First Grow Ever

[420girl101]

well i think ill just give you the rundown on everything i'm doing and you can decide what u think. OK here goes lol i have 3 17 day old auto-flowering lowryder fast buds, a monster kush plant 17 days old, that looks terrible, and a new seedling that has sprouted yesterday.
i messed up on the 17 day olds big time the first week because i didnt know what i was doing with the lights so they got way to stretched out and so i found this out and was told to repot them and bury the stem half way. so i did that and got ALOT of cfl lights and put the lights about 3 inches away and they looked way better until a few days ago i noticed the leaves on the monster kush started looking really yellow and the leaves started curling inward. this could be the cause of overwatering for sure or because i put about 1/4 a teaspoon fox farm big bloom fertilizer in a gallon of water and watered them? im really not sure but im letting everything dry out and see if that helps then water them with regular water and a 1/4 teaspoon molasses. i also have alot of air circulation and air blowing on them. the temp stays at 75 85 degrees, and humidity is 45. im growing them in a small closet so space is always an issue. o and i have the monster kush in an organic type soil and the others are in just regular soil. i have no idea what soil to repot the newbie seedling so any good soils out there that are better than others?
well basically this is what i got going on ha, lemmme know what you all think!

 

[420girl101]

Re: first grow ever

also if anyone could give me there imput on how to post pictures up to go along with my journal would be extremely appreciated! thanks.

 

[MasterLynxx]

Re: first grow ever

What kind of help do you need here? It is a simple up-loader here, but as far as putting em in a specific folder, I think you have to do that after you upload them.

also if anyone could give me there imput on how to post pictures up to go along with my journal would be extremely appreciated! thanks.

 

[420girl101]

Re: first grow ever

yes very true it is very simple to upload photos just posted the help thread a little to early before i figured everything out. thank ya

 

[MasterLynxx]

Re: first grow ever

LOL, k. k. kewl... Anytime Hun...
So what's your deal with the plants? What advice is it that you need to start with? I'm enduring some over-watering & pH issues right now, but my grows for the time being are for research & education for some better stuff. The symptoms you described are similar to the over-watering signs I encountered..
If that helps...
Also, try posting your specific questions in different posts, and others' threads on similar topics, and look for similar problems you're having... You can find intelligence in those that deal with similar issues.

yes very true it is very simple to upload photos just posted the help thread a little to early before i figured everything out. thank ya

 

[420girl101]

Re: first grow ever

well i know these plants are very small for there age right? so thats why i bought the fox farm grow big fertilizer to maby get them to take off a bit more and catch up to how they would normally look at this point and time. do you think the fox farm fertilizer is a good idea i was thinking of watering the plants with water that has a little bit of the fox farm in it and only water the plants every other watering with this fertilizer and hope it perks them up?....or what are your thoughts on this.

 

[MasterLynxx]

Re: first grow ever

Well I would say yea, flush em' and allow em to dry out, good! And for nutes' I have done alot of research on the web., and Miracid is supposed to be the best nutes, but bloom nutes, you wouldn't need yet. Canni is a very acidic plant, they need N in NPK most during first growth and vegetation.
I personally mix up miracid, blood & bone meal, and some African violet mix (for the other nutrients supplement to the Nitro). I believe plants need no more then h20 once a week, and nutes right in the soil once a month or so. I eliminate both procedures, and spray mist my plants daily, which wasn't a problem until I transplanted em, and shower mist em' once a week. I incorporate the nutes in their daily spray misting, just dilute the mixture I mentioned drastically.

well i know these plants are very small for there age right? so thats why i bought the fox farm grow big fertilizer to maby get them to take off a bit more and catch up to how they would normally look at this point and time. do you think the fox farm fertilizer is a good idea i was thinking of watering the plants with water that has a little bit of the fox farm in it and only water the plants every other watering with this fertilizer and hope it perks them up?....or what are your thoughts on this.

 

[MasterLynxx]

Re: first grow ever

What's the penny for?

 

[420girl101]

Re: first grow ever

ha ha well i was trying to find something to compare the plants to to show everyone how small they are for 17 days.

