First time experiment :)

[Skwerl]

Greetings, how are you all this fine day? It's a beautiful one out here on the West Coast and I hope it is wherever this may find you as well.

Anyway, this is my first post on this forum and my first time trying to care for three lovely green dwarfs. I haven't been doing anything extravagant as I have zero cash to spend on a nice set up, so I used things I had around the house. The seeds were given to me without any names of strains. I germinated the seeds overnight in a shot glass of distilled water and they came out wonderfully. The next morning I planted them each separately in plastic bottles I cut in half and put holes in the bottom for drainage. I used "Miracle grow organic choice" potting soil. I distilled more water (I went further in depth with these by charging the water with amethysts and with word wraps[yes I'm a 'hippie']) and used that to water these beautiful children. They've been sitting on a window sill type ordeal where they get plenty of light throughout the day. This was all a week ago today and here they are now, wonderfully growing. As I stated before, this is my first time growing and don't have the money to get super crazy with a great set up, just things around the house and at most $50. I'd like some feedback as to what you would do in this situation to get the best out of your batch. I'm trying to move them into the closet here when they're a little bit bigger and I can afford some sort of lights. What are some good lights and what all I would need for around $50, and things around the house, if that is possible?

 

[jd8611]

all is well here, thank you. Lights, you can go with CFL's, many people use them or fluorescent lamps. CFL's are more expensive to buy but use less energy than fluorescent, both can be close to the plant so the plant wont stretch very much. You should introduce forced air to them also (cheap box fan), this will make the stalk stronger; peace.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

They look pretty fine apart from the stretch, they're just trying to get closer to the light source thats all...


Mmm lights for veg, more than likely look at spectrum of light & would suggest CFL or T5 tubes around the 6400k (kelvin) thats pretty much the blue colour of light which really helps with veg growth (non flower stage) & at a push 5000k cfl but veg growth may be longer... a good hanging distance for cfl/T5 from plant top is 1'' to 2'' as they really do such at distance when concerning the inverse law of light effect.

In about 3 to 4 weeks of growth apply 1/4 strength application of nutrients.



That should keep ya tidy for the time being & btw welcome to the forums

 

[Skwerl]

Awesome, thank you much!

When I move them into the closet, what are things I should be weary of?

 

[TanR]

Hi Skwerl,

Just wanted to add my voice to welcome you to both 420 magazine and the community that gathers here!

Some sound suggestions from both jd and Fuzzy. I'd like to offer that when it's eventually time to transplant, you might consider using a container that is not transparent. Roots are not fond of light.

I also found a decent 300 watt equivalent CFL bulb (85 actual watts) at home depot and along with one of those 10" or so clamp on work light reflectors cost around $20.00 or $25.00 that I used when I first started. Soon got "the grow bug" though and upgraded to a 600 watt High Intensity Discharge(HID) though but continue to use the CFL as an additional light source in the tent.

 

[Skwerl]

Oh and what wattage should I be looking for?

 

[Skwerl]

Thanks for the welcoming and the additional information. I believe I will be able to have this set up nice and done rather inexpensively. I'm thinking that I need to hang a plastic sheet around the plants because the room gets some weed smoked in it and I've heard they don't like the smell of their relatives.

 

[jd8611]

Thanks for the welcoming and the additional information. I believe I will be able to have this set up nice and done rather inexpensively. I'm thinking that I need to hang a plastic sheet around the plants because the room gets some weed smoked in it and I've heard they don't like the smell of their relatives.

Never heard of that before (smelling your relatives being burnt), lmao.... I know I would freak out smelling my relatives being burnt! This is a great place to get information Skwerl. Thanks again TanR, peace.

 

[Skwerl]

Right? When I was told that the first time I thought the same way, lol. I'm really happy with the interactions thus far and everything else seems very legit and backed by a great community. I'm glad to have found my way here Namaste.

 

[TanR]

LOL. Well, I do remember reading something in a journal on here where a grower said not to expose plants to smoke, but honestly I smoke around my plants frequently and haven't noticed any negative effects.

As far as wattage for any lights, the short answer is always going to be "MORE"! Since your interested (or necessitated) in keeping the cost in check, I would look for the highest wattage CFL's you can find with the highest Kelvin rating available. I beleive the one I found at Home Depot was only 5,000K and ideally the plants prefer something in the 6,500 during vegatative growth but I've read of folks growing with just about every kind of light imaginable as long as the plants get enough of it.