Growing bag seed marijuana in the window?

[sirylj]

Hey there everyone. I just had a few questions to ask about a very simple first-time grow to get familiar with some of the aspects of growing. I have two bag seed I got from some shake earlier and wanted to plant them just for the experience (and the oh so anticipated plucking of a few buds). So, a few questions to follow:

I don't plan on selling or making a big plant, this is just meant to be small and for my own experience and smoking (if possible). Can I just put a seed in a small potting plant and trim it and train it to stay small enough to, say, only need transferring once to a less than 9 inch pot?

I don't want to try this with light bulbs or other complex grow room methods, so would they grow properly just with the sunlight through a pretty sunny window sill? (I don't need to hide it in a closet, though I have ample space in a perfect closet just for doing so when flowering or just to put in at night, and my neighbor uses it medicinally so I don't need to worry about anybody seeing it in the window.)

Thanks for any answers.

 

[sirylj]

Well, just thought it over for a while, decided I will plant them tomorrow night when I can get two clay pots (which I have quite a few of lying around the house) and some regular soil, or should I plant it in something other than soil (like compost mix)?

 

[Rodrigo]

First off welcome to

If you just want to grow it as an experiment then yes, you can grow it in a window as long as it gets enough light. (More about this below)

As for the size, there's no telling how big or small the plant is going to be since we don't know its genetics. You can still trim it to the required size if it gets to big, just cut the top growth just after the last node (from the bottom up), that'll keep it from getting too tall.

If it's just a bag seed then don't get your hopes up as these often just a produce a crappy plant (maybe not crappy, but definitely not as good as a genetic specific seed you can buy).

Depending on where you are in the world you may or may not be able to grow naturally. The plant requires a lot of light in order to keep it from flowering early, if where you are you get less than 12 hours of light then the plant will start to flower while very young and small so the yield and maturity of the product is not going to be good. You can use a single CFL to adjust if you don't get enough natural light, i.e. if you only get 10 hours of daylight then use a CFL for about 6 hours so the plant won't flower and keep growing until you chose to flower it.

As for the soil, you can use anything and the plant will still grow, after all it is a weed. You can start with some soil with nutrients in it so the plant will have some nutrition for a time (the nutrients in soil deplete after a while) and then you can chose to use organic or mineral nutrients in the water you use or put it in the soil, but if you don't use anything the plant will still grow but it won't get very big and yield is going to be a lot less than what you want.

I won't keep you from all the fun of looking up this info on the web, but I think this may push you in the right direction.

Good luck and I hope it works!

 

[sirylj]

First off welcome to
Good luck and I hope it works!

Thanks for the information. I'm not too worried about maximizing yield or efficiency or anything since this is just personal growth experience plus a little test bud at the end. I'll make sure I can get a little compost in the soil, and I live in sd we're getting good sun from 7:00 to 8:00 so my window placement will work out just fine.

By the way, I'm not sure I want to do anything more than put them in sunlight, so I'm not sure about using light bulbs for this first time.
I've got some sunny little hidden spots in the back I can use while it's small to get it to sprout faster, would this be better? I would have to move it after it got more than just a few inches tall, but it would have way more sunlight at the initial stage since it would have the sun directly over head all day instead of slightly through the window. Don't know if that would be good or just over doing it with light.

Plus, would mirrors work in the window sill to get more light in the afternoon but not use light bulbs (because I still do have to hide it a little). Either way, I'll put it in a pot tomorrow and water it a little to see how it does in the sun.

I'll try to take pics if it ever sprouts.

 

[Rodrigo]

Putting it under the sun will definitely be better than just a little light through the window, when it comes to cannabis the more light the better.

However you should never ever use mirrors as they absorb light (yeah, weird right?) and they don't scatter the light so If you want to improvise a reflector of some sort the wrap some aluminum foil (wrinkled) in a piece of cardboard and use that.

Put the seed in a glass of water and leave it alone in a dark place for 48 hours. The seed will float at first so after a few hours of it being in the glass tap it from above, if it floats back then leave it and try again in a couple of hours. By the second time you do this it should stay in the bottom of the glass. Leave for two days.

After the two days you should see a white line on one of the edges of the seed, that means that it broke and the grow has started. After this white edge is clearly visible take the seed out of the water (very carefully as it may be soft and fragile) and plant it about an inch into the soil. It should sprout within 5 days after that but sometimes it takes a day or two more.