 

[MasterLynxx]

Re: first grow ever

I can relate. I had my girls in towels for over a month germinating em, and under just a 65watt grow bulb from home depot...
So as for the question posed previously, there is as well graphs and charts better illustrating the topic.
Hope it helps
the site I used for this info posts,
Marijuana Grow Lights:
HID grow lights–
Metal halide (MH) grow lights–
High pressure sodium (HPS) grow lights–
Fluorescent (CFL) grow lights-
LED grow lights-
Grow light reflectors-
Marijuana grow lighting basics
Marijuana plants need light from the right part of the spectrum with the right amount of intensity to encourage proper yet fast growth. Cannabis plants respond principally to light from the blue end of the spectrum for vegetative growth and from the red end for root growth and flowering.

Marijuana will use the light from 400 through to 700 nanometres (nm) which will cover the chlorophyll and photosynthesis production which is known as the Photosynthetically Active Range, or PAR for short.

How different light sources hit the Kelvin scale at different places. The metal halide (MH) grow lights are at around 3,200 to 4,000 and the high pressure sodium (HPS) grow lights are at 2,200.

The more right light marijuana plants receive, the faster and stronger they will grow.

Technical lighting basics

Let’s get into the more technical side of lighting as it is useful to know what you are actually doing. There is no point in buying the wrong lights.

Candela – This is the unit of luminous intensity with one candela.

Foot-candle – The Imperial measure of how intense your light is ie how much light is received by 1 square foot of any surface situated 1 foot from the light source of 1 candle.

Lux – The metric unit of measure for luminance of a surface. Therefore one lux is = to one lumen per sq meter or 0.0929 foot-candles.

Lumen – This is the unit of light flow which is also known as luminous flux. All lights
can be measured to a total lumen output. Light fixtures can be expressed in lumens and usually the lamp will lose intensity (lumens) as it gets older.

Efficacy of a light source – This measure lets us know just how efficient a light source is and is simple maths to work out. Total light output divided by the power input (Watts) = lumens per Watt.

Timing of marijuana grow lighting
Vegetative growth timing – This is called ‘photoperiod’ and it is the direct relationship that your plants have with the hours of light and darkness offered to them. With control over the amount of light your plants receive you can effectively dictate their grow cycle. You can replicate vegetative growth by using a timer to have your lights on between 18 and 24 hours and off with darkness for the remaining period; between 6 and 0 hours every day. More information on pruning during vegetative growth.

Induce marijuana flowering timing – In their natural environment plants begin to flower as the days shorten at the end of summer. To induce flowering you will then switch the light cycle to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness for everyday. When you do this is up to you. It is sometimes considered to be more productive to force plants to flower when they are quite small (around 60 cm or 2ft.). By doing this you will be able to fit more plants under your lamp (the Dutch concept know as ‘Sea of Green’). If you are limited in the amount of seed or viable cuttings that you have you may wish to wait until the plants are bigger so that you get more buds per individual plant. Once you have induced flowering you will see changes in your plant within one to two weeks. More information on marijuana flowering.

You can also start the vegetative phase with a fluorescent light turned on for 18 to 24 hours a day for the first one or two weeks or longer. You can use a standard 48 inch fluorescent fixture (with two) 40 watt bulbs placed about 2 to 8 inches above the tops of the plants. 3 to 5 inches is ideal, but you might have to raise the light a bit higher so all the plants get some light, depending on your setup. Mix your hydroponic nutrient solution to 50% of the normal recommended strength for the first two weeks of growth regardless of lighting.

The reason for starting off with fluorescent lighting is to not give the plants too much light at the beginning of the growing process. Let them build up to it as they would in nature where the seeds would germinate in spring when the sun is not as strong as it will be in summer.

An alternative to growing under HPS or MH during vegetation is to set up a vegetative area, and a flowering area. The vegetative area would use a cloner or something similar that would allow seeds or clones to grow and two standard 48 inch fluorescent tubes, turned on 24 hours a day.

The flowering area would use a standard hydroponic set up with HPS and /or MH fixtures turned on for 12 hours a day.

While the flowering plants are going through their cycle with the hydroponic set up, the germinated seeds or clones will have a few months to develop in the cloner. After the flowering plants have been harvested, the plants in the vegetative area are ready to move to the flowering area. New seedlings or clones can then be started in the cloner.

