New to this World - First Timer Advice Welcome

M

MaveliMan

New Member
Hello Hello, to begin with :welcome: to my unsolved Journal:help smilie:. To be completely honest I don't know much about growing. For the past months I've been learning how to grow indoor such as my closet & such. Anyways, I ended up finding a more stealth type of way to grow till my plants get to a certain hight which then I will be transplanting into a bigger grow space. Anyways as of right now this is everything I have..

I made a CFL PC Grow box which later on today I will be posting pictures. (Need some help on wiring the fans; already burned one fan so don't want to do that again)
PS: I'm only using the pc grow box till I move in a couple weeks.

-What I have knowledge of

Seeds: 15 Bubble Gum Feminized bought them from Attitude Seed Bank :thumb:
Lights: I was told 5000k+ for veg & 2700k for Flowering
I know a bit about light cycles but a little more info wouldn't hurt
From researching 18/6 for veg once I put them in. Or should I leave the lights on 24hr till the plants
start to show

-What I need advice & seek help on
Humidity: As of how I'm not using the pc grow box after 2 or 3 weeks into veg I don't
think I need to worry about the level of humidity correct?
Fertilizer: which is the best fertilizer used during veg & which is best during flowering
Nutrients: Same thing which is best during veg & which is beg during flowering
What soil is best to use
Which lights do I use in my grow box for now. Already started germination as I write this.
:thanks:
:sorry: if I'm asking too much still in the learning process this is only the beginning no more of this once I get through it. :)

:420::thumb::peace:
 
Re: New to this World. First Timer Advice Welcome

Some pictures of Day 3 of Germinating my 2 BGK (Bubble Gum Kush) seeds
Germinating Started on 01/30
This is the way I've known how to germinate; I keep the plate in my cabinet
to keep it in a dark area. The napkin is kind of Moist. I was going to use
Jiffies but I still don't really know how to use them.
*If I'm doing something wrong please lmk I need advice currently my first grow.
02_01_14_Germ11.jpg
02_01_14_Germ21.jpg
02_01_14_Germ31.jpg
 
Re: New to this World. First Timer Advice Welcome

Hello and welcome marveliman,
Answers to a few of your questions.
Your germinating on the saucer: Put another saucer on top of that one upside down and put them both in a plastic sandwich bag to stop them drying out and place somewhere warm.
Lights: I guess your going cfl in a pc growbox? 6500k is what you'll need for veg, they are also called 'cool white'. You can run the light on 24hrs or as I prefer 18hrs on and 6 off. Plants, just like people need a rest period. Your humidity whilst in vegetative stage should be kept 50-70%. You will need a digital temp/humidity meter with a min/max memory. You can pick them up quite cheap, but it is an essential item.
You have not said what size space you will be later using so I cannot comment on the lighting best to use later on.
Soil/nutrients: When you initially plant the seeds it is best to use a seed/cutting compost mix which is low in nutrients and has real good drainage, essential for a good start to the root system. after a couple of weeks you should think about potting them on into larger pots with a good potting compost incorporating perlite at 20% to aid drainage. Don't put rocks in the bottom as this only makes less room for roots. The more roots you get the more yield you will get. It is not advised to get a soil with slow release fertilizer as this takes all control out of your hands and if something goes wrong with the grow you will not be able to flush the soil. A couple of days to a week before you decide its time to flower them you will want to pot them on again into larger pots using either your original good potting mix with perlite and a good flowering fertilizer, or a cannabis flower specific mix such as plagron royalty. I do not use chemical fertilizers as I grow organic, so cant comment on which brand would suit you. You are going to have to do some homework.
Each time you pot the plants on they get a load of new soil which has sufficient nutrients for some time (usually written on the bag how long the nutrients will last), so a vegetative nutrient is not in general needed, unless you use a light mix which is low in nutrients.
Give us a clue as to what will be their future growing space and I can give an idea of the options for flowering lighting.
Good luck with it all and well done for starting a journal. It is the best way to get help from more experienced growers and to get to know the basics of starting a grow, and will save you a lot of money and time that would have been wasted with trial and error methods if you did it all on your own.
I am subscribed to your thread and am happy to help you in any way I can. If I don't know the answers, there are many more experienced growers on here that can be called on for help. You will find that 420 magazine members are very welcoming and helpful. I hope a few will call in on your thread soon.
 
