Beginner needs help..

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by Scincuboy, Jan 24, 2007.

  1. Hey guys, i'm on my first grow and i just had a few questions. I've just been reading up on the forums and stuff and getting random advice so i'm not really sure if i'm doing everything right. I germinated my seeds in a Jiffy Pellet and it grew a sprout in about a day and a half. I think I made my first mistake when i put the germinated seed into a 13 quart pot when it was about an inch tall. It's a closet grow and i'm not really sure if i'm doing everything with lighting right. I started off with a 24 inch glow light on the wall and the plant grew a little and now i've moved to the grow light and 2 100-watt CFLs. Whenever I had just the grow light on the plant i did the 12/12 cycle and then read that i was supposed to be doing the 24/0 cycle for about a week. So after about a day and a half on the 12/12 cycle i switched to the 24/0 cycle. The plant seems to be stretching a lot and i really need some help and advice. Thanks guys.. I'll try to get some pictures with my camera phone so I can't really gaurantee quality. Thanks a lot. Later
     
  2. Lights too far away, your 2 clf's need to be 2-3 inches away from the top, enough not to burn or stress the seedling too much but giving it very good bright light... Remember Light Deminishes quite rapidly the further away it is.

    the one on the wall is ok so long its not brighter than the 2 above or the plant will lean and stretch towards that light.

    PUtting it in a large container right away is not a big deal.

    Switch it to 18/6 plants do most of their growing during the dark period when they convert the energy they gathered from the light to sugars for growing.
     
  3. Awesome thanks.
    Picture 1 is Lilly from above (sorry for the quality)
    Picture 2 is the whole setup (Tower fan on left set on low, 2 100-watt output CFLs hanging, 75-watt output grow light vertically on the wall, and a pitcher of water hanging from the pot trying to up the humidity.)
    The temp is about constantly 78F and the humidity is normally 36%
     

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  4. Hey here's a little better pic of Lilly. She (hopefully) is about 4 inches tall. I kinda expected to see more leaf sets by now but i guess since i screwed up and had it on the 24/0 is why it isn't really making anymore leaf sets right now. Help and advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance
     

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  5. Start out with 24/0 for the first week, then after that go ahead and drop your light schedule to 18/6 for as long as you want to veg your plant, then to start flowering go to 12/12 be sure not to start flowering to soon, I'd give wait until at least 4-6 weeks of veg. b4 flowering.
    Your plant is veryyyyyyyyyy stretched keep that light within 2-4 inches is what I usually do, But as said above 3-4inches is also fine no big differnce, Just dont burn your baby.
    Be sure not to over water your baby it, CHECK SOIL with a finger and for moisture b4 watering.
    Do not use nutrients/ferts for at least 3 weeks.
    With those works, I wish you the best of luck on your grow!~:wave:

    Were always here to help!
     
  6. It's stretching for light.....

    this is what happens when either you don't have enough light, or the light isn't close enough to the plant.
    I would drop the light closer and get a few more bulbs...
     
  7. thanks guys i really appreciate the advice. i'd say the lights are pretty close to Lilly. 3 inches at the most. I just set my timer to the 18/6 schedule so i'm expecting it to grow a little more than it has lately. I have those 2 100-watt output CFLs and the one 75-watt output grow light.. what else would ya'll suggest? Oh yea.. and for some reason my temp shot up to 80 now.. any suggestions on how to get that down to at least 78? Is 36 okay for the humidity or should it be higher?
     
  8. Some sort of reflective hood to sit above or on top of the bulb(s). Not to sure where you are ,so don't know where you could get this, maybe hydro shop.

    Also some reflective material around the sides.
    Mylar is best used for this, it's a plastic reflective material, can be bought from hydro shops, or if your going cheap you can use the 'matt' side of tin foil.... tape it up around your grow to get a bit more from your lights.
     
  9. As long as you've got good venting, you could box the plant in with cardboad, painted flat white.

    As for the reflector, I've seen people use soda cans trimmed to fit. If the light isn't too hot, you could give the inside of the can a light scuffing with sand paper and then paint that too.
     
  10. Hey I put a pie pan with a hole in it around the plant. Maybe that will help. Or someone tell me if I need to just move it right away. Thanks.
     

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  11. okay i'm restarting hopefully i'll do it right this time. I'm gonna start her off in a cup this time. I'll hang one 100-watt output CFL in the cup on 24/0 for a week as close to her as I can then I'll update ya'll in a few days. Thanks a lot guys. Later
     
  12. when u are measuring watts in CFL's go by the "watts used"... that bulb cant be anymore than 26 or 27 watts. Just a heads up, u will need much more lighting than that to have a successful grow.
     
  13. Yes BrazyJay and let me add, when you see it say equivalent what that means is to the human eye it looks as bright as a true 100 watt incandesent light, to plants its still only 27 watts of energy because that is what they use the energy from the light, not to see but to grow.
     
  14. Advice or comments pleaaaase
     
  15. Not exactly.

    Chimera, I know you know this, I'm clarifying for other readers who may not understand.

    True, the "equivalent" watts is to try to draw some sort of parallel to the lumens of an incandescent bulb of that "equivalent" wattage. But watts means nothing to plants, amount of light does (and lumens is a standard measure of the amount of light given off. I know some would argue that technically that is not even correct, don't get me started, but the concept of trying to measure light output is there). We talk watts only because we are so used to it, but watts are a measure of electricity consumption. Only by knowing how efficient a particular lighting technology is in converting energy consumption into light (and proper spectrum light at that) can we even begin to substitute the word "watts" for what we really are talking about.

    A 100w "equivalent" CFL gives off about 1600 lumens for the 27 or so watts of electricity it consumes. That demonstrates how much more efficient CFLs are than incandescent at converting electicity consumption into light (incadescents convert poorly and much of their energy consumption is converted to heat instead of light). But you cannot compare a CFLs "equivalent" watts to HID because they are also highly efficient. So, a CFL that is marketed as 100 "equivalent" watts that uses 27 actual watts is not comparable to 100w HPS or 100w MH, not even close.
     
  16. Instead of putting it one 24/0, I would put it on 18/6... Unless you plan to switch to 18/6 after a week or two. (Depending on your lighting)

    The reason, is that the sprouts tend to grow in the dark more than they do in the light. I believe it has to do with the absorption of light during the day, and at night it converts that light into energy... I don't recall exactly what goes on, but you get the idea. So giving it 6-8 hours of total darkness will help it to grow better/faster.
     

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