There are two main benefits to this kind of set up. Electricity use will be about 25% to 35% less because the MH or HPS light is only on 12 hours a day. The longer a plant has been growing in the vegetative phase, the quicker it will flower.

The only drawback I have found is the extra area needed to set up two different grow areas. Since the flowering plants need absolute darkness during the dark phase, the light from the vegetative area can’t reach the flowering plants. So they need to be isolated, either by using curtains (or something similar) or by being located away from each other. More on grow lighting and vegetative growth .

Types of grow lights
Growing your plants indoors means that you will be in charge of meeting all their light requirements. There are a variety of artificial lights on the market and they all work well, albeit to different degrees.

You can run

1) Either MH or HPS light through both stages of growth (good);

2) Run a MH light through the vegetative phase of growth followed by HPS light through flowering (very good);

3) Run both MH and HPS light through all phases of growth (best).

I’ve found either a single metal halide (MH grow light) or high pressure sodium (HPS grow light) system works nearly as good as a dual system. So if you only have one or the other don’t worry, it will work just fine.

You can’t use a standard HPS bulb in a MH fixture, but you can use a MH bulb in a HPS fixture of the same wattage. I didn’t think this was possible till several years ago. So I decided to try using a 400 watt MH bulb in a 400 watt HPS fixture. The plants are growing as well as they did under the MH bulb in a MH fixture. The bulb hasn’t had to be replaced and the ballast runs as cool as it does with a HPS bulb.

So if you can only afford or only want a single fixture, I recommend getting a HPS fixture and standard MH and HPS bulbs rated for the same wattage as your light fixture. Use the MH bulb for vegetative growth and the HPS for flowering. There are HPS bulbs that can be used in a MH fixture and vice-versa. But these are special bulbs and cost about double the price of a standard bulb.

Bear in mind, you can only use a bulb of the wattage your light system was designed for. A 400 watt system only uses 400 watt bulbs. Don’t use any other wattage than the one listed on the ballast of your light system. One exception I have seen is a 430 watt bulb designed for a 400 watt system, but don’t push it further.

There will also be a lamp type specified on your light system (probably on the ballast itself). My 400 watt metal halide setup specifies an M59/H33 lamp type. M59/H33 is an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) ballast rating. M59 is a 400 watt metal halide ballast. H33 is a 400 watt mercury vapor ballast. So my light fixture 400 watts is about the best size of light for growing hydroponic marijuana in a personal garden. You should be able to grow 4 to 12 plants at a time. 250 watts should be good enough for up to about 2 to 6 plants the more Watts the more plants you can grow.

I use a 400 watt metal halide gym type light (high bay) on an 10 plant garden, it works fine with 6 to 10 plants. I usually grow 3 to 6 medium size plants at a time. I start the flowering phase at about 12 inches and the plant grows to about 18 inches at harvest time.

If you can afford a lighting system made for horticultural purposes with a good reflector and ballast, get it. It will last longer, allow the light to cover a larger area (more plants), and increase the amount of light individual plants get.

You can also find some high-end dual (HPS and MH) fixtures. These dual systems can provide both MH and HPS light through both growth phases. You might want to consider one of these, if you haven’t already bought your lighting source yet. If you can’t afford better, a high-bay or low-bay type light will work fine. I use one.

HID (High Intensity Discharge) marijuana lighting

HID lighting is the most efficient way to convert electricity into light that is available to the consumer. There are two types of HID grow lights used for horticultural lighting, Metal Halide (MH) and High Pressure Sodium (HPS). More detail on HID grow lights.

Metal halide (MH) grow lights

Metal halide bulbs produce an abundance of light in the blue spectrum. This color of light promotes plant growth and is excellent for green leafy growth and keeping plants compact. It is the best type of light to be used as a primary light source (if no or little natural sunlight is available). More detail on MH grow lights

High pressure sodium (HPS) grow lights

High pressure sodium bulbs emit an orange-red glow and are deficient in the blue spectrum. This band of light triggers hormones in plants to increase flowering/ budding in plants. They are the best lights available for secondary or supplemental lighting (used in conjunction with natural sunlight). Using this as a sole point of light is only recommend for greenhouse growing applications. More detail on HPS grow lights

Fluorescent grow lights

This type of light is perfect for starts and seedlings. They are also popular for growing low-light plants like herbs and African violets. Fluorescent lights are low intensity and need to be placed within 8” (up to 15” for shade loving plants) of the plants to be effective. They are a poor light source for flowering and budding primarily because of their low lumen output. Read about the new CFL grow lights

LED grow lights

LED grow lights (light emitting diode) are the new breed and have scientists working around the clock to make them brighter and cheaper using the optimum spectrums. LED grow lights are already the coolest method of growing and they also last approximately six times longer than any HID grow light.

