EDIT: I started this thread as my first post at GC, with a question about whether my spindly window-sill sprouts were going to survive. After clearing up the initial issues (thanks mad4reef!), the crop has been doing great, so I had this thread moved into Grow Journals so I can keep the GC community updated. Below is the first question I asked, and the journal proper begins in post 4. There's only a few posts to review for now, but they contain all the info on how the grow started and what I've done since... Any feedback, comments, suggestions are welcome!! This is my first grow attempt, started germinating 5 weeks ago, planting a sprout a week more or less, in small soil planters. I have 5 sprouts in my window now, from 1 to 4 weeks old, growing tall and spindly in natural light. Day length a month ago was about 10-1/3 hours. Now it's down to 9-1/2 hours. I'll be obtaining an HPS light for these babies and repotting to 3gal pots, but it won't happen for another two weeks. Until then, they're getting decent daylight in my window sill. Is the decreasing daylight really confusing for the plants? They're in a decreasing light situation now and will be in a controlled environment when they are between 3 and 7 weeks old, respectively. Any tips on what light regimen to use once I get the HPS in place? (start at 18/6??) Can the natural cycle they're on be reset (if that makes sense)? What effect, if any, will the overall light situation have on inducing flowering? Thanks in advance for any help and advice!
How tall are they at this point? How many nodes (leaf sets) do they have at this point? You mentioned tall and spindly. This is a sign of insufficient light. Windowsill grows rarely ever work out. The sunlight refracts off of the glass and therefore is extremely diffuse by the time it reaches your plant. Also, the light cycle is certainly not ideal for veging plants. They need at least 18 hours of light in the day and they just aren;t receiving that right now. I wouldn't be surprised if they started to flower. If it is dark where they are when the sun goes down (meaning none of your house lights are on them), they probably will. My advice to you, start over when you get your new light in two weeks. These probably aren't going to be worth growing two weeks from now. At least you learned your lesson and next time you will have adequate lighting for your plants. You can start your new plants on 18/6 or 24/0. The choice is yours. Good luck.
Well, that sucks. But I'll keep at it with the little crop and let ya know how they make out. Thx for the reply.
Trying to salvage this little crop, so today I repotted the babies in 3-gal pots, using Fox Farm ocean & forest and a tblsp of Happy Frog fert per pot. I planted them with the stems an inch or two beneath the soil. They didn't have much root growth, which I guess is because of the poor natural light. I got a fluorescent shop light and 2 32w bulbs (6500k freq), making about 5,400 lumens total, hung about 6 inches above the plants. The light's on a timer for 18/6 schedule, which I'll keep them on as long as needed to let them develop some more. I'll be curious to see how they adjust to these improved conditions. I still need to get some air flow going and a vent out of the closet they're in, into the attic. But hopefully there won't be a heat issue until I get the HPS in. I'm just hoping that getting the plants on the proper light schedule will let a couple survive and get vegitating! Only one of them has more than one node. The rest just haven't grown much, with the exception of getting tall. See attached pix in their new locale. And as for why I didn't start these out under good conditions... I sprouted some seeds that came with some bud, mostly on a whim. I have no background with this so didn't realize until I started reading a bunch here that the plants needed waaaay more light. Will let ya know how they're doing in the next few days...
An update, five days after transplanting. All the plants made it through the transplant fine. No signs of shock and no signs of fert probs, which I was a bit concerned about, having added a bit of dry fert to the transplant soil. I've got the hanging shop light very close to the top of the plants, 1-3 inches away, and the plants have responded really well to having far improved light directly overhead. No more stretching! I also decided to leave the light on 24 hours for now. They plants are starting to get nice clusters of leaves growing one after another in tight succession (not big leaves yet, but they're coming!). I got a small fan running across the tops of the pots, which are arranged in a simple row beneath the light. The smallest seedling is furthest from the fan and not getting much movement. That should improve as I get the reflector of the shop light raised during growth. I've got a 400w dual MH/HPS kit with digital ballast on the way. Should have that in 4 days. I'll put in the MH and start to monitor temps. So far I haven't had to water. The babies got a good soaking at transplant and the soil is still dampish. I won't add ferts again for another few days. Maybe the watering after next. Just hoping these recover into fairly normal plants with the overall improved conditions. If so, others can consider how to recover, with some effort to get things right, even after letting the plants stretch in natural ight for a few weeks. Attached photos of 3 of the kids...
Sadly, people who attempt windowsill grows are rarely successful. If you want to grow indoors you really do need to provide lights.
