Punk Rock Caramelicious - First Grow

[Tokist]

im in on this one. never seen a husband/wife team before! that's awesome.

smoke2J's is right, follow his advice. when you lower the lights, you will also notice your plants will stop doin the twist. they're all bent outta shape cuz they're trying to find the sweet spot that has more light. this action's known as photosynthesis. give them more light and they'll stop moving to find more.

in my log, i had a similar problem at first and once i was able to get the lights closer i staked some paperclips in the dirt and trained my plants to start growing straight again.

good luck and great job so far!

subbed!

 

[Smoke2Js]

I have another thought. Light intensity is measured in lumen and LUX, the more lumen, the brighter the light, the more LUX the more intense the light. Fluorescent lights are used by growers and usually as a last resort, rarely through choice.

You have some good supplemental lights.
What you are looking for is a minimum of 3,000 lumen per sq ft of canopy in the blue (6,500kelvin) color temp.
They are often called daylight bulbs. The 6,500kelvin light is was she reacts best to for florescent veg.

Around 3 cfl's (compact fluorescent lights) of daylight color temp (6,500kelvin) around 20W will give you enough light for around 1sq ft of space. Hope this helps your planning.

 

[Smoke2Js]

Hey , just dropping in, how are you both and the ladies doing? Hoping all is well and green.

 

[Alkhemist]

cher punk rockers!

babies are looking just fine for first timers ;] and yeah, as stated above, plants will stretch when there isnt enough light to accommodate their needs.. when i use fluoros(for clones and seedlings only) i have them virtually sitting on my plants about 1-2 inches above, as there is NO risk of burning from light intensity or heat..

look forward to seeing how your grow turns out and wish you all the best with your little ladies! i'll stop in from time to time to check out yer pics and progress

all the best

 

[Tokist]

er... is this thread still alive?

 

[PunkRockGirl]

Hi, yes, sorry! We're still here. Just have had a lot going on and nothing spectacular to report. We really appreciate all the input. I have some pics I'll post in a second, I haven't uploaded them to the gallery yet.

Couple of questions first:

1. I lowered all the lights and took the casings off but some of the stretching is still going on. I tried to get the right angle on some of the pics to show what they're doing. Is it just that they're still not getting enough light? After reading Skoke2J's comment about the type of lighting, I'm wondering if they're just not getting enough light period, regardless of how close they are.

2. A friend who has grown before (albeit not to fruition) told us we should be spritzing the leaves several times a day with water. So I have been, although I have seen people post about dehumidifiers. Also, PunkRockGuy thinks that the leaves are too thick, and that that is an indication that they are too wet...that the thinner the leaves are, the shape they are in. He thinks that maybe we should stop spraying them.

3. We are using eggshells and vinegar for CO2 production. Just a small plastic container placed behind a floor fan on a dresser, to pull it through and disperse it. The container is about 5" by 4" and about 4" deep. Is this enough? And is this good placement for it, or should I put it right beside the plants?

4. It's been almost a month since we seeded these. Do they look like they're where they should be in the growing cycle? PunkRockGuy has to move out mid-May (I'm leaving earlier to find us a new place in NC) and I'm worried these won't be done before then. Normally we would not try to rush this, but there is definitely a time limit involved, and I'm afraid that he underestimated the time needed for this particular strain.

5. The weekend right before I leave there is a medical marijuana convention going on nearby that we are planning to attend. We can buy more seeds there, right?

 

[PunkRockGirl]

Oh, one more thing: I've been leaving the radio on in the grow room...does that actually help?

 

[PunkRockGirl]

Ok...pics...

Side view of tray 1:

This one won't stand up without help...and the one next to it is probably not Caramelicious. It's a lot smaller and it was missing a leaf when it first came up, although it seems to be doing ok now...just concerned about it not growing as fast.

Also probably not Caramelicious...this one is finally starting to look ok, it was weird and kinda mangled looking for a while there.

Not sure about this one either...the leaves seem to be different from most of the others.

These are doing pretty well I think. The one on the right stands up by itself just fine. The other one still needs help.

Having a big problem with the one on the left, can't get it to stay up for anything.

I suspect this one isn't Caramelicious either. Looks very different and is a lot shorter. Also concerned about the darker leaves on this one, they don't look healthy to me...

Side view of tray 2...

Side view of one of the "leaners"...

I have 3 lights over tray 1, which has four plants, and 4 lights over tray 2, which has 8.

 

[Smoke2Js]

PunkRockGuy thinks that the leaves are too thick, and that that is an indication that they are too wet...that the thinner the leaves are, the shape they are in.

I have to comment here. Cannabis Sativa has thin long leaves, Cannabis Indica has shorter wide leaves. What you are seeing is the dominant gene for that particular plant. On some occasions an Indica Dom will have Sativa like leaves and vice versa, its a genetic die roll for each seed.

 

[PunkRockGirl]

Ahh, ok. Caramelicious is a strain that is supposed to contain both. So do you advise spritzing then? I don't want mold, but I want to make sure they're properly hydrated too...

