New to this, Want to share a Journal

Problems again,I had to move plants and one light fell on top taking a few leaves and breaking one of the plants top right off ..

They are growing ok and new growth is evident.
Have been bending to let lower branches get light.Great results so far ,, :) :)
I look at the new growth and just think how wonderful this project is so far..
This is with very little nutrients just some plant food type from wally's..I topped this one and bent to get more light to lower parts,,It is approx 12 inches long all were started at same time and sprouted the same time as well..
Time will tell with results..
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This one is appox.6-8 inches no purple very light green solid too from squeezing stalk in my fingers to strengthen weak stem probs ...Thanks to those who suggested that
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This one I was aggressive on from the begining,notice top broken on plant to left,new growth over night too..
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This one I have been moving leaves out of the way of other smaller sites.
I have noticed that some leaves just snap right off easily and others I could swing from lol,trial and error I guess,.
Love to see the new growth spots each day..
Am thinking up a new set up for a next grow ,I wanted to finish this complete with this basic set up to see how yield is .Right now lights are using approx 225 w and out put is approx 750 w all together..
I did see at hardware store both high pressure sodium for 100w at $79 .00 and a metal halide at same price and watts.I also saw a flourescent light at 65w but output of 500w..would either of these be a good idea for a small area grow ??for few plants..
I also need to add some mylar to side walls Im sure that would help them a great deal..
 
If I had to go with one hid light for a garden I would use hps, as you get more bang for your buck. Try to get around 50 watts per square foot of grow room, more can be better if ALL the environmental factors in the room are dead nutz on. A 400 from the internet wouldn't be much more $. I know the ones your talkin about, and have used them befor. They dont have a seperate ballast and are made for outdoor security light; they get much hotter than a 400 with a remote ballast because they arent made to run cool because outdoors it dosent matter. They can work though I just wouldnt actually suggest it. A note about the internet, DO NOT BUY A LIGHT SYSTEM MADE IN CHINA OR SIMILAR COUNTRYS. They dont have the manufacturing standards that the us and europe have and can be very dangerous. Dont get the cheapest you can find, get the best you can afford on your budget whether its $200 or $2000.
As far as the flo tubes, cool white works good, dont waste your $ on the plant/fish bulbs.
 
Running cool wont be a needed factor as I need more heat anyhow ..

I went to local hydro shop and equal light was aprox $150-$200 more than outdoor light of same watts..

I am in a cold climate so I think that the extra heat will help me in the long run..

Just may need to add fans..
Seem to be a little stunted without growing in length poss colder nights here
 
Well so far into this grow ,,nothing but bad luck it seems..
1st with unit crapping out ,now a few days ao a light fell onto one of the plants and rested on its stalk over night I am guessing and severely burned the stem drying it out..I thought it would recover but over the days wilted (snip) The rest seem fine except for a few stray leaves that were too near..
Will have pics of survivors soon if not died by then lol ..

Happy so far even with setbacks it is still exciting to see day by day progress..
Also just went to 12/12 on 21st,I dont have access to store that sells nutes so limited to what can water them with ,,So far very healthy and will post pics.
 
Can any one help with nute Q's

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I know this is a poor picture quality but is all I could up load at moment.
Yellow on edges and light to darker green a go in ..Looks neat but worried

Potassium def.?? only one plant out of 5 others is like this seems a lil droopy as well ,with lighter color leaves,
Day 4 of 12/12 with timer probs light probs lots of problems actually,,
Flushed with around 3-4 gallons of water and drained out .
The water smelled a little stagnent maybe was problem ,no actual drain in bottom of container...Will fix for next grow :) Drain tube ,,..
I have seen a Bloom Type Plant food at a hardware store poss will buy soon,
I would hate for them to die as they seem to be doing fine other wise ..

This is like other 5 seems ok with thick strong growth,,
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Looks like start of showing sex in pic??

Any help thanks to all and happy holidays :grinjoint:
 
Update...
The last pic was a male and plucked right out..

was thinking about growing seperate and getting pollen or just to grow and really tweak and push it to the limits..But to anxious

Two other males found and two females 2 are undecided.
The males are 1 that was broken from light falling, and another that was a runt as well.. no real loss just more light to get at rest of plants

I am going to do some mad experiments with these 2 males,
On a side note the male that was broken by the light ,was topped by the fall and made a V both sides grew well but one side shows male and the other looks female???
Is that possible to have male on one side of V branch and female on the other ??????Maybe just slow on showing signs??
Also how long do males take to start dropping pollen??Is it like a bud cycle?
Also can I put males to 24 hrs light.so as to be with seedlings??


