A newbies rant

[QueenTokelove]

I don't know about you but I have been feeling a lot of emotions during my first grow. From the minute I started germinating my seeds I felt much excitement. From the time, it started its life as a skinny sprout through its stages of vegetation, I have felt pride. Such pride because of the fact I am known to kill fish and plants...lol

I don't have much financially but I am doing the best I can to make this grow successful with what little I do have. My lighting has been an issue from the start. As in using the wrong kind of bulbs, not a high enough wattage, to not having enough of them period. I am using cfls, so far only putting out 8600 lumens. I still have to replace 4 more. I am hoping they will still flower even if it takes longer. I am one of those people who believes in seeing things through to the end.

I am learning from my mistakes though I do admit to moments of frustration and envy. I am happy for others growing successes yet at the same time I am hoping I will have one of my own. I do see progress in my growing just not at the rate of others who are growing the same way that I am. I know all grows are not the same. So why do I tend to feel like I am not doing enough or sometimes doing too much? Where is that happy medium at?

I sing praises about finding this site. Many have been helpful with questions that I have asked. Yet I still find myself with more questions but hesitant to ask. I do read other peoples journals/questions but sometimes I just don't find the answers I seek. Or else I am missing them somewhere. I have ordered the Grower's Bible by Cervantes, I am hoping this will answers some of the questions. I know I am not the only noob with questions so I don't want anyone spending most of their time just trying to answer my questions. But I want to thank those that did help me get on my way and got me to where I am at today.

 

[CannaVince]

Love ya love..... I got your back.... Much

 

[QueenTokelove]

Yeah, I know you have Vince, you have been there from the beginning with me. Put up with all my questions no matter how many times I have asked. You're great.

 

[iminadaze]

I'm here for you too... When I can be.

I hear what you are saying too. I feel like I have been gifted by finding this place. I have learned so much here that I have a good foundation for nice harvests, and to show my gratitude I will dedicate my time on 420 to helping others who are new to growing anyway I can. So no matter how much you ask or how silly you may think the question is I will answer with a smile because you ARE listening and trying. So hold your head up with pride, I know 100% you will have that harvest you're seeking. It may not be this round but you are already learning your mistakes so watch out round 2 the queen is coming.

 

[CannaVince]

See queen we do loveya .....I've got yo back as well dizzle...anyways love have you started your flowering yet? How bout new pics for us huh? I'm waiting

 

[PotChimp]

I found my happy medium when the excitement dulled down for me. I realized that sitting there with a pair of scissors in one hand, a lighter in the other, and a pipe in my mouth hovering over a grow bag I just planted a pot seed in five seconds ago wasn't going to work for me. At that point I would have attacked the plants with every remedy I found online when a leaf slightly lightened in appearance. I stick with the basics now. 78 degrees in grow room always, an average of 50 watts per square foot of growing space, 60 - 70% humidity in seedling/veg stage and 40 - 60% humidity when flowering, distilled or reverse osmosis treated water (even with misting), quality nutrients and growing mediums, 5 air changes per minute in my grow closet, and one gallon of growing medium per foot of height for each plant (each gallon of growing medium seems to equal one month of growth with the 35,000 lumen 250 watt HPS I am using). So far this seems to be making up for my lack of experience. Patience is my main weapon in the fight against poor results.

 

[QueenTokelove]

Thanks for the encouragement guys its appreciated..

 

[CannaVince]

See guys here's the thing......from day 1-10 your waiting for sprouts and such...from day 11-55 is where we get all involved...watering, nuting, LSTing, transplanting, scroging, ph-ing, trimming, etc.....etc....etc....day1-7 of flowering we are waiting.... Again... Day 7-35 we are again all involved with the same....then the last few weeks of flowering we are again waiting....this whole process builds on you....I tend to get discouraged with even the slightest things in my garden....so I I'll walk away for the day... Next day I'm into it again....my garden is always/has been my getaway from reality....just my garden and me....... So love we've all got our highs and low's with growing... Gardening is an amazing hobby that should be recommended for therapy... Every one is different and none of them are wrong... Just need to find your happie hippy medium.....pot chimp has got it right on the money...imagine if you were a plant with a closet full of humans sprouting and you kept watering, bending, twisting, moving, touching, interrupting sleep cycles, and burning the crap out of us,,, I'd be so pissed....

