Orphan Rescue - 1st Grow - Ghettoest Of The Ghetto

[ShinSeiki]

Hey everyone, i have learned alot from lurking this forum, so i decided to add my story the mix...

So i've been thinking about growing for a while now, just never a good time to get my feet wet. Until a buddy of mine showed up at my door with a couple of babies, 2 days old! He got them off a kid who had his mom breathing down his neck.

This all happens at the back end of a terrible month for me finance wise, so i have about 10 euros in my pocket that can go towards this .
Where i live, we have these little chinese stores that sell really crappy stuff from china for dirt cheap, so that's where i go to get stocked.
I got:
-3 lightbulb to outlet thingies(1€ a piece)
-2 45w 6500k CFL's (3.6€ a piece)
-pot(0.7€)
-Potting soil(1€)

Plus stuff i had around the house
-extention cord
-Tin foil

Total cost-9.9€ (no joke, i had 10 in my pocket)

I ran with this setup for a week, water every 2 days on a 24/0 cycle , they are now at their 10th day with a slightly upgraded rig.

For now i will leave you with some pics from the very start.

For the record, i have zero expectations in terms of yield, this is just training wheels, a learning experiance, so please don't be too harsh on me in the comments, peace out!

Edit:I was going to leave that for the update tomorrow with the new rig, but i just want to cover that i already have a fan blowing in there, more bulbs and i got another pot and separated them. I am leaving them alone for a couple of days to recover and then begin LST.

 

[Dresney]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

Hello Welcome to and congratulations on starting a journal!

I think you did really well considering your budget.

Just a couple things to think about... you want to give your soil a chance to dry out pretty well between waterings. Give them a good strong watering and then let the soil get mostly dry before you water again. You can test this by sticking your finger about an inch down into the dirt. If it feels mostly dry about an inch down, it's safe to water again. When mine were at the stage yours are they were getting watered once every 4-5 days. Of course, this is dependent on your soil type. You want a really well-draining soil. You might benefit from adding some perlite at some point.

Also, I've read that foil can have heat spots, so you want to keep an eye on that.

Kudos on separating them already - that is important.

I think you're on the right track. I'll be following along and I'm sure more will join us soon.

Again, welcome to the forums. They're a really fun place to hang out.

 

[ShinSeiki]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

Thanks dude, i was already going into this weird thought spiral... what if people think its an abomination? what if its so bad it wont even warrant a reply?

I realised my overwatering mistake earlier today, so when i moved them to separate pots i didnt water them at all to try and compensate.

I read that CFL's light propagation doesn't lead to the burn spots associated with tin foil, with that in mind i used the less reflective side of the tin foil and i'm keeping close watch for burns, if they show burning i'll remove the whole thing and figure something out.

 

[ShinSeiki]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

Update time!

Since my plants have been the only thing i can think or talk about, my girlfriend squeezed an extra 30€ off her equally tight budget towards upgrading my grow(awesome girl is awesome). So there i go running back to the chinese store...

I got
-Bigger power cord - 10€
-2 more 45w CFL's (6500k) (one was busted and they didnt have more in stock, so i took a 40w instead) - 3.60€ each
-Small fan (clip or base, 2 speed settings)- 15€
-2 light socket splitters - 2€ each

Also i had a couple of friends scour their friends/neighbours for some free suplies and they came up with some chicken wire and some plant food (6-3-6), not the best i know, but hey! Free nutes!

Spent last night reconfiguring everything to acomodate for the fan and extra bulbs, plus i rigged the chicken wire into a lid for my rig for easy acess (something i had somewhat overlooked before).

(can't upload pics from mobile, will update in a few hours with pics)

 

[ShinSeiki]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

because double post, please remove.

 

[ShinSeiki]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

As promissed, pics!

This is what the setup looks like from the outside, still have some light leaks, iphone sensor makes it look much worst though... Edit: For the more... Eagle eyed viewers out there, you are correct, that IS a pizza box!

Wire lids come off as mentioned before. there are 4 bulbs in there, as you can see, this is pretty half-assed.

