A few questions on my first grow

[braines420]

Heres a pic of one of them, I just planted this on wednesday.

First question, I already saw one insect. there was only one, it was floating in my run off, it was kind of white with black spots. not sure what it was, but incase any more come back, I was wondering what should be done about them.

Second question, what are the best wattage of CFLs to get for the flowering stage? I'm using regular fluoros right now but want cfl for flowering.

How does it look so far?

 

[nibec]

its looking ok so far. i would suggest using a different soil however.

you want something that is nice and light, such as sunshine promix. that has no wood chips, or anything for that matter except perlite.

reason being, is outdoor soils typically have a high nute content already that may (or may not) burn your seedlings. and without added perlite (the more the better really... i use about 35% perlite to 65% soil) your drainage wont be very good. and you risk drowning your roots.

as far as the bugs go... i personally have never had issues with bugs, i keep my enviroments clean as i possibly can. so i cant really help you there.

i do have some decent experience with cfl, and hid, so i can try to help you on that note.

A lot of people will try to push HID on you. Reason being.. hid's will blow cfl out of the water when it comes down to yield, and bud density.

however if you are like me, and still think cfl's are cool. and like to make some HID growers hang their head in shame (not taking a stab at anyone, just stating there are SOME hot headed HID pushers out there, that say you cant get f-all with cfls) then give 'er. I think they are great for small, compact micro grows. and if done right, show some pretty respectable yeilds and final product. (keep in mind, yes when i did the exact same plant under a HPS, it kicked its ass in yield. but the quality was the same)

SO what cfls do you want? there are a lot of different routes. (go either all 2700k, or at least the majoirty 2700k with a few 6500K's in there too, if you dont know why i say this, ask and ill explain in another post)

1)
as many 23-26watt cfls as you can fit. - this will allow you to place them whereever you want, and as close tot he plant as possible. that way , if you have bulb on a bud, but the bud is shadowing another bud, you can put another bulb on the shadowed bud. ... make sense?

2) 40-42 watt cfls
again, as many as you can fit/afford. These bulbs have a slightly larger light penetration. which means you can get away with less bulbs, and still get a couple inches of penetration. the down side... they cost almost double what 2 26 watt bulbs would cost, and they generate more heat. which depending on your space, may be an issue.

60ish watt bulbs, same as the difference between 26watters and 40watters.

200-250 watt cfl bulbs.

Good bulbs, (one 250 watt bulb got me 3 ounces off one of my plants)
but IMO not very good in the long run.
they produce lots of heat, they dont last long.. after about 2 cycles you should replace it as it starts to get dim. and they are (at least where i am) expensive... $120

for the price of one 250 watt bulb, you can get yourself about 400watts of 26watt bulbs.


if you are going CFL and not HID, i suggest you LST your plants.. either tie down, or scrog to keep an even canopy. as this will greatly increase the efficency of your light spread, and in turn, greatly increase your yeild.

if i missed something, or you cant understand my rambles. let me know

 

[braines420]

Thank you for the very detailed response. I'm actually using Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil, which ive (obviously) heard nothing but good reviews on. Originally I had picked up some miracle gro lol! Lucky for me I live on the same street as a hydroponics store that carries pretty much strictly the fox farm line of products.

Not sure if you know anything about fox farm nutes but I was thinking of just going with grow big and tiger bloom. I know people have also mentioned big bloom. Is there much of a difference between big and tiger? Do I need both?

And do you know where I can get just simple CFL lamps? I have no intelligence with ballasts and all of that crap, I just need something that will plug in. I'm guessing walmart or home depot would have something good for that?

 

[nibec]

that should be a good soil then. It just looked a lot like a soil i tried way way back, that was loaded with crap i didnt need.

walmart has 26w cfls for the best price i can find locally.

as far as fox farm goes.. i have no idea whatsoever. i have only used Advanced nutrients, and general hydroponics. i will however look into it for you, as im interested also. heard a lot of good things about it, and am always willing to try new nutes, etc

EDIT: i would like to add, wheni say use 2700k cfls, thats for flower.. not veg.

 

[nibec]

looks like you will need the trio.

big bloom and grow big for your veg.

and

all big bloom, grow big, and tiger bloom for flower

FoxFarm Soil & Fertilizer Company

 

[Truth Seeker]

Thank you for the very detailed response. I'm actually using Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil, which ive (obviously) heard nothing but good reviews on. Originally I had picked up some miracle gro lol! Lucky for me I live on the same street as a hydroponics store that carries pretty much strictly the fox farm line of products.

