Old Timer's 1st Grow in 16 Years

[Goodolddays]

Hi fellow growers

Its been a while between crops too long in fact so i decided to do some indoor growing out of sheer interest on CFL's grows...My set up is as follows

lights 2x36w spiral CFL's ( they come in a housing and where designed for flood light applications).ill be making a new light rack 5x65w or 85w sometime soon.
No hydro this time just pots and compost mixed with perlite 50/50 mix
Strain white widow

Started from seeds 10 in all somehow i have 7 plants anyways my first mistake was having my light too far away from the seedlings causing them to stretch but all good now they are stronger, 2 weeks tomorrow i planted them.

Over all 2 are looking really good apart from now i have 2 lights the air seems to be a lot drier, i have a computer fan running and at the moment 24 hour light, tonight i got a timer so its now going to be a 18/6 so the lack of moisture in the air seems to be drying the leaves out somewhat and the other 5 plants are somewhat worse off as i think the lights where too close (1 inch)and the leaves started twisting and im quite sure i fried one plant so now im back to 4-5 inches and ill see how it goes..i did re pot them the other day and used seedling compost for indoor plants and perlite and it could be the nutrients in the compost are too strong for the weaker plants to handle as the two biggest ones seem to be ok after a day or two of wilting, so that's mistake no2 using a compost with nutrients on young seedlings.

Im also taking them out of the cupboard in the morning and giving them some morning sun then back in the cupboard in the evening but now i think ill just leave them in the cupboard from now on as it could be stressing them.

I posted some photos in the members galleries , comments would be appreciated, cheers

 

[Goodolddays]

Can anyone help me with uploading photos to this page, i cant seem to figure it out, i can load only to members galleries

cheers

 

[Ozman]

Photo Gallery Guide: How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

its pretty easy to figure out once you have your picture in the gallery you click on it and scroll down you will see the address of the picture then in your thread hit insert picture copy and paste the link in there hope that helps

 

[Goodolddays]

 

[Goodolddays]

thanks Ozman worked a treat

cheers

 

[Ozman]

thanks Ozman worked a treat

cheers

np mate im glad i could help your plants are nice and green will you be moving them to bigger pots ?

 

[AmGrowR]

Bring up the picture in your gallery. Right click on it. Click on properties (at the bottom). Highlight the address and copy it.

Then, when you are commenting on your journal, click on the little mountain and sun symbol and delete the http. that's already there. Then just paste the address you copied from your gallery.

I find it easier (when posting multiple pics) to open two tabs.
One with my gallery, one that I'm posting on.

Can't wait to see some pics

 

[AmGrowR]

Wow, that all happened while I was posting.

Looking, good buddy!

 

[Goodolddays]

Thanks for the help Guys, I decided to make a stealth grow cabinet from some old draws so i went up the road and got one of those emergency blankets for the walls and proceeded to hook everything up, the fan fell off cause i used double sided tape but fixed it with a screw other than that the temp is 30 deg 86F ...

 

[ConqueringLOJ]

Looking good so far! Good luck with the grow!

 

[Goodolddays]

I have a few questions for everyone..
I want to find out the sex since they where grown from seed so should i wait another week,( that would be 3 weeks veg total) then change to 12/12 to find out then then back onto veg and take cuttings or wait 2 more weeks then 12/12, (i only want to veg for a month total before going to 12/12) and take cuttings ?

my goal would be to have one cupboards each for veg and flower so i get something every 60 or so days

also the size of the plants there are 1 big and 2 medium and 1 small any chance the biggest is a male ?

cheers in advance

 

[Goodolddays]

np mate im glad i could help your plants are nice and green will you be moving them to bigger pots ?

i just checked and the roots are now reaching the bottom of the pot so in a week or so before going to 12/12 ill do that, last time i grew was in 94 and i remember i had a few root bound plants and they came out ok but after seeing how much roots can grow in hydro ill re pot for sure

cheers

 

[Goodolddays]

Hi everyone, well its been 3 weeks nearly i think since planting the seeds so the time has come to weed out the males because im running out of space so ive taken some photos and would like anyone to give there opinion on if its still too early to tell and all i photographed was new leaves or are they females ??

cheers

 

[Goodolddays]

well after seeing the same things on a plant only one week old i can say its too early to tell..

 

[RVgrower]

4 nice babies you got there bro! I had mine in veg for about 6-7 weeks, then just got them transitioned into 12/12 8 days ago, just got them in perlite only, after starting them from seed in a mix of 50/50 perlite & Fox Farms Ocean Forest (FYI: I later found out, that they - the Fox farms people, make some soil called "Light Warrior" that;s their brand of a seedling/started mix which isn't as "hot" as the FFOF, so I will be using that instead next time, or amending my soil combo a bit in that direction for sure, to give it a bit more of an easier start...)back in mid-March.

Also, I took my babies outside at that age back then for pure sunlight, did it every day almost all day for a few weeks, cuz I was in an RV at the time, lacked space, it saved on lighting costs and i thought it would be good for them as babies while they were still little enough to get away with it and they are doing great...

the only reason I am taking so long, is because I was also broke and had issues putting together a stronger light system quick enough, then I got the 2700K lights (wasn't thinking, even tho I did all that studying, I still made a rookie mistake again! Oh well!) for vegging at first, and a friend on here reminded me that the plants want the "blue spectrum" of light in veg, and will grow much faster/better if they get it, so I had to go get some 6500K (blue spectrum) bulbs, and that also helped them grow bigger as they should have been. Then I got the "CFL HOOD" built, and made it a "multi-spectrum", instead of just the 6500K lights only, I also put in both of my 55 watt 2700K "bloom" lights in there as well. Bros here are saying that I will get just as great a growth rate as with just 2700K's (red spectrum) alone, but I promise, you need the brighter, bluer spectrum in the early veg phase, as I eventually did for a while, then when the hood got done, I went multi-spectrum, and they are still growing fast as I've ever seen plants grow!!!