Hope to take some pics soon,

I have a Q's , Is it too late to transplant to seperate containers for each plant or will be too much stress??
And is there any way for a male to change to a female???

I will try with males until hear answer :) :thanks:
 
I may be stoned but ,,,:smokin:
The one plant ,I should have took pics looked as it had male pods forming .
I didnt pull it out but twisted it and bent it down and snapped the stem inside
now it looks like a female and the pods that were forming turned to leaves..??

Next time Ill take picture to see first.
I looked again today and it looks like both a pod forming and more leaves too..
But this is only on one side of the plant where it V's the other side looks like hairs forming??.

I found a site that has some CFL's that are very high 200 watts..they also have HID lights and other supplies .

Im not sure of posting the web address here is ok but the prices looked good.

They had HPS CFL and MH all cheaper than Ive seen at the Hydo store.

Save for next time I guess?
 
A little update,

Day 40+ into 12/12 ,thinned the herd once again by cutting 2 more males.
I wanted to keep them growing , but didnt have any place to put them..So I am down to 4 plants .1 is very ,very small from chopping top way too early.
So I should just say I have 3 left ...I think maybe keep growing it out after it flowers.
My temps are main troubles right now due to very low outdoor temps lately.
So this is resulting in a very slow grow,Nothing Im able to do about it ..Its not too bad and could be worse ,they are growing :) just S_L_O_W_L_Y

I am on average 61*f light off and 83f light on at top of light for temp and 41%humidity 16%l-57%h.My ventalation is poor due to temp differences.
I will find way in future to vent ..

I opened a few water bottles inside room and reading seem more consistant for humidity readings,and now more so when used hot water..

I have a 4x4x4 room for grow,I started with a phototron,and with sphagnum moss as a soil ,but it crapped out so went to CFL's for a cheaper grow .This Is my first grow too and am enjoying the learning process.I also just recent added 150 watt HPS. I will add up the lumens sometime and add to post
Temps outside room are ave 39-50.
I was only using tap water but have now switched to DISTILLED .
I dont have a PH tester ,I read somewhere that Distilled water had constant PH ?? not sure if better or worse for now ,we will see.
I also started to spray leaves with fine mist of water should I include nutes in the water for this? I know not to spray on the buds as can make for mold issues.So I just sprayed slightly ,then inside near stem I sprayed too.

I have been giving Shultz brand nutes in liquid form .Last resort ,Better than none at all .
I am going to get FF 3 pack nutes soon next week..To have for future grows
Is it ever too late to give a plant good nutes ,??Besides the obvious last FEW WEEKS . Im sure I have many weeks left for flowers to keep blooming ..And would like to get some nutes that the users here recommend ..I know you need to final flush out with water at end of grow as well ..
I did take few pics but cant seem to get a pic that does any justice to the flowers..Any way here are a few since last time ....12-25 were last pics .nute probs solved with a few flushes of water ..READ THAT HERE !! and much more :thanks:

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Brown on leaf tips is from too close to light .
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Still in early flowering and want to add some "quality nutes"
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Still lots of room and time for flowers to fill out .
The picture above is the Top of plant
This is a pic of 2 flowers from LST on one plant, 6 or 7 more the same are growing up too.

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Now this is pic of plant that only "SuperCropped" squeeze the inner hurd of stem.
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only one top bud forming not as dense as LST one ..
a pic of inside area
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..
I know many of my problems since 1st is only one pot from phototron.next grow will have 1 pot per plant for sure ..And a room to do so in.
Will post more as I get the time to get to computer..Thanks again to all that have helped so far ,,This is truly an amazing plant to watch grow ...

From this
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To This
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And more to come ,Wonderful new HOBBY
Money is main issue for this grow ,so did as cheap as could but still lacking in many ways and find out as go along..
Thanks again to all that have helped ..
 
Drainage is not really possible at this point ,unless I repot or transplant them,I am using a old phototron and the bottom is sealed,I fear moving into pots now may be stressfull to the plants and me ,If they crap out ..lol.

Update for today ,
I went a lil wild with snipping some leaves,,hope wasnt bad idea but they look like more light will hit now exposed areas..
I also Trimmed some clones off of the biggest plant,hope they take root .
I dont have any clone domes or gels so hit or miss on it ..At 24hr light now
If they do I will start a new journal, this one has been plagued by my black thumb growing luck , lol ..Can 1 of you experts rub some off some of your skills lol ..