Yeah, after reading a lot more, I'm seeing I made a typical (and major) newb mistake: germinating before having a grow room set up. I started the seeds one at a time, on a whim, and thought I'd just germinate one of them and put it in a soil bed in the yard. But it's not a secure place, and it would have been under pretty crappy conditions starting a plant out in November (no freezes where I am in Cali, but still a bad light cycle I'd guess). I didn't immediately have the cash to get a real light, so I was just gonna wait a few weeks and then get how many ever sprouted under a real light. Of 6 bag seeds, 5 sprouted so I put them in small containers to grow in the window sill for a while. Mad4reefer's response above got me to realize I had to do something different immediately, which is when I got the pots together and some good soil and the best light I could put on with limited funds. I'll post updates here occasionally to let ya know if these work out after a "bad start in natural light".
w00t!!! Received my Lumatek 400w MH/HPS kit today! Got the MH bulb on the babies, about a foot above the plants. All five have made a reallly good recovery. Check out these pix... 1. All five sprouts the day before I moved them off the window sill and transplanted into 3gal containers of FFOF and put them under a pair of T5's at 6500k color. The oldest was 28 days from sprouting (1) and the youngest 8 days (5). 2. The plants today under the new MH. They're pretty old for being so small, but they've really only been under proper light for 8 days now. The oldest is on Day 36 from sprout. The youngest is 16 days from sprout. 3. Here's a closer pic of a couple... (4) is doing the best... 25 days from sprout. (2) aint too shabby, either, 32 days from sprout! Don't want to prejudge, but I'm really hoping these will put on some good bushy growth for the next few weeks.
They'll bulk up here in the next month, guaranteed. Good light, good water, good pH...and they say magic doesn't exist in this world lol. G/L, hope it's some FUNK.
Haha... right on! Thanks for taking a look. Looking forward to that bulking up, though definitely not disappointed to see 'em grow some every day! These are bag seed, so who knows what they'll produce. But I'm gonna try and give them every advantage. Ideally I'd like to have a mother plant by the end of all this and keep growing from clones. Next grow from seed will be with a batch of ordered seeds. And the hardest part of all this? Not telling anyone! But BS'ing on GC helps a lot.
Five days since the last update... the recovered plants are thriving! I started them on FF Grow Big ferts on 12/17, the day after the previous pix were posted. Adding 1/2 tsp of ferts per gallon, about half of the recommended amount. Have fertilized twice now, in the last 2 waterings. I'm now rotating the plants every day, shifting the pots around their little circle, one rotation per day. This ought to give them each a chance to use the best light position once every five days, and get them take turns in the position furthest from the light as well. Next up: hang mylar! Ya, I have a couple of emergency blankets but just haven't hung it on the walls yet. I'll be enclosing the plants with panda film prior to flowering, so I'll have to an inline fan and carbon sctubber in place, too. But I don't plan to flower until the end of January and it's nice to have a simple routine going on for the next few weeks. I plan to add a few CFLs, too, once I figure out how many females I have (please oh please make it five!! ). K, updated pix below. 1 - All the plants - in different spots in the 2 shots, since I rotate them 2 - Plant 3, then and now 3 - Plant 1, the first baby who sprouted 41 days ago, shown when the poor thing couldn't even support the weight of its meager leaves... and today, from above. 4 & 5 - my superstar, plant 4!! Your feedback, opinions and suggestions are encouraged!
Aaaack! Well, after getting my crop stabilized and cooking, I discovered signs of a bug infestation this evening. From online descriptions, I believe I have white flys. Is there anything I can use from around the house to treat the plants tonight? I'll be heading to the hydro store for some Rotenone/Pyrethrum Spray tomorrow, but I'd love to get a jump on the little bassids asap!
Found this a while ago and saved it for times like these: Boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan and add a whole head of garlic to it, 7-12 cloves. Mash the cloves well then strain the mush out and you will have garlic spray . Spray the plants 'well wet' 2 days in a row and then 1 more time before the end of the week. Any little bugs will scatter and the plant will be fine becoming greener again if you aren't weeks into flowering yet. It kills unhatched eggs too. The bigger the head of garlic is, the stronger and faster it works .
True to both suggestions. I found this a while ago because I wanted to be prepared if I got spider mites. Insecticidal soap Dissolve 5 ml (1 tsp) of liquid dish soap in 1 litre (4 cups) of water. Spray on plants infested with spider mites, whiteflies, aphids or thrips. NB: Insecticidal soap is not a preventative. It acts on contact, which means that it must touch the insect pest in order to be effective. Garlic-based insecticide Place a clove of garlic in a blender and add 500 ml (2 cups) of water. Blend until smooth. Pour the liquid into a container, cover and let sit for 24 hours. Filter through cheese cloth or a strainer. Dilute with 4 litres (12 cups) of water and add one or two drops of insecticidal soap to make the mixture adhere to plant leaves. Spray on plants infested with spider mites, whiteflies, aphids or thrips. NB: Garlic-based insecticide is not a preventative. It acts on contact, which means that it must touch the insect pest in order to be effective. Ref.: Hodgson, Larry. Le potager. Saint-Constant : Éditions Broquet, 2007, 160 p.
Would hydrogen peroxide be an OK mixer for my next watering -- tomorrow? And thanks... they will always be babies... weird maternal instinct in us, eh?
Hey ggman your grow you got goin on looks nice! as far as the white flys problem goes, you can go to your hydrostore and get like 3 different things that will take care of them, you can put "sticky traps" in your grow, or get some spray if you dont want to make any of your own. Good Luck hope everything goes well. I'll be tuned in