Ive been on here reading and looking around, finally decided to start my grow last week. I germinated the seeds and planted them on saturday, and now I have a couple questions. BTW I am using 2 stacked rubbermaids 1) I have 10 plants that have started to sprout, and I have 2 100w CFL light bulbs(daytime) running 24 hours, How long do I have that 24 hour cycle of light? 2) I know that I dont have the proper ventilation, but I dont want to have to splice wires to get the CPU fans to work, are there any other alternatives? 3) How often do I water the plants at this stage? 4) I have them in 18 oz party cups, When should I change to a bigger pot? ( Im trying to wait as long as possible, do to the limited space, I want to try and wait until I can tell if they are females so I can just dispose of the males) 5) Also I know nothing about nutrients, so if someone could point me in a good direction that would be great
First off, most of your question have been answered many times before here, but anyways: 1. You can run 18/6 OR 24/0 for as long as the plant is healthy and has room to grow, its called the vegetative state, after a year they do start to loose there vigor. When light is changed to 12/12 the plant enters the flowering state, this is when buds will form. 2. No, get proper ventilation. Ten plants with a computer fan will not work. 3. Using no nutrients for the first few weeks, water with distilled water then the first inch or so of soil is dry. Dry soil causes the roots to grow in search of water, this is good so don't over water. 4. I would transplant when they are 4-6 inches tall, or have a 6-8 inch canopy. 5. There are so many factors to consider before even adding nutrients into the mix. Just buy a good Grow A/B, Bloom A/B mix, or a 3 part mix, whatever you want from your local hydro shop. I promise if used correctly and you have good airflow, temperatures, and medium, you will have some sticky sweet buds in the end. Once you have that right, you can now work on nute recipes, and ruling out the environment as a factor, and just worry about experimenting with nutrients. And Read Read Read and Read some more, there is allot of info on this site.
the best and easiest nutrients to use for soil is FoxFarm Ocean Forest. The nutrients in that soil will last about a month or so through vegging period. Once you start flower, buy the tiger bloom and big bloom along with the solubles (open sesame, beastie bloomz, cha-ching). I dont use the beastie bloomz cuz you are only supposed to use it for like 2 weeks and its kinda expensive. I use open sesame for the first 4 weeks, then cha-ching the rest of the time (however long that may be). Here is the official feeding chart (Use nutrients every other watering): http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/soilfeed.pdf I have produced some super dank OG, purple elephant, and white widow with this nutrient list. I am currently working on some Lambs Bread thats seems to be doing well also with the fox farm nutrients.
that is exactly how i got start about 2 months ago... first off... if u can, just splice up a couple old cell phone chargers and get a couple of computer fans from either old machines laying around, or go to a pawn shop. i got everything for my rubbermaid box free or cheap. i had only 1 CFL light for veg and started with only 5 plants and it was just fine. u will need to transport ur plants in about 2-3 weeks into there final containers (at least 2gallons, per plant) if u are wanting to do LST (which i recommend in such a small place and lighting) then do so during the veg cycle about a week before u flip the cycles so this will let them start training themselves to grow that way and also help with shock. I have 2 CFl lights on the 1 plant that survived my rubbermaid box. it jsut happened to be a girl. once u start flowering though, try to get a HPS light because ur buds will not be as big with CFLs (trust me... im wishing i had the money for one right now) my mistakes: forgot to water for about a week one time touching the pant do not use tin-foil... do not let timers or light cords sprawled out on the floors. do not let the CFl bulb touch ur plant... after a few hours, it will burn it i promise... and im sure there are a lot more things i did wrong, but i cant think of them right now. good luck... and once u start flowering look into a new box like a white 'assemble yourself' type deal from walmart. makes managing ur girls a LOT easier
Great advice from Sat. Avoid FFOF for seedlings, it might burn them, otherwise it's good, overpriced soil. You're better off with unamended soil and adding whatever veg/flower nutrients that are suggested at your shop, as Sat said. There isn't a magic formula for soil or nutrients and pretty much any hydro shop is going to have several excellent options at various price ranges.
tin foil is so eaily creased that it will reflect the light onto ur plants and cause the plants to burn... it may not happen to everyone but it is common that it will happen. i think that is why i started with 5 and ended up with one... those plants that didnt survive had signs of leafs burning because of this... plus, just paint the thing white and u will not have to mess with that crap. its a pain in the ass.
Ok so its been a 5 days since i planted them and they have grown alot the leaves are pretty big. Im wondering how much longer ill be able to keep them in the party cups? Also im using miracle grow and I read thats not good.. what can i get from the local walmart they dont have foxfarm, its not sold in my area. I was thinking maybe a kmart brand, or maybe something organic. I think ive been doin good not overwatering them.. i usually just give them each a couple sprays of water to wet the leaves and the top of the soil.
hey man, sounds alright so far. I used miracle gro moisture control on both of my grows.. worked just fine for me, I would not suggest changing to organic just stick with what you have but there are much better soil mixtures out there you just have to order them. my suggestion for transplant, when the plant has 3 leaf sets for in around 3'' tall is a good time and usually you will have too transplant again before flowering. good luck! a good boost that worked on my projects was misting pure seltzer water on and under the leaves. they absorb some nice co2, make sure you dont to it too often bc the leafs will get this white crust on them, co2 burn. and make sure its not flavored!