I trimmed 2 plants and left the last one alone because so small already and skimpy,,I think I will clip some of the small buds when done ,then go and re-veg,,..also get a pot with drainage..

I am looking into getting a 400 watt or higher HPS for next grow,
Also going to have everything ready at beginning instead of day by day hassles..I intend to build a addition, then I will be able to regulate temps and conditions better..
I wanted a cheap grow but under my conditions I will need to drop a few bucks to be happier with results,due to extreme cold temps ..

I have had to switch growing styles ,from phototron start to a few CFL's when the Tron shit the bed , many CFL's now 12 of them all 100 and 150 watts of mixed spectrums,Also have a 500 watt equivilant CFL and 1 150 watt HPS..spent more on CFL's than on HPS by far :(

Could see a difference in 1 day when switched to HPS,but still have CFL's to help sides.Need to get sides of room more reflective,but money is issue for another month..

Here is before and after pic of some clipping..My other pics are too large to download..
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I wanted a cheap grow but seems with buying soo many CFL's that the price to get a nice HPS are about the same .. 1 150 watt CFL $9.99 x 10
I bought my HPS a 150 watt with ballast ,bulb,reflector and cords for $69.
I am looking at 400 watt for $117 complete or a poss 1000 watt for $239 complete...
Cheapest prices on complete kits that I have found so far (new)
They offer a unit that has MH and HPS conversion ,,Does MH make a big diff in grows ,for Veg-ing,??And do they work any for flowering ??I know is a different spectrum ,,

I fast dried a lil bud off clipping and got a lil headbuzz from it so is going ok for now..
It will be a small yeild I;m sure ,but is worth it in the end,more so with just what I have learned from all the great people here..:thanks:
Cant wait to start again for sure ..
 
The Frost Man is nearby dusting frost onto some flowers :) ..

I took some flowering clones as well few days ago and they seem to be ok for now..
One I took 1 week ago or more ,need to see if taken root as well..

I accidentally over watered but will straighten out in am ,I'll just tip and drain out..Learn as you grow lol ..

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hmmm why did you take the buds off and try and clone them :)? I've never seen this done, sceptical if it will work. LET ME KNOW! Also, to answer your light question, yes MH bulbs do make a pretty noticable difference between cfls in vegging. If your planning on buying more lights, I would stick with a 400 hps light set up, that is interchangable with MH, buy a MH bulb, wattage depending on your set up. only thing with MH is you REALLY have to watch how close the plant gets to it. You don't need to have the lamp as close as you do with cfls. Good luck my friend. GREEN MOJO
 
Thanks Flyfishnrock,,

Yes probs probs probs lol.Grow Probs,Computer Probs,grow probs,,will call this smoke "Black Thumbs chronic plague" lol

TheBest thanks ,I read post of taking flowering clones and BIG Difference I took the budding clones because they were way down below getting light and also as experiment,,Instead of just tossing out too.

So I trimmed around 9-12 clones and have 7 going now ,gave few away to try to keep strain going..I just clipped and put into small peat cups,If they dont make it ohh well.They are in a fish tank for now..Temps are still prob here,,lows outside room at 30* F give take a few for average,high is around 50-60*F outside room after lights on all day ..

I have come to conclusion that I am very impatient,,
That does not mix well with a hobby like this..

I need a microwave grower of sorts,put seeds in then add water and a week later BUDZ lol

I wish ,and have looked but cant find that system anywhere ???lol

I have also found that I cannot stop looking at them..I know it not polite to stare but they are looking so fine everyday that goes by...

I did get some Nutes , Fox Farms Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom.

I gave full dose ,well a lil under ,
It says I can use both ,is that at same feedings,??

I mixed in seperate 1 gal jugs and watered with both 1/2 gal from each.
I did overwatered last night but drained out excess today..

I have looked at other grows and to compare ..

My being so impatient and the conditions Im dealing with ,I must go to a CFL/HPS grow or MH/HPS I just dont see going all the way with CFL's myself..
I did see almost instant change going to HPS 150 watt ..Still have sides CFL's

I figure Ill be lucky at this point to get 1/2 to a OZ after drying..lol
That is fine ,cause any amount and Im having a party lol..
What is the best way to cure small amounts???

My next Grow will be in 8x8x3 room so bigger lights needed..
Looking towards Thermal fans and solar fans for vent and intake..
Any tips on that ??would lights be able to power solar ?? Spectrum wrong ?
 
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