 

[MadMike]

Enjoy and work with nature. It certainly cleanses me from the trivial systems of society. Enjoy this video and remember to take a deep breathe and take in what nature produces:
Jorge Cervantes: Medical Marijuana Outdoor Gardens Tour - 10lb.+ MEGA Plants!! - YouTube

 

[QueenTokelove]

Sorry I couldn't respond more, the satelite guys was here. I was rushing putting the plants in the bathroom because I thought he would have to run wires thru the closet. He didn't need to after all but better safe than sorry.

I really do appreciate all the input and its good to know that others often feel this way too. It's all a new experience for me so I am learning how a indica looks and reacts, same with sativa. Every day I am seeing new growth on them so I should just shut up and be happy that none have died. Though the one is still droopy as hell. And did you mention pics, Vince? Now you know...lol...I'm gonna take some new ones and post them. I hope it won't be blurry. I can't wait for my grow bible and microscope to get here. Hopefully tomorrow, I am ready to tackle the mailman/UPS man at the door...lol

Ok back, well I don't think you guys will still be able to see what looks like balls on one plant and pistils on the other. I wonder if I can take pics through the microscope some type of way? The one drooping is named Senor Droopy..The others I have made names just haven't decided which ones is which yet. Also can someone tell me what is going on with the yellowing on the leaf? I have noticed that they seem to be getting dry faster, does this happen during flowering?

 

[iminadaze]

.....pot chimp has got it right on the money...imagine if you were a plant with a closet full of humans sprouting and you kept watering, bending, twisting, moving, touching, interrupting sleep cycles, and burning the crap out of us,,, I'd be so pissed....

Ha Ha! You could make a movie out of that.

But seriously, I am going to think of this everytime I walk toward my plants with the trimmers... She's over 5 feet with her bucket, what if she tackles me and then plants me and starts trimming my limbs as she drowns me in water....SCARY!

LOL!

 

[Twelve12]

Looks like you have a male. I've looked at your gallery for some closeups on the nodes but discovered they are blurry. Can you take some new shots to have a second look? You definitely don't want to waste time raising a male Cannabis if breeding is not your focus at the moment, and its your only plant. You can still grow it out to gain experience though...

 

[PotChimp]

Don't feel too bad there, everyone. The first time I realized that my lighting situation was way below par in the excitement of being a noob I must have got like 12 CFL's, 4 tube fluoros, a big LED damn those poor little seedlings must have got stage fright or something I could imagine I was hearing the broadway song "New York New York" it was so bright and the little seedlings were in a chorus line kicking their legs up like Rockettes before they fried from the heat. I could have lit up a football field at night. I learned to tone it down a bit and leave them be since then thankfully.....

 

[QueenTokelove]

Ha Ha! You could make a movie out of that.

But seriously, I am going to think of this everytime I walk toward my plants with the trimmers... She's over 5 feet with her bucket, what if she tackles me and then plants me and starts trimming my limbs as she drowns me in water....SCARY!LOL!

When you said that, it reminded me of Scary Movie, I forget which one but where Shawn Wayans get rolled into a joint but his MJ plant and the plant got high...lol...

I did manage to find some batteries for my digital camera, its a HP Photosmart but the pics still look a lil blurry to me and the flash on makes some of the leaves look yellow when they're not....*sighs* But I will post them anyway.

Ugh, I don't know whats going on, I have re-written this post about 4 times already. I keep losing it...

Chimp-- I have 8 cfls total, 4 which I found out does not do the plant a bit of good. The other 4 are 30w and looks blue when lit. Not sure how many lumens those are together. I have been thinking about going to get a HID bulb to put with the 30w bulbs. I found one HID light that is 250w and costs about 30 bucks. I would think that would be enough lumens, ya think?

 

[iminadaze]

You got one clear pic there that "looks" female.. I would Know for sure if it was a bit closer.

Does that 250w HID come with the ballast and socket or is it just the bulb?

The 250 HID will give you around 27000 lumens and is a decent setup for 2' x 2' space.

If it is a whole setup I would buy it for $30. If I could, I would buy 2. It's a good deal.


A 30 watt CFL gives off around 66 lumens per watt or around 1920 lumens. So you have about 7680 lumens give or take a few of course.

