Giving it a Try: White Widow in a Box

[akasa]

Howdy all.

Giving this a try. Haven't had much luck in the past, so I'm going to need some advice.

Plain soil, in cups, in a box. Fan pointed at lights and over plants.

Two warm (that's what they had) 42 W CFLs x 24 hours.

2 white widow seeds from internet (of four total germs attempted).

The cotyledons are rather droopy. I had them a little closer to the lights, but I moved them down. One cotyledon broke off when I tried to remove the seed casing (whoops). What should I do to perk them up? Or should I just not worry, since the first leaves are already emerging?

 

[Velodrone]

Hey brother, those look like the 2700k bulbs to me. If the are you might want to get something a little "cooler"! Good start, anyway you look at it.

 

[Van Diesel]

Hey bro, good genes you got there to work with. Like Velo said, that does look like a 2700k (warm) bulb and you want the 6400k (cool) bulb. Also, they look very thirsty and the soil bone dry. Make sure you have a few drain holes in the bottom of the cup and then water thoroughly (let it drip out the bottom, thats OK), but make sure its saturated. Then wait for it to dry to just about where it is now, and repeat. DO this with plain water until they are 2 weeks (or older), then start adding in very light (1/4 strength) nutes every other watering, and you should be rolling.
Aloha and good luck!

 

[akasa]

Hey brother, those look like the 2700k bulbs to me. If the are you might want to get something a little "cooler"! Good start, anyway you look at it.

Yeah, like I wrote in the original post, warm bulbs are all I could find at several stores. I might add some 26 watt cool bulbs once they get bigger.

Also, they look very thirsty and the soil bone dry. Make sure you have a few drain holes in the bottom of the cup and then water thoroughly (let it drip out the bottom, thats OK), but make sure its saturated. Then wait for it to dry to just about where it is now, and repeat. DO this with plain water until they are 2 weeks (or older), then start adding in very light (1/4 strength) nutes every other watering, and you should be rolling.
Aloha and good luck!

I completely soaked the soil just as described a bit before taking the picture, with filtered bottled water. Still droopy on the intact plant today, but the leaves continue to grow so I'm not too concerned. The top of the soil dries rather quickly, so I want to be careful to not overwater.

The fan is vibrating the stalks and keeping them much stronger than on my last attempt, so I'm happier already.

 

[akasa]

Here's an update. Day 6 after breaking the surface. Second set of leaves appearing. Very much looking forward to a month from now when they have a bit more stability, because the stems look so thin where they meet the soil. I think there's some white mold growing on the surface of the soil, so I remove what I can, but I'm going to not water for a while.

Annie:

Marge:

 

[akasa]

Hoping for a hint

Watered them again today. They seem to be growing all right, except for some yellowing at the tips of the leaves, and the cotelydons are starting to die. Seems a little early for that to happen. Also, the leaves are rather vertical, but this is probably just because of the light setup.

Anything obvious in the picture? Something I should do? I had been watering with purified water, but did tap on the last watering to make sure they got any minerals they needed, and with the hope that the chlorine would ward off mold.

Please let me know. Thanks.

 

[akasa]

Think I figured it out. The variable I wasn't counting on: temperature. Stuck a medical thermometer into the soil and got 99 degrees. Whoops! Moved the fan outside to pull air through the box. Should get it down to 75. Hopefully no damage is done.

 

[akasa]

I know this grow is too boring to get comments, but here's another picture anyway. Staring at tiny plants is good procrastination.

The two plants, even though they are the same breed, same batch, look very different. Marge (far) has vertical leaves and a purple stem, and Annie (near) has a green stem and wider horizontal leaves. We'll have to see if they match up later.

Yep, I love how janky it looks. When they hit flowering I'll get some mylar and computer fans, and another pair of lights.

 

[SirOgKush]

I had the same problem with temps with i switched from a CFL light to A HPS light..The Room Damn near hit 100 Degress Lost one of my kids cause of it...Keep the pics commin' and i hope all becomes well with your widow girls..if you have a chance check out my Juicy Fruit grow

 

[shmicky]

hi dude looking like a good start, i would see about some diamond mylar its cheap at £3.50 a meter or less. (no hot spot's)
would do wonders with an extra 2 bulbs on the right side (or place the 2 you have above your plants as they will grow towards the light!) with good care your plants will out grow those lights sticking out from the side within 3-4 weeks if not less!
keeping in mind CFL's should always be between 6-8" from the top's.

happy growing to you my fellow 420, hope all goes well
have grew this strain before and is an easy 1 to handle with some good yield and sweet smoke.
will watch this 1 as it is one of my favourite!

 

[MadMardo]

Im currently growing White Widow right now. check out my journal of white widow, maybe you can learn from some of my mistake/questions

First Time Grow

Looks like you got the right lights going.. they look blueish and bright. The soil in your pics look a little dry. make sure you keep it moist, that was my mistake in my first grow I was so afraid that I would over water them.

 

[Growheart]

Hey dude, WW is a good choice. I am a relative newbie as well but just completed my first grow so will try to help ya out. A few questions...
A) You wrote 'plain soil' - are we talking soil taken from your backyard, a potting mix, or what?
B) What is the purified water's PH ? The best thing to use is distilled water, or RO. Tapwater may be okay but it depends on the PH.
C) In the last pics it looks like different bulbs, or are those the same 2700k's ?

Other than that it looks like they are doing okay considering they were living in a heat wave at 99 degrees... good to see you've got a handle on that now. I can see the signs of heat stress in the curled up / yellowing leaves. Click on the plant abuse guide link in my sig to see more examples.

