Concerns of a first timer

[serkansalah]

Hello Everyone,

I am a first time, indoor grower for cannabis. I have got Green-o-Matic seeds from Green House Seeds as it is said its fast growing,can be done indoors and a good choice for rookies...like myself...

So i put one of the seeds on a pot as seen on photos and if somethings wrong or mistaken,only one of the seeds will be spoiled.So we can call her 'SUBJECT' seed. For first 3 weeks,i didn't have a grow box or similar, just in the room on the table with one 60w incdescent bulb on her.14 hours ligth was on than 10hours off but NOT pure dark...What was i thinking?I don't remember...So after 3 weeks i feel somethings wrong as i checked on web and see some photos of same kind and same period of time,they looked 3 times larger than mine...

So i made a box,slightly larger than a PC box with 75W Metal Halide lamp in it, no fan as it is always around 27Celcius(80Fahrenheit) hot when light is on,but some holes around box for air though,with 14hrs. light on and 10hrs. dark. Now the photos are from 5th week,around 35th day,the leafs on the topü,as seen on image 2892,grow on last 2 weeks,after light and box, but it still looks like going slow...I water her when the soil feels dry (like every 2 days...)and i didn't put any soil addition...

You can see an iphone next to her just to have idea about height...

Now i am ready to hear any kind of comments,thanx in advance...

 

[The Master]

Re: Concerns of a first timer....

ok ... 1st your plants have stretched and slow grow because the light you were using. the mh should help out though. now if you can burry half that stem in dirt, it will grow roots under the soil level. next, a fan not only cools but the breeze will strengthen the stem and circulate air. and last , 10hrs of darkness is too much for the veggie stage of your plant. cut it down to no more than 6hrs (less if you want) TOTAL DARKNESS. this should get her back on her feet

 

[serkansalah]

Hi Master,
Thanks for reply,

I will arrange a fan as soon as possible and change the timer of lamp for 6hrs off . Actually she looks healty and alive,especially the new leaves but tall and skinny.Burying down a bit more into soil

Any comments for using soil additions?soil steroids?soil vitamins?
Here in my city, i can find 2 types of these soil additions,named as Flower Stimulator and Plant Stimulator...I dunno if they are same or different...

Waiting for comments...Thanx in advance...

 

[NastyAce05]

you can also keep the lights on 24-7 for a a week or two just to minimize a bit of the stretching thats going on with that tiny lady and to make her go back into veg cause I dont know if you noticed its flowering already, hehe or do my eyes deceive me, I see pistals on the top of that lil one. And yes Bury that thing down till only the 1st actual set of leaves are right on top of the soil, the stem will start to root where ever part of the stem is under the soil and if you want roots to grow faster add some rooting hormones to the stem before you bury it.(only the parts of the stem that are gonna be under the soil).

 

[serkansalah]

Hello NastyAce05,

You are right,there are already pistals in middle new leaves...And started smelling a bit...Well i am not sure if this is a good thing or not...Because,this is almost the 6th week of her and normally,having pistals at this time is good,i guess...

It looks like burying her down is right thing to do but i am a little afraid as i heard/read if the root of a plant gets in touch with air,while changing pots or changing soil or similar actions,it can die...So how can i proceed while burying her down in the pot ? Also may not be clear in photos but the stem of her is same height as the pot now. Should i get a taller pot ?

Well,it seems like me and her are confused at the moment...

Thanks for replies...Waiting for more...

 

[Heks]

your light might not be close enough, hold your hand above the top leaves, if it's comfortable (not warm) move the light closer, also, you need at least 18-24 hours of light per day followed by complete darkness, 24 is preferred for me cause that 6 hours adds up to days of missed out growth.

green-o-matic is an autoflowering strain, meaning it's going to flower no matter the light cycle (flowers based on age) and you might as well just get a new bulb for flowering 2100K CFL or high pressure sodium. your girl will be done is probably 6-7 weeks though, so it's up to you.

Keep in mind; most growers plan grows before the seed or clone is cut or planted. study the tools, food, and accommodation required to grow a healthy, vibrant plant. Yes, you can just stuff a seed in the ground and watch it grow, but it's not growing to it's potential.

