Grinns 1st experimental grow

[Grinn]

Hey guys and gals of 420 mag!
As this is my first growing attempt I thought I'd start a journal to share my progress and hopefully pick up a few pointers along the way

What strain is it? - Unknown
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? - suspected to be some kind of sativa?
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? - Veg i think
If in Veg... For how long? - approx 6 weeks
If in Flower stage... For how long?
Indoor or outdoor? - indoor
Soil or Hydro? - soil
If soil... what is in your mix? - Peat free multi-purpose compost
If soil... What size pot? - about 4 inch high x 3.5 inch diam
Size of light? - none
Is it aircooled? - no
Temp of Room/cab? - room temp
RH of Room/cab? - unknown
PH of media or res? - unknown
Any Pests ? - no!
How often are you watering? - was once a day to keep top moist, only doing every 3 days now
Type and strength of ferts used? - none


I started off with some seeds I got in some bud I picked up off a mate, planted 3 in pots with some of my other plants just to see if any would germinate... and one sprouted!

After leaving it a week or 2, I decided that I should remove it from the pot it was sharing with some chives on my window sill and treat it to its own accomodation I potted it on using peat-free multi-purpose compost, gave it a good watering and left it to its own devices on the kitchen window sill.

Since then it has been growing quite happily, putting out some good growth spurts when we've had a few days of hot sunshine, to reach where it is today.

After reading through the growers guides here, I think that I may have been overwatering it (yes I am a novice grower), because I never let the compost dry out, keeping it quite damp on the surface.

At present its just sprouting its 8th set of leaves, but I am getting concerned with the height of the plant and how thin the main stem seems to be. I realise that it needs a gentle breeze to help thicken the main stem, but I have no space to commit to a grow room and as such its not had any artificial light, humidity or fans on it.

I would like to keep it fairly compact, as I am only growing for my personal use, and would like it to bush out rather than grow tall. Also I am unsure on whether it is a male,female or even haemaphrodite, can anyone help me with this?

Ive taken a few pictures today, with some close-ups of dying leaves (which I suspect is due to the overwatering), hopefully some of you can point me in the right direction to stop this happening any further...

The leaves seem to be dying off at the bottom of the plant, i.e. the oldest are the first ones to go, and working its way up. They start out with little burnt spots, then gradually the whole leaf dies off, goes brown and crispy. Obviously its not heat burn, cos i got no heat lamps or lighting on the plant (apart from natural sun), but I am starting to wonder if theres a nutrition deficiency somewhere that I need to start replacing back to the soil.

Any information that could help me further would be appeciated, if the plant turns out to be male, I have at least 30 odd seeds that I can experiment with and try again! Oh on the subject of seeds, some are dark, some are pale cream and some are pale with dark tiger stripes on them, does this mean anything? Which are the best ones to plant?

for reading my wafflings, I've attached the photos below so you can see my efforts to date. I look forward to reading your comments and pointers!

Grinn

 

[boxpipe]

Hi Grinn, welcome to the club. I'd say waaay too much water for the little tyke. And you've got some kind of deficiency going on, not sure which. Your best bet at this point is read through a bunch of the soil grows, the faqs and other helpful guides and learn as much as you can.

You won't be able to tell what sex it is until it goes into bloom mode, which is dependent on lighting. You should probably get it under a regular lamp and timer soon if you're going to continue to grow it indoor.

Colors of the seeds don't mean much, AFAIK. Great to see a new grower!

 

[Grinn]

hey boxpipe, thanks for the reply

I've read sooo much info the last few days about nutrients and deficiencies I think my brains melted! (No its nothing to do with smoking!) The main conclusion I came to is that I have been overwatering it, causing a nute lockout. I thought I'd leave it a few days to pick up again then see what happens.

As for lighting etc, like I said, I haven't any space really to dedicate to a grow room for it, plus I cant really justify spending out on any equipment because at present I am not working, and everything has to go on bills! Its more of a learning process to see if I can grow myself some stash, so I dont have to buy so often!