That's the best way to germinate a seed.


Good luck!!

 

[sirylj]

Wow, that looks like the perfect way to start off what I am doing, thanks. So it seems like the best way to start this off is just put the seeds in water until it's ready to plant, put it in regular soil and for as long as it's small enough, keep it out back where it gets more light in a box with aluminum lining the inside for reflection.

I guess I'll put them in water soon and get some stuff ready.

 

[Rodrigo]

You got it, just don't use the aluminum if you have it out in the sun, that was for when you keep it inside the house where light is limited.
Outside just leave it be, when the plant is still a seedling it doesn't require that much light.

 

[sirylj]

Both the seeds have roots showing now, and they also sunk to the bottom of the glass when I dropped them back in.

 

[Rodrigo]

You should have planted them a couple of days ago. Take them out of the water very carefully and put them in their new home.

 

[JamaicaHerbs]

Welcome to 420 !

Based on what your tryin to achieve i would do the following:
Plants seeds and place them on your window for about 2 weeks from seed was planted giving them extra hours of light. U can put it in a room where u keep the lights on untill bed time. 14 hours of light would be good.

After the two weeks your planta should look like the ones in my 2nd journal( in my sig) if all goes well.

By this time there strong enough to transplant outdoors, when going outdoors put the plants in a shaded area for 1 to 2 days before planting in the sunny spot.

Dig 2 holes. About 8 to 10 inches deep. And about 4 to 6 inches in diameter.

Fill holes with rich potting mixture.

Plant your babies and care them.


And that would be it , i would say ditch the pots as it would be more visible.


Good luck on your first grow!

 

[oldman60]

"However you should never ever use mirrors as they absorb light (yeah, weird right?)"

LOL if they didn't reflect light you wouldn't be able to see yourself in them.

 

[Rodrigo]

"However you should never ever use mirrors as they absorb light (yeah, weird right?)"

LOL if they didn't reflect light you wouldn't be able to see yourself in them.

Sorry I should have been a little more specific. The do absorb light; every material absorbs a percentage of the light it receives, that's the basis of its reflectivity. For instance mylar has 95% reflectivity, meaning that it absorbs 5% of the remaining light it receives. Mirrors on the other hand absorb over 50%, meaning they reflect less than 50% and more closely to 40%. Go look in the mirror and you'll notice that things are much darker in there, one of the reasons bathroom are mostly well lit one would suppose.
Mirrors also create hot spots instead of scattering light like other material do.

 

[sirylj]

You should have planted them a couple of days ago. Take them out of the water very carefully and put them in their new home.

They were only in the water for one day, but I will be planting them now.

 

[Rodrigo]

I started two new seeds as well and one opened in less than 24 hours and the other one took a little less than 48, I guess some seed are more eager to become plants than others. Good luck with those, let us know how it goes.

 

[sirylj]

I'll show the results if it works out, though I don't think I'll be able to keep them in the window for long, because it also turns out to be my thinnest window sill. Still, even then I have a nice dresser closet that I can keep a light on them in. It probably wont work out in the window as I had planned this, but at least it got me to actually break the ice with this and start.

I'll put something up when they start to grow.

 

[sirylj]

The one with the longer root sprouted sometime today, not sure when, but sometime after 10 am.

 

[Rodrigo]

Congrats!
Don't keep the soil to wet.

 

[sirylj]

I watered them just a little bit after taking pictures today. Is watering every three or four days (I'll try twice a week I guess) too much? I know not to over water them, but I'm also not waiting for the very top layer to get dry, I've just been trying to make sure it's a little damp.

'

Edit: Almost forgot to mention. I haven't put them in the window for a while, so my first intentions are out the window (accidental pun). So far, I've just had my desk lamp shining on them 24/7 (it's the right kind of bulb, and it has a reflector dome). Since I don't really care to get more lights or have huge plants, do you think they will survive with just one light? I know they wont grow as well as they would if they had more, but will it be enough to keep it alive and let it grow to be a little desk plant?

 

[Rodrigo]

It will grow and live, but I doubt you get any good product. And what little you get is probably not going to be very good. But it'll live.

 

[RainStacks]

Not sure if you are still journaling, but one light with natural light should be ok. Can you put them outside once they get bigger? looking good so far plus repps.