First attempt at growing

So I decided to try my hand at growing. I found 2 seeds in this beautiful nug of what I'm pretty sure is AK 47. Can anyone verify that from the pic? I only planted one of the seeds for now, just in case I kill it first time outta the gate, I'll have one left to try again - ha ha. To start off I'm using 2 of the 26w, 6500 daylight CFLs in a Y socket under a clamp light reflector. I've also got a few of the 2700 CFLs to use later.

So, I germinated the seed in a dark, airtight container between some damp paper towels and after a couple days... what do you know, it had a nice taproot showing. I carefully planted it (taproot down) in the moist soil/perlite mix last night approx. 1/2" down. Just curious, anyone know about how long it takes for the plant/seedling to break soil?

I've been doing a little research on growing in these forums, so hopefully I'll get some decent results w/ a little help from fellow blades.

 

Thanks everyone. I'll keep an eye on her and update with pics once she makes an appearance.

 

I was starting to get impatient since its been almost 48 hours and nothing had surfaced yet, so I went & lightly brushed a couple pieces of perlite off the top of where I planted that seed and it looks like there's a little light green bout to poke up. I bought a spray bottle to keep the top moist for the first week or so. Also, I was wondering about light schedule... 24/0, 20/4 or 18/6 w/ the cfls for now?

 

Well, I was right about the light green just under the surface and she popped her head out last night. Actually her neck first, cause her head was still stuck in the seed coat, but I kept it all moist with the spray bottle and she pulled her head out after a bit. Here are some new pics.

I turned a fan on as soon as she was above soil to help strengthen the stem.

BTW, I'm leaving the light on 24/7 for now and the lights are about 6" above the plant... should they be closer to discourage stretching or will it scorch the young sprout at such a tender age?

 

Thanks for all the help and answers, y'all. It looks like my first grow is going great so far.

 

She's already growing. Looks like another set of leaves just starting to form. I sprayed the surface a couple times today, but I'd like some advice on the watering schedule? Should I wait til the pot dries out some before soaking it or just keep the surface moist as long as the pot still feels somewhat heavy? I've seen both suggested. Also, seems like I should wait til she's a little bigger before letting it dry out some between watering for root growth and oxygenation.

Here's a couple pics of a clip-on fan and temp/humidity meter I added to the grow and a shot of the set up.

 

Here's a good pic of the 3rd set of leaves that's starting to form.

 

It's been about a week since my last update, so here's a couple pics. I'm not using any nutes yet, just distilled water in soil/perlite. Looks pretty good, but I'm noticing some slight yellow in the leaves. Is this normal or is there something I could be doing different? Still on 24/0 lights. Temp is staying mid 70's.

 

It's been 10 days or so since I updated. She's growing & looking great. I moved her from the bathroom to the closet. I also added a couple more 6500 bulbs. Will post pics later on.

 

[FONT=&quot]Here are the new pics. Has really grown a lot in the last couple days! Overall, I think it's looking pretty good, but I saw a few small, yellow spots on the first large set of fan leaves. Can anyone tell what caused these from the pic? I also am thinking of doing either scrog or lst, but I think the stem is too thick now for lst. Will look into using some nutes during flower and maybe a little molasses before the flush. Any other tips on how to get the biggest buds?[/FONT]

 

OK, think I've almost got enough bud sites to begin to flower... that and I don't know how big it's going to get in the closet. I've read they double or even triple in size. Also, I'm pretty sure the yellow marks on some of the lower leaves are some slight scarring from when I moved her from the bathroom to the closet. None of the newer sets have it.

Here are a couple pics I took this morning. That stem is really looking strong & I love the overall healthy look of this plant. Being my first grow and all, I really hope to have a female here.

 

I haven't updated in a while, so here's some pics. I went into flower a little over a week ago and it looks like I've a got a girl like I hoped for. I'm currently working on a homemade scrubber for the smell. I got some molasses to add to the water a little further into flowering.

Any advice?

 

Need some advice. Should I take a clone and put back into veg or try to put the plant back into veg after harvesting the buds? I don't know which would be better/easier, but I definitely want to keep a mother going from this one since I've got a nice female plant here. Another factor is lighting schedule, since I don't have a separate veg/flower grow area right now I'd have to set that up if I go the clone route.

I also just gave a little molasses in the last watering and thinking of some foxfarms big bloom or something similar to help with bud development.