Re: New to this World. First Timer Advice Welcome

Hello, DutchDragon thanks for the advice also for viewing.
I took your advice & put another saucer top & put it inside of a plastic sandwich bag. Yes, I'm going cfl right now I have 2 6500k & 1 500k is that alright or too much? I was thinking to do 24 till the seedling actually gets above soil level. Then switch it to 18/6. I need to look into getting a meter; if the humidity level is too low how will I be able to bring it up? As for when I repot I'm going to use my closet it about 3 ft wide & 6 feet high. Well to be honest I've been reading about Fox Farm Ocean something like that. Heard it's very well has enough nutrients to last you 2-5 weeks. Also want to add 20% perlite to it so I could have good drainage. One question, if I grow organic would the yield be any different? Will the bud be more or less potent. Like what's the pros & cons.



dutch dragon said:
Hello and welcome marveliman,
Answers to a few of your questions.
Your germinating on the saucer: Put another saucer on top of that one upside down and put them both in a plastic sandwich bag to stop them drying out and place somewhere warm.
Lights: I guess your going cfl in a pc growbox? 6500k is what you'll need for veg, they are also called 'cool white'. You can run the light on 24hrs or as I prefer 18hrs on and 6 off. Plants, just like people need a rest period. Your humidity whilst in vegetative stage should be kept 50-70%. You will need a digital temp/humidity meter with a min/max memory. You can pick them up quite cheap, but it is an essential item.
You have not said what size space you will be later using so I cannot comment on the lighting best to use later on.
Soil/nutrients: When you initially plant the seeds it is best to use a seed/cutting compost mix which is low in nutrients and has real good drainage, essential for a good start to the root system. after a couple of weeks you should think about potting them on into larger pots with a good potting compost incorporating perlite at 20% to aid drainage. Don't put rocks in the bottom as this only makes less room for roots. The more roots you get the more yield you will get. It is not advised to get a soil with slow release fertilizer as this takes all control out of your hands and if something goes wrong with the grow you will not be able to flush the soil. A couple of days to a week before you decide its time to flower them you will want to pot them on again into larger pots using either your original good potting mix with perlite and a good flowering fertilizer, or a cannabis flower specific mix such as plagron royalty. I do not use chemical fertilizers as I grow organic, so cant comment on which brand would suit you. You are going to have to do some homework.
Each time you pot the plants on they get a load of new soil which has sufficient nutrients for some time (usually written on the bag how long the nutrients will last), so a vegetative nutrient is not in general needed, unless you use a light mix which is low in nutrients.
Give us a clue as to what will be their future growing space and I can give an idea of the options for flowering lighting.
Good luck with it all and well done for starting a journal. It is the best way to get help from more experienced growers and to get to know the basics of starting a grow, and will save you a lot of money and time that would have been wasted with trial and error methods if you did it all on your own.
I am subscribed to your thread and am happy to help you in any way I can. If I don't know the answers, there are many more experienced growers on here that can be called on for help. You will find that 420 magazine members are very welcoming and helpful. I hope a few will call in on your thread soon.
Click to expand...
 
