Project #1

[FarmerTom]

Hello Tokers
This is my first thread and my first growing experiment. I'm growing two Green-O-Matic plants. Basically i'm just trying to keep it as cheap and simple as i can while still providing the plant with the minimum necessities.

My setup consistes of:
* 1.5 Kg of soil per plant.
* Hesi TNT Complex
* a 125 watts Elektrox 6500K Energy saving lamp with built-in-ballast and a reflector.
* Digital Timer

It's been 1 week since germination and it's looking good (at least that's what i think).
Before starting this project i made my research and i hope everything will turn out just as i planned.

I know it's an Auto-Flowering strain but i'm still going to switch the light to 18/6 when i'm satisfied with the growth. For now it's under 24h light, and i'm thinking of keeping it that way for 2 weeks more (Feel free to suggest an alternative but only if it's tested and works).

I'm aiming for a 50 to 70 cm plant height, it's in a closet with no ventilation, but i open the door every day.

That's all i can say for now, feel free to ask questions or suggest improvements.

 

[j4s2u0]

Wow thats a big bulb,lol...ur setup looks good,plants are defently stretching a bit...
I would normaly say u need to drop the light a little,so the bulb is no further then 4" away from the tops of the plants...but Im not sure how close ur is,lol

 

[FarmerTom]

I've moved it closer to the plant 2 days ago, i just wanted them to stretch for a couple of days in the beginning. Now this huge bulb is about 10 cm away from their little tiny tops
I was just too afraid of putting the bulb too close at first, cus although it's not as hot as HPS, it still emits more heat than smaller CFLs, so i thought it could dry or kill the tiny plants )) and i was away for a couple of days so i didn't know how fast the will grow.
Does anyone think it's possible to get buds in a month, i mean to go from germination to harvesting in 30 days? Cus that's what i was aiming for at first, i heard that green o matic is small and very fast growing. I want to be able to harvet on new years eve

 

[j4s2u0]

Ya I forgot those bigger bulbs do give off more heat then regular bulbs,but u got it now
And Im not sure if u can do it in a month,yes Iv read they grow fast also and u could defently have buds starting in a month,but they wont be potent at all,and u wont get alot...

 

[SnowBender]

Does anyone think it's possible to get buds in a month, i mean to go from germination to harvesting in 30 days?

not unless your monsanto. or have a time machine

even the fastest strains take 6 weeks to flower, thats not including veg time.

most strains are in the 8- 10 weeks flowering range. (again not including veg time)

How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know

 

[FarmerTom]

not unless your monsanto. or have a time machine

even the fastest strains take 6 weeks to flower, thats not including veg time.

most strains are in the 8- 10 weeks flowering range. (again not including veg time)

How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know

XD i guess 55 days is fast enough, would be nice though to see in a couple of years some strains that have a 30 days cycle i don't think it's impossible, we'll just have to wait and see.
Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

[j4s2u0]

XD i guess 55 days is fast enough, would be nice though to see in a couple of years some strains that have a 30 days cycle i don't think it's impossible, we'll just have to wait and see.
Thanks for the replies everyone.

Well Im not sure if it is posible,is there a place on earth we havent found a strain of weed? Maybe out there some where there a small early flower plant like the ruderalis but only needs half the time,lol...who knows
But u did start with some nice seeds so that cool,I have been eye balling green-o-matics for a while now,so Ill be watching

 

[FarmerTom]

Update 10/12/2010
I found today a CFL 2700K 600 Lumens Lamp at home, so i disassembled a useless desk lamp into something more useful , a height adjustable lamp to add to my project.
I want to give the plant some more light and balance it a bit with red spectrum light, although it's not very powerfull, still it might change the atmosphere for the dwarfs and adds a slight steampunk touch to the whole project
One of them is kinda preparing itself for TLS already ))

 

[SnowBender]

all the fast strains are crap to smoke imo.

 

[FarmerTom]

all the fast strains are crap to smoke imo.