 

[serkansalah]

Hello Heks,

As i read from forums,i understand that light is needed to grow the plant but if i turn on light for 24hrs.,it will grow plant but not flower.Darkness period is good for flowering.Thats why i turn off light for sometime in a day...But now,after you remind,it makes sense 'AUTOFLOWERING' is going to flower anyways...

Also,i got a Sodium HPS light of 150W 2700K which is said to be good for flowering period,i tried out for a couple of hours and it gets so hot,around 37Celcius (98.5 Fahremheit), i turned off...

This girl here is pioneering my 'growing adventure',for sure this girl is going to be saved,and the next ones will grow in better conditions...

Thanks for nice replies,waiting for new ones...

 

[Heks]

yeah, with autoflower you can do 18+ hours of light during the flowering period, but because of the ruderalis they're less potent and the early flower limits their size. you should also plan out nutrients accordingly, high (N) nitrogen for vegetative growth, high (K) potassium for flowering (cannabis doesn't need nearly as much (P) phosphorous as people want to believe)

if the 150 watt is too much maybe consider a larger grow space, usually it's the metal halides that heat up a room though. You should definitely see this grow through, to get a complete understanding of the process and harvest. I'm sure once you get it down you'll have to stop yourself from growing too many giant plants.

 

[serkansalah]

Thanks Heks,

Very helpful comments,i already buried her down to the level of the very very tiny leaves that can be seen on 3rd photo.

In other forums and threads photos,i see box type growers are mostly using lights which looks like 'power saver bulb' .Are they also named CFL or CFL is something different?

Now i am thinking,may be instead of stressing myself for using metal halide or HPS lights and die trying to stabilize the temperature, i should use some power saver(or CFL) bulbs with no heating problem...If i do that,it will be like taking out 4700K MH and puting some 2000K bulbs instead...Is it OK. considering my girl here ?

I start to feel like it is not important the type of light but the Kelvin amount is...So it seems something like 4000-5000K is good for plants growing times and 2000-2500K is good when flowering... Should I take out 75W MH 4700K. and put 4 osram 18W,2050K.(which is said to be equalent to around 100w. on their box...)Did i start repeting this last sentence?Am i getting crazy?

Need to hear opinions please...Thanx in advance...

 

[sully508]

a hps bulb is usually2100k good flowering bulb. its good to have 2700cfl, and 6500k bulbs cfls for bluish light for growing and roots. and orange/ yellow/ red (hps bulb). thats what i use from start to finish. plenty of blue,and red.
autoflowering plants do better under a 20/4 light/dark schedules.
the plant only has 10 weeks to grow. you should give it as much light as possible. 1/2 the nutes you would give a regular plant.
i have 15 short ryders by nirvana. mine look like little x-mas trees.
3 weeks left. if your looking for liquid rooting hormone KLM by dyna grow.
naphyl acidic acid, indole acidic acid, stimulates the plants natural hormones auxins. it looks like you didnt give your plants enough light. these kind of plant grow for only 10 weeks before they go sour. 24 light start. for 4 weeks. then 20/4 after that till the end.

 

[serkansalah]

Thanks Sully508,

From your reply,it seems like there is around 4 weeks left for my plant.I have to do everything,to maximize the growth and flowering during this time,and accept whatever comes out at the end...

Thanks for helpful reply...Need every kind of advices for next ones...

 

[Heks]

When using CFL bulbs don't go by the watt equivalent, their bare wattage is what's measured for growing purposes. While they may seem like a value, over time the cost of CFL bulbs outweighs HID lights, so for now they might be good for use until you can have a larger and/or better ventilated/cooled space for HID instead.

Do you plan to continue growing in soil? Have you looked into what nutrients you will be using next time, organic/chemical?

 

[serkansalah]

Hi Heks,

For this plant,i will stick to my MH 75W. which looks enough for one pot.May be i add one CFL with 2100K. next to it,turn on both at the same time . I want to turn off MH for around 3hrs a day,during night probably,to help balast and bulb cool down for a while...But at this period,CFL will remain on...So there will be light 24hrs.,but only CFL for 3hrs,both of them for the rest of 21hrs. What do you say ?

I am planing to get into nutrients stuff in a couple of days....I will be going to one of those big gardening stores, they will have everything ,every kind and look for something organic (not because of my deep knowledge but because 'ORGANIC' sounds good...) balanced-ly rich in Nitrogen and Potasium,just one type....Or maybe get 2 types,one with more nitrogen and one with more potasium so i can use them with my later plants,seperately while plant period and flower period,as you mentioned in before posts...