 

[Twelve12]

It's a female! Congrats! I think for the camera to focus correctly, press half way to hear a sound that it makes after it's focused, then press it firmly to take a shot.

 

[SteveHman]

An HID bulb is going to need a ballast, fixture and reflector. I've see some great grows using standard CFL lights and home made reflectors. The key is to get them close to the plants, like inches close.

Do you have a pic of your light setup and how it's positioned over the plants? I did a quick DIY on a cheap CFL fixture that is very flexible, might be worth a look. It's cheap and easy to put together. Cheap, easy, adjustable DIY light fixture

 

[PotChimp]

I'm using a 200 watt Feliz blue spectrum mogul based CFL right now in a 2' x 3' closet space about 18" tall to get my plants up to a foot tall. If I had the height I could probably get them up to 1-1/2' with it (I'm not sure of the lumen count on this Feliz CFL). They seem to be pretty healthy and bushy looking so far. It would seem like you could get maybe a few plants up under a 250 watt HID if you put them close together but these experienced people on here would know more. I've been doing about 4-5 plants per grow in the two 2' x 3' x 4-1/2' spaces I put the plants into to flower after this foot tall start closet (to run through a lot of strains), but I am getting restricted growth due to the overcrowding especially underneath. In that space I should only be doing 2 but I will get to that after a lot of seeds. Man I went nuts like a kid in a candy store when I saw the seed breeder's websites and got way too many seeds.

 

[QueenTokelove]

It's a female! Congrats! I think for the camera to focus correctly, press half way to hear a sound that it makes after it's focused, then press it firmly to take a shot.

Are you serious? It's a girl? I just moved her out to the livingroom for the dark cycle because I thought it was a boy. I really can't hear any sound like that due to the fact that I am hearing impaired. I just noticed that they came out a lil clearer than using my cell. But close up still comes across a bit blurry.

Chimp--- Your closet space is about the same as mine. Lighting is confusing me because I am reading different answers to cfl wattage and color of bulb. One person says anything under 23w is useless to the plant but then someone else says they are using 14w and it is 2700 lumens. I thought that was an error because when I looked it up, it said 14w is equal to 750 lumens. I also read on here that yellow cfls are no good but then someone else's writes that they are good to use because they mimic the sun. So I am a bit confused. I want to get an HID because everyone has been singing it's praises and it seems like it makes the girls open up more. Do you have to have a reflector for HID bulbs? How much do they run? Or can I at least start with the HID and add reflector later? I have heard about using soda cans as a DIY but I don't drink soda anymore so thats not really an option unless it takes less than 6 cans to make then maybe.

Daze it was just the bulb but it look like it would fit into a splitter like the cfls do. Besides the 4 30w, I have 4 14w which when I looked it up said 14w is equal to 750 lumens...So together rounded out possibly around 11,000 lumens? Is this correct?

Steve---Yes I did read your journal on your set up but I do not have the electrical experience you seem to have. I wouldn't know the first thing to do with all those wires. How much did your set up come to? I am on a fixed income.

Thanks guys for the input/advice. Hopefully someone will answer this before I lose my internet service....tomorrow...But it will be temporary, got tired of Time Warner so now I am look for another provider. So, you may not see me for a few. Some will be glad for a break, looking@Vince and Daze...lol...If you don't see a response from me that is why...I will miss this place for sure but while I am away I will be reading Cervantes' Growing Bible. And hopefully you will see some improvements with my ladies.

 

[Twelve12]

Are you serious? It's a girl? I just moved her out to the livingroom for the dark cycle because I thought it was a boy. I really can't hear any sound like that due to the fact that I am hearing impaired. I just noticed that they came out a lil clearer than using my cell. But close up still comes across a bit blurry.

One of your photo from the series showcase pistils (female part), so yes, it is a girl. The photos you posted prior were extremely blurry and was misleading had it look like clusters of pollen sacks. That's why I asked if you can submit some focused pics to re-identify the sex. We're trying to look out for you. Hate to see you spending time with unwanted plant. Rest assure it's a girl you can flower her or keep on vegging for more growth.

You can check the preview image feature on the camera to see if you like the shots. Check to see if the camera has a macro feature, the icon is a flower. This feature will allow you to take clear closeup shots. If your camera does not have the macro feature, try not to take shots up too close, it'll just be blurry. Anyway, didn't mean to freak you out, heh.