Most LED grow lights range from 3W to 30W so are far less hungry on electricity when compared to the equivalent 400W or 1,000W HID. Compared to old school HID’s you will lower your power bill and have less problems with heat. You will save space as you can do away with the ballast and big reflectors. LED grow lights are an excellent idea for the small, discreet grow room. Read more detail about LED grow lights.

Incandescent marijuana lighting

These lights are also good for starting germination and seedlings and provide an inexpensive alternative to HID lights, because they do not require a ballast. These lights are only good for individual plants or small groups of plants because of their low lumen output and limited range.

Hanging height of HIDs

Due to the heat that is emitted from these intense types of fixtures, you should hang them according to size. Smaller wattage systems (100 W and 250 W) should be hung about 2 to 3 feet from the top of the plants. Medium wattage systems (400 W and 600 W) should be hung around 4 feet from the top of the plants. High wattage systems (1000 W and up) should be placed at least 4 to 6 feet from the plant tops.

The cost to run a marijuana lighting system

To get the operating cost per hour for a light, take the grow lights combined wattage, and divide it by 1,000 to get the kilowatts used. Then multiply that number by the amount your electric company charges per kilowatt hour. HID lights will use the number of watts it emits per hour, i.e.; 600w system will use 600 watts per hour (regardless of spectrum) and that is 0.6 kilowatts. So if your electric company charges you $0.10 per kilowatt hour this lap will cost 0.6 X $0.10 = $0.06 per hour to run. Multiply that out for a daily or monthly cost per lamp.

ha ha well i was trying to find something to compare the plants to to show everyone how small they are for 17 days.

 

[Xlr8]

Re: first grow ever

well i know these plants are very small for there age right? so thats why i bought the fox farm grow big fertilizer to maby get them to take off a bit more and catch up to how they would normally look at this point and time. do you think the fox farm fertilizer is a good idea i was thinking of watering the plants with water that has a little bit of the fox farm in it and only water the plants every other watering with this fertilizer and hope it perks them up?....or what are your thoughts on this.

I wish I was a soil grower so I could help you a bit more effectively, but I'm assuming you haven't been monitoring the PH of your water/nutrients? Nutrients will not help you, in fact they will hurt you, if you are feeding with the wrong PH in your nutrient mix. My initial thoughts are to flush them with PH balanced water (plants that have been given fertilizer), make sure that you are only watering them when the pots are noticeably lighter in weight. Let me know if you need further help with PH and measuring PH, flushing etc. I'm also going to see if I can bring a friend or two by that grows in soil. We'll get you going a little more smoothly, don't worry!

 

[MacGyver]

Re: first grow ever

I wish I was a soil grower so I could help you a bit more effectively, but I'm assuming you haven't been monitoring the PH of your water/nutrients? Nutrients will not help you, in fact they will hurt you, if you are feeding with the wrong PH in your nutrient mix. My initial thoughts are to flush them with PH balanced water (plants that have been given fertilizer), make sure that you are only watering them when the pots are noticeably lighter in weight. Let me know if you need further help with PH and measuring PH, flushing etc. I'm also going to see if I can bring a friend or two by that grows in soil. We'll get you going a little more smoothly, don't worry!

