FIRST GROW, Nirvana White Widow & G13 Power Skunk, ADVISE NEEDED

Some time over the holidays I decided I wanted to grow my own smoke. Started gathering supplies and building on January 1, 2009. Before this I had no growing knowledge whatsoever.

After watching the "I Grow Chronic" videos on Youtube I thought I had a good base. Since then I filled my head with so much infromation I don't know up from down. So I'm turning to the community I've learned so much from for help. Please any advise, criticism, suggestions, whatever, all welcome.

This is what I've done so far. Built a grow room in my basement, 11'w x 7'8"d x 6'8"h. Room is split into 2 sections for veg and flower. Framed with 2x4s and drywall and lined with panda film and mylar. 600w HPS for flower and 6 fluorescents, 3 warm and 3 cool white. I am planning flood and drain for flower and drip irrigation for veg. I haven't received all my supplies for drip yet. So far I've been combining the Lucas Formula with the directions on the rockwool cubes. I was suprised when 12/15 of my seeds sprouted. I'm trying to bring all to maturity so I can maximize my chances for females.

With all my supplies I only have means to drip 8 plants at a time. Currently I have 12 sprouts in 4" cubes and 1 in a 1.5" cube, I ran out of 4" cubes. Was going to try to hand water the five I can't drip water. Started hand watering all cubes today with 1/2 strength nutes. How often do I hand water, 3 times a day? That was going to be the drip schedule.

You can see my temp and humidity in the pics. Haven't installed exhaust yet but there is an air duct and oscillating fan in the room. Have lowered lights to about 5" above plants, still looks like they are stretching. Any suggestions there?

Any other suggestions at all? I know I've left out a lot of info, please ask. I've added a summary of my personal journal. I plan to be very active with this journal.


January 18, 2009 - Placed 10 WW & 5 PS seeds in plastic cups with distilled water.
January 20, 2009 - 10 WW & 3 PS cracked and placed in soaked (ph 5.5) 1.5" rockwool cubes.
January 24, 2009 - After 1.5" cubes sprouted they were placed in soaked (1/3 strength nutes) 4" x 4" x 2.5" cubes
Today - Hand poured 1 1/2 gallons of 1/2 strength nutes over 4" cubes.









These pics were taken yesterday.

i've been waiting for a grow like this for a while. i've been watching the "chronic" videos religiously and can't wait to follow this journal to see the teachings in action. you sprouts look good, despite the stretching, is stretching really that bad? honestly i've never grown so i can't answer any of your questions, but i do have a few of my own. i hope you don't mind. i know you said this is your first grow but you already have more experience than me.

how long do you plan to veg?
where did you get your seeds?
are you going to use co2?
how closely do you plan to follow the video?

i hope your grow catches the attention of some of the seasoned vets on here. good luck spliff (as i roll one up myself).

Take of the wrapping of the rockwool cubes

nice setup! I'm going to enjoy watching as well!!!

as of the new year I'm taking on growing as a habbit as well.

GL,
Blaze

BlazeHoliday & vegajr27 thanks for the positive vibes.

vegajr27, I don't know how bad stretching is either?
Don't know how long I will veg yet.
Purchased seeds from Attitude, fast and stealthy delivery, I highly recommend.
No plans to use co2, I've already spent enough money.
I plan to use the video as a general guide but I'm will deviate if necessary.

jnr shaka, thanks for the tip. I was told in another forum to keep the wrapper on the rockwool until I place in hydroton. I figured it was so the cubes don't dry out as fast. Can you expand on this at all?

Day 9
Added a humidifier today and hand watered twice with 1/2 strength nutes, used about a gallon both times. Both times the cubes felt light before watering. Do I want them to dry out before watering or do I want to keep them moist? They look good to me but don't know if I should be seeing more growth.

with that rockwool you won't have to worry about over watering with your current setup. Just moniter the nutes closely is all. Good job so far!

They look like they have alittle bit of a stretch but as long as you don't raise those lights any higher for the time being they will be fine. A strong stem is a good stem.

You are correct on keeping the paper on till you put your hydroton in it. Or atleast that's what I've read over and over.

GL,
Blaze

I still think you should take of the wrapping...There will be roots growing out of the sides, and preventing them growing will effect the growth

jnr shaka & BlazeHoliday, thanks for your imput. I've been reading where growers have moved away from rockwool because of root rot. That would make me think I should remove the wrapping. They might have been refering to rockwool slabs, I'm not sure. I think my babies are looking good so far so I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing for another week or so, then I'll increase nutes to full strength.

looks like you are off to a good start.

