So after my first grow that went from 10 seeds to only one surviving female yielding about 15-20 grams, I decided to go with 5 feminized white ice to save me some hassle for my second run. These plants have been growing under 2x40w white and 2x 23w yellow CFL's for 13 days now. Since I'm growing in my closet and space is limited (see pics) I'm planning on going 12/12 any day now. Does the 2x-3x stretch rule apply for tiny plants that haven't shown any preflowers yet as well or will those stretch even more after switching the lights? The plan is to get one big container the size of the closet and transplant them all into that one. I don't think this would be a problem considering the plants will be rather small and there should be plenty of soil. Hopefully I'll be adding another 100 watts worth of yellow CFL's when I flower them. Check out the pics and give me some input on whether you think this would be a good idea or not and if you think I should keep them in veg for another week or so (with space constraints in mind). [edit] Obviously, I will remove the little shelf thing on the right and use the whole space.
Also, I'm wondering what would be better for growth, quality and yield. 5-6 24 watt cfl's or one big 120 watter?
cool setup is odor going to be a problem? It doesn't seem like you have much ventilation... that's a must I'd get a 120 watt bulb, just for the top and put the smaller ones closer to the plantson the edges... if it fits... but it's going to get cramped in there. You should consider putting a screen in. Look up scrog.
I live in a dorm but all my dorm mates are chill with it so I keep the closet door open most of the time. My room has a solid door that doesn't let any smell out so I'll just make sure I keep my door closed when it starts to smell. I hotbox my room all the time anyway so it doesn't really matter. Ventilation wasn't too much of a problem in my last grow, using the same setup. I close the door for the dark period just enough to keep light out leave some room for air to squeeze through (keep the fan on full aimed at the door to keep the air moving). It's not optimal but the bud was nice last time but maybe it will be more of a problem now that I have 5 plants instead of 1. Can anyone give me some advice on what symptoms to look for that the plants aren't getting enough fresh air? Height is not going to be a problem since I don't plan on growing them much taller before switching to 12/12. I'm thinking maybe another week or so tops. Here are some pics of my last grow. Super thai x Skunk. Yielded about 14 grams dry. Smallish yield but it was only like 110 watts worth of CFL's of which 80 watts were 6400K's and also, I picked it like 4-5 weeks early. The 4th pic is about 3 weeks into flower and the macros are of the lower buds like 1 week before I picked it. Kinda curious to see how much these will yield if I start flower at this point. I'm hoping for 10 grams a piece. Maybe that's optimistic though unless I invest in better lights soon.
Okay so here's an update. They haven't been growing much the last few days so I started feeding nutes yesterday. Gonna switch to 12/12 tonight and I'm just curious if anyone has any experience flowering plants this small and if so, did you get a decent yield? Also, how long do you think I should wait before transplanting into bigger pots? And how much soil would I need for flowering plants this size? Pics taken today.
unless you have a lot more space that i cant see, you probably would be better off leaving them in the containers they are in. i definitely would not put all of them into one giant bin, unless the bin was really big, a lot bigger than your closet. i agree with another poster on the lights, use all the light you can get in there, you will thank yourself when its done. put the 120 above all of them, and then fill in around the edges with the 24's for an even blanket of light. you have a good grow going for being in a dorm. you are best off not telling anyone about it, sucks already that your dorm mates have to know.
Are you saying I shouldn't even transplant into bigger separate pots? Do you mean to limit the final size of them? Aren't they going to get rootbound real soon? Sucks with your all male grow though! So glad I got fem seeds this time, I hate having to waste time and space on males =(
im not saying you cant transplant into bigger pots, but it looks like you are sorta limited on the space so i was saying they can definitely make it all the way through while in their current pots. i would not recommend putting in one big container, as the roots could start competing for space and food/water, which is not so good.
oh. well as i was planning on removing the shelf to get more floor space so I could easily fit pots twice the size. the only problem being that would reduce light coverage i guess. so i guess i'll keep them in these pots for a while. is there an easy way of telling if they have become rootbound? droopy? slow growth?
