help growing?

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by burney.ale, Dec 7, 2014.

  1. #1 burney.ale, Dec 7, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 7, 2014
    hey guys and gals! I'm burney.ale and I'm new here, I decided to create a profile so's to get assistance on growing for the first time.. and I guess I should start by describing what I need tips on.. Well, my father and I were loading up a bowl to smoke, and i found seed after seed. Well, I had a spur of the moment thought and picked out the 4 seeds to see what I couldn't do. 
     
    I read somewhere years ago that if you put some seeds in soil and stow them in a dark cold place that the seeds will germinate (or something along those lines) and I'd end up with 2 budding sprouts either days or hours later.. So I did just that and now i'm wondering if I started correctly.
     
    I have 4 seeds I don't know exactly if they are male or female, and I put 2 in each cup with soil and a bit of water, then set them in a cool dark place.
     
    Am I on the right track? any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated! thanks, and stay up and over it. :)

     
  2. If they are in soil, they are already in a dark place.  ;)  You should be on the right track.
     
  3. Read the stickies
     
  4.  
    Put them in a WARM place, like on top of a DVR or cable TV box. They dont need dark at all. 75F-80F is perfect to start seedling.
     
    tip #1 Good lights , big ones will grow the big buds.
     
  5. well, i had them there but in a cooler place, then I read that they should be warm lol, so I moved em to a damp towel inside 2 plates and stuck them above the refrigerator. also, could it still work with fluorescent bulbs? I probably also should have mentioned I am up in burney, northern cali.. 43 degrees Fahrenheit outside and 80 where the seeds are on top of the fridge. thanks again!
     
  6.  
    Florescent bulbs do fine, they dont grow huge buds but the plant will grow nice and bushy under floros.
     
    If you want cheap lights try and find 400W metal halide warehouse lights on Craigslist. MH do a great job.
     
  7. wow! thanks again for the assistance. Yeah we got a nice place up here for a bit of cultivation. another question.. what if i used aluminum foil for light reflection?
     
  8.  
    hey man, we can help you out, if you get on it you can have pounds drying by this spring.
     
    Foil has nominal reflectivity, an emergency space blanket from a stores camping section is better and you get a good size sheet for $3. I go and clean them out around here and get 8-10 of them.
     
    Its a myth you will burn plants with foil reflections, even if you have powerful lights it will not burn anything. I hate it when that BS get repeated by people who do not know..
     
    If you have a good space to use go to 1,000 watt lights and dont fuck around, I get buds as big as an arm and this crop some are trying to grow as big as my head. I have 4 1,000w lights but am just running 2 of them right now. they grow way more then enough.
     
    1,000s dont cost much.. Both bulbs, ballast,reflector, hangers and timer brand new for $190
     
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apollo-Horticulture-1000-Watt-MH-HPS-Grow-Light-System-Set-Kit-for-Plant-Growing-/191053706102?pt=US_Hydroponics&var=&hash=item2c7bb03376
     
  9. damn! That's a good deal for the whole shebang for lights, and that emergency blanket sounds like a fantastic idea. who'da thunk it? 
    soooo!!! an update on the seeds, I will admit, I did have my doubts concerning the age of the seeds and their potential, but hey! I checked them about 10 minutes ago and bam! they have white wormies wiggled out! I 'm so ecstatic lol. so imma come to you for help lol while i try to look for more info on this. but do I transfer them slowly and carefully to some pots?
     
  10. #10 snoopdog6502, Dec 10, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 10, 2014
    Start them in solo cups 3/4 full of soil. plant the seeds 3 diameters deep in the soil, about 3/16 of an inch. Cover the cup with a plastic sandwich bag and remove the bag once the sprout pops up. once the sprout is up good fill the cup with soil till its 1/2 inch from full.
     
    let grow 2-3 weeks in the solo cups then transplant. Don't plant the sprouts in huge pots yet.Wait.
     
    You will do fine. :)
     
  11. Thought you recommended 1000s. But those are 600wt would is that what you run or should I keep shopping
     
  12. the link gives me 1,000's
     
  13. Holy smokes! So it does. No idea why 600s showed up.😶 Thanks for the link bro!!
     
  14.  
    You are welcome, I can tell you the 1,000's will grow a big ass plant very fast. fast growing happy plants make for very happy growers in return.
     
    The kits like that are nice with the timer and ratcheting hangers, get both bulbs.
     
    I'm 3 days away from harvest. getting all happy about it. :D
     
  15. #15 Indie-Kah, Dec 11, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 11, 2014
    No myth on the burning.

    But it's avoidable.

    First thing...those emergency blankets were INVENTED to trap and reflect heat...don't use them without excellent ventilation, if you have heat control issues.

    Second, the hot spots come from the blankets having waves and folds in them that will cause reflected light to end up focused more in one area than another. The plants typically adapt to manage in the WORST conditions (least light on surface leaves), which means the ones where lights are focused WILL burn, in such circumstances.

    If you really need, I can show you precisely why, scientifically, and including illustrations to show the reflective principles involved.

    But again, this can be fixed.

    The smartest way to do so, IMO, is to make panels that you can move around as you wish. But the important aspect is stretching the mylar fairly tight.
    Simplest method is to cut the mylar about an inch longer on a side than a 1/4 inch wooden dowel. Lay a bead of Elmer's white glue, or wood glue EXACTLY along the top edge of the mylar, lay the dowel along it, take about 1.5 full rolls around the dowel. The edge is now protected from tearing, and held tight. repeat on the bottom. Repeat on both sides, then either use a trim/finish nail or another method to stick the corners together.

