My first grow.

[Rapmstr882]

Hello everyone =] i am new here and a first time grower. I germinated some seeds for my first grow i germinated six seeds from some decent regs that i acquired. so far i have them in 6 cups (holes in the bottom for drainage). I planted them all on 1/1/09.

i figured i would try my best to start a journal. and get tips and tricks along the way. this really is a full blown experiment for me. Unfortunately my Space is small. (you will see in my pics soon, but i will be doubling my space height wise because i know when i go to flower my plants will double in height)

Sadly right now i am only working with one cfl (i know i need alot more) i have a nice fan that i attached to my space for circulation that i switched on finally on 1/7/09. I am not using any nutes really, because i cant afford them right now.

My grow medium came from my own backyard. It seems to be doing good for what it is. it came from one of my compost piles that has since then turned into dirt (i lived here for 14 years) so hopefully it works. i did jar it and place it in a pressure cooker in case anything was alive in it. and it seems to be doing good.

What i yield is not so important to me at this point in time. because i am trying to just get the hang of things for now. i am working with a light cycle of 18/6 and will continue to do so 0unless you suggest 22-24 then i can change it up. I turn my light on at 12 am and keep it on until 6pm on the dot every day.

I hope i am giving enough information for you all. and i know i am a complete noob. but please be gentle lol. Thank you for looking and reading. all input is welcome of course positive or negative. thanks again!

happy smoking!
--Rapmstr.

p.s.
I will be uploading pics of my 6 baby's and my grow space sometime today to keep you informed.

 

[Ms.Fox]

Sounds good so far, but as you said you will need more lights pretty soon. You will run into problems right away if you don't. ;-) Most likely your plants will start to stretch towards the one light. This is something you don't want to have happen.

 

[Rapmstr882]

thanks for the reply. i do fear they are already starting to stretch =[ oh nos. i have gotten more lights just gotta find me some lamps and what not. i uploaded a shit ton of photos to my gallery. still gotta post em in this thread. what happens if they stretch 2 much? should i scrap em and start over?

 

[Rapmstr882]

atlast some pictures

first i will show you my extremely poor. kind of comical setup

this is where i attached my fan for a snug fit. the air circulation in the box is pretty amazing. nice and breezy.

this is my box with the fan attached to the back of it. the pizza box parts. cover the ventilation. and keep light from entering when its needed to be dark.

here it is open.

here is a pic with light on.

and here are my baby's so far. remember i planted them on 1/1/09 it is currently 1/8/09

thanks again everyone. for giving me your time.

 

[Ms.Fox]

Nope, don't scrap em. Add more soil to the top of those cups for more support. This is only a temporary fix though. It will keep happening until you get more lights. ;-)

 

[Rapmstr882]

ok i will do that right now =]. how long before i start seeing more leaves? am i doing something wrong? besides the lighting.

 

[Ms.Fox]

As far as I can see your plants look healthy and green. I'm not too sure about the soil. You said it's good, but maybe you should add some perlite to the mix in order to aid in drainage and keep you soil from compacting too much. ;-)

 

[Rapmstr882]

as soon as i get done with this soil i will upload a new pic. i didnt even think of adding some perlite. im gunna need to get some this week. and add it when i transplant. to something bigger. any good soil i can get at walmart that you know of?

 

[Rapmstr882]

Ok so i added more soil like i was told. should i change my light cycle? to 22 on 2 off? or keep it 18/6? and a question about watering. I have been spraying with a spray bottle. should i be pouring water into the cup to water or is the spray bottle fine. i give like 8 or 9 sprays each time.

anyway heres the pics with the new soil.

 

[thumbo]

Aloha brother!
Walmart has fox farm products as well as black gold all organic potting soil.
To me,
The both are great!
Currently i am using black gold. ( like 10 bucks for a huge bag, and like 4 bucks for an ok size bag, bottom line is its supa cheap lol )

Either or, people will prolly tell you black gold or fox farms.
Some may even recommend Miricale grow,
I would not recommend using that on youre first grow.

But later in youre grow,
you should buy the fox farms organic nutes.
There pretty good!

All located at youre local walmart! haha

Hope that helps.

