Hello everyone! Happy thanksgiving! I hope everyone enjoys their food! Anyway, like most people on here, I love MJ but hate paying for it. So, I built a box with a couple buddies over the weekend and germinated some seeds! Here's the design of the box: The front door is sealed due to the duct tape, however still easily accessible. The computer fan is wired to a 12v AC-DC adapter. The air intake is passive. The temperature inside is great. It doesn't get hot at all. The 3 seeds I put in the dirt are just bag seeds for my first time. They were germinated and put in soil Tuesday, 11/25. (no pictures are needed for this step). Thursday, THANKSGIVING DAY BITCH, I have sprouts i believe. The soil was a little wet last night so i'm going to wait to water them. I'm leaving them on a 24 hour light cycle for about a week. Then, I will switch to 18/6. TO-DO's: Mylar on the interior, carbon filter (at the end of vegging), more bulbs, possibly rearrange the lights later on Well, this is what I have so far! Looking for a fun adventure and some help from some of you seasoned members out there! Thanks in advance for anything you help with!
What I have found to be effective is to let the soil dry out as much as possible, almost to the point where they tell you they need water. Then water it. Looks good so far too, make sure the lights are 3 inches away or closer, just feel it with the backside of your hand.
Okay, thank you for the tip. I need to be more careful with the soil because you're about the 5th person to tell me my soil was too wet.
My plants are beginning to unfold their 2 leaves right now and I have them on a 24 hour light schedule. When should I switch to 18/6 or should I at all?
More light is more light, so it should help but nobody has concrete evidence having 24/0 vs 18/6 being more helpful. Remember alot of good stuff happens during the dark cycle so it needs both, but for seedlings I give them 24 for atleast 3 or 4 days until they look full of life. Definitely 18/6 after a week, but that's just me.
Here is a quick update before bed! Starting to see some progress every day. The seed shell should fall off soon! When should I look into getting a carbon filter? Will the plant not have a smell until flowering?
Here's an update after a busy few days. Sorry I was slacking! All plants have grown a lot and all 3 are starting their third layer of leaves. One has a longer stem and is flimsy for an unknown reason to me. I just bought a new 43 watt 2700k bulb for flowering. I'm moving to bigger pots tomorrow. (I know I'm well passed due on that)
I think you could move the light closer to the plants. Since the light is so far away your plants will try to reach for it causing it to grow longer out and not be able to support itself.
Leaves are sagging a bit. Growth has been completely halted for the past 2-3 days. Leaves has a slight yellowish tint to them. Not very bad though. Is this over-watering or a nitrogen deficiency?
Don't wait to get the carbon filter! Better safe than sorry also use activated carbon instead of the flat pieces, they don't work as good
I've been letting the soil dry out much more as i suspected over-watering. I haven't watered for 3 days and here's a wide angle view
Man, I LOVE the whole idea of microgrows...good luck with your grow....sounds like you are getting great advice so I'll just lurk till I think I can be helpful. I usually do macrogrows but just have always been interested in experimenting with going small....good luck with your project.
Thank you very much! I was fascinated with the whole idea of it. I'm just really impatient and I lack a lot of knowledge gained from growing experience. However, I'm going to flower these damn plants and smoke what I grew one way or another.
I suspected that i over-watered them, however I'm not sure. Growth came to a halt for about 3 or 4 days, but today looked as if one or two of them grew the slightest bit. I will be updating the journal a lot more frequently now. Many more pictures to come! Here's a few from the batch of pictures I just took. You all have the experience, how are my girls looking?
Put somthing under them to prop them higher, as said above you should be 1-2 inches from the plant to the cfl, otherwise they dont get enough and stretch. Check them a few times a day and make sure they do not touch the light as it will burn them. You want the lights close, and do it now, they stretch so quickly.
I propped them up last night and now they are much closer. If i hold my hand between the lights and the plants i feel no uncomfortable heat. Should I begin LST'ing in about a week or 2? I will post more pictures about mid day today. I plan on taking back the carbon sponge i bought and buying activated carbon on tuesday.