Re: New to this World. First Timer Advice Welcome

Hi Maveliman, I've also hered good things about the fox farms, it will do you proud with the perlite mixed in. Organic soil will give a superior quality, but usually will yield less as the nutrients are slower acting than the bottled variety.
With a 3x3x6 ft space, I would say go for a 400 watt hps. You will need really good exhaust and intake setup though, so you will need to sort out a couple of large holes for the pipes to exhaust the hot air from high in the box, and bring fresh air in lower down in the box.
A cooltube or air cooled hood would be great to get the lamp nice and close. A 300ish cfm exhaust fan will vent that space, but you could go 400 cfm with a fan controller and adjust the speed to get temperatures spot on. A carbon filter will be a must in flowering unless you live in the middle of nowhere and like to smell of weed all the time. Go for a more expensive filter as these last a couple of years instead of the couple of months you get out of a cheaper version. A can filter for 50 bucks will last 6 months compared to a 70 buck rhino which will last maybe 3 years if looked after.
If venting is a no no, then your only option would be to go with led, but it would be a huge investment and would still require exhausting, but to a lesser extent, the led's give off little heat, but the plants will still need fresh Co2 rich air to grow well.
To raise humidity, you could use a humidifier or do what I do and place a large bowl of water on the floor and hang a towel over it so that the bottom of the towel sits in the water and wicks the water up into the towel, then put a small fan blowing on the towel, fill the bowl as and when it runs low.
The amount of cfl's you use is not a concern. You could use up to 20 small cfl's, its all about the Lumens they produce and obviously the heat. The heat being the main concern. Seedlings won't need too much light, maybe 25 actual watts each, that will do for a week or so, but once they get a little established they will need 100 actual watts each to grow well. If you have low watt cfl's keep them as close as you can to the tops of the plants, say within a couple of inches and check regularly that they don't grow into the bulbs.
The 24 hr lights before germination is a good idea as it will warm them up and encourage germination. The photoperiod that you use when they are above the ground is personal preference. I've seen great results with 24 hr schedule, but prefer the 18/6 myself as it saves a bit of energy and gives them a rest and seems more natural to me.
Keep checking on them every 12 hours or so and plant them with the tip of the root pointing down about 1/4 to 1/2 inch under the soil. Deeper planting takes ages and you get more chance of no showers.
Keep us updated on your progess.:thumb:
 
Re: New to this World. First Timer Advice Welcome

dutch dragon said:
Hi Maveliman, I've also hered good things about the fox farms, it will do you proud with the perlite mixed in. Organic soil will give a superior quality, but usually will yield less as the nutrients are slower acting than the bottled variety.
With a 3x3x6 ft space, I would say go for a 400 watt hps. You will need really good exhaust and intake setup though, so you will need to sort out a couple of large holes for the pipes to exhaust the hot air from high in the box, and bring fresh air in lower down in the box.
A cooltube or air cooled hood would be great to get the lamp nice and close. A 300ish cfm exhaust fan will vent that space, but you could go 400 cfm with a fan controller and adjust the speed to get temperatures spot on. A carbon filter will be a must in flowering unless you live in the middle of nowhere and like to smell of weed all the time. Go for a more expensive filter as these last a couple of years instead of the couple of months you get out of a cheaper version. A can filter for 50 bucks will last 6 months compared to a 70 buck rhino which will last maybe 3 years if looked after.
If venting is a no no, then your only option would be to go with led, but it would be a huge investment and would still require exhausting, but to a lesser extent, the led's give off little heat, but the plants will still need fresh Co2 rich air to grow well.
To raise humidity, you could use a humidifier or do what I do and place a large bowl of water on the floor and hang a towel over it so that the bottom of the towel sits in the water and wicks the water up into the towel, then put a small fan blowing on the towel, fill the bowl as and when it runs low.
The amount of cfl's you use is not a concern. You could use up to 20 small cfl's, its all about the Lumens they produce and obviously the heat. The heat being the main concern. Seedlings won't need too much light, maybe 25 actual watts each, that will do for a week or so, but once they get a little established they will need 100 actual watts each to grow well. If you have low watt cfl's keep them as close as you can to the tops of the plants, say within a couple of inches and check regularly that they don't grow into the bulbs.
The 24 hr lights before germination is a good idea as it will warm them up and encourage germination. The photoperiod that you use when they are above the ground is personal preference. I've seen great results with 24 hr schedule, but prefer the 18/6 myself as it saves a bit of energy and gives them a rest and seems more natural to me.
Keep checking on them every 12 hours or so and plant them with the tip of the root pointing down about 1/4 to 1/2 inch under the soil. Deeper planting takes ages and you get more chance of no showers.
Keep us updated on your progess.:thumb:
Click to expand...
Great information and well written. :bravo:
 
