful to work with also.

[jkalb42]

i think that if any of these three are female, they will just become mother plants. i've been hoping to learn hydro methods, i made a DWC out of a large rubbermaid. i havent used it at all yet, i dont know if my pump is strong enough. i think i have too many holes in it as well. its an 18 gallon rubbermaid with 8 spots for net pots situated as 3-2-3. i dont have any net pots, and i made the holes with a soldering iron, i would guess 2-3" net pots would fit. the pump i have is from walmart, a Whisper 30-60 and 2 18" bubble rocks. would this be sufficient for flowering, or am i better off to go with 4 buckets and maybe 5" net pots? i have a 4-5 foot vertical growing space.

[sensilights]

It looks like you may need some perlite in your soil (i may just not be able to see it in the pics) I like about 30% perlite for good drainage.

If you are in need of some good nutes/soil look for a local nursery...they should be starting to open up for the season in the northern states soon and should be open year round in the south. Or you can go to fox farms website and do the little search for who sells FF in your area

[bigtopsfinn]

Yeah you should get those into separate containers ASAP... If you have problems with one, it could screw with the other ones. Especially if you are going to make these mothers, you will need 5 gallon pots for each.

Get some individual pots, and transplant so that you can put in a decent amount of the new soil/perlite mix. The roots will get tangled very quickly and you could stress them even more if you try to get them apart.

Sorry, I'm just a soil guy, nothing to add about the hydro stuff:jointsmile:

[jkalb42]

thanks for the input. i picked up some more cfl's today, making a new light to compliment the one already there. got supplies for a separator in the middle, and some stuff for cloning. yes, you are right about no perlite in the soil. i looked at 3 different places today, all three of which only had MG perlite...yay for no one having good stuff. but i guess that can be expected. im sure i can find a place around me that sells better soil and nutes, i just haven't looked on the internet or anything. that makes me sound incredibly lazy lol. yeah i only have the one pot right now, so i think ill move the small one into it and transplant the other two into new ones when i get them.

[jkalb42]

also, i have a quick question about topping that i havent read in any posts on the subject. does it matter how far down i cut? i was just wondering because i wanted to use the cutting as a clone, and i'd like it to have a decent amount of height to it right off, or at least enough of it under the soil for a good root system.

[jkalb42]

I put the big one into the old pot (after cleaning it out) and spaced the two smaller ones more evenly in the rubbermaid. i added perlite to both containers, mixed it in good, and watered them with only 1-2 drops of superthrive in the water. i hope that wasnt a bad choice. as you can see theyre a little droopy, but i now have 8 100W CFL's going on in there, 6 6500k and 2 2600k. hoping theyll come around soon, anyone who reads this please answer the topping question in my last post lol.

#1: The new lighting situation
#2: two smaller plants
#3: the bigger plant