Light and Gas problems?

[TheCrimsonQueen]

Heya all!

I started a grow process about 2 months ago and I used a crawlspace in my house upstairs. I used a few plant/aquarium lights from wally-world and a hell-of-a-lot of tin foil to keep as much light on the plants as possible. I wrapped the crawlspace with a plastic tarp before the foil to keep moisture and heat in. I started my plants in little paper towels and then put them on those little jiffy pot things and then eventually moved them to little pots. I used regular 89 cent potting soil for my babies and a fertilizer from wal-mart ("Deep Feeding" 15-30-15, water soluble). I put a little office fan on my plants and watered them when it looked like the soil was dry. I did not have any gas tanks whatsoever.

The process failed and the plants never grew more than 6 inches in height with nothing more than the two main growth leaves and two little ones in the middle of the fork popping out a little.

I'm a newbie to growing, but I have a few ideas that I would like to pose as questions. Any, and I mean any help is deeply appreciated.

1: If the tin foil is too bent up or crinkled, will it affect the plants that I am growing?

2: Is it absolutly a need to have a CO2 tank for my indoor growth?

3: How much is the correct amount of water to give my little children?

4: How much light and space do I need to have a nice little garden-o'-goodness for one or two people?

5: What is the best (and least expensive, I managed to do all of the above on a budget of 14 bucks) fertilizer to give my babies when they are really just small.

6: Is there anything else that anybody can see that I did wrong and need to fix?

I snagged a bunch of seeds and am wanting to start having kids again (After I lost all my babies I went through a deep depression, just as any would-be mother would ) I need as many tips as I can pick up! Info on Growboxes would be nice too if anybody has any...

BTW: Instead of tin-foil this time I found out that my local wally-world is having a sale on those emergency space blanket thingies. 2 bucks a piece. I think I'll use those.

Again! Thanks in advance from a hopeful Mom!

Lady-J the Crimson Queen.

 

[TheCrimsonQueen]

Oh yeah!

I thought I would also note that I kept the lights on 24/7 and about 3 feet away from the kids. I also have one more question...

When is it the best time to start using the fan and from how far away? A few of my wee ones got really long, thin stalks and tipped over and I think it was because I wasn't using the fan properly.



I dunno. Thoughts and opinions anyone?

L-J

 

[1shyof10]

good questions.....first things first.....the way you sealed up your crawl space needs to be changed a little humidity is a good thing but only up to a point as humity is a big promoter of mold.the fan sholud be running at the time the seeds sprout the air movement will help the stem grow think in order to support later growth.next what type of light are you using as for any type of light 3 feet is at least 1 foot to high.the light being up at that leval will do nothing but make your plants streatch.if you're using M.H. or H.P.S. lights 2 feet from the top of the plant is a great start.next pot size is very important.a good way to look at it is that each half gallon of valume in your planter is equal to one foot of hieght.....i.e. theres is enough room in a 1 gallon planter to grow a 2 foot plant i always figure how tall i want my plant at it's tallist and use a planter 1/2 half gallon larger to compensate for exssesive roots growth.rootlock is one big reason why a plant stops growing even though it seems healthy.i try to never use a planter smaller then 1 and 1/2 gallons for that reason.oh yeah to finish up the light thing...if you're using fluoro's alone you can have the light 1 - 2 inch's from the plant tops......that will give you much better results then by having them mounted higher.the foil thing......doesn't really matter how wrinkled it is as long as the foil is dull side out as the dull side is the one that reflects lights the shiny side of the foil actually absorbs light aside from that if you don't have mylar lining your growing area it real doesn't matter as few subsatnces can reflect light like mylar can........save your milk money and invest in mylar.co2 usage is not neccessary and for a beginner may not be a real smart thing to try either i have never used co2 except when i breath on the plants they do great with out it and as long as you have a fan runnig to move air your plants will get enough co2 naturaly.watering is the easy part don't let the soil dry out compleatly and pull away from the sides of the planter.some of us use the weight method to figure out watering other of us just poke a finger into the soil down to a 1/2 deep if it's dry at that point water if not let it go til the next day.the answer to the light and space question is pretty easy to.........the size of the space is related to the lights you use......i.e. i run a 400 M.H. and 400 watt H.P.S. both growing are's fit the light in this case a primary area of 4x4 feet i let out the walls to make a 5x5 space to accomodate fan's and so on a 250 watt M.H. or H.P.S. would give you a grow area about 3x3 with fluoro's it's a question of wattage and how many bulbs a plant you are using.the amount of light is always open to debate there seems to be 2 schools of thought.one group like's 24/0 for seedlings and veg.plants grow just fine like that the other school of thought is 18/6 for seedlings and veg.i find only 2 real differences.one way you pay more for electricity and your plans never have and dark time to actually use all the energy that they have been storing.with the 18/6 light cycle you reduce your lighting cost's and the plant then has time to stop spending energy collent building materials from the light,soil and water you give it.by allowing a dark period you're plant can stopping spending energy storing up stuff and actually divert energy to using what it has just stored i.e.if you did an experiment with 2 plants one each on those 2 light cycle's after 2 weeks you'd see a slight diff in height and maybe bushyness thats about it.it's really more a personal choice then a rule the only light rules are distance from plant top based on type of light sourse veg cycles should be at at least 18 hours on 6 off and flowering won't occure untill the light cycle has been reduced to 12 on 12 off.as far as ferts and nutes go i like earth juice grow and catalyst for veg and earth juice bloom for flowering during my grows i also give regular feedings of 20-20-20 plant food and superthrive in veg.and schultz's professional 10-30-10 for flowering i find that if you go to hight in your P content you can lock out nutes and decrease yield but thats more of a personal observation then a fact.good luck shout if you need any more info or help