I started smoking this year and started the growing process several weeks ago. I think it's about 3 weeks in, and the purp plant has 4 leaves and a new set coming in. It seems healthy. It was leaning so i loosely tied it to a stick to add support. Recently read that bending the stem lightly increases sturdiness, probably am going to try that. Anywho, yea i am growing in my garage attic. My main worry is temperature. I have the plant under 24 hour clf light with 6400k output, with a light reflector and added reflective mirrors attached (pretty much just a shinier light reflector that can be found a walmart with the mirrors high school geometry classes use taped on the bottom). I keep the light as close to the plant without burning it as possible. The top of the soil seems warm usually, but I know that the soil beneath that is probably cool, since it gets to 30's-40's at night time. However is stays pretty warm in my attic, with air ducts keeping some level of air circulation. I used a towel to cover up the containers sides to try and insulate it. I have it in a sterilized 2 liter, cut, and fixed ontop of another 2 liter with purified water in bottom, and shoe strings spread through soil (essentially a self water plant pot). I will try to upload pictures of the set up tomorrow. I just started using Miracle Gro, and added a little of it and mixed it in the soil. The soil is soil from an old pot, but its commercial grade soil, just old. I know I need better soil, and plan on getting it ASAP. I'm using a seed from a batch of purp i had, that happened to have a seed in the bud. I did germinate it before planting. When the plants strong enough I plan to clone it, but specifics on that later on. I plan on transplanting the plant as soon as I get the new soil, fertilizer, and pearlite. Also saw humus is supposed to help out. Again this is my first time grow, but I have done a lot of research. Any comments, tips, anything would be appreciated. PS sorry for the unorganized post. Also ideas on how to cover smell when I start flowering would be awesome too. I'll update soon.
So I added these pictures of my setup. Again any questions, comments, tips, concerns, etc please voice them. Any help will be appreciated. Also the first picture is of the set up, second is of the lamp (the odd squares hanging from the bottom are the mirrors I added for extra reflectivity), the third is of the 2 liter set up. You can see the water is a little mirky, but thats just from the soil. The fourth is a close up of the mirrors on the lamp, that one is a little dirty but all the ones used are clean. The fifth is of Violet (what I named her, assuming that its female) then just another picture of her.
1. Fix it by adding more light or moving the light closer to the plant. Just make sure to keep an eye on your temps 2. Bury the stem in soil. All the way up to the leaves. It'll eventually grow roots and your plant will be much happier and healthier.
And it happened because your plant wants more light. It's reaching and stretching itself to get enough light.
Well based off the pics, do you all think that the plant is stretched bad? Or do you think it's not too bad, but should be fixed before long. Any ideas on how to add more light? I have another identical light bulb, but not shade, but plenty of mirrors and misc objects around the house.
How many watts is it? You definetly need more than 1 cfl. Put books under the plant to raise it up to the light.
You def. need more lights. check the actual wattage on the CFL not the equivalent. Do what tattoo said, bury the plant up to the first set of 'false', or none blade leaves. If you want to thicken the main stem you can put a small fan on the plant that will help it strengthen up a bit.
That watering system looks creative, just make sure that you don't end up having your roots sit in still water, that will lead to root rot, which is bad news. also, clear containers are typically a bad idea, roots don't like the light, you can fix that by wrapping duct tape or painting the outside of the container, that way you'll protect the root ball as it forms
its 23 watts, but I just added another identical cfl. About to post more pics in a second of the new set up.
Roots getting into the water won't happen in the set up. Covering up the container is a good idea, definitely will look into cover the sides from the light. I will probably bury it tomorrow. Thanks for the advice
The first pic is of two poster boards, then I used aluminum foil to cover the inside of it completely, then placed around the plant. The second pic is an overview shot of the set up. I hooked up a second identical light bulb, but it isn't touching the plant like it looks.
Take off the mirrors, they're not really helping you any. Don't use foil either. Use flat white paint to get proper light diffusion. Also get the light bulb down to an inch or two away from the plant. Get a small fan too.
So I have decided that I am going to get the Fox Farm Trio, ocean forest soil, perlite, then a little fan for a light sway of the plant. I'm going to add two more 6500k cfl bulbs and one or two 2700k cfl bulbs. I have a pretty big pot picked out, but if there's any recommendations for for the correct size I'd appreciate it. I hope to get my plant to about 3-4 feet do to the limited attic space lol. Then I may or may not just drop the whole reflecting idea. Also planning on topping and LST when she (hopefully she) gets a little bigger and stronger.