Re: New to this World. First Timer Advice Welcome

Dutch dragon, great info. I will take your advice on pretty much everything you said. Also, Slogro thanks for the sub I really appreciate it those don't come very often with new growers as I see. Dutch dragon I was going to ask think my 5 plants will be good with the amount of lighting you told me?

Day 6
Yesterday 2/03 I ended getting a bit bored & started germinating 3 more BGK seeds. Those as you can see in the picture below are germinating in water as we speak. Learned to germinate this way at my local hydroponic store. Now with my other 2 that I started on 1/30 one looks like it's germinated BUT don't know if the stem is long enough to put it into dirt.


Germ21.jpg

222223.jpg

Photo_on_2-4-14_at_10_Fotor.jpg
 
Maveliman, 5 will be great in there. They should have plenty of room. I go for 1 sq ft per plant, but I use the scrog method in a small space, with that extra room you should have a good air flow and could grow them in the vegetative stage till they fill out well and they will give you a super yield. I reckon something like six weeks on the 18/6 photoperiod would give you some nice size plants to flower.
The pics of the seeds in a glass: I know I'm a bit slow to answer but going off the pics, let the tap root(the little white dot) grow long enough to curl around the seed and plant them with the tip of the root pointing down about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch under the soil, being careful not to damage the root. One seed per pot. Multiple seeds to one pot will result in the strongest plant using all the soil for rooting making the other seed a runt. Don't let em dry out when planted and get some light on them. You can use a glass jar to put over them to stop them drying out, or poke some sticks in the pot to support a sandwich bag or other plastic bag to create a sort of humidity dome. Once they poke out of the ground, the jar or bag should be removed to stop rot. When your babies have hatched try and keep the light quite close to stop stretch, or not if you want taller leggy plants, and sometimes the membrane from inside the seed can stick the cotyledon leaves together. If this happens gently spray the membrane with water and a couple of minutes later gently release the membrane or seed husk with a cocktail stick. Feel the weight of the pots to know when to water, water when they are significantly lighter individually. Just because one of them is dry, doesn't mean they all will need watering. Treat the seedlings as individuals.
When they are potted up and get going, post a couple of pics and I can get an idea of pot size and your setup a little bit better and I love to see the little ones starting out, they are so sweet:).
I'm sure you will get some more subs soon, its early days yet. You have a link in your sig which is a great way to attract new subs. Your just gonna have to make do with me for now I'm afraid.
 
Unfortunately out of the 5 seeds only 2 germinated. Already planted them in some soil I had in my garage for now till I could get FF Ocean Forest in my hands. (Which will be soon) Anyways, as of right now so far only one has came above the soil. I don't know what's going on with the other one. I'm going to put up a picture of my box so you could see how the babies are doing.


