looks great but what is THAT?!

[CrazyboutRights]

Hi guys, I am not mother nature, or her daughter, in fact I probably shouldn't be around live plants at all. I am a new indoor bag seed grower and I currently I have 3 sprouts that are about a week old.

I already know that I have insufficient lighting, but I am working on that. I isolated this one so that it could get the best possible light (the others are basking by the window) and now it has an issue on one of its tiny leaves that I believe is not light related. I apologize that there is no pic, I am hoping that a seasoned grower can recognize this problem and throw me a bone before I waste anymore seeds learning the hard way.

I'm using topsoil and perlite as my medium, and some type of halogen desk lamp ( OK I'm new, embarrassed, and now after reading the forums, pretty surprised that I have gotten this far with it!) I germinated and drained first of course. They are getting plenty of air, they are in a 2nd bedroom with the door open just hanging out. We don't get many house guests or visitors, so we don't go to great lengths to conceal them.

Here is the problem: The sprout is growing really fast, and is the best looking one I have ever grown <-----(not the problem) it is very green and sturdy, but one of the edges leaves looks like it is melting (not wilting). When I touch it its hardish, like a finger nail, and its glossy kind of dark tan. Should I leave it alone, trim it off, start over with the knowledge I have now? what do I do I checked and its not a fragment of the seed case, its just a part of the leaf that looks less than healthy, but the rest of the plant is the best work I have ever done, halogen and all! haha

I appreciate any contribution in advance, if there is no way that anyone can help without a visual, i can fuck around with the camera and try to get something on here, just let me know.

[SKS]

you simply fried the living fuck out of the leaf i think...

you say you are working on your lighting situation.. what are you planning?

[CrazyboutRights]

haha OK,
Well right now I just have the one light source working for the one plant that was doing the best. Ill be getting a light specific for indoor growing within the week for the 3 of them, hopefully it wont be too late! I spent my small personal grow budget on 2 lamps (one doesn't work) and bulbs that I thought would be the best for my accommodation without knowing much about red and blue spectrum for veg and flower periods.

The lamp that I am using has a UV filter on it, which I wasn't sure whether or not to remove, so I left it on (any advice?). I chose a desk lamp because it has a great bendy neck that I can move around easily (and was budget friendly). I guess I should just try moving it farther from my plant first? I currently have it at about 3-4 inches from the top, since it is halogen, no heat it reaching the leaves and I was actually worried about the plant getting chilly, my apartment stays around 73 F.

Thank you so much for the speedy reply

[SKS]

are you sure it's halogen? i have a halogen desk lamp and that shit gets hot. like if it was 3-4 inches away it would probably be around 100 degrees on my plant.

have you looked into CFL's? those are probably the best beginner friendly bulb out there.

[CrazyboutRights]

I check on it uncommonly frequently haha I can actually hold my hand to the back of the lamp all day,and of course under it to gauge how much heat is reaching the leaves (more comes out of the back), its a newer nicer model and is really cool to the touch, and its plastic, not metal, that makes a big difference.
I haven't had any problems with heat from it.
I actually plan on getting a CFL in a day or three, I just hope they can hang on. So will the plant heal itself, should I trim?

Will the UV filter affect the grow at all?

[SKS]

alright well what would you estimate the temperature is around the leaves?

and hurry up on the CFL. you want that. actually you want 3. trust me. these sprouts are gonna be trees very soon and each need their own bulb. and what kind or topsoil did you use? the pH being off could have burned the leaves. and did you add any nutrients?

EDIT: sorry for the long delay.

[CrazyboutRights]

On avg I would say about 77 F, but I currently don't have a reliable way of reading the temp. I use the equation Read my apt thermostat + guess the amount of heat the lamp gives off / the distance from the leaves.

I am using "Scott's" brand premium bag top soil from a local store. it was middle of the road as far as price was concerned. I didn't add anything because I am so new I was sure that I would over do it and fry them from the inside out. the soil does have peat moss though, I heard that was good.

I saw a long grow light, like a florescent bulb, that is for indoor growing, it was cheap and easy to rig up in my room, would this be less or more effective than the individual cfl? I would be able to get that one much quicker and have a much easier way of getting it set up then I would the 3 little bulbs, what is your opinion? have you seen these?

