Hey just want to start off saying sorry but I'm very new and not familiar with using forums either, so please bare with and any advice is welcome and appreciated. I'm doing my first attempt and just kinda fell into it, but am very dedicated to what I am doing. I have only 1 going in a party cup right now and its in 100% coco about 3 weeks old. I've made a light fixture with 2 CFL 6,500K 1,450 Lummen bulbs. Currently seeing slow growth (i read its normal for 100% coco, my mistake i guess) which is also a little "top heavy" and currently being propped up. looking for basic advice such as watering/nutes at its current stage, also wondering about "flushing" and transplanting. I've already lost 1 in my first transplant leaving me with only 1 left, so really hoping to get the one through flowering. Anyone looking to take on a student I'm very interested in learning, can supply pics if needed.
Alllllll rightyyyyyyy. Got a difficult one here. Haha nah ill give you some help mate. Ill start of with why your plant is small. It's in a cup. You should have transplanted that into a pot by now because the roots would have completely filled it, a plant won't get larger if it doesn't have the root structure to support it, hence why it's probably also a it limp. Ummm I don't k ow anything about coco so I can't say what nutes and how often you should water. For soil though you shouldn't worry about nutes till roughly week 3-4 or till your plant shows she needs them. For watering it's usually best to do two methods. The first is to simply pick the pot up once you've given her a good water. Youl be able to tell from this that when she's alot lighter in comparison to when she's just been watered that she's probably thirsty. The other is to put your finger into the soil upto your second knuckle. If it feels dry upto your second knuckle the again she's going to be thirsty. As for flushing it's always good to water your plant till about 20% of it comes out of the bottom. This ensures that salts that naturally build up in your medium from nutrients are flushed out and it's also a good indicator how well your medium drains (weed likes well draining soil). Last of all before you start reading up on growing properly is transplanting. It's good to transplant about a day after she's been watered and when placing into the new pot make sure to mist the top of the new soil. This should make it less stressful for her and hopefully less problems. Alright man hope these helped. Check out the website growweedeasy. Itl help you alot especially with your lighting because you most certainly do not have enough light. P.s post a picture
Thanks a lot for the quick response, here's a couple pics. What size pot should i go to from here, and do i need to transplant more than once?
Alrighty your in abit of trouble old friend. Now obviously your aware of how tall and limp your girl is. This is a result of insufficient lighting. It's kind of like someone holding a burger over your head. If it's in reach youl put yours arms up, grab it and eat it. If it's to high your gonna keep stretching, wasting energy all whilst still not being able to get your food. A general rule of thumb for using CFLs are to have 4 42w CFLs for veg and to as another 2 during flower. Keep I'm mind this is the minimum of you want any sort of a useable yield. So yeh dude if your able to start from fresh I'd probably recommend doing that if not get a bamboo stick and some gardening wire and just loosely tie her to the bamboo stick, tight enough though so she doesn't fall over but loose enough so that she can still grow. Hope for the best and keep my updated
Also if you click the link in my signature itl take you to my blog and youl see a picture of my girl at week 3. They're a world apart
So should I not switch to a bigger pot just yet? I have it under 3 23w right now and haven't been able to find the 42w in stores, As for starting fresh i have no seeds and am not sure whats the best way to find a secure way of purchasing them... After time and money spent its a shame to see her like this, and I def don't wanna give up (even if this one doesn't work out)
Oh yes definitely switch pot if you can, I'm guessing your from America so ill use gallons. You want her in a pot about 1-3 gallons I'm pretty sure it is then transplant against to a 5 gallon pot for your final pot. If your able to go to a hydroponics store try picking up a 125w cfl. I started of with one of them and they worked really well. Picked mine up for 20 bucks. Google the attitude seedbank. From what I've gathered they're probably the best to get your seeds. They ship really discreetly as we'll by storing them in wallets and lollies and shot like that. Just take some care and you could get yours pumping man
Thanks to both of your inputs, I really feel like I'm getting somewhere now. I'm Canadian so yes gallons help, I'm off to get some stuff for transplanting (2 gallon not clear square pot and that mentioned bamboo) any suggestions or tips to help are appreciated. As for this 125w Cfl is that the actual watts or an equivalent measurement? I have a home made lighting fixture with two 150 watt max sockets in it, I do have a background in wiring but not as familiar with wattage and Cfl conversions. with my 150w max is that the actual wattage the bulb uses or do i keep it in line with the equivalent? (e.g. I have a 23w cfl that acts as 100w, would it just be 23w of my max 150w or would it be 100w of 150? I'm assuming its the actual Watts (23w) but i hate making an ass out of you and me...)
Yeah its the actual wattage so a 13w is 13w not 150 or whatever the equivalent is. You can pick up a few clamp lights and some Y splitters, and a 5 pack of both 26w bulbs (2700k and. 6500k). You need 6500k for veg some are 6700 and stuff like that, they work fine just in that range and their usually labeled "daylight". Now for the flowering period youll need 2700k bulbs and their labeled "cool white" or "soft white". Its also a good idea to use a 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 ratio of 6700k and 2700 k depending on veg or flowering. It would be like having 3 26w 6500k and 1 26w 2700k for veg and the opposite for flowering. The plant you have is stretched really really bad though. I would figure out a way to tie that up and make sure you have a fan around it to make the stem stronger and also move your light as close as it can get without it being hot on the plant. If you put your hand right over your plant you shouldn't feel any heat. You need a minimum of 100w per plant and 50 per additional plant btw. Dont think you can get by with less than a hundred theres a reason they say its the minimum. Over 100 is definitely better though.
On the right track except that you should never base how much light a plant needs by wattage, it needs to be calculated by lumens. Each plant requires roughly 10,000 lumens. Don't bother with 26 watt bulbs, they just don't emit enough lumens to be effective. Per plant youl need 2-3 42w CFLs to begin with and add 2 to 3 more later on. This is the minimum keep in mind for a usable yield.
I checked my local hydro shop, they have the 125/150 watt CFL but i was not prepared to pay $70 for the bulb and another 30 for the socket (because it needs a bigger socket for the bulb itself) is this the type of bulb you meant? I didnt want to pick it up if there's a cheaper route that would work with the fixture I wired, but for the life of me I cannot find a 42w CFL thats has 6500k. They're all 2700, I think I found one that was 3000k. I fear my only option is ebay but 2 weeks is way too long for my plant to wait P.s. + rep for Bong Gnarley
Yeh that was the one I meant, sorry it's so expensive man, I get the 250w for 50 with the socket. You can definitely use 2700k man in the 42w though. If that's all you can get then itl do the job and even if you get them then look for 6400k I'm the meantime then youl have all the bulbs for the whole grow
I've transplanted and added a few more100w bulbs to the scene. I was not aware that 2700 would work for what i'm doing, I thought because they say soft white that they were no good for now. I'll go return the 3x 100's I just picked up and get the 42w 2700. I'm wondering as far as the bulb you spoke of goes i have acquired a lighting ballast which i noticed has a larger socket in it, could this possibly be the solution i'm in need of? Here is my update photo... Currently running 5x 100w 6500k and a small fan on my lil gal.
Should have told you to plant it deeper to compensate for the stretching It the beginning stages I try to have more light focused at the top! Side lighting is nice for preflowers and budding!