 

[YourMaster]

I wouldn't worry about mould till well after U start flowering. Not saying U should/shouldn't mist them but it wont hurt anything if there is nothing harmful in the water..

 

[Tokist]

I wouldn't worry about mould till well after U start flowering. Not saying U should/shouldn't mist them but it wont hurt anything if there is nothing harmful in the water..

the only time you really NEED to spritz your plants is if they're having issues (cloning) obtaining water through the roots or if there's a foliar problem that can only be rectified with a foliar feed. you can also use ctea as a foliar application to help your plants develop stronger immunities to bugs and disease.

but if you really, really want to spritz them, it won't hurt. just don't overdo it, and ONLY do it with regular water, don't do it with something that has chemical nutes in it.

there's so much stretch on those plants! but they look like they've calmed down and are starting to grow their true leaves and are developing nodes, so you should be ok. are you going to be doing the entire grow with fluorescent lights?

 

[Smoke2Js]

Hey Punk Rockers!
On finishing,I am not sure if you will have time to finish them properly. If you do intend to continue, I would like to suggest re-potting to a deeper pot, and place the root ball deep enough to bring the leaves to about an inch from soil top. The plant will be fine , they will develop roots along the parts of the stem that is buried, rooting gel could be spread lightly in a few spots to encourage it. Take your time, try to keep as much of the root system intact, be gentle. If all the soil falls from the roots , do not worry, gently lay the roots into the pot, then cover with dirt, continue. she will be ok, giver her a light watering, put in more soil cause some will settle during watering.
Overall, (this is just my opinion). I think the best option is to sex them, then clone the ladies after vegging them for awhile. Clones are smaller and easier to conceal during transport. Then when you get to your new place you can set it up nice and have a clone army ready to do your bidding. Just a thought.ps washing your hands before can help your lady survive the transplant.

 

[PunkRockGirl]

there's so much stretch on those plants! but they look like they've calmed down and are starting to grow their true leaves and are developing nodes, so you should be ok. are you going to be doing the entire grow with fluorescent lights?

This time we are, yeah. We don't have a lot of money to put into it right now, and since we are moving in a few months it's probably best to wait anyway.

 

[PunkRockGirl]

Hey Punk Rockers!
On finishing,I am not sure if you will have time to finish them properly. If you do intend to continue, I would like to suggest re-potting to a deeper pot, and place the root ball deep enough to bring the leaves to about an inch from soil top. The plant will be fine , they will develop roots along the parts of the stem that is buried, rooting gel could be spread lightly in a few spots to encourage it. Take your time, try to keep as much of the root system intact, be gentle. If all the soil falls from the roots , do not worry, gently lay the roots into the pot, then cover with dirt, continue. she will be ok, giver her a light watering, put in more soil cause some will settle during watering.
Overall, (this is just my opinion). I think the best option is to sex them, then clone the ladies after vegging them for awhile. Clones are smaller and easier to conceal during transport. Then when you get to your new place you can set it up nice and have a clone army ready to do your bidding. Just a thought.ps washing your hands before can help your lady survive the transplant.

Cool, thanks! PunkRockGuy was thinking that might be possible. We're going to do that tonight.

Sucks that they probably won't be done in time...:/ We might clone some if they're not done, but we can't afford to not have these come to fruition unless it just can't be helped.

 

[PunkRockGirl]

Ok last night we repotted four of them, as we don't have enough dirt for all twelve and need more lights. Hopefully this takes care of the stretching problem. Right now we have two lights over each plant, and were figuring on that for the rest of them, but I'm strongly considering what Smoke2Js said though and am going to look into CFLs, I'm really worried that they are not getting enough light.

 

[PunkRockGirl]

Looks like CFLs aren't too expensive. My main concern is accommodating them. Our set up right now is very ghetto, we are using cardboard boxes to suspend the lights over the plants, but this obviously won't work forever. PunkRockGuy is thinking he will rig up some kind of system with the tube lights attached to boards that he can raise in increments via a rope, which should be fine since the lights have places on the backs that allow them to be mounted. Not sure how we can implement CFL bulbs. I'm soooo not an engineer...lol

 

[PunkRockGirl]

Ok, got all of them repotted and the new lighting system in place...still pretty ghetto, but it should be ok...

Due to financial constraints, we were only able to get a limited number of CFL bulbs...but will probably add more later...

The newly repotted plants...

 

[YourMaster]

Looking really good mang!

If I were U id consider removing that carpet or at the very least covering it with panada film. Mabey put some plywood over the carpet if u cant remove it and cover the plywood with panda film. U got to be creative with this my friend. U are just asking for trouble leaving it there U are inviting mould , dirt a haven for bugs that will fuck up your grow. Just something to think about.

Regards YourMaster

 

[PunkRockGirl]

Oh, thanks! We will have to put something down...can't take up the carpet as this is a rental.