Grandpa's White Widow - 1st grow EVER

[grandpastoner]

I have just begun my very first grow. I bought 20 feminized White Widow seeds from Dutch Passion. And since I am an absolute newbie, I did not know how to create an actual grow room, so I bought 2 grow cabinets that I just finished putting together. I also bought a DVD recommended by High Times called Jorge Cervantes' Ultimate Grow (Step By Step Instructions for Beginners). It called for me to put the seeds in water to germinate them in 2 to 7 days. I followed this to the letter, but since I live in a VERY old house, regulating the indoor tempeture is close to impossible. So the water containing the seeds went from warm to cool...back and forth. By the 6th day there was no change whatsoever in the seeds. Then a friend of mine told me to place them in a wet paper towel, put the towel in an empty egg carton, and keep it someplace warm. I did this and within 2 days I had tap roots about 3/8 of an inch long. So I am guessing that I didn't screw them up.

Today I planted them in 8 starter cups I got from the local (and ONLY) store that deals with gardening. The cups state that when they are ready to begin vegetation, that I can simply place the cups in the soil and the roots will force their way thru and into the soil. Now the ONLY potting soil they carry is Miracle Grow which says it has a fertilizer in it that feeds for 3 months. I hope this will be alright So now...I guess it's waiting time. I am a little concerned about the lighting. There are 8 fluorescent lights 4 feet long in each corner of the cab. It is my understanding that the plants reach toward the light. And other pics I have seen have the lights directly over the plants. I hope this way works...guess time will tell. I am enclosing some pics of the cabs and the starter cups containing the seeds. Since I have NO idea of how to include the pics in this thread...you may find them by looking in the members gallary under grandpastoner. And I am leaving the lights on during this period for 18 hours.

 

[Be Irie]

Welcome to 420 grandpastoner.....
You found the right place to help you make your grow as smooth as possible... Here are a few links for you to take a peek at...
Photo Gallery Guide: How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos
How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know
Watch out with that miracle grow, it can be a bit strong for young ones.... You are in Redding and you can't find good soil? hmm, never would have thought that..

 

[tonystarks]

Whats cracking Grandpappy Be really conservative when it comes to feeding nutrients. The label advises to feed like 4 times what your plant needs so always mix at 25%. Since you are using Miracle Gro soil be cautious with the nutes. Get some pictures up for the 420Mag fam to take a peek at

 

[TorturedSoul]

got from the local (and ONLY) store that deals with gardening.

Hmm. I just typed Redding California hydroponics into the Google searchbox and from the map display it looks like there are at least three hydro shops in Redding itself and several others close by (11).

From your post it looks like you are going to be doing soil but I would still visit them. Many such stores sell good soil (the name FoxFarm popped into my head for some reason) and most all of them are likely to have ferts and additives that will work. And assuming its a decent store, the people working there should have a lot of knowledge about all of their products.

[EDIT: Replacing the word "hydroponics" with the word "gardening" in a google search gave me LOTS of results on the map display. Even discounting the pest control, landscaping, and other things that didn't look like gardening places it still left several. But I'd still hit the hydro shops - you will find a lot more there than Miracle Grow. In fact, you won't find that lol.]

 

[grandpastoner]

Thanxxx to a 420 family member here, my old ass learned how to put the pix I took up. So here they are: Outside of one grow cab

The interior of one of the grow cabs:

The precious...beautiful White Widow tap root

The potting soil I am using:

The freshly planted seedlings in thier new home:

A closer look at the seedlings in thier containers in the grow cab:

Another beautiful White Widow tap root:

Now that I know how to post pics, I will keep all of you up to date about once a week with a steady progress report. And I would like to say also thanxxx for the responses. Any positive help is a good thing. Oh yea, thanxxx to Be IRIE for calling me the Redding location. I recently moved and forgot to change it on my profile. Sorry. Gonna change it now. Stay cool and safe yall.

 

[Big dog]

Nice-looking set up. Congratulations. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SouthernOnt]

Nice setup once your widows are seedlings they should really take off. Check out mine at 2 weeks with a 24/7 lighting.

