First Grow (w/ pictures): White Widow, Big Bud, and Power Skunk

Hello all, first just wanna say this forum was a big help in deciding which strains to order, the best methods for growing, etc...Now I'd like to share the progress of my first grow and hopeful get some comments and advice down the line.

The grow space is a small attic area, about 4'x2', but with plenty of height. Open to outside temps;however the climate is moderate during the winter, hot and humid during summer. 2 small desk fans. Aluminum foiled it as much as practical.

Originally planted 12 seeds, 4 of each strain (WW, BigBud, and Power Skunk), germed in Jiffy 7's. White widow #1 is actually a feminized seed which came as a bonus in the order. Transplanted 11 sprouts after day 5 into 20 oz plastic cups. All plants responded well to transplant and continued growing, but one of the big buds never germed. I was really pleased with the Jiffy 7's though, they worked very well.

Light: 2x48'' 48 watt flourescents in a stainless "worklight" fixture, one daylight and one soft light. I will likely upgrade to another pair of the same to hang parallel when the plants have more leaf area.

I've only watered them once during the Jiffy 7 period, then once when transplanted to the solo cup. The soil that I'm using is Miracle Grow Moisture Control.

So I've attached a bunch of pictures, showing the plants at 8 days after sowing the seeds. I think they are all pretty healthy and they're growing steadily and rapidly, but in particular I'd like some feedback on the browning on the widow#2, and the bright green/yellow leaf color of #6 and a few others.

Can't wait to hear what you guys think!!!

 

And the rest of the pictures...

 

It looks like I'm going to get some pretty cold weather tomorrow night, in the upper 30's. Since these girls are in the attic, I don't really have any way to control the temperature. I'll definitely bring em in for the night, but just wondering, what's the threshold for the plants to tolerate, as far as temp is concerned? They seem to have done well with nighttime temps sinking to 50 degrees, although this should be a nonissue in a couple weeks...

 

Ok thanks, I'll take that suggestion to heart and get that ASAP. Don't want anything to slow em down!

 

Haha same here, I check them at least every couple hours, and it always seems like I can see them larger. It's becoming a fun hobby, I can't wait to get some buds. In what I've spent in buying pot in just one month is more than what I've invested in these babies, and they'll make my indulgence completely self-sufficient, and nearly free!!

On the soil:
After doing even more research about the Miracle Grow soil, I think I'm just going to stick with it. It seems that most people run into trouble with burning because they add additional nutrients right off the bat, which is unnecessary for at least the first 3 months. Also, overwatering the soil can cause the "time release" nutrients, which are actually just nutrients coated in a very very low polarity gel, to dissolve into the soil and roots too fast. If you just allow it to dry to the touch and water about once a week like the directions say, tons of people out there say it works flawlessly.

The label actually describes the composition the mix as about 50% peat moss, 30% perlite, and about 20% general compost, so it's not much different than the home made mixes described here. Many people actually swear by it, and it simplifies the process exponentially.

At least 90% of the yellowish coloring on the leaves has become a deep, healthy shade of green and the plants are growing about 1 to 2 inches a day. I'm convinced now that that was due to a good bit of some of the root structure breaking off in the nylon netting when I transplanted the jiffy root balls to the larger cups.

I'll post another round of pictures towards the end of the weekend.

 

Just bouncing a few ideas off the wall here

I have a little 2'x2' sort of cut out space in the attic. I believe I'll close that in with a light frame of 2''x2'' wood boards, up to about 3 feet in height, staple some black roofing paper around the edges to make it light proof, from the veg CFLs. I saw a metal dome fixture about 18" in diameter with a bright reflective inner surface that could fit one of those huge 150 watt screw in fluorescent bulbs and fit perfectly in the top of the enclosure I'm imagining. That way I can flower a 2' plant, taking a clone or two before of course, and also keep vegging 2 or 3 other plants waiting on their turn.

The goal here isn't to make massive amounts of harvest to sell or anything, just enough to take care of myself and a few buddies. Hence the use of miracle grow, cfls, etc as opposed to hydro, and big HPS lights. I have to keep it discreet and compact in my condo attic.


A question though that I'm curious about, perhaps White Widow Man could shed some light on this...I have two small fans keeping the air circulating past the plants, hard enough that the stems "vibrate" pretty steadily. Is there any point at which the fans are blowing too hard, or is this just going to strengthen the stems in the long run?

 

I added a heater with a thermostat, so now my girls are staying at 80 degrees 24/7.

 

So a quick little update, Day 12. They all look great. The "toxic salt" seems to be growing itself out, and that WW2 is one of my healthiest looking plants now. The pictures were taken when it's 40 F outside, so the heater is doing great keeping em around 80 or so.

 

No dude I completely understand I trust your experience, just trying to keep it simple is all...a lot of em look good but a few more seem to be getting those spots so I guess its just random...anyway I'm planning on changing the soil when I move em to bigger pots in a week or two, so what's you opinion about when they need to be in a larger home?

 

Pretty good. Most of em are almost a foot high and they have 3 or 4 leaf sets. Just been busy so no time to take pics. I'll post some towards the end of the weekend.