This is about 4 weeks in. How's she looking? This is my first grow. Any comments, suggestions and criticism would be greatly appreciated.
Four weeks?! Dude you need more light on that biatch. That thing should be wayyyy bigger than that for four weeks!
Thank you! I have 3 6500K cfls about 1.5 inches away on a 16/8 schedule. I'm going to buy a MH today.
Smallest month old plant I've seen yet, but it looks mighty healthy with tight nodes! Keep up the good work!
looks good. but i think the same as potographer need more light. and you should look into getting bigger pot that one looks pretty small to me. but im also a noob
I think that pot should be fine for now assuming it's deeper than it is wide. Get that metal halide on it and transplant when you need to.
More light. Other than that it looks good. But I have a question, when you say four weeks what's your starting point? Did you start counting from when you started the seed or after it popped? What was your seed starting method? For that matter what's your setup? Not trying to be nosey, I just like talking about weed. Peace.
4 weeks since it first poked it's head out of the dirt. I put it in wet paper towels until it rooted (about 2 days) then in this pot covered with plastic over it until it poked it's head out, which thinking back, was the 22nd or the 23rd of July. 3 Week old plant, my mistake.... the plant has 3 6500K CFL's about 1-2 inches away. A fan is gently blowing on it 24/7, and its light cycle was 24/7 for the first week, and 16/8 since. I have watered it only when the soil was dry, and only just started it on nutes last watering, which I suppose could be a bit early. The soil is organic soul from my local garden store, so maybe it doesn't have the proper nutrients? I'm letting tap water sit for a few days, but have yet to check the ph. I'm going to buy a meter next paycheck... Hope this clears up the size issue? Wouldn't the plant be more stretched if it needed more light???? Thanks in advance for any help.
Mine have about the same bday and I've been given 'em nutes, but they are a lot larger. You should use 24/0 at least until you get your MH. The size issue is simply a light problem, it's healthy otherwise. pH affects the plants ability to take up nutrients. Therefore, pH can be the problem when you have deficiencies. You don't appear to have any, so you're pH is decent.
The color temperature doesn't matter nearly as much as the wattage. It will only stretch if its light source is far away. If it's up close, it'll just grow slowly. You could probably go at about half strength for a while, and then gradually add up to full strength. Keep in mind, in dirt you will fertilize less often, maybe every two to three weeks. In dirt the pH is much less scarily critical, but it is nice to know and optimize.
My only concern with this is nutes should only be added at 3 weeks to a plant that has had sufficient light. It might be too early in this case as this plant, with the lack of sufficient light, might not have strong enough roots to tolerate the nutes yet. Though I add diluted nutes just after 2 weeks, my babies are still slightly larger than this. It could be risky. The main worry right now is light! Even if it's just a few more CFLs the difference will be huge and as Stormcloud said, don't worry about the temps really, just get more watts/lumens on that thing! Any 2700, 5600, 6500 (Daylight) CFLs you have laying around or can pick up at the store and can use temporarily will do so throw 'em on.
Thanks for all your help! I'll get some more lights on it tomorrow. Would switching the cycle from 18/6 back to 24/7 mess up the plant at all? It's been on this cycle for a solid 2 weeks.
I agree, mighty healthy looking and no stretch.... my Critical Jack is growing slowly and lighting is not an issue. So maybe some strains just are slow out of the gate. she should be blowing up on you as soon as you set that mh up. subbed into this grow, keep us updated.
Maybe it's time to transplant. With ideal conditions it should be obvious why weed, is called weed. Though you are correct some strains have tighter nodes naturally, the OVERALL GROWTH (not just height) should only be stunted or slow if there is a problem. Based on my findings anyway. I'm subbed also, keep us up to date!
Oh, and about switching the light cycle.. I don't think switching to 24/0 will have any negative effects. You might, in fact, see a quick burst of growth in comparison to it's current growth rate (provided you have sufficient light and sufficient pot size). I would imagine switching from 24/0 to a shorter light cycle mid grow could be detrimental, so keep that in mind.
So i picked up some more CFL's today, until my MH comes in. Now i have 5 CFL's on the little midget. 2 6500K 13W, 2 6500K 23W, and 1 2700K 13W. I know this doesn't equal 100W, which is what I should have for the plant, but it will have to do for now. I'm going to repot later tonight, and keep it on a 24/7 light schedule for a couple more weeks, until she's the height she should be. Also I just noticed today that I have some little pests. Tiny gnats are enjoying the light and poking around in the soil. Should I put out some sticky pads?
It's best to deal with them sooner rather than later. At Lowes they have a huge variety of pesticides. For gnats, they have an apple shaped one that has worked fine for me in the past, catch 'em early though.
Thanks for all your help again. Here's a picture of my stealth room to keep you guys interested. Photo Album - Imgur
So this is my plant on actual week 4.... pics were taken 8 days after last set.. Is she a bit, BUSHY?! I mean space is an issue, and she sure looks healthy, but I'm afraid some parts of the plant aren't getting enough light. Definitely has kind of blown up in the last couple of days, and she's starting to smell very nice.