Hey 420girl101. Welcome and good luck on the grow. I can tell you, they do look over/under-watered or possibly locked out to me. I only grow in soil. Have you checked you're "run-off" pH? In soil it should be at 6.5-6.8 for the plant to be feeding properly. That is always where you should start if you ever have an unknown problem with your plants. Get a reading, then you can start from there. IMO you shouldn't feed the plants veg nutes until they have at least 3 full sets of leaves. Before then the plants won't have enough leaf to convert so much N into growth yet, hence the lockout. You can use something lighter on them at seedling time, BabyBio for Herbs works great for seedlings. Lots of info here...but take it a step at a time. Don't get ahead of yourself and keep it simple!!! Keep ideal conditions...75-82f, 50% humidity during veg and lower during flower. Good ventilation/airflow but gentle on the plants...you'll get a female if you do all that and keep it happy during 3-4th week of veg...very important time. Also, do not mist your plants in the day. I do recommend you mist them, do so just before the lights go off, otherwise you can burn the plants. Misting during veg will encourage faster growth and keep the plants hydrated. Never mist during flower...you will get mold! Simple is best...Good luck...hope I can help.

 

[SirMatrix]

Re: first grow ever

hey good lck on your grow
im gonna tag along

 

[MasterLynxx]

Re: first grow ever

Well smoke 14u mac, thanks for the advice!!! I learned something from this write myself, so I figured I'd
I gotta ask, I remember reading somewhere that soaking your seeds in blood meal is a very beneficial way to boost their growth potential. you're saying thats incorrect? You say spray at night, I read in a couple spots on the web you wanna stagger your lights, and have some form of dimmer, and mist daily in the early hours of your light cycle. This is incorrect? I worked at a grocery store, and I remember even they misted their produce in the early hours of the morning... Not disputing with you bud, just curious and confused...
I was always told as a young'in to "...keep it simple, keep it natural". (Mr. M. Strindberg)

Hey 420girl101. Welcome and good luck on the grow. I can tell you, they do look over/under-watered or possibly locked out to me. I only grow in soil. Have you checked you're "run-off" pH? In soil it should be at 6.5-6.8 for the plant to be feeding properly. That is always where you should start if you ever have an unknown problem with your plants. Get a reading, then you can start from there. IMO you shouldn't feed the plants veg nutes until they have at least 3 full sets of leaves. Before then the plants won't have enough leaf to convert so much N into growth yet, hence the lockout. You can use something lighter on them at seedling time, BabyBio for Herbs works great for seedlings. Lots of info here...but take it a step at a time. Don't get ahead of yourself and keep it simple!!! Keep ideal conditions...75-82f, 50% humidity during veg and lower during flower. Good ventilation/airflow but gentle on the plants...you'll get a female if you do all that and keep it happy during 3-4th week of veg...very important time. Also, do not mist your plants in the day. I do recommend you mist them, do so just before the lights go off, otherwise you can burn the plants. Misting during veg will encourage faster growth and keep the plants hydrated. Never mist during flower...you will get mold! Simple is best...Good luck...hope I can help.

 

[420girl101]

Re: first grow ever

well first off thanks a million to u guys for the very insightful info!! definitely will get a ph tester asap and make sure i can get everything running a little more smoothly for the little ones.
sad to say this morning the fast buds still looked droopy but the soil is still pretty wet yet so ill wait and see when the soil drys out more if they perk up. as for my poor monster kush he/she has seen better days and im betting this one will not make it through. i re potted her this morning with regular soil with perlite to get her out of the weird organic soil stuff. but im so confused if that was a really bad thing to do or not because the soil i re potted her in was moist and if she was being overwatered than didnt i just do more damage?
on the other hand what kind of light schedule should the seedling be on because its only 2 days old today.

 

[MacGyver]

Re: first grow ever

Well smoke 14u mac, thanks for the advice!!! I learned something from this write myself, so I figured I'd
I gotta ask, I remember reading somewhere that soaking your seeds in blood meal is a very beneficial way to boost their growth potential. you're saying thats incorrect? You say spray at night, I read in a couple spots on the web you wanna stagger your lights, and have some form of dimmer, and mist daily in the early hours of your light cycle. This is incorrect? I worked at a grocery store, and I remember even they misted their produce in the early hours of the morning... Not disputing with you bud, just curious and confused...
I was always told as a young'in to "...keep it simple, keep it natural". (Mr. M. Strindberg)

Hey man...yeah you right there about the misting. of produce..Most plants would prefer a mist just before the sun comes up acually...Not always the case with all plants...I have always misted my marijuana just after light cycle end. It is a different plant after all and A LOT of people burn their plants by watering misting before the lights come on. The ONLY time I ever mist under a light is to foliar feed and I raised the light quite a bit. Mate...I would not put any info on here that I wasn't 100% sure of and have experience with the exact thing. Look, I have always misted at night...except this one time...when I burnt my seedling! Speakin' from experience mate.