For sure, i will be having more plants but seems it will always be around 2-4 plants at a time with small-mid size (i would love to have the ones with 2meter high but not possible...) ,probably in my terrace when weather conditions are good or in a box slightly bigger than this and with better conditions than this i have now...

Also, i will be updating the photo with her new position in pot and try to show the lighting and box itself...

Thanks for your kind opinions,waiting for more,if you please...

 

[sully508]

that sound like a good lighting set up
21 hours w/ MH and cfls then shut off the mh and leave on the cfls
cfl are the energy saving spiral bulbs usually. cfls have range from 2700k soft white more orange redish. simulates a autum sunny sky the 5000k and 4100k is mostly in the white/blue spectrum. it simulates a bright but cloudy day. 6500k has more blue and simulates a late spring sunny day.
they can never have enough light. i use a400 watt hps and a 400 watt mh w/4 cfls.

 

[serkansalah]

Thanks for reply sully 508...

Today,i went to a garden utilites store and find a plant food with brand name VILMORIN.
Inside there are; %4 of N , %6 phosforpentaoxide??(P2O5) , %6 Potasiumoxide (K2O) , %0,013 Bar(B) , %0,003 Copper (Cu) , %0,021 Iron (Fe) , %0,011 Mangan (Mn) , %0,0011 Moliben (Mo) , %0,0058 Zinc (Zn). It advices to use it every 8-10 days,except for winter.

About lighting; i saw today there are 6700K,2150Lumens CFL type bulbs and i am using now 4200K 6300Lumens MH. So what is more important here ? K value or Lumens value ? In an articele i read while growing period 6500K is very good and while flowering period around 2500K is good. If it is all about K value , than CFL with 6700K can be used because it sounds better than the MH,as more K and less electricity used...

Kelvin or Lumens?( By the way,i saw this kind of arguements in other web pages and posts with no specific solution found at the end,so i thought why not a discussion of my own?... )

Waiting for kind replies and opinions...

 

[Growing247]

That plant looks terrible. If it were me I would shit can it and start over. I had to do that today as matter of fact. Killed my last cutting of Warlock that I had left. I was so pissed. Everyone LOVED that weed. From the original 2 clones I got for free I turned them into 10 clones and grew a bumper crop hehe...but then again I live within driving distance of two clone dispensaries and also just ordered 200 worth of seeds off the internet. I bought a bunch of Emerald Triangle Gear. Going to give them a go. All feminized this time! No more Mr. Nice grower.

 

[sully508]

k=kelvin color of light. like my 400 watt MH is 7500 kelvin mostly blue. color can also can be measured in nanometers. the color of light. 2100 kelvin is the color output of my hps bulb. has alot of red,orange and yellow. cfl that is 2700 kelvin gives off pretty much the same color as a hps bulb.
lumens= amout of light output. my 7500 kelvin MH puts out 36,000 lumens of light.
my hps puts out 50,000 lumens. my 26 watt cfls puts out 1750 lumens of light.
a 1000 watt hps puts out 111,000+ lumens of light. lumens are how much light a bulbs brightness is.
hope this helps.

 

[sully508]

its good to have the right spectrum (degrees kelvin) blues, red, orange ,yellow, and violet. green does nothing for the plant. 3500ks have alot of green so dont't get a 3500k bulb.
but lumens are more important than kelvin. you can figure out how many lumens per watt you using. i can grow a plant from start to finish using a hps 2100 degrees kelvin. or a mh from seed to harvest.. not enough lumens the plant will not recieve enough light. very low yeild and it will slow the growth
you can ever have enough lumens. unless you have 2 1000 watt hps lights.
i use 2 400 watt lights 800 watts total. the initial output of light is around 100,000 lumens. to figure out lumens per watt, you divide the wattage by the output of lumens 100,000/ 800 watts =125 lumen per watt.
the 600 watt hps light is the most efficient w/ 95,000 lumens=158 lumen per watt. unless the lighting is same as the sun you never have enough lumens.

 

[quietonthe401]

You're worried about kelvin and lumens? You started off totally wrong,little girl.
Its a plant! quit texting and read some posts.