I forgot to mention earlier, would I be right in thinking it could be a sativa strain? The leaves are quite long and thin. Also if you sniff the new growth at the top of the plant it's starting to smell quite nice!

I would like to encourage it to bush out more rather than grow tall, again because it is going to have to stay indoors, once it has recovered from the over-watering I will be needing some advice in how to approach this. I've been reading up about snipping near nodes or something, but again I think i've confused myself! I dont wanna hack it and loose it after managing this far!

Anyway, thanks again for the input!

Grinn

 

[soapbar]

your gonna have to commit some space to a grow room mate else its gonna fuck the plant up baaaadddd
and get yourself sorted out with a couple of lights can only do some help do without a bit of stuff and get yourself sorted with equipment thts what am gna have to do :-(
make your own grow room infact
couple of sheets of wood and some nails
but anywya good luck and i'll be keepin an eye too see how it turns out

 

[Grinn]

Thanks for the input bud, after doing yet more reading I've come to the same conclusion that I'm gonna have to knock something up as regards a grow room, its just finding somewhere to put it out the way... harder said than done in a rented one bed flat! Plus I dont think my partner will be too happy if I start getting carried away... think a pleading session might be in order besides she's been paying for my smoke so far, so might be able to put it like that to her

Just an idea, is it possible/does it work to make a grow room big enough for just one plant? Whats the smallest space they need if you control height by pruning? If I can make a small enough one theres the possibility of making it mobile in case of flat inspections by the housing agency...

 

[soapbar]

yooo if your in a one bedded flat then please tell me you have a drying room next door like i used too
the guy across the landing from me had got his friend a locksmith to come in and change the locks coz no one used it anyway so he mad it a grow room
just spinnin off ideas

 

[AmGrowR]

Welcome Grinn! My first attempt just showed sex Male. But I just wanted to let you know that I grew it and am still growing it with a single 42w cfl that you could find at Wal-Mart or pretty much anywhere. They are cheap and work great! I kept it no more than an inch away from the top of the plant at all times which really seemed to keep height down. Make sure you are giving it 12 hours light and 12 hours complete, uninterrupted darkness! Great Job so far!!

 

[Grinn]

Ha I should be so lucky Soap mate, its literally a one bed flat in a block of 5 others. No airing cupboards or anything in these!

AmGrowR - thanks for the info bud, I'm gonna start making plans for a small room tomorrow so will post pix up as and when it gets done

 

[soapbar]

pfffttt looks like your up shit creek my friend just too jump off topic you seen any other uk members on here yet ?
and get yourself to the drawing board and figue put what the fuck yer gonna doooo
cant let that plant die was the stuff you pulled the seeds from good ?
if it was then by all means defend it with your life

 

[Grinn]

Ha just spoke to my partner not allowed a grow room, too dodgy no matter how small But I've moved it under one of my halogen desk lights and within 45mins its reaching up to the light! So the plan is no to leave it under that for 12 hours, then into the bathroom for 12 hours total darkness.

Cant remember what the bud was like the seed came from, I just got a bag with loads of seeds I've saved from various purchases

Havent come across any other UK members, seems to be mostly US based

 

[soapbar]

yeah noticed quite depressing but heyy companys company and there good guys and i seeee but seems like a good enough plan for the likes of me
just keep it growing strong your inspiring the confidence in me too start my grow sooner lol

 

[Grinn]

yeah for sure, had nothing but warm welcomes so far!
I think the desk light jobber is the way to go, the plants top new shoots are pretty much vertical now after just over an hour under the light, keep it up my beauty!