Not sure if you know anything about fox farm nutes but I was thinking of just going with grow big and tiger bloom. I know people have also mentioned big bloom. Is there much of a difference between big and tiger? Do I need both?

And do you know where I can get just simple CFL lamps? I have no intelligence with ballasts and all of that crap, I just need something that will plug in. I'm guessing walmart or home depot would have something good for that?

whats good brotha!!!

check it, I see you are looking for some good nutes!!! I am hoping that you are looking into FF for their organic solutions... if so... you need to check out BPN (Blue Planet Nutrients) They are a sponsor here!!! I am also sponsored by BPN!!! feel free to check out my or any of our soldiers journals, you can find them in the BPN Army Journal Blog!!! it's in the sig!!!

Hope to see more of ya around brotha!!!

to the community!!!

 

[braines420]

thank you both. I'm afraid theres some sort of whiteness on the soil, I'm thinking its mold but dont know how I could be getting mold so quickly. I plan on starting an actual journal so I wont continue to post into this. but.. help???

 

[nibec]

Mold is a possibility.

How wet are You keeping it? Remember.. Seedlings need very little water, and typically don't even need to be watered for the first week at least. Depending on your lighting and heat of course.

If you are keepin it nice and dry, try putting something over the soil so light doesn't hit it.

 

[braines420]

I havent watered it too much. just a bit to keep the soil damp. also, I left the door open for long amounts of time yesterday for the first time because my fan broke and havent been able to get to the store for a new one yet.. could that have been any factor? should I continue to leave it open or keep the door closed?
humidity is at about 40%

 

[nibec]

You should be fine really. But I can't see the picture well enough to see too much of the fuzz.

If you ever have issues with stuff growing on your soil, the easiest method is just take some black and white poly.. Or whatever really.cut a little hole, and put it over the soil and poke the plant threw the hole.
No light typically means no growth.

Normally the top of the soil is dry however . So I it's always wet or damp. You might be overwatering. Not saying you are. Just keep an eye on that

 

[Truth Seeker]

whats good B420!!!

Hey man, I don't think it is mold!!! you say some whitness... you are using FFOF correct??? if so, when I used the Happy Frog, I had something similar, it is the soil drying out!!! no worries, more and more of it will do that soon enough as the moisture leaves the soil... just keep your eye on it!!! how many times have you added water??

when you have the seed under the soil level still, you just want to add the drops over the seed area, once it has popped its all about roots!!! Roots seed out the moisture, so if all the soil is moist, then they won't look for the moisture... always allow the seedlings to go through a dry spell!!! just to make sure that you are establishing a good root structure!!!

 

[braines420]

astonr420, thank you, I've been worried about it since I woke up! lol. I added a bit of water the first day i planted, and a bit at the end of the 2nd day, and some during the 3rd day, and not at all yesterday. Should I keep opening the door for now until I get a fan in there?

 

[Truth Seeker]

you need to keep some type of wind on it so that the stem will get strong, since you don't have a fan yet, you should really keep the light as close as possible to them so they don't start to do to much stretching!!! but the fan is an absolute must... but yes keep the door open so as to not allow it to heat up to much in there!!!



also let me know when you get that journal going!!! I'll be there for ya buddy!!!

 

[braines420]

Last question before I start a journal: When should I transplant them to the bigger pots? Tomorrow will be one week since they were planted. I know its a pretty common question, Im just asking because everyone says something different and you seem to know what you're doing astonr

 

[Truth Seeker]

Well thank you, pretty much everything I know, I learned or a part of it came from this site brotha!!! ENDLESS KNOWLEDGE HERE not just only for the growing... but for the awareness of cannabis as well!!! I invite you to check out the 420 Lounge they have a little bit of everything in there!!! even an off topic area if you want to grow other things other than cannabis...

Now to your question...
When your looking to transplant, you should be checking the roots at the bottom of the pot... don't hesitate to pull it out to see where your root growth is at...
This is a photo from my most recent grow, this was root bound...

you always want a stable root establishment at the bottom of the pot!!!

start in a solo cup, then about 2 - 3 weeks check and see if the roots have made an establishment!!! if they have started rounding the bottom then transplant to 1 gallon, then same with that 2 - 3 weeks later, check again, if so go up another gallon... til you get to the desired pot... make sure this all happens before you switch to flowering!!! you don't want to cause any stress to your girls in flowering!!!

Joys of Growing - Great Guide

Check out this post by 420!!! it has a lot of useful info in it!!!