What do you think?

[GetThisOrDie]

Ahh...

Well that strain is an automatic. That means it flowers by itself according to age and not photoperiod.

The best lighting schedule for those are 24hrs or 20/4 at the most. They need all the light they can get because their time is basically limited since they flower automatically.

One of the main reasons they are so small with no bud yet is probably because of the floros and them being so high. Your best bet would have been to use the sodium from the start. Also im guessing you had them on 12/12 because I thought I saw you mention you were... That would be bad for them.


If those are really fast bud plants then the only real thing you can do is wait and see if they make more bud but they probably wont...

Auto flowering plants and regular photoperiod plants are very different so you must know these things before you start!

What seeds are you planning for the next run?

[flyinhi]

Hope you don't mind me popping in here.....a noobie here too, but getting there with first grow, amidst several hiccups along the way!

Just a thought regarding venting....the closet - is it a built-in closet or a free-standing closet? If it's a free-standing closet and you are able to jigsaw out venting holes.....you can use a carbon filter no problems. We're using an air intake fan on one side of our tent, and the carbon filter exhaust at the other. The air intake has tumble dyer type hosing, which we have pinned on a window ledge, with the window open, thus allowing natural air intake. For the exhaust hose, we have that carefully tucked behind the curtain pole, so the exhaust air gets blown out the top of the window. As it's slightly higher than the window recess, it can't be seen from outside....and as the air intake hose is slightly lower than the top of the window frame, it can't be seen from outside either :thumbsup: If there is a way you can get both fans and sets of hoses to hook up from the closet to the window, then go for it. Also, have a look on ebay and see if you can pick up some bits cheaper....we got a lot of our setup from ebay (make up a false name, and make sure the seller takes postal orders, then ask a mate to take the delivery at his address if you're worried about items being sent to your own addy - that's mainly what we been doing!). Be careful buying electrics on ebay though...even new items can be dodgy - we got 2 ballasts and both overheat within a few hours and cut out....thank god for safety measures! We now have 2 fans blowing on the ballasts to keep them cool until we can afford better quality ones.

Also, keep an eye out for friends getting rid of wardrobes etc (or try something like freecycle) as you can always adapt them to become your growing room!! (Quite amazing what you can grow weed in....I've seen photos of people using old freezers etc).

Good luck with the grow, and remember - you're always learning, no matter how experienced you become Even the veterans on here pick up new tips and tricks and methods to try, so keep reading the boards

[Vaporiserlover]

Ahh...

Well that strain is an automatic. That means it flowers by itself according to age and not photoperiod.

The best lighting schedule for those are 24hrs or 20/4 at the most. They need all the light they can get because their time is basically limited since they flower automatically.

One of the main reasons they are so small with no bud yet is probably because of the floros and them being so high. Your best bet would have been to use the sodium from the start. Also im guessing you had them on 12/12 because I thought I saw you mention you were... That would be bad for them.


If those are really fast bud plants then the only real thing you can do is wait and see if they make more bud but they probably wont...

Auto flowering plants and regular photoperiod plants are very different so you must know these things before you start!

What seeds are you planning for the next run?

Oh, that's not good at all. Should I up the lights to 20/4 though? I have a 400W high pressure sodium light on them. I didn't use it when they were young because they are sensitive to light? That amount of light and heat might damage them, or is that wrong?

I doubt I would be able to keep the lights on that long, due to heat and people noticing it.

I have 3 seeds left of the fast bud, but I can't see myself putting on the lights for 24 hours a day for 7-8 weeks, I might just get some "normal" seeds. I will have to learn about the lighting then. Would a 400W HPS use a lot of electricity?

What seeds would you suggest a first time grower should use?

Is there anything I can do now to increase yeild? I want to get a little out of them at least. Put a lot of effort into getting them this far.

Hope you don't mind me popping in here.....a noobie here too, but getting there with first grow, amidst several hiccups along the way!