Just thought I'd post an update. It's now a few days short of a month since germination and I'm quite happy with the growth considering the low wattage they're under. Started flowering exactly 10 days ago and I'm still not seeing any sign of flowers except tiny little balls at a few of the nodes on two of the plants. Maybe this is normal considering I started flowering them so small? Here are some pics I just took. The one in front is stretch a lot because I don't have enough light to cover it. The other ones are nice and bushy though. Oh, and I think they're starting to get root bound. I lifted the stretchy one out of the pot and saw roots all over. Would keeping them in these pots seriously inhibit yield or would it be alright if i just make sure to feed them enough?
First pistils showed up yesterday. Seems they're all girls A question: Should I start counting flowering days from the day I switched the lights or the day I started seeing flowers?
Haha, that was kind of expected though with femmed seeds, just gotta watch for hermies. I got one baby ice plant going and 9 waiting for next grow, can't wait to see your buds. Where did you get your white ice? Got my ice seeds from nirvana shop. Joe
For the ones that have the little balls at the nodes and pistols; they are hermies. I would despose of them. Photos of the balls?
God damit I was afraid of that. I'd hate tossing two plants when I'm only growing 5 tiny ones though. My yield is gonna be small enough as it is. Does pollination really lower the quality of the bud that much that it would be worth sacrificing yield and free seeds? What if I just destroy the male flowers at an early stage? I'll get some closeup photos up as soon as I can get my hands on a real camera. Synned, got my seeds from grasscity. Very impressed actually. I ordered in the evening and the next morning the UPS guy shows up with my seeds. Also got 5 extra seeds called SwissMix Outdoor free of charge. Awesome! You got a log for your grow man?
If the buds are pollinated they dont put as much energy into making the stuff u want them for....OTOH if they do make seeds, you just made some of ur own "feminized" seeds. Hermie plants that pollinate themselves will make either female or hermie plants. You won't get any male plants from those seeds. In my grow, if I end up with males I'll try to save some pollen so I can make more seeds to store for the future. If I have a hermie, I'd probably make it pollinate itself just to get some seeds. You could try to nip the pollen sacks before they pop, but you have to be really diligent and thorough to catch them all. I've seen pics of hermies where the poster saw the pollen sacks, but I could just barely see anything. Just remember that every pollen sack has a LOT of pollen, you could probably pollinate every bud on your plants with just one. So if you do decide to keep the hermies and pull the pollen sacks, be careful you don't fuck up and get the pollen all over your buds. If you only want sensemilla, make sure the hermies are out of there or you get every single little pollen sack they make. Otherwise you'll end up with hella seeds and probably a dissapointing quality, as well as a smaller yield of smokable product.
i agree with zpyro you gotta be dilligent about the males' balls or else everything will turn to shit, seed casing will start and all the plants energy will divert right to seed production not growth. As far as you being concerned about what your plants will do if you put them directly under 12/12 you are fine, it really just depends on how much soil space and light your gonna give the plant, ive seen plants that size end up 3 1/2 feet tall fimmed with as much as 112 grams a plant. (was under 1000w hps and 15 gallon pots, but still) It looks like you took your first grow more than 4-5 weeks early that thing looked like it hardly was producing resin ( beginning the 2nd stage of bud MAYBE) so dont be afraid to let your plants acually grow. In my mind growing in dorms is nearly impossible. They should be stinky enough to piss off your whole dorm floor basically. Unless you have alot of money to dump into it and when you get to that point you might as well rent a house. anyways good luck! EDIT: Oh id also like to add your plants wont acually flower until they show you any preflowers then a week or so after they will start flowering, count your bud cycle starting around that following week or when you see nodes stacking with lots of flowers on the tips.
Neither, start the flowering clock when they have budletts on them. However if you are using a microscope to determine when ready, the calander is useless.