By the way, you aren't the only "old person" around here! LOL! I'm a grandma myself, been smoking weed since i was 16 back in SoCal...circa 1980....that was the BEST herb I EVER GOT there, and I have been out of Cali for the last 24 years, & I haven't had but a FEW times anything close to the quality of the herb in Cali, except maybe being homegrown, something I have wanted to do my whole life, since I started buying those magazines back then that showed primo buds that were as big as guy's forearms!!! I even used to get my top buds as big as bananas back then, couch-locked for hours! boy, those were the days....

No worries, I am here too bro, and your babies look good, and I know you are as anxious as I am to taste my own homegrown, but rushing it will just rob you of quantity and quality in the long run....I am content letting this go on for as long as necessary to get top quality medical herb that I desperately need. It's looking like I will be letting them go about 6 weeks minimum. I want the biggest, tastiest buds possible, and I will gladly wait a few more weeks than that. Besides, if your plants are too young, and they aren't ready, you can't do too much to change that. If you put them into flower when they are tiny, you might get a tiny plant, why rush it and net 1/4th on oz per plant when if you just wait and give them time to get as big as they can in your cabinets, then you can end up being packed with buds, and end up with 1-2oz each instead? Do you see what I mean? I mean, you just can't totally plan all this out by the day and flip your baby plants into veg when they are only 3 or 4 inches tall, you know? You HAVE to give them the time they need...I found one thing a guy on here said that has stuck with me and has almost become my mantra since i started growing, and now I am growing big, lush, green plants, because I remember this and don't try to rush this process anymore. He said, " No matter how much we learn, plan, and prepare for our first grows, they NEVER EVER go as we plan! They always take longer, net less, cost more, and never, ever does it go the way we envisioned it, but it does always happen the way it's SUPPOSED TO- if ya let it!"

So just go with the flow, watch your plants, STUDY, STUDY, STUDY, for yourself, and then you will be more likely to get help from some really great growers on here when you need it, but they won't help anyone who is just here looking for instant answers without trying to even learn a thing for yourself....

And no matter what, ya can't harvest them till the trichs are 50% amber....

Also, you never mentioned what nutes you're using and any supplements, etc...More info and pics is always best when asking for opinions or help on here.

But it's looking good bro, and I'm pulling for you! I'm on for the grow!
Good luck my fellow grower.....

P.S. I am just now barely able to tell that I have females, well, almost ALL females I am proud to say, but my smaller ones that are only about 10 inches tall, are too young still to tell their sex for sure, even with a scope...There's that Mother Nature thing popping up again....ya just gotta let them have all the time they need....Besides, if you keep posting pics every week or so, the older, wiser, master growers on here can show you how to tell when you have females or males, in fact, there's an article on it in here somewhere, I just can't remember where.... But I'll explain it like this...get a hand scope, lighted, w/ a magnification of 60x to 100x, ( I found mine on Amazon.com for like $15 I think..) or even a really really big and good magnifying glass, and look at those areas where your leaves are popping out, and that's where you're going to see the little golden "hairs" sticking up and out of that area instead of new sets of leaves like you have been seeing, those are girls. And the boys, well, in that same place, instead of a cluster of hairs, you'll find a set of "balls" aka seeds, in the crotch of the limb there instead of clusters of hairs...At least that's my understanding of it....No way to mistake that difference, if you just let them take their time...


Hope this helps!

 

[MunchBaccy]

Hi Mr Timer,

I have subscribed to your thread. Do you know which strain (s) you are growing or is it a grow bag mix ?

I made my own grow light using 2 x 55w PLL fluorescents (total 9700 lumens). They are double tubes 2' long. Detai;s are in my journal if you are interested.

Good luck on your CFL grow

 

[Goodolddays]

Hi Munch thanks for subscribing ill check out your journal...my seeds where white widow there now 24 days old and growing well under 2 36 watt cfl flood lights, they cost me 20 quid each.Once they show there pre flower status ill clone the strongest female and then chuck the males and go strait to flower

 

[Rekles]

Holy monkey RVgrower...you typed ALOT!

Anyways, plants are looking good dude!

-Rek

 

[RVgrower]

Holy monkey RVgrower...you typed ALOT!

Anyways, plants are looking good dude!

-Rek

Hey there, Rek, sorry dude! I medicated BEFORE the journal response.. Anyways, I was really just trying to help the dude out, you know? He had so many questions, and I know what that's like...to have so many questions, to be new at it, again even, and be wondering what we should be doing in this new growing world where we have a bazillion choices for food, ferts, supplements, equipment, lighting, you name it! We all don't get a lot of attention and help when we could really use it sometimes, especially if we are new and no one knows you yet, so I was just trying to be friendly and helpful....I just CAN'T respond after medicating, that's all! LOL!!!

Sorry, I was Rekked! HAHAHAHAHA!!! LOL!!! I crack myself up! I hope you don't mind my humorous response, just feeling happy tonight, and NOW I will go medicate! Nice to meet you all over here !!
AND I'm on for the grow bro! RVG .

 

[Goodolddays]

here we are Day 30 from seed and ive got a few problems !!!

problem one my grow room is to small for 6 plants and its only going to shrink more once i re pot !!

problem two, without knowing the sex i cant remove any plants and its time to re pot !!

Im tempted to take cuttings from the top put them in water and sex them under 12/12 just to show there sex, any suggestions anyone ??

Limited space