Just a thought regarding venting....the closet - is it a built-in closet or a free-standing closet? If it's a free-standing closet and you are able to jigsaw out venting holes.....you can use a carbon filter no problems. We're using an air intake fan on one side of our tent, and the carbon filter exhaust at the other. The air intake has tumble dyer type hosing, which we have pinned on a window ledge, with the window open, thus allowing natural air intake. For the exhaust hose, we have that carefully tucked behind the curtain pole, so the exhaust air gets blown out the top of the window. As it's slightly higher than the window recess, it can't be seen from outside....and as the air intake hose is slightly lower than the top of the window frame, it can't be seen from outside either :thumbsup: If there is a way you can get both fans and sets of hoses to hook up from the closet to the window, then go for it. Also, have a look on ebay and see if you can pick up some bits cheaper....we got a lot of our setup from ebay (make up a false name, and make sure the seller takes postal orders, then ask a mate to take the delivery at his address if you're worried about items being sent to your own addy - that's mainly what we been doing!). Be careful buying electrics on ebay though...even new items can be dodgy - we got 2 ballasts and both overheat within a few hours and cut out....thank god for safety measures! We now have 2 fans blowing on the ballasts to keep them cool until we can afford better quality ones.

Also, keep an eye out for friends getting rid of wardrobes etc (or try something like freecycle) as you can always adapt them to become your growing room!! (Quite amazing what you can grow weed in....I've seen photos of people using old freezers etc).

Good luck with the grow, and remember - you're always learning, no matter how experienced you become Even the veterans on here pick up new tips and tricks and methods to try, so keep reading the boards

It's a built in wardrobe in a rented apartment so I can't put holes in it unfortunately. I have the ventilation sorted, so not too worried about that now. Thanks for the tips though. I will be using a carbon filter and extraction fans when I get my own place. I might even buy a grow tent, see how that works out but I think they are pretty expensive.

[flyinhi]

Pity it's built in woulda saved you a load of hassle.

We bought a tent when we started getting our bits together, and have to say - best money ever spent Yep, not cheap, but means it's all done for you, no having to cut and saw and hammer to build a grow closet. Also, becuase it's in a room and not in a loft we're not having any issues with spidermites. And, if you decide to stop growing, it's easy to dismantle and can be sold on.

We're just about to get a wardrobe from a mate so we can put the growing clones in it, thus allowing us to use the current office type cabinet to dry out the big girls when they get the chop in a few weeks. The wardobe is only for the clones, as soon as they are ready to go on 12/12 lights they'll go in the soon-to-be-empty tent. It's a white el cheapo wardrobe, so will save on having to buy reflective materials too.

From what I know (which isn't much lol) things are very expensive in Ireland, and the euro/pound conversion isn't too great, which is why ebay might be value for money. Anyway, hope you get your own place soon so you can really get the growing bug! :thumbsup:

[Vaporiserlover]

I'm waiting for some money to come through, so when it does I am going to buy a grow tent, a cool tube and maybe a carbon filter, depending on how much all that is. I'm not 100% about ebay because I would like to see the tent first before purchasing it, you know? So I might have to buy the thing in a shop, I know it's going to be a lot more expensive, but such is life.

I tried to get as much information as I could, but it's kinda confusing, lots of conflicting information too. From what I have been told by other growers I know is that I am doing it right, I just messed up at the start with the flouresents and the height of the lights. These things I know now for future.

Can somebody tell me how to grow the fast bud? is 24 hours of HPS light (400w) from when they are seedlings the only way to go? I'll be slightly pissed off if GetThisOrDie is right about the yeild being extremely low, I hope some bud grows. Is it still too late for bud to grow after 5 weeks of an auto seed? Could buds grow in the last 2.5 weeks? The healthier looking plant looks like it will have bud, but i'm not 100% sure because i'm inexperienced

At a closer inspection, it seems to me that the damaged plant has some small buds on it. The healthier plant may, but they are quite small and that plant has much more foliage.

[bigtopsfinn]

You can use any light cycle you want, but the more light the better. Even 18/6 is perfectly acceptable.

For your next seeds look into easy to grow strains like Nirvana White Widow, Northern Lights #5 or Pure Power Plant (PPP) for example. Those are non-autoflowering with good yields and plenty of potency.