Plant 1, this one has shown a quicker, stronger growth out of the 2 but it's starting to show some yellow and i honestly don't know where to start... I suspect the enviroment may be a bit dry, maybe i'll put a water container next to it and see... Edit: Also, you can tell straight away i was overwatering, i separated them yesterday, just soil, no water. And still you can see that the soil in the center is soaked, that's the soil that came with the plant from the original pot.

Plant 2, slower growth and somewhat stumped leaves.

I would love to read your 2 cents on my grow, feel free to post them below. Don't know what to say? how about if it's time to start LST? i am but a student.

 

[ShinSeiki]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

I've been checking out the awesome cannabis problem pictorial, the yellowing could be a potassium deficiency. Should i start adding nutes right away? I was under the impression that nutes at this point do more harm than good... Also, if my nutes are 6-3-6, can i double the dose for 12-6-12?

 

[Dresney]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

Exactly how old are your seedlings? I'm really hesitant to say feed them. I don't think they usually require nutes this early.

Do you have any way to test the pH of your water and soil? Could you list the ingredients in your soil?

If more traffic doesn't come by soon I'll post on my journal and see if we can't get some smarties in here. I'm afraid of nutes myself because I've seen a lot of plants in bad shape from too much too early.

 

[ShinSeiki]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

They are 11 days old from sprouting, i'm gonna make a run and try and find a PH test. Will report lack later with updated pics and maybe some Ph info.

 

[Dresney]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

Ok, sounds good. My local grocery store has those little strips in the swimming pool section. Those aren't ideal but will give us an idea of where you're at in a pinch. But be sure to look at the range - some of them only go down to 6.5 which is the sweet spot for us.

I'll be here all day, so don't rush.

 

[ShinSeiki]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

I live in a really small town, where finding the simplest item can turn out to be an adventure, i just now got home with the pH test, i'm screwed, my pH is so low it wont even register on the scale (6.2 to 8.4). I checked the soil info before i left and realised my soil way was too low pH (5.5), the water is almost at the scale, should be about 6.0.

I went to the local hardware store and the only pH down they had was for swimming pools, other than that it's a 100+ mile drive.

Can i go ghetto on the pH down or maybe use the one meant for swimming pools?

 

[Dresney]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

Hmm. I'm not too sure about the pH stuff. There might be some household items you can use to change it a bit, but I'm not sure. Let me post on my journal and see if someone can come help us.

 

[Dresney]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

If your pH is too low to register on that scale, we're looking for pH up. I'll do some searching and see if anything around the house safely raises pH.

 

[ShinSeiki]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

Took a couple of pics of my main plant, one is all twisted (But it shows the potassium deficiency clear as day), please rotate head acordingly.

Now for the soil breakdown:

Organic matter - 68.49%
pH- 5.5/6
Nitrogen - 1.33%
Fosphor - 0.69%
Potassium - 0.26%
Magnesium - 0.14%
Iron - 0.60%
Calcium - 2.69%
Max moisture - 40%

I might get my hands on some limestone or baking soda tomorrow...

 

[ShinSeiki]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

With all the panic i almost forgot to take the time to thank you(Dresney) for your imput, it has been a big help in trying to steer this trainwreck...

 

[Dresney]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

Hey, no problem! I love helping out. I posted on my journal, so I think we'll have some reinforcements soon.

 

[Flower Child]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

Oops what you need is "ph up" and you can use a pinch of baking soda in their water- you'll have to experiment to see how much to use.
I think a good level to shoot for is around 6.5. You can also check what the ph of your runoff is- just catch the first bit that drains out when you next water and see what it reads- will tell you if they need more soda in the water

 

[ShinSeiki]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

I have all kinds of options running through my mind, from ajusting through the water (find higher pH water) to getting all new soil with better pH, but i fear the plants wont survive a transplant in this condition...

 

[ShinSeiki]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

Hey Flower Child! thanks for the input, didn't see you post until i had already posted, i can surely get my hands on some baking soda tomorrow, measuring the runoff sounds simple enough, i'll give it a try!

 

[Flower Child]

Re: Orphan rescue/1stGrow/Ghettoest of the ghetto

Just another thought- make sure you are letting them get really dry between waterings- not wilting but close. These plants like a lot of air around their roots so they could still be reeling from the soggy start. Drooping and yellowing are symptoms.
Oh and a belated to 420!