Hiya! I'm new here, was searching for grow info and came across this forum, so I signed up. I'm just starting my first grow, with 100% support and help from my husband, which is awesome, as he's a carpenter who is smart, good with plants and works in a building supply store where we get things for cost. He doesn't smoke, but he's clearly fine with me toking if I want. I've got three plants in the closet, they are brand new...only one has sprouted so far, and we've just planted the other two. They're just babies at this point. Our fingers are crossed we get two girls out of them. The seeds are Ice, which I've never tried to my knowledge, but they seem to fit our situation, and the price was right. We're in a rental so we can't be drilling holes in walls or anything, so we've decided to go simple...we're using 120W cfl's, so it shouldn't get too hot. got a fan, and a system to raise the lights as we go. We're starting on 24/7 light for veg, gonna see how it goes. I've got a couple piccies to share, will take more as it grows. I can't wait to watch it unfold.
I wouldn't go so far as to saying growing weed is exciting. It probably is more intense tahn watching grass grow, but its less intense than say... seeing someone bleed to death.... excuse my morid imagery
LOL! What's exciting is that I will be growing my own stash indefinitely, once we get the process of cuttings down and with some trial and error will be able to produce some great bud. I won't be dependent on cash flow so much and I will NOT be waiting around on others to get my weed. I've had bad luck with dealers, they keep quitting or moving, or we move, etc... Patience is a must for sure, but how can it not be exciting to watch those babies grow over the next few months? I'm not looking for instant gratification, yk? Perhaps tempered excitement is a better term.
Bean #2 sprouted today, very good to see. I'm expecting #3 to pop up tomorrow night/tues morning, based on how fast the first two popped up. It germed last, and was planted last night. But I noticed #1 was stretching...it has 4 leaves that are small and stem is long and thin, so I stuck all three pots on top of a box fan to get them closer to the lights...I'll get hubby to tweak the height tomorrow and get them back on the ground...gonna nip this stretching thing in the bud (heh) before #2 and #3 get all stretched out. Noob mistake, lol. We're bound to make more. A question for anyone who might read this...how long/how tall should they be before we switch them to flowering for good/optimum buds? I'd love to see some preflowering in time, but here's my quandry. We're going on a 9 day vaycay the first week of July, which, if we veg for 6 weeks will coincide with immediately before harvest, which will allow the plants to dry out while we're gone, which is what I want. I can harvest when I get home, if all goes well. The timing is perfect, and I don't want tall plants in any case...if they get too tall I'll have to take out the shelf that all our misc grow stuff is sitting on...lol. Feasible? Or should we give them a full 8 weeks or more of veg, and they'll just get a little thirsty while we're gone, and hopefully nothing else. Meep. Input is appreciated.
Grats! I think that it is exciting, too. The plants actually grow pretty quickly, and you'll notice a difference from day to day. How many of the cfl's are you using? I have 4- 48" bar lights and 4- 150w equivalent cfl's, and I have had to raise lights twice a day. I try to keep the lights within an inch of the canopy to prevent stretching and allow the plant to get as much energy as possible.
I think it's pretty exciting too. #1 has shot right up, a little too fast, lmao. I love the second set of spiking leaves it's growing. Right now we have 2 120W cfls. Hubby built and wired the light box himself...I told him a)he should have put three light sockets in it and b)we'll need more brackets for the bar that's holding the light box...but what do I know? lol. Tomorrow we'll chat and I'll make him add more brackets. If I need more light, which I probably will, I was thinking that a few flexible desk lamps will clip on the box and can light from the sides of the plants too. I'll try and find some when we hit the big city (we live in a town of 2600 people) in a couple weeks. Everything is too expensive here.
Oh, I wanted to add that I've been checking them a few times a day (needs air circulation anyway, lol) and I can see a visible difference in a few hours. I'm literally watching grass grow!
If nothing else, you can get some clamp lights from the hardware store, and a few more bulbs. I started with the 2 long fixtures with 2 lights each, and then added lighting as I needed it.
clamp lights, exactly. Come to think of it, I bet hubby can order those from his work, at cost. Perhaps I'll make him get 4, two for each side. I have lots of spare cfls around. Thanks.
Congrats on getting your first grow started, its always a blast every time you do it! Feel free to check out my thread if you need any help or wanna ask a question!
bcseeds.com. They were quick, stealthy and although we've only germed 3, they all popped open and are growing like...well, weeds.
Thanks. I'll check it out...I love getting ideas from seeing how others are growing. Right now I'm just hoping that 6 weeks of 24/7 veg will be sufficient so I can harvest after we get back from our vaycay in July. *fingers crossed*
So, we did some tweaking today. As in, hubby brought home 2 y sockets, so we have twice the light, and we'll double that as soon as we hit the big city and can pick up some clamp lamps. Between them and the light box, we'll have 8cfls, four of which will be on the sides. cfls are definitely the way for us to go...little heat, little hydro used, ease of set up and hubby can get the bulbs at cost. #1 was really stretching, so I piled the soil up around her stem, and lifted them all up on a box fan, to get them closer. I've seen more leaf growth since we did that, so it's looking up. #3 broke ground today...you can't see her in the pic I uploaded, but she's there. I'm calling them all she, with hopes that two of them really are shes. I've been reading LBH's lst thread, and we're all set to train the girls like that...we have plenty of space width wise for two plants (fingers crossed) and if we lst 4 way once, we'll have plenty of overhead room.
Are you using 120 actual watts or equivalent? If it's actual wattage, that's great. Where did you get them?
Ooh oooops I forgot to change that...no, they're not. I asked hubby to tell me which they were, and he read it wrong! it's 120V. It's a big part of why I made him bring the sockets home and insisted we get clamp lamps. They are only 15W cfls...he has bulbs at work...I don't remember the w, but they put out 800 lumens each...I'm making him bring me home a couple packs of those babies. I'm not expecting to flower more than two plants...if by fluke they are all female (yeah, right) I'll have to crank it up again.