Don't get too hung up on the times. I think the plants are taking longer to mature from the problems you had earlier. The times the breeders give are for ideal conditions so don't worry about it. Just get things the way they want them, and let 'em do their thing :thumbsup:

[GetThisOrDie]

Bigtops is right. The more light the better so 24 hrs is best but if you cant do that you have to cut the time down.

You will lose yield by lowering the light time...no way around that. 12/12 though might not be worth the time... ive seen this before, someone using 12/12 on an auto in a different forum. The end result was 3g of bud dried.

Like bigtops said... dial them in and let the go. Thats all you can really do and learn.

400w can be used on seedlings, it just needs to be raised up higher. When they get used to it and get a little bigger you can start to lower the light as needed.

A 400w on 24hrs can add up on the power bill... especially when you factor in the fans and ventilation and what not.


I just finished some automatics like yours... the link is in my signiture down below if you want to check em out and see how I did it. I also used a 400w sodium but I used 20/4 light schedule.

[Vaporiserlover]

You can use any light cycle you want, but the more light the better. Even 18/6 is perfectly acceptable.

For your next seeds look into easy to grow strains like Nirvana White Widow, Northern Lights #5 or Pure Power Plant (PPP) for example. Those are non-autoflowering with good yields and plenty of potency.

Don't get too hung up on the times. I think the plants are taking longer to mature from the problems you had earlier. The times the breeders give are for ideal conditions so don't worry about it. Just get things the way they want them, and let 'em do their thing :thumbsup:

Ah ok cool, thanks for that. I absolutely love white widow. Any time I am in holland, that's about twice a year, I always get a few grams of whit widow, it's odd too as it's their cheapest one.

My concern was holidays, I started this with enough room to harvest a week or two before my holidays. I'm only taking one week, but not I am a little bit worried about them maturing past the harvest stage while I am away. Silly I know, but I am anxious :P

I have noted what I have done wrong this time and will be more aware with my next grow. Hopefully when it's time again, I will have the grow tent, carbon filter and cool tube.

So how many weeks do I leave them in veg stage before putting them into flowering? I would love to keep one as a parent and take clones from it. (normal seeds)

I have searched the net for some grow tents with extractor fans and I am wondering what you think.

I can get an 80 x 80 x 160 for about 100 euro. I think this would be the ideal size. Approximately how many plants could I get in that? I would be using a 400w HDS bulb. I am thinking between 2 and 4 average sized plants. There is also a 60 x 60 x 140 for about 70 euro, but I think that might be a bit small? With this I will be getting an extractor fan with carbon filter for about 60 euro and a cool tube (I looked at the thread on how to make your own but I lack the patients and skill to make it). I will only be growing for my own personal use. I would like variety in my tent so 4 plants max would be nice. I don't want a massive set up :P

Is there a difference between a hydroponics grow tent and a soil grow tent?


Thanks all for your help, it's great

[bigtopsfinn]

Here's a good site with decent prices on equipment to check out: Growshop

Not sure what the difference between a hydro and soil tent is, maybe there are more places to run wires or tubes through (???).

As for the size of the tent, you have to figure that growing from seed you will need at least 15L containers, preferably 20L to finish your plants in. If you want to go the clone route you can get away with smaller containers, but you will need a separate veg area for the mother plant and clones where you can keep the light on at least 16 hours a day. That way you can keep a mother for a long time. So you will need to find the containers first and measure them to see how many can fit in the tent. Square containers work better to make the most out of the space. With all that said, I think the 80 x 80 will be plenty big enough. The smaller one might be OK also, but 140 is pretty low and will be a pain to maintain such a low canopy.

For vegging regular seeds, you can go from 4 to 8 weeks depending on how much room and what strain. In that time frame you can also take clones and then flower the mothers. Then while the mothers are flowering you can veg the clones, then repeat once you harvest the mothers. That way you can harvest every 2 months or so. But that means two grow areas and might be a bit much for you. You can always just buy seeds and grow start to finish from them, figuring about 4 months in between harvests.

Many options to think about! :jointsmile: