Jesus' first grow, guerilla. Water into wine and seeds into bud.

Update:

Day 20:

Didn't check my plants today.

Day 21:

Checked my plants today, all showing growth. The second set of leaves have appeared on the oldest plant, though they haven't completely come out yet. The stem has shown more signs of sturdiness, and while still being flimsy, is almost thick enough to hold the plant up now without support. The other plants have similarly thin stems to how this one did at first, I have started using the same bending techniques on them.

Also, the two seeds I mentioned before that never sprouted were bugging me, so I decided to dig them up to see what happened to them. One of them I simply couldn't find in the soil, maybe it was rot, or maybe I simply missed it. The other I found close to the surface, it looked a little lighter in colour but other than that, unchanged, so, just for the hell of it I replanted it and watered lightly. Fingers crossed but not hoping for anything really.

I watered the rest of my plants today too, the soil seemed as dry as a desert in all the pots except that of my largest plant, which was a tiny bit moist, but could use a little more anyway so I added some.

Just the one horrible pic today, I'll get some more next time:


3 weeks? The oldest plant is about a week and a half, the others are just a few days old. The reason we're on day 21 is because I included the week before the first one even popped, and the days of attempting to germ before that.

The ants etc are a real issue as my grow spot is highly populated with them. I'd rather see a lanky fucker who gets a few weeks old than a sprout that never even sees it's first set of leaves before getting eaten. I am taking risks, yes, but I have seen results of similar experiments, and despite the final yield being small compared to that of a regular outdoor grow, the plants thrived once they were moved outdoors, and were no longer stunted - the only downside was, due to how stunted they were indoors, they essentially missed out on a few weeks sunlight, meaning they couldn't reach their max potential before harvest. As I said though, all I'm looking for is a successful grow this time, numbers will be my concern next time, but not this one.

I do appreciate the advice, and I know as a successful grower I'd be smashing my keyboard in sheer rage at how I'm breaking every rule in the book here. However in the next 2-3 days the first plant will go outdoors, and the others will shortly follow.

Since you've offered advice several times on my thread, I feel like I owe you something in return, so just for you, the next seed I plant will be planted directly outdoors at one of my spots. If it manages to beat the bugs, I'll do the same with all future seeds.

Edit: Question. Would a single 20W 2700K bulb placed close to the plants be better than the current light they're getting? I just found an old lamp, so I could use 1 of my 3 bulbs for now until I get those fittings I mentioned.

 

Update:

Day 22:

Just a quick one today, no pics or anything. Anyway the stems were worrying me, so as an experiment to see if short exposure would help, I took 2 of the 3 smaller plants, and put them outside in amongst my other garden plants. Unfortunately my dogs are a problem, since they don't go on regular walks yet and use the garden (and have a tendency to eat plants), they seemed curious but I managed to stop them eating them, and sent them inside. They won't need to go out for another couple hours so my plan is to leave the plants outside until then, hoping the wind/breeze will help strengthen the stems. (It'd be a bonus if it was nice and sunny today but it's not) Then I'll put them back inside, if it's a success I'll do this once or twice a day until I move them out completely to my spots.

What do you guys think of this idea?

@dank: Yeah I think I'll give it a try. I may have potentially found 2 other light sockets that would work, but not 100% sure yet if they work or not. So I'll have to test them later.

 

Update:

Day 23:

Checked my plants, none needed watering, didn't do anything with them.

Day 24:

The big day! I decided to move the biggest of the plants, "Stretch" as I appropriately named her, to her final grow spot. I also moved 2 of the smaller ones out into my garden for the day. A storm's about to come, but I'm leaving all 3 plants out in the outdoors, to let nature take its course. They all have good drainage now, mostly worried about Stretch as with so much stem underground I'm worried it'll rot.

Anyway, picture time. I know, bad pictures as usual, these ones weren't that bad but the sunlight meant the pictures of Stretch sucked. But hey, that's a good thing, means she's finally getting plenty of light.

Before I moved any of them:


Where's Waldo? Or, Stretch rather:


A couple more of her. You can see how I buried the stem completely pretty much, compare the first pic to these:



A couple shots of the area:



For those wanting to finally see my face:


Also, the seed I said I'll start directly outdoors will start at the same time I move the other 3 out to their spots, just to make things easier.

 

Mini-update:

Day 25:

I checked the two seedlings that were in my garden. Both were bent over the edges of the pots from such heavy rain over the past day. Looked potentially dead, was very worried. Brought them back into the garage to dry off and avoid the rain over the next few days.

Day 26:

I checked the two seedlings. Both had sprung back up, I noticed the leaves were about the same size as the one that had stayed in the garage the whole time, so I thought I'd forced them to endure a storm for nothing. Then I touched the stems. The plant that had been indoors the whole time had a needle thin stem that fell over on touch, the other two plants, their stems were still thin, but 1.5-2x as thick as the one that stayed indoors, and that's after only a day and a half of being outside. Now I appreciate just how big a factor light is. So, since I can't keep them outside with all the expected heavy rain, I moved them up to another window, okay, they're in plain site of a nosy neighbour, but at this stage they don't exactly look like weed plants. Now instead of 2 windows, 1 regular and 1 frosted glass, they're behind 1 regular window, east facing, but should be okay. Unfortunately the other seedling in the garage didn't get moved, that's partly because for the next few days I want to track the difference in light between the east-facing window and the south-facing frosted glass window, just to ensure the east-facing one really is better. Haven't checked on the one in the woods yet, I'm either going to do that in the next 1-2 days, or next weekend.

Question of the day: In a few days when I go check on my plant on the woods, if all is good and it is still alive, would it be a good time to feed it for the first time? It'll have been about 3 weeks since planting it.

 

Read through the whole thread please. 26 days includes 9 days before anything even sprouted. So the oldest seedling is only 17 days old. It's definitely small and stunted for it's age, but the indoors is only temporary, the oldest seedling is now outdoors and provided it hasn't died it will remain there permanently. Given that I still have another 6 seeds to plant, these plants haven't exactly lost anything, since the other 6 are going to have less time to grow and be behind any way.

You have to remember, weed is a weed after all. I've seen people reap ounces from grows that went from seed to flower on window sills, I've seen half oz shortriders that used small halogen bulbs, etc. Part of the reason for this grow is to prove that it doesn't matter what your budget is - even with no money and a handful of seeds, you can grow. Hopefully, if all goes well and I see decent results, it'll encourage others who thought they couldn't grow without proper conditions + budget to give it a try. As for yield, even 1/4 to 1/2 oz total final yield would make me very happy since I haven't smoked in so long, the bigger the better, but given that I'm spending very little at all on this grow, I really have nothing to lose.

Not sure what your point regarding neighbours was, since this is a guerilla grow after all Only time it might be an issue is during the week or two when I have seedlings on my window.

 

Mini-update:

Sorry, once again no pics, but just wanted to keep you guys up to speed.

Day 27:

Plants seem to have improved slightly over when they were in the garage, but barely at best, windows simply aren't adequate light unless you can have them open all the time. But I'm glad I gave it a try, as I'll try anything once, and I know that the plants, while stunted, can still survive - so I have an emergency source of lighting in future if I ever need one. The plant in the garage doesn't seem to have grown at all.

Day 28:

Had delivery guys helping me move stuff into the garage so had to move the garage plant to an even darker window for a few hours, it really suffered and didn't grow at all, other than stretching today. I found myself an old light fitting in the cellar, wired it up to a plug I had sitting in a cupboard, got an old PC case, hooked up the light in there, lined most of the sides with envelopes (saves me doubling up paper, so serves a double purpose of stopping light escaping, and reflecting light since the envelopes are white) and put the 2 seedlings that were on the east facing window inside. They're under a single 20W 2700K CFL, not ideal, but better than the window for sure, and I believe it'll be fine for the week or two they remain there before being moved out. I'll also be starting future seedlings in there rather than dimly lit windows

Only issue is I'm not exactly an electrician and I have nothing to hook up the only 80mm fan I have to. So there's very little air getting in/out of the case (due to the envelopes), no airflow, and it's getting a little warm. To counter this I regularly open the case for a minute or so, I also have the case next to my sub, so despite the lack of wind for strengthening the stems - maybe the bass will help a little. I'm always one to try new things. Dubstep as a cure for weak stems..

Day 29:

Checked all 3 of the seedlings that are in my house, the 2 in the case have grown a little, second set of leaves are starting to form on one or both. The one in the garage looks the same size as it did 3 or 4 days ago, no change, a bit of stretching in the stem though.

Now it's several hours later, I just checked again, the leaves have had minimal growth, but the stems of both seem to have thickened a fair bit, they could still do with being stronger, but they're improving, and the plants aren't stretching up toward the light at all. So far so good.

Planning to check my plant in the woods tomorrow, fingers crossed everyone

 

Day 30:

Today was a bad day, and a bit of a wake up call. I took the weak plant from the garage, as the tub it was in wouldn't fit in the pc case I decided to move it straight outdoors - sure it was a risk, but it wasn't growing in the garage so it was the best thing I could do. I placed the stem down against the soil so it didn't take up much space, then covered it with one of those tubes you put tennis balls in - using the soil to hold the tube in place, to stop the stem snapping in my backpack as I took it to my spot.

After a lot of walking I arrived at my spot, checked my other seedling - gone. As I feared, it didn't survive. After a little digging in the dirt I found it, one interesting observation is that it had a new set of leaves - so it survived the initial heavy rain, and a day or two - however upon inspecting the stem and roots, it was all black and rotten, so obviously the rain hadn't killed the plant at first, but the water sticking around the stem made it rot, which was then to blame for the plant's death.

Although I was disheartened, I figured "Well, I don't think there's meant to be rain for a few days, so I'll just plant this one in it's place. I open my backpack, remove the tube.. and see a stem.. no leaves, just a stem I look around and find the top of the plant separate - it looks like the tube which was designed to protect my plant, ended up beheading it.

So, two plants down. However, just for the hell of it I took the stem and the top of the plant, and decided that since I had time, I may as well just give a last ditch effort to save the plant. I dipped the bottom of the stem of the top of the plant into some water, and did the same with the top of the stem from the bottom half, I held the two together for a minute or so, pressing firmly so the two parts of stem stuck together, then I buried the plant right up to the leaves in the soil. I know it's probably like 1/1000000000 chance that the plant will bounce back, but I figured since it took a couple minutes of my time, it was worth trying. I ended up checking on the plant after another 30 minutes of wandering around looking for other potential sites - and the leaves had risen towards the light a little and looked greener, which was a good sign, but didn't really tell me anything, as I know plants can survive without their roots for a day or two - so it might just be giving out its last few breaths before it keels over.

But, all is not lost. I still have 6 seeds to plant, and 2 little seedlings in that pc case. I'm planning to do a few things to ensure my other plants avoid the same fate:
- Rather than moving my 2 current seedlings to my spot when I start my next 4 (as due to the case I'm using being an old model where the cage for the drives etc can't be removed, I'm limited on space) I'll move them into my garden first for a week or two, then move them out to their spot/s when I feel they're large enough
- All future plants that go out to their final spots will get a make-shift greenhouse made from a plastic bottle to ensure the rain doesn't kill them (holes in the sides rather than the top) - unless they're big enough to take a beating already
- The 4 plants that'll be in styrofoam cups will stay on 24/0 in my pc case for 2-3 weeks, when they'll fill up the cups, and then and only then be moved out
- My 2 short riders will definitely spend their whole grow in the case, just to ensure if I make the same mistakes with my outdoor plants, I at least see a (very small) harvest

 

It wasn't like I wasn't expecting it. What I kept trying to say in my earlier posts is that I had no better options. The only two ways to improve the situation would have been to get it under lights, or outdoors - lights wasn't an option since I didn't even have any fittings then (Even now I only have 1) and my garden wasn't an option due to the fact that with the taller stem I couldn't hide it from the dogs without blocking off it's light - so my only two options were keep it in the garage where it would get worse, or move it out to it's spot and hope for the best. I expected it to die, but of course it still sucks checking and finding your plant dead. Also, the stem wasn't snapped or split at all, just rotten at the bottom, so I do believe it was the water that killed it - but imo this was directly -because- of the weak stem, since as I buried the stem, there was a ton of thin stem under the ground where water would soak up and cause rot.

What you may also notice though in my past posts is I did take heed of the situation, though my options were rather limited. For example the other two seedlings, if you read through, were moved out into the garden when the weather was good, until I got my light set up and moved them into the PC case. As you said, the first plant was definitely at a stage where starting over was essentially the best option - I'm simply not one to just throw away a living plant though without trying the impossible first though

Anyway..

Day 31:

The two seedlings in the case are looking a ton healthier now. Really they don't even look like the same species of plant after seeing how unhealthy and flimsy the last one looked. The soil was bone dry in both pots, so I watered them plenty and put them back in the case.

A couple of observations/questions..

The leaves are a lot thicker, a darker green, and they actually have a (mild) weed smell to them - whereas the last plant the leaves were semi-transparent, a very light green, flimsy, and had no smell. I take it this is a sign that the plants are doing a lot better with the new light?

Also, one weird thing is, my last plant had only just started to show it's second set of leaves when I planted it out, but it's first set were fairly long. These two plants, the first set of leaves haven't reached the size (length + width) of the first set of the last plant (though they're a lot thicker and healthier) - but the second set has started to appear and are already bigger than those of the first plant, with the two new leaves looking like little tridents, 3 pronged leaves, rather than just a single chute like on the first plant. Is this a good or bad sign? And does anyone have any idea why the plant with less light had a bigger first set of leaves?

Final question - one of the cotyledons on one seedling has gone brown and crispy, and looks like it'll fall off - is this a problem, or are the cotyledons not necessary now? I thought this might be a sign my plants were too close to my 20W bulb (they're about 2 and a half to 3 inches away) - but only that one cotyledon, which is lower than the leaves obviously, was affected - while the actual leaves look perfectly fine, and aren't hot too touch (though, they seem slightly above room temperature).

 

Okay, update. I'm going to stop doing the whole days thing now, and posting the days when I didn't do anything in particular with my plants.

I know you guys like pictures so I have a handful of new ones, and I'll keep this update rather simple and to the point.

As you guys know, I wizened up and got the two remaining plants out of that little garage window where they were getting barely any light at all, and I think it's really paid off.

Here's how they looked right when I put them under the little CFL. All stretched and stunted, dying for light. If you'll notice, my motherboard is still in my case. That was kind of out of laziness, I couldn't find a box the right size to fit it in, and since I'm only keeping these guys here as little younguns I decided leaving the motherboard in wouldn't cause any space issues. Reflective material would have been better, but it'll do. Obviously when it comes to my short riders, if I grow them in the case the motherboard wont be there.

In terms of reflective material, I didn't have much other than foil, and I know that causes hotspots, so instead I improvised. White reflects light, so I found some old envelopes (for their thickness, as they block out light from escaping the case too) and lined the sides + side of the case with it. It seems to be doing it's job.



They seemed to enjoy their new light. Okay, a 20W CFL isn't exactly a whole lot of light, but for seedlings a couple of inches from the light, they seem to be loving it. Here's one of the plants a couple of days later:



Already you can see it adjusting to the new light and growing, although it's probably hard to tell, the stem improved in thickness a fair bit too (odd since I have no airflow in the case, maybe though the wobbles from my bass *are* helping hah)

Another 2 days later I decided to get a shot of both of them. There's been more growth, and the plants have showed zero signs of stretching since being placed in the case:



At this point I thought it might be a good idea to bury most of the stem, since I knew the plants weren't going to stretch more, so I buried a fair amount of it, watered them, and let them be back in the case.

Now I've hit a little issue. Both plants have kept growing well, but one of the plants has some problems with its lower leaves. The cotyledons have dried up and gone brown, and the tips of the two lower leaves have done the same - the leaves are also drooping. Now having looked at the signs for nutrient deficiencies and other common problems, I've narrowed this down to: Overwatering, root/stem rot or lack of airflow. All of which are distinct possibilities, since I know for one there is a lack of airflow, two, I watered the plant shortly before this happened, and three, I buried a large amount of stem that day so it may be rotting due to the watering.



Airflow is an issue since I only have a single 80mm fan and I can't find anything to power it with, plus I would need to fit in another power strip as I have no room on my current one at the moment. To deal with this, I open the case regularly to allow fresh air inside, and I play a lot of bass-heavy music (wubwubwub) to cause the plants to vibrate, causing movement and growth in the stems.

To deal with possible over-watering I've stopped watering both plants for now. The soil is nearly bone dry, but to counter that without adding yet more water (in case the water is the problem), I added some fresh soil to the top, the pots now being pretty much full, less stem visible. The fresh soil is moist so if necessary the plant can find water there.




As for stem/root rot, this is the one thing I'm not sure how to deal with. I know Hydrogen Peroxide (h2o2) treatment is an option, but I heard that this has to be continued through the whole life of the plant and the stem will never heal, so that seems a waste to me. I've noticed a mold-like smell to the plant but maybe that's just psychosomatic, since my sense of smell is very bad, and I read that root rot plants smell of mold. I've heard that mold can spread, so I'm concerned, and if it really is mold I want to move that plant out of my case - but if it isn't, I don't want it missing out on the light, so I'm not sure what to do.