I never smoked it before so i can't argue or anything, i'm more interested in the growing process for now. My favorite strain is White widow and White rhino, so this is just an experiment to get prepared for growing a bigger plant. I think i'll go with white Rhino next time.

 

[j4s2u0]

Looks good,in my opinion...I think it would be much better to switch to the normal cfl bulbs that screw in ect,there much better and easier to work with,easier to find better and bigger bulbs ect...
600 lumens for a bulb isent much but it will add a little more light I guess...wont hurt
You can make very cheap,good working cfl fixtures...one of the easiest is like I did,
All u need is a 6-7 outlet extention cord,then get some fixture things from home depot or where ever that plug right into the extention cord,u can screw bulbs right in them...
Very easy and quick,not sure if u have any home depots though since u live close to the north pole,haha

 

[braynes]

Looks good, if you want herb that soon, Then plant 2 seeds every 2 weeks leave them 18/6, then you will have new every 2 weeks or clone them,start the clones every two weeks but clones will take longer.
br

 

[FarmerTom]

Looks good,in my opinion...I think it would be much better to switch to the normal cfl bulbs that screw in ect,there much better and easier to work with,easier to find better and bigger bulbs ect...
600 lumens for a bulb isent much but it will add a little more light I guess...wont hurt
You can make very cheap,good working cfl fixtures...one of the easiest is like I did,
All u need is a 6-7 outlet extention cord,then get some fixture things from home depot or where ever that plug right into the extention cord,u can screw bulbs right in them...
Very easy and quick,not sure if u have any home depots though since u live close to the north pole,haha

of course there is a hme depot somewhere, it's just too cold to go there and i'm out of budget so i had to work with what i got. I'm gonna try to fix the fan issue with a phone charger and see what happens. If i stop posting try to remember me as the guy who tried (Just joking, i'm good with electricity.)

 

[j4s2u0]

of course there is a hme depot somewhere, it's just too cold to go there and i'm out of budget so i had to work with what i got. I'm gonna try to fix the fan issue with a phone charger and see what happens. If i stop posting try to remember me as the guy who tried (Just joking, i'm good with electricity.)

Hahaha!
Thats funny,u will be fine...hell Im scared of electricity and play with it more then I should and Im still posting,haha

 

[FarmerTom]

OK, so i just fixed the ventilation problem with a CPU Fan with 3600 RPM and a phone charger. The temp dropped from 30C to 26C in 5 minutes that's a relief, and the plants are getting lots of movement. The fan is standing on the floor pointing at the lamp's reflector, which reduced significantly the ballasts' heat, it's actually very very cool now.
Although it's very noisy, that's not a problem for me since it's in a closet in the other room.

 

[FarmerTom]

Update 11-12-2010:
Plants are looking healthier than ever, they stopped stretching and grew a couple of leaves.
I guess the stretching was due to high humidity. Finally installed the fan and covered all the surfaces with reflective material.
Watered them twice since re-potting from germination, soil look humid enough so i'll wait a day or two before watering again.
As from today the lighting will be 18/6, before that it was 24h. Temperature dropped to 26C after being 29-30C without the fan.

Fingers Crossed

 

[j4s2u0]

Update 11-12-2010:
Plants are looking healthier than ever, they stopped stretching and grew a couple of leaves.
I guess the stretching was due to high humidity. Finally installed the fan and covered all the surfaces with reflective material.
Watered them twice since re-potting from germination, soil look humid enough so i'll wait a day or two before watering again.
As from today the lighting will be 18/6, before that it was 24h. Temperature dropped to 26C after being 29-30C without the fan.

Fingers Crossed

Sounds good dude,
Just make sure u dont over water,they dont realy need a drink untill the soil on the top is dry 2" down or so...thats what I read and have been doing and its working great

 

[FarmerTom]

Day 13:

Plant showing progress, more leafs and faster growth.

 

[j4s2u0]

Yup,defently looking btter dude!

 

[braynes]

looking good can not wait to see them in a week then 2 and on and on
br