    You should now have a rather tight panel. If need be, you can add a couple more dowels in an "X" behind the panel to make it stronger.

    Tight panel means proper and consistent focus and angle of reflection. Mobile panels means you can remove or reconfigure at will to help cope with heat, airflow, or even just "I want more light getting over here than it's been getting".
     
     
     
    THIS, by the way, is 7 plants in soil, and topped twice, since Nov 13, and 3 "late" clones in soil since Nov 25th, under 2,000 watts of HID, a Solar Flare full spectrum 220, two LED spots, and 4 reptile desert sun bulbs in hood style fixtures, in a 5 by 10 by 10 tent. This includes a recent temp issue forcing me to use 24/0 for a while (which slows growing a bit), and a current minor issue with CalMag deficiency and fungal infection trying to surface.

     
    View attachment 149460
    1,000 watts HID will sure as shit grow you some plants in a hurry, in a 4 by 4 or 5 by 5 area.
     
  16. I have built parabolic mirrors and solar concentrators and you will never burn a plant with reflected artificial light .
     
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law, <<<<here's your science lesson for the day.
     
    Its  a myth, just like lack total darkness in flower causes hermaphrodites.mythes.
     
    You need to spend big money= myth. You need to grow in a tent or box=myth.
     
    I could go on.
     
  17. well haha i sure as hell didn't expect as much traffic on this thread that is here, but it's all good in the hood.
    I didn't see your reply about the sandwich bags, so i just stuck them in solo cups and grabbed the softest soil i could and put them upstairs and now one cup has 2 little leaflets and they're going, but the other cup with 2 more seeds is straight mud, i must have overwatered, because there is no roots coming up compared to the other guys.. 
    that was my fault and i feel hella bad, but 1 cool thing happened and i found another seed in the mix of leaves and bud and now that one is germinating on top of the fridge :) i can't wait! thanks again 
     
  18. Untrue. In fact manufactured light and parabolic mirrors were how the original lab lasers were built. And you can roast ants with the light off a 150 watt electric bulb and a magnifying glass, if the bulb's just a couple inches from the glass.

    with a 1,000 watt HID, you're talking 92,000 lumens at the bulb...71% of normal daylight intensity in the tropics at 2 meters, this is 69,000 lux...about half sunlight power NOT counting any reflection, just direct light. Get 2,000 watts shining over the same area (overlap footprints), you have daylight power direct light hitting that area. Short in the UV and IR department, so they won't burn as badly as sunlight, but they'll burn. Especially if your focal point is closer than 2 meters of light travel with high efficiency reflection.
     
    I call BS on your "I've built them", because they use them in 300 level college physics classes in demonstrating the power of concentrated light.

    Not just that...but a proper concave parabolic creates a focus where you like...take a meter diameter one, it collects all the light for .8 of a sq meter, close enough, and can focus it to a point less than a square centimeter...or multiply light intensity 6400 times off that single bit of equipment. Which means if you place the mirror where it's receiving 70,000lux (about 6 feet from a 1,000 watt HID), it then reflects that (the area of the mirror) into a focal point, so there is no loss via dispersion (fall off)...give the mirror a reflective index of say 70%, it reflects 49,000 lux worth of light intensity, concentrating it into a space 6400 times smaller with no further loss (for practical application...microscopic losses in reality)...or delivering an intensity to that sq cm of the equivalent of over 3.1 MILLION lux.

    Granted, this is efficient light, unlike the bulb itself, where a lot of light energy is wasted as it creates heat. but it can, does, and can be done deliberately. By a 5th grader with the right equipment, even if he can't explain in detail what's going on.
     
  19. #19 snoopdog6502, Dec 12, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 12, 2014
    Bullshit! foil will not burn the plant, the bulb will first. Its a myth.
     
    I did go to college to be an engineer 20 years ago.
     
  20. The bulb will first...if it's close enough.

    Again, foil reflection CAN burn. Need diagrams?

    Or a practical proof? Ever spent a day on a boat or hanging around "clear" water where you caught a lot of reflective light from the water? Get a sunburn on the side the water reflected light to, or where direct sun hit?

    Anyone who HAS spent significant time on or in water will tell you it's the REFLECTED light that's more dangerous. You burn faster and worse from it.


    Hmm...let's take mylar foil...how effective a reflector is it? Ever heard of a "Shake 'n' Bake" for California wildfire jumpers? It's basically a mylar "mummy bag" style ultra-thin "sleeping bag". It's for if they get cut off while fighting a wildfire. They're supposed to get in it, tie in tight, and try to ride it out. The mylar's reflective index is so high that the outside heat is kept (mostly) out...their problem becomes the heat their body generates.

    Of course, normally, this just results in a corpse they can have an open-casket funeral for, since there's no way to cool the AIR they're inhaling...or provide more O2 if the fire uses it all. But it still proves that burning level light/heat can be reflected away...or, in the opposite direction, wrapping someone with hypothermia, still with wet clothes on, still outside in sub-freezing weather, can have their clothing steaming as it dries off in just a couple minutes.

    What is heat? IR radiations, yes? Light below the visible threshold. OK, so that's a simplification. Nonetheless, the heat is reflected and concentrated by mylar as much as the light is. Create a focal point, all the heat/light energy that was hitting the area reflecting into that focal point now arrives, concentrated, AT that focal point.

    Mylar's an EXCELLENT reflector. That's the point of it. But reflectors can be used to more greatly dissipate light, or to concentrate it. Concentrated light CAN burn, regardless of source, if concentrated enough. The wrong fold or bend, left in place so it has a consistent focal point, can cause exactly this.

    Not saying it WILL...but it CAN. And more than a few people have experienced it.
     

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