dutch dragon said:
Maveliman, 5 will be great in there. They should have plenty of room. I go for 1 sq ft per plant, but I use the scrog method in a small space, with that extra room you should have a good air flow and could grow them in the vegetative stage till they fill out well and they will give you a super yield. I reckon something like six weeks on the 18/6 photoperiod would give you some nice size plants to flower.
The pics of the seeds in a glass: I know I'm a bit slow to answer but going off the pics, let the tap root(the little white dot) grow long enough to curl around the seed and plant them with the tip of the root pointing down about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch under the soil, being careful not to damage the root. One seed per pot. Multiple seeds to one pot will result in the strongest plant using all the soil for rooting making the other seed a runt. Don't let em dry out when planted and get some light on them. You can use a glass jar to put over them to stop them drying out, or poke some sticks in the pot to support a sandwich bag or other plastic bag to create a sort of humidity dome. Once they poke out of the ground, the jar or bag should be removed to stop rot. When your babies have hatched try and keep the light quite close to stop stretch, or not if you want taller leggy plants, and sometimes the membrane from inside the seed can stick the cotyledon leaves together. If this happens gently spray the membrane with water and a couple of minutes later gently release the membrane or seed husk with a cocktail stick. Feel the weight of the pots to know when to water, water when they are significantly lighter individually. Just because one of them is dry, doesn't mean they all will need watering. Treat the seedlings as individuals.
When they are potted up and get going, post a couple of pics and I can get an idea of pot size and your setup a little bit better and I love to see the little ones starting out, they are so sweet:).
I'm sure you will get some more subs soon, its early days yet. You have a link in your sig which is a great way to attract new subs. Your just gonna have to make do with me for now I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
 
Alright, This is my grow box that I will be Starting & Keeping all my plants from Seedling - 2/3 weeks old. From here I will be repotting & transplanting them into my closet grow box. Anyways, to begin with I have (2) 90mm fans. The one below is venting in fresh air & the one up top is the exhausting the air out. Right now I have my lights at 18/6 (3) 6500k.
12401.jpg


As you could see only one actually sprouted above soil. Both were Potted on 2/6 Which makes this little one 8 days old as of 2/14. I don't know if you could see the stem looks a bit purple towards the beginning of the stem. To me the leafs look real healthy though. Uh, about the purple & the soil. I really don't know if this soil is good on nutrients since all I did was just plant them into some random soil I found laying around my garage. From my knowledge of reading & from what I recall purple on the stem is because of low on nutrients correct or because of the ph of the water? Which one of those two is it? I'm worried. Soon I will be repotting them into FF Ocean Forest Soil.
21626.jpg

Here's a better picture of the purple
31439.jpg
 
Hey Maveliman, nice update. I like your setup there for the seedlings, should do the trick. I wouldn't worry too much about it having a purple stem as they often do genetically, if she was older and had been sat in the same soil for a while then you might think a magnesium deficiency or cold temperatures or several other possible causes. Did it have any writing on the bag of soil? Normally it would state the ph,npk and what sort of soil, such as general purpose, seedlings and cutting, fruiting and flowering. They don't want much food for the first couple of weeks, its more important that the soil is nice and loose and free draining to encourage the roots to grow optimally. She will take off when she hits the FF mix. She looks to be doing real well. The first two weeks they grow painfully slow, but take off when they get going. Shame about the turn out from those seeds, but don't give up on the other as it can take weeks (usually not more than a few days) for them to come through. If you only get the one though all is not lost, you will then have 2 options. Clone the one plant into more, or a long veg of a couple of months to get that one as big as possible before you flower her. Good luck, and I look forward to see her grow.
 
Hey dutch, to be completely honest I grabbed the soil from a pot that was in my garage. So I don't even know what it was probably miracle grow. I can't wait till I get FFOF in my hands. So I can have completely track of my nuts & ph & so on.. I was wondering any way I could Veg it for about 1or2 more & clone it some time in-between. I'm trying to get good yields out of my plants. The way I like to think is go big or go home. :thumb:


dutch dragon said:
Hey Maveliman, nice update. I like your setup there for the seedlings, should do the trick. I wouldn't worry too much about it having a purple stem as they often do genetically, if she was older and had been sat in the same soil for a while then you might think a magnesium deficiency or cold temperatures or several other possible causes. Did it have any writing on the bag of soil? Normally it would state the ph,npk and what sort of soil, such as general purpose, seedlings and cutting, fruiting and flowering. They don't want much food for the first couple of weeks, its more important that the soil is nice and loose and free draining to encourage the roots to grow optimally. She will take off when she hits the FF mix. She looks to be doing real well. The first two weeks they grow painfully slow, but take off when they get going. Shame about the turn out from those seeds, but don't give up on the other as it can take weeks (usually not more than a few days) for them to come through. If you only get the one though all is not lost, you will then have 2 options. Clone the one plant into more, or a long veg of a couple of months to get that one as big as possible before you flower her. Good luck, and I look forward to see her grow.
Click to expand...
 