Damn everything looks nice and clean man.! I'll definatly be watching closely. Good luck with everything:D:smoking:

Looks like a real good start dude. Seeds are the way to go. I'll be watching this one.

Today wasn't a good day at all. I tried to set up drip irrigation for 8 of my plants and I placed the other 5 in pots.

I had quite a few problems. First the black 1/4" drip lines I have were way too rigid. So I thought I would go with some clear line I had until I can find some black line that is more flexible. Second the whole drip setup looked real messy and I couldn't gauge the efficetiveness of the drip. While trying to make it work I turned my rockwool cubes to swiss cheese, ugly.

Then I went to hand water the plants I put in pots. The runoff had hydroton residue in it. And yes I "thought" I thoroughly rinsed the hydroton before I used it. Now I have hydroton in my reservoir. This sucks, I feel like I've done some damage to my plants today. I got frustrated so I left them alone for the time being. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? I think I might need to buy some more seeds.

Questions:
- Should I put all my babies in pots with hydroton?
- If I do that can I still do ebb flow?
- Do I need to take the plants that are in the hydroton out?
- I really don't want to lose these plants, how early can I flower?


These are my babies before I started f'ing around.


My attempt at drip irrigation.


This shit looks bad. I don't like it.


What everything looks like now.

In that last pic, take a look at the plant in the back row, second from the left. What's with the wavy leaves? About 1/3 of my plants look like that.

So...after overthinking all of this, I decided to flush the potted plants. I was nervous hyrdroton dust would aftect root growth. Hopefully I'm not loving them to death. I'm pretty sure runoff was clear when I was done so I do feel a little better.

First of all....leave the wrapping on. It holds in moisture & prevents the roots from growing out the sides & thus drying out.

Secondly, make sure to wash the hell out of those hydroton pellets. They have a ton of dust in them.

Also, be careful when doing a drip on those seedlings in rockwool. They are still young, & if the rockwool stays wet all the time, you will get root rot. I would put them all in the hydroton. Keep the rockwool wet, but not soaking wet. Just rinse your res. Don't worry, your plants will be fine even with a little dust in there.

Add a fan to the plants to make the stems stronger & thicker. It will make a huge difference.

Why don't you just grow the plants their entire cycle with a drip system? It's the same principle as a WaterFarm, & a WaterFarm will grow some nice herb.

Other than that, everything looks great. Keep the lights as low as possible without burning the tops, & start with some weak nutes to get them growing. If you notice any yellowing at all, increase the nutes. Keep in mind that when using rockwool, adjust your PH to 5.2-5.6. Do it AFTER you add nutes though, cause nutes will cause the PH to drop a bit.

Edited by CannabisMaximus, 04 February 2009 - 08:04 AM.

CannabisMaximus, thanks for your input, I really appreciate it.

You think I should put all the plants in pots with hydroton?
Looking at the pots in my pictures, are those large enough for me to flower?

I think I'm going to scrap the drip idea, just didn't like how it worked out. I'm trying to keep this as clean as possible and my DIY drip was definitely NOT clean.
Are there any drawbacks to hand watering throughout veg? I'll do flood and drain during flower.
So far I've been hand-watering two times a day with half strength nutes. I am planning to step up to full strength nutes after this week.

Sorry for all the questions, I'm very new to all of this. I know every situation is different and I have to find what works best for me but any help I can get from the GC community is always welcome.

BTW tokeabowl11, Dankstar99 & Llama of Yonder thanks for the positive vibes.

Very nice. I'll be starting a very similar grow whenever my seeds arrive (hopefully by the end of this week). Hopefully mine looks and stays clean like yours. Good luck

looking good and subscribed.

are you hand watering them?

in the 6 inch cubes you have you can get a good yield and grow them nice and tall. If you have any questions let me know. Ive done count less grows like the ones your doing so ill be here to help.

Thanks davec123, who did you order your seeds from and what strains?
I highly recommend Attitude for speed, stealth and price.

I plan to go with my current strains for another run after this one (if I can keep them alive long enough to take clones). I didn't want to spend a lot for my first time so that's why I went with White Widow, the Power Skunk was free.

mjboy, again thanks for checking out my journal.

Yes I am hand-watering, twice a day with 1/2 strength nutes (Lucas Formula). I'm actually using 4"x4"x2.5" cubes. I'm thinking I will put my remaining 8 cubes in pots with hydroton like my other 5. I should be able to do flood and drain with pots right? I like the idea of keeping them in pots because they will be easier to manage. Since they aren't feminized seeds I know I will have to move them around a lot after sex is determined, I'm hoping for at least 6 ladies.