 

[soapbar]

be sure too keep the photos coming

 

[boxpipe]

Grinn do a search through the grow forums for "stealth" and you'll come up with some pretty nifty ideas. Like, if you can find an old dresser for free, you can knock out all the internals and voila, your new stealth grow chamber. You don't need much space to grow one plant, especially if you keep it manicured. Also take a look at the various lights people are using, there are some reasonably priced alternatives. For air flow, find some old computer fans.

Keep asking questions here about how to creatively do things for cheap, lots of people have some really cool ideas.

No idea where you live, but you can try craigslist or freecycle for free stuff.

edit: Oops, a UK lad!

 

[Grinn]

Grinn do a search through the grow forums for "stealth" and you'll come up with some pretty nifty ideas. Like, if you can find an old dresser for free, you can knock out all the internals and voila, your new stealth grow chamber. You don't need much space to grow one plant, especially if you keep it manicured. Also take a look at the various lights people are using, there are some reasonably priced alternatives. For air flow, find some old computer fans.

Keep asking questions here about how to creatively do things for cheap, lots of people have some really cool ideas.

No idea where you live, but you can try craigslist or freecycle for free stuff.

edit: Oops, a UK lad!

Aha, wondered what this "stealth" was I kept reading about... thought it was some kind of strain! Shows how much of a noob I am in these things!

You mentioned "manicuring", by which I take it you mean pruning to keep the height down and make it bush out.
This is pretty much what I want to do, as its only for me and an experiment at the moment to see how things go.
How soon is too soon to start pruning the top? Where should I cut it? I've gotten a bit confused with some of the terminology of plant parts

The plant is about 8 inches tall at the moment and on its 8th/9th set of leaves including the very first round ones it sprouted.

I take it you are in the UK too, judging by the fact you mentioned freecycle

edit: after 3 hours under my 11w halogen desk light the plant seems to be really happy, even some of the larger leaves have lifted towards the light!! I can't believe how fast it reacts to changes compared to the other plants I grow! Heres a pic or 3 I've just taken about 10 mins ago, for you all to compare with the earlier ones I took this morning...

 

[soapbar]

im not the most experienced in the growing field but you need to top the plant you can find instructions on how to do this in a million places look around on the site and keeping the light close to the plant will stop it from growing as tall what type of bulb iz in the lamp because you see al the cfl's that people are using in there poor man's grows they are just what we call energy saving bulbs over here brilliant... I KNOW
but dude you seemed to have perked her up a bit cannabis is a tough plant hence the name weed id love too say that your plant was an indica or a sativa and could tell you whether to expact it too bush or have a growth spurt but cant be too sure my bets on indica which means a couch potato stone as well

 

[soapbar]

ooohhhh and forgot to ask how longs she been growin now ? when you plannin on startin flowerin ?

 

[Grinn]

yeah man I was thinking that while havin a smoke just now to clear my head I just need showing where to top it, I dont wanna kill it off now lol I've had a read but it was rather confusing where to cut... it might benefit from removing the dying leaves further down, not sure...
As for strain the leaves are quite long and thin, I understood that meant it could be of the sativa variety. Also looking close I've noticed reddish/purple spots on the upper stems of the plant from 4th lot upwards if that makes sense

The bulb is a small 12v halogen one, I think its a 10 watter or close to that. Dont ask what spectrum etc! I bought the lamp from Homebase

Kudos for the help so far bud!

EDIT: She's been growing for about 6 weeks, I didnt bother looking on the calendar when she sprouted, got so exited I didnt think about it might get her to bush a bit 1st then flower cycle maybe and see how things go

 

[Grinn]

God I feel like a kid at christmas!

Just taken a close up of the critter, what can people tell me from it? I apologise for the quality, took it on my mobile phone camera

 

[Grinn]

Just found out some info on the bulb in my desk lamp for those who are curious (soapbar!)

Specification
Voltage: 12V DC Weight: 62g
Current: 1.2Amps Lumens: 140
Bulb: 10W G4 (Halogen Capsule: 8-13010)
Size:9mm x 33mm

Piccy of what it looks like