No worries, thank you for all of your help!

[SKS]

i'm glad to see you are learning fast.

the large grow light would be a great thing to have for a grow. but i wouldn't use just one bulb alone. get that first and then as soon as you can, get 3 CFLs on it. i mean before you know it you are going to have 3 trees all striving for one light. bathe them in CFLs and you wont regret it.

the scotts soil is a good medium. and you were right not to add any nutrients yet. this means the browning IS from your light most likely.

get that large CFL and hook it up 6" above your plant. you don't want the light too far away or this will cause stretching...

[CrazyboutRights]

This is all great info! Thank you so much

I am also worried that I am under estimating the smell that the plants will have. This might get me into more trouble than getting a bruised leaf if I don't know what I am doing.

I live in an apartment, but I smoke weed in every room, there is no turning on the shower vent and blocking off the door shit. I know that my neighbors can smell it at times, and perhaps they don't mind that I'm just keeping to myself, but I don't think they will be so laid back if they suspect that I am growing too.
There are a lot of families here, and some see me and my bf and recognize us as harmless, while others listen to conservative talk radio loudly in the parking lot and give us strange looks when we walk our dog. What is the chance that the radio ones are going to call the fuzz because they are worried that we are going to contaminate their offspring?

I assume the aroma will be at its worst during flowering and drying? If you can tell me what to expect from 3 plants that would be just amazing!

Thanks again for your patience and help!

[SKS]

honestly you shouldn't have too much trouble.

there might be a detectable smell outside your apt but i doubt it. flowering and drying is the most odious time no doubt but you'll be fine. just crack all the windows and turn on the fan every once in a while. your plants will appreciate the fresh air anyway.

[CrazyboutRights]

That is a big relief! I was just getting paranoid I suppose, I had no idea what to expect.

Thank you so much for all of your time and help!!

[SKS]

no problem. just get some pics of your setup and plants goin.

[CrazyboutRights]

Well here is what I currently have, it is less than impressive, in fact, it is mostly embarrassing , but I am a beginner. I did have 3 but when I went in the room to take the kid's pics I noticed that one was broken in half, probably due to "stretching," it was very tall yesterday. It was one of the two praying to the sun god, and I didn't expect either of them to make it, but it was heart breaking all the same . So I pulled it up and took some glamor shots of the survivors.

The first pic is just what is going on; pots, medium, light, "grow room" (they have the whole guest bedroom to themselves!).
I put the two next to each other to show size comparison, but it didn't show up very well. The halogen plant is 1.5 inches, the sun plant is nearly 4 inches, and they are both a week tomorrow.
The next two pics are just my average sized hand next to them, and then the sun fed plant back near the window, I guess to show that it is a very big window.
My camera does not take very good close up pics, but if you look closely you can see the blemish I originally began this thread for, however, still not very well.

Ill get better pics of better light equipment as soon as I get the bulbs! Thanks for hanging in there with me, try not to pull your eyes out over this, if it helps, don't look directly at the screen.

EDIT:My sun plant's stalk is understandably longer (the light source is farther away) but it is also super white, is that ok?

[SKS]

first of all your yard looks fucking amazing. redwoods are bomb.

secondly it's good you only have one plant in each pot now lol. other wise the root balls would have grown together and probably led to the death of both plants lol

move both pots to the window until you get your lights. your plants are definitely stretching. but once you get lights we can fix that lol.

[The Green Man]

With only 3 plants you probally won't have a huge odor problem, all depending on strain of course some are smellier then others. I got some ona blocks for my small grow of 4 plants. There was defintaly a jungle smell in my room and so far 1 block has done a good job of getting rid of it, I also got 3 more for when they start smelling more. Their only like 10 bucks each and last a while. You can find them at any hydro store.

Once you get some more lights for your ladies I would get a fan blowing on them as this will help strenghten the stems and also give them good air circulation.

Good luck with the grow.

Oh as for that splotch I can't really tell what it is, but its nothing to be to worried about just looks like a light burn. I would just leave it, as taking of leafs from that young of a plant would be a bad idea.