In regards to the lights as several ppl addressed, 2700k bulbs will be great for flower so keep em around, but if you can, get 6500k for veg as these work best. Most hardware stores carry both warm & cool, cool looks more blueish. They are usually the same price, if not a few $ more for blue.

Schmicky - i respectfully disagree , CFL bulbs should be 2-4 " from plants except maybe during seedling where you could go 3-5". Anything higher than 4" is wasting lumens and efficiency. Personally, I have gone 1-2" whenever possible, of course we are talking during veg with lots of healthy leaves that can take a few burns at the cost of getting more light.

Good luck! Ill be following...

 

[Growheart]

Make sure your taking advantages of the awesome resources here that already exist as well; heaps of good reading material here

How to Grow Marijuana - 420 Magazine

How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know

Frequently Asked Questions

Finally, welcome to 420mag!

 

[akasa]

Hey dude, WW is a good choice. I am a relative newbie as well but just completed my first grow so will try to help ya out. A few questions...
A) You wrote 'plain soil' - are we talking soil taken from your backyard, a potting mix, or what?

I'm using "Scott's Premium Topsoil." Couldn't find anything premium without fertilizer already in it. There are a ton of good hydro stores nearby, but I don't feel like going there.

B) What is the purified water's PH ? The best thing to use is distilled water, or RO. Tapwater may be okay but it depends on the PH.

PH testing is my next step. I've been using filtered water, but I'll probably switch to distilled now that I have some fert.

C) In the last pics it looks like different bulbs, or are those the same 2700k's ?

Same bulbs, just changed the white balance of the picture to be more neutral. They really aren't as red as the earlier picture shows.


I went back to home depot today. Again, the biggest cool white bulbs they had were 27 watts, which isn't worth the money/space. So I'm going to stick with 2700K for now. Picked up two more 42 watt CFLs. My science tells me the redder light should be absorbed just fine by the green leaves, so I'm not worried.

It seems like my plants are growing very slowly. They're now 13 days from breaking the surface, but just starting the second set of leaves. I see grows that are relative bushes by two weeks. Is it the loss of the cotelydons? The small cups? Lack of light or nutrients? I'm not sure, but I'm going to repot today and see what I can fix.

On the watering: I've got a bit of a green thumb, so I've never had issues with watering. Just think about how much it rains in the spring, and match that. A good soaking every four days or so works for me (that is, whenever the plants need it, not on a schedule).

 

[Van Diesel]

Not sure what science you are looking at bro, the point everyone keeps trying to make is that you will not get much vegetative growth (height or "bushiness") until you get the correct bulb(s). Its not going to die, its just not going to grow much, so when it does flower there wont be much, but at least then it will have the correct light. There is a ton of great info available here, and lighting is a pretty important starting point.

 

[MadMardo]

Listen to Van Diesel Bro.. my first private attempt of White Widow went exactly the same way.. they pretty much stopped growing and I got fed up. I came on here and started reading.. realized I was doing everything wrong with the lighting. The second attempt I Used 6500K DAYLIGHT CFL I got for about 8 bucks each and my plants are already 400% better then when I was using the incorrect light.. right now the plants are starving for blue spectrum light.... give them that and they will grow.. I am humbled by all the knowledge here.. listen too it and you can bet great things will happen.

 

[Van Diesel]

What are Compact Flourescents and How Can I use them for Growing

 

[Growheart]

Doubt its the nutes , seedlings dont need them in soil until they are a few weeks old. That soil looks rather clumpy on top, is it that way throughout ? if so the roots might have dry spots... Also every marijuana specific grow book and advice online sought has told me 6400k works best for veg and 2700k is best for flower, if using CFL. Does not mean it won't work, just won't be optimal. I am sure that is not the main reason for the slow growth.

Maybe I missed it but is that a fan on the righthand side or an A/C ?

 

[akasa]

Okay, a lot of work today.
Repotted the plants. Was much tenser than I anticipated because the roots hadn't quite reached the point of binding the soil together, so it sort of fell apart as I flipped it. I don't think I broke anything significant, and it's been a few hours since then and they haven't wilted, so I'm assuming the important stuff is still connected down there.

They are now in their final pots. Should be enough room for them. Used the topsoil, but made sure to soak it and press it down to get rid of air pockets and lumps. Looks pretty smooth to me.

Went to the store and found four 26 watt GE daylight CFLs. With three tees I made a little array. I can raise and rotate it as they get bigger. Not sure if it's ideal, but I've got so many little lightbulb parts it's like legos. What I need is a big reflector to hang just above all of the bulbs.

I got some "Miracle-Gro Liquid All Purpose Houseplant Food." Seemed to be the most basic thing at home depot. It's 8-7-6. Will this do for vegetative feeding? And I'm probably not going to go get some fancy-pants special stuff, because it's home depot or walmart for me. I'll start with 1/4 strength after I see them get established in their new homes.

The thing on the right side is a fan/heater set on just fan. Works pretty well, because I can feel the air flowing out my ducted outlet on the upper left. Also I got a timer; I'll probably go 18/6 in another week.

Thanks everyone.

 

[MadMardo]

AHHHHHH looking great bro. If I can give you beginner advice is to let them grow.. try not to be checking on them every hour on the hour.. because thats what I did and it will drive you nuts. It will seem like they are not growing. Dont add nuts until 2-3 weeks minimum as they are very sensitive at the early state and dont really need them at this point. You can give them nut burn and thats hard to recover from.. I killed my first attempt with too much love early on.

I think with the new lights you gonna see some nice growth.

Im going to be following this.. good luck!!!