 

[nbk380]

you will be better of with some designer soil like f.f. it really works good.

m.g. is totally suitable to grow with. ive used it before with good results and so have others. the key is not to feed your plants for a couple months cause it's has basic nute's built in.

you can add designer nutes after they are big enough to handle them.

good luck and don't worry about askin for advice. there's tons avaliable here.

here's a link you'll use for sure..
Plant Abuse Chart

 

[grandpastoner]

Thanxxx yall. This is such a cool place with way cool folks. It's like I have a new family.

 

[rugdoc]

Hmm. I just typed Redding California hydroponics into the Google searchbox and from the map display it looks like there are at least three hydro shops in Redding itself and several others close by (11).

From your post it looks like you are going to be doing soil but I would still visit them. Many such stores sell good soil (the name FoxFarm popped into my head for some reason) and most all of them are likely to have ferts and additives that will work. And assuming its a decent store, the people working there should have a lot of knowledge about all of their products.

[EDIT: Replacing the word "hydroponics" with the word "gardening" in a google search gave me LOTS of results on the map display. Even discounting the pest control, landscaping, and other things that didn't look like gardening places it still left several. But I'd still hit the hydro shops - you will find a lot more there than Miracle Grow. In fact, you won't find that lol.]

Redding California? he lives in PA.

Grandpa good luck and Ill be watching your grow!

 

[nbk380]

HTG supply is in PA - cranberry twp to be exact. whatever twp is, township maybe, but i get my stuff there and i'm in OK so it should be a breeze for you.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Redding California? he lives in PA.

Grandpa good luck and Ill be watching your grow!

We figured that out when he removed the "Redding Ca" from his location lol.

 

[grandpastoner]

I just added the last 2 light units (2 bulbs each) making it one bright SOB inside the cab.

The temp is around 80 degrees which I have heard is good. The humidity is about 25%.

My air circulation is a concern though. The grow cabs came equipped with 2 fans…2 small computer fans which don’t really do a lot if you ask me. The maker said they are designed to create a sort of circulation movement drawing air in thru the open ports at the bottom and forcing it out thru the top. A decent theory…but like many theories, they suck in application. As you can see the fans are located at the top of the cab. The one on the left is working and the one on the right is not.

I’m not sure what to do. I was thinking about cutting a larger hole in the back of the cab and installing a larger fan that will blow in toward the plants instead out to create the initial effect. I am also worried about either over watering or under watering what I already have. The soil I am keeping damp to the touch.

And the lights are on 24/7 for now. Also, the area I am growing in is my basement...and the floor stays damn cold. So I put a couple of my tee shirts on the floor of the cab as sort of an insulating type of thing.

 

[SouthernOnt]

Humidity domes would likely help you get some sprouts or some cling wrap on the tops of the pots.

 

[SouthernOnt]

You keepin a girl for summer?

 

[flyfishinrock]

it would be better to use the bigger fan to pull the air out of the cab, i believe fans have like 3x the pulling power as they do pushing power. The air drawing up should supply a reasonable amount of wind in the cab.
The cab looks nice, well done.

 

[grandpastoner]

Thanxxx everyone. I have my eye on a lady who will make a great mother. By the way, how do I know when I have watered enough ? I have been told NOT to over water or under water. So how do I know I am doing it right ? I just looked in and have 5 sprouts ! I'm a happy pappy !

 

[SouthernOnt]

lets see the littluns and just enough to keep the top wet when watering

 

[tricome]

Hey, pops!
Nice work on the grow cab.!
When my plants are starting off in small containers, I test the soil with my finger. I lay my finger flat on top of the soil and press down gently. If it's dry, time to water; if it's moist it's ok.
Good luck!

 

[grandpastoner]

Here's a quick update yall. I now am the proud papa of 6 sprouts. However, the weather has been changing lke crazy...70 degrees and sunny one day, snowing the next (NO JOKE). So it has dropped the temp of the cab by about 10 degrees...but the floor where the babies were sitting was very cold. My very young and beautiful wife suggested we raise them by putting them on a box, thus keeping a distance between our babies and the cold floor. So, that is where we are thus far. Been almost a week in the dirt...give or take a day or two.