First timer

[grownosmoke]

here my journey begins. im sent to clean out a forclosed house and they have EVERYTHING needed for growing. or so i thought. in all reality all i got from the place was a bad ass grow spot. ive got a big wooden box basically. 5.5 ft high. 2 feet deep. 4 feet wide. nice place. i did my research the best i could and this is what ive come up with so far. i took two fans from a computer and hooked then up to an old extension cord. cut a hole in the bottom left and top right of the box. one incoming one out going. i have a small co2 cylinder leaking inside. ive got 8 100w 6500k clfs and 4 2700k cfls. im doing 24 hour lighting. my plants are 4 weeks old and doing really well ITHINK anyways. theyre averaging at about 8 inches. problem is they really have no place to expand because i dont which are males and are wasting my time. im still in the vegetative state of growth and using a 30-10-10 fert. this is my first time trying this so here are my questions.

main problem is space. is there any TRULY easy way to sex my plant. theyve got anywhere from 7-9 nodes per plnt so im guessing theyve reached sexual maturity. is my best bet to force them into flowering than revert? ive read SO many threads on this but cant find a decent answer. so much flip flopping. some say theres an easier way some stand by it. so PLEASE give me your input.

thats my only true concern as of right now but does anybody have any secrets for a first timer?

are my lights, nutes, set up ok? yes im indoor. yes theyre cooled by my ac.

if youve got info on lighting please dont tell me to switch to hps and mh. i dont want the $ on my light bill strictly cfl's

also if anybody has good ideas on how to pick a male and female plant to breed. i dont smoke so please dont tell me to try it. ive heard rubbing the stem and smelling? they all smell great. so thats no use to me. i did used to smoke. probation stopped me.

 

[Alkhemist]

howsit bro!

your set up sounds fine just as it is! you have air coming in and heat and old air going out, spacing is great, as you undoubtedly know AND your nute mix sounds good for vegetative stage(higher in N than P and K).

in my experience i ALWAYS consider the space i have to grow in first, to determine how big and how many plants im going to grow in that space, the space you mentioned is a reasonable space for smaller to average sized plants. with your dimensions in mind i personally would go with 1-2 plants and grow them bigger- to full capacity of your space.. or go with something like a SOG(sea of green) grow- grow MORE, in smaller containers and turn them over sooner. sog is basically high density planting, similar to pip fruit horticulture, where the total yield per hectare is more than conventional growing i.e. bigger trees, spread further apart etc. BUT in my experience SOG is better when using clones as you can take them from a fully mature mother plant and dont have any issues with turning them over sooner rather than later(unlike seeds).

2 feet deep sounds to me that you could comfortably fit 1 plant deep... and 4 foot wide...maybe 2-4 plants wide. seeings you are going with cfl lighting instead of MH or HPS you dont have to concern yourself SO MUCH with distance from the tips of your plants so you could allow yourself more height to your plants growth. in my minds eye i can see you comfortably growing 2-4 plants in that space to about 2.5-3feet tall, then turn them over to 12/12- allowing your plants 2.5-2 feet to grow into during the flowering period.. but this of course depends on the genetics of your strain and how it responds to flowering cycles, for e.g. my super skunk x big bud plants in soil at present usually grow about 1.5-2 feet after i turn them over.

tying plants down/training and cropping the tops(super cropping) can also change the dynamics your plants growth quite a bit and in the space you mentioned you COULD benefit by doing this.. with maybe 2 plants- filling in the spaces with the trained laterals.

i look forward to seeing your pics and how your grow progresses! and wish you all the best with what you decide to do..

Peace

 

[Alkhemist]

the way i have gone in the past with plants(from seed) is to look for 'pre-flowers'(above the 4th node just on the outer edge of the stipules) after a period of 4-5 weeks.. you will be best to use a loupe or decent magnifying glass(atleast 10x) to identify them as they will be small, as you probably know you are looking to see if pistils(usually 2 small hair like tendrils) are emerging from the calyx, as opposed to the male pre-flower which is more bulbous and looks like a ball on the end of a stem(=staminate primordia). if you see those 2 pistils emerging from the calyx you should be good to go i reckon!!.

goodluck! ;-)

 

[grownosmoke]

new pics up. these are from just now. yes those are aluminum foil hoods. figured the spirals were casting unused light upwards that would be gettin absorbed by dead wood if i didnt reflect/redirect it. ive already dont the fimming once and im trying to find out which ones are male so i can began flowering and eliminate them. as soon as i start flowering ive already got a scrog system devised in my mind.

everybody please keep in mind im working out of an old actresses trunk (where they used to hang thier clothes up, sort of like amoblie closet.) the entire inside is covered in foil to reflect light to the underside of the leaves. and just to bounce the rays around in general so theyre being absorbed as much as possible.

 

[grownosmoke]

also, if ive got great eyes so i still need a jewelers loupe? i feel like something would have to be microscopic for me to have missed it. i have eye fucked these plants back to back to back to back.

oh and i didnt mention this but this is bagseed. didnt want to waste money my first go round and now that these are going this well i dont plan on buying any anyhow. i plan on getting a wonderfull female and cloning her. once ive got 4 or 5 clones im going to pollenate her with the best male i can fine. then from those seeds do the same thing over again. until ive got a great looking smelling tasting and feeling bud. ive got nothing but time. all the buds up until that point will be thrown out. but as soon as i get off probation i should have a super plant hah.