Hey dutch I got a few questions. Is there any way I could find out if she's in need of nutrients? I'm still confused. How the container(pot) I'm using atm is clear I can see that the roots grew all the way to the bottom which is extremely great. From what I acknowledge. So I'm thinking of soon running to my local hydroponic store & grab my soil that ill be using to repot. As well, one question about how much water should I water my babies. Usually I'd water till I see drainage coming; is that bad or good. Sorry for so many questions. Pictures will be coming real soon.

:):thanks:
 
Hi Maveliman, I'm more than happy to answer your questions if I can. You can judge if your girl is hungry by the colour of her leaves. The bottom single leaf (not the seedling ones) will start to yellow and will continue yellowing till it is dead and falls off, then the next set of leaves from the bottom will start, the ones with three spikey leaves.
If you think the roots are good to go then get her repotted into something bigger. Most people will put her in her final home because each time you repot there is a recovery period. You say you used a clear pot, this is a big no no as the light will damage the roots around the pot, so cover it up with something to keep the roots dark. You could cover the pot in duct tape, or put a sock over it or something similar.
You should have a good think about what you want before you go to the grow shop. I always walk in and see all the toys there and I get a bit overwhelmed. Plan exactly what you want, otherwise you will overspend big time. You will need to know what size pot you want to use. If its her final home and you plan a long veg time, like a couple of months or so, then I advise you to think big. As big as your space will allow. I use 5 gallon (20 litre) for a 4 week veg, so I'd say at least double that, more roots means more buds plane and simple. The root system of your plants are what the whole grow will be about, they control what goes on in the parts of the plant you can see. Happy roots will be happy plants and a killer yield. The roots need a wet dry cycle, they like a good drink, so when you water them give them enough to allow a good runoff, say a pint (1/2 litre), and water them slowly and patiently give the soil time to soak it up evenly. If you water in a rush you will get runoff before the soil is well saturated. Once watered well and assuming you have a good climate temperature it should be a good 2-3 days before they need to be checked if they need a drink. I personally use the finger in the soil method to tell if they are ready, just poke your finger in the soil up to the second knuckle and judge whether the soil is dry. If it feels a bit moist still, check again tomorrow. I have used water meters in the past, but always end up underwatering them due to the meter being much more accurate than my finger and detecting the moisture deep in the soil. THE biggest mistake to make by beginners is over watering. I have done it myself in the past. Make sure you have at least 20% perlite in your soil mix to help drainage, but don't put rocks or crocks in the bottom of your pot as it doesn't help drainage, if you've got a good pot with enough holes in the bottom it has already been designed to drain well and the addition of the rocks or crocks just steals from the plants rooting space.
A tip for when you repot.
Repot when the soil is dry otherwise the moist soil tends to fall apart on you and risks causing unnecessary damage to the tender roots. The dry soil is also drawn away from the pot and makes it easy to get the plant out.
Hope that's enough info to help clear things up for you.
 
I dropped in to see what was going on after reading your post in "New City Grower". DD pretty much has you covered. The only thing I was going to add was about using those see-through cups but DD also addressed that. Roots don't like light. I'm here & subbed. Never feel you have to apologize for asking questions on 420.

You need not worry anymore. You're in good hands with Dutch Dragon. I give you my word on that. Make sure you join us this Sunday for THE REPS ARE RIGHT. The details are below in my signature.
 
Subbed, the only thing I'll add for now is that I would hang the cfls side on to the plants, since most of the light from cfls comes off the side of the bulb. You seem to be on the right track though, and 2 plants is plenty for a first run, easier to manage than 5. DD gets awesome yields with his scrog setup, and he only runs 2 plants in there.
 

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