Also,
by the way,
youre set up is just plain awsome!
I have never..... EVER seen such a poor mans grow. + Reps man,


Creative!


EDIT:
Bro,
Spray bottle is great for spraying the leaves,
but i think the babys can handle water from a cup or something.

As for lights,
More info is needed.
I am unlcear of all the lights you have.
Im not informative about those fancy hps and all that other good stuff, but just leave them on an 18/6 until you decide to flower.

 

[Rapmstr882]

Thanks i thought it was creative myself very macgyver like lol

right now i am only working under a cfl that a friend gave me from his house its a pathetic cfl i think its like 20wats or some shit. i dont really understand all the luminens wats thing. and i also dont want to trigger any nosy people if you know what i mean.

 

[thumbo]

Haha
I understand,
But i dont know if any one can stress this enough, but bro...
You must get more lights haha.

There like 10 bucks for like a 3 pack. all i know is that the white lights are for veg and the orange/ red ones are for flower. lolol
At least in hawaii they are, im sure there cheaper there.
But idk man.

as for like the watts and stuff,
idk either, im sure someone will come to youre rescue on the lights.

haha
but good luck man,
ill follow this journal

 

[Ms.Fox]

Looks great! Good job! I picked up a huge bag of 100% organic soil from Walmart for about $5. I just added perlite to the soil which I had to get from Home Depot. I wish the walmart we have carried Fox Farm, but it does not. So if you can't find it go with 100% organic soil. ;-) You're plants look very healthy! You will learn how they like to be watered. As far as I can see, you're giving them enough water, but you will have to up it eventually when they get bigger.

 

[Rapmstr882]

thanks again for everyone's help. im going to try and take daily pics to keep everyone updated. =] i got my little shopping list for wally world written. YAY FOR WALLY WORLD =] Ms.Fox what was the name of your organic soil if you know just in case my wally world does not have fox farm.

i am just really anxious to see some more leaves. it seems alot of people have a bunch at this stage. it must be my lighting lol

 

[Need2FreeWeed]

totally a lighting issue, you also can limit a plants growth by how much you allow ( or don't allow) the rooting system to spread out, a wide rooting system allows for stronger stems and branches... if the roots are confined the plant will show it, if it even survives at all... That being said, be careful using those cups. In regards to your lighting situation, here is a thread that offered up a cheap simple solution for CFLs. Hope this helps, I'll be checking in and helping as I can.

 

[Rapmstr882]

thanks for the link i began reading it. there's just so much wonderful information here. i do not plan on using the cups for long. i just need to know when they look big enough to transplant. i was thinking of 2ltr bottles then 3 ltr bottles. then buckets of some sort?

 

[marq]

I wouldn't transplant too often so once they're ready to be transplanted put them in their 'permanent home'. I'm still new but this is advice I've read before. I just took 2 that were in their cups (comparable to the size of yours) after about 3 weeks and their roots were all along the edges and we'll see if these two survive. But hey, this isn't about me!!

From my beginners eyes your plants are looking good, still very young I presume. I've done some reading and right now you won't have to worry too much about the lumen output of your lights but do get more. From what I've read you should stick with a cool white and a warm white mixture. To tell this (hopefully someone corrects me if I'm wrong) you should more than likely look for a color temperature. The higher the color temperature the more blue that is in the lighting and the lower means less blue (more than likely the more red as well). If I'm not mistaken the higher is the cooler (please someone correct me if I'm wrong) and the lower is the warmer. Don't forget, plants can not use green light (since they're green they just reflect that light). Hope this helps and keep your spirits high and send those babies some positive vibes .

 

[Cherma]

Ingenuity is correct, I am a little concerned with the cardboard box and the light set up and I would need convincing here on a safety issue from yourself on heat control mixed with tape around the light, stuck to the box. Or is it cause I can't see everything? Also as soon as you can get them into a better container, with proper drainage.

 

[Rapmstr882]

Dont worry you have nothing to fear. i am here all day. if a fire were to break out id use the extinguisher thats in the same room. and the box or anything does not get nearly hot enough. =]

 

[Ms.Fox]

I don't remember what that soil was called, but I do know it is one of the cheapest soils they have. ;-) It's hard to find. You have to look past the isles of Miracle Grow. ;-)