 

[MasterLynxx]

Re: first grow ever

usually 24 for right now.
:[/QUOTE] ...on the other hand what kind of light schedule should the seedling be on because its only 2 days old today. [/QUOTE]

 

[Xlr8]

Re: first grow ever

Hi 420 girl -

As far as light cycles, there are people who like to gradually change the light cycle to mimic nature, but that's not at all necessary. At this stage I'd be giving all of your plants 18 hours of uninterrupted light a day, followed by 6 hours of uninterrupted dark. Some people do 20/4 or even 24 hours a day of light, but this is my experienced recommendation for you. With auto-flowering plants, like some of yours are, you can keep them on that light cycle throughout their life up until harvest, but the non auto-flowering plants will need to go on a 12 hours of light/12 hours of dark schedule at some point. Don't worry, if you need to the auto-flowers can also go under 12/12 light cycle, too. If you keep this journal up we'll help guide you in this regard.

MacGyvers advice was excellent, and he should be a good soil growing resource. I'll continue to follow along, too and help anytime I can.

X

 

[MasterLynxx]

Re: first grow ever

Hey, I'm here learning just like her. I'm a complete newbie still, as for growing cannabis that is. I just read in a couple different places, and through experience with other plants, heard gradual lighting was best way to acclimate, like in nature. I'm in complete agreeance with you in regards to not stating facts, I was just asking for educational knowledge for my own. I like spray misting in am. for routine purposes mostly. But Idk, I use LED's & CFL's, 6 fixtures in total, and all individually timed to operate on/off within 15 minutes of each other. My fan then doesn't turn on for 4hours after the lights warm-up... My closet doesn't get that hot very fast. I just remember reading that moisture during the "Night" would cause mold growth. I'm glad to know that information is UN-factual, and I smoke 14u sir. Thank you.

Hey man...yeah you right there about the misting. of produce..Most plants would prefer a mist just before the sun comes up acually...Not always the case with all plants...I have always misted my marijuana just after light cycle end. It is a different plant after all and A LOT of people burn their plants by watering misting before the lights come on. The ONLY time I ever mist under a light is to foliar feed and I raised the light quite a bit. Mate...I would not put any info on here that I wasn't 100% sure of and have experience with the exact thing. Look, I have always misted at night...except this one time...when I burnt my seedling! Speakin' from experience mate.

 

[Xlr8]

Re: first grow ever

Hey, I'm here learning just like her. I'm a complete newbie still, as for growing cannabis that is. I just read in a couple different places, and through experience with other plants, heard gradual lighting was best way to acclimate, like in nature. I'm in complete agreeance with you in regards to not stating facts, I was just asking for educational knowledge for my own. I like spray misting in am. for routine purposes mostly. But Idk, I use LED's & CFL's, 6 fixtures in total, and all individually timed to operate on/off within 15 minutes of each other. My fan then doesn't turn on for 4hours after the lights warm-up... My closet doesn't get that hot very fast. I just remember reading that moisture during the "Night" would cause mold growth. I'm glad to know that information is UN-factual, and I smoke 14u sir. Thank you.

ML - there's nothing wrong with changing the lighting gradually, and there are people who do that, but it's not necessary at all. I just prefer to keep things simple, especially for newer growers. 18 on/6 off for vegetating, and 12 on/12 off for flowering. There are other ways that will work, but I guarantee this will work every time if all other things are in order. How often do you get a guarantee in life?

What you'll want to do is purchase a timer, even a cheap one, that you'll plug your lighting system into. If you have a lot of "plugs" from your lights, plug them into a power strip that goes to a timer (timer is plugged into outlet) Then your plants will get the consistent light patterns they need. If you are using fans to keep things cool in the closet, they can be going 24 hours, or you can leave some of them on the timer with the lights, and one that keeps air moving.

Edit - make sure that the plants "dark" period is really dark. You won't want light coming in from under the closet door, for example. Seal up the lighting as best you can as they can get confused by even a little stray light during "lights off"