hI COOL GROW ROOM, i THINK THE WARDROBE ON THe (caps lock) spare bedroom is good then cos its big and can be sealed shut and can even be moved near to the window. But ok ok im still a little confused??? Where my plant is now, tomorrow it goes into a bigger pot with permalite and fresh new soil. Where to or what next and for how long (think i will daily update on here for my piece of mind) And when in wardrobe is it supposed to have a light in? and if not - well again im stuck.. aaaaarrggghhhh help? Feeling confused and dazed by the massive wealth of knowledge to grow 1 little baby,,
For right now, do your best to seal up that wardrobe and throw it in there under 24/7 CFL/PL-L/T5 (pretty much any kind of fluorescent really if you can't afford an HID light yet) for at least another week or two or until it works some of the kinks out. It could take up to that long just for the plant to adjust to the new soil and balance out the pH, so just try to be patient. #1 thing to remember here (other than SECURITY FIRST) is that flowering a plant that isn't healthy will produce a mediocre at best final product. Being patient is something that is required to grow the best possible herb, which (in my world at least) is the major reason why you grow your own to begin with Just start educating yourself as effectively as is possible...when I was just starting out 5-6 years ago I was on Overgrow a lot before it was shut down...they had an EXCELLENT Grow FAQ that is still up in most of its original form at several sites...here's one of them - The Cannabis Cultivation GrowFAQ - The Internet Hub for Marijuana Cultivation - powered by phpMyFAQ 1.6.5 You can also download a torrent for the GrowFAQ that has its own user interface where you can search through the articles a bit easier than with the site listed above. My best advice to you is to continue to check in here daily, read as much as you can in that growfaq, and try to remember that even though it seems overwhelming right now, at its essence all cannabis needs to grow and thrive is light, water, and soil...the rest is just icing on the cake.
Evening 'jd' i was just about to post when i read your msg. Stage 1 of my grow i have done today- 1-Bought a nice multi purpose balanced ph compost, 2-Bought perlite 3-Bought 2 100w equiv CFLS. 4-Thouroughly cleaned the (OCTOGAN SHAPED TUB I WENT FOR-See pic on p1) 5-Made sure i got drainage holes 6-Added the some soil and mixed some perlite in (gave a thorough mix) 7-Transfred plant carefully and watered with baby bio (literally 1 drop in half a pint of water) Left it for a few hours and taken those pics. Hows it look? Its going into wardrobe tomorrow, unless we get some good sun it will stay there like you say for a week or two.. And thanks for links
If I were you, I would stop giving it any form of feeding supplement other than plain pH-adjusted water until everything clears up and the plant gets readjusted. I assume you got the 26w actual- 100w equivalent bulbs, those aren't bad deals, does the packaging tell you how many lumens and what color temperature the bulb puts out? You want something in the range of 6500K for veg and 3000-4000K for flower typically, but that's later, don't worry about it now. You can just about wrap your plants around those bulbs without burning them so don't worry about that, just worry about getting the most light possible to your girls so that they can get healthy and ready to flower. You're going to need several more of those lights to grow anything worth taking a risk for unless your cabinet is really tiny...i'd say to get them on a good track with veg throw 5 of those bulbs around the plant if that's all you can find/afford, that should be a good start for you. no problem man
Hi m8 yes 1050l so if i get a total of 4 (yes they are 23w) then that shud give me an ok plant, she wants to grow for sure some nice growth, I hope that once sealed in a nice wardrobe with a few lights and no interupptions she will start to flourish. So i'll do that tomorrow and post up on here earlier and take a good few pics of the setup i create. Then what leave her to adapt for a couple of weeks before starting to change light cycle? Cheers and speak tom I'll let u know what color temp tomrrow. (it doesnt say color temp)
Hi jd this is just a quick post inadvance. Ive now got 3 of these:- 3U Stick Energy Saving BC 20w CFL \t \t \t \t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t\t \t\t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA Rated. 8000 hours average rated life. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t 2700K Warm White Non-Dimmable Model Number: FE20 20W BC Diameter: 54mm Length: 165mm Opal And i bought some soda cans to use as reflectors, and im gonna link 3 bulbs together and I got some foil for for inside the box. Im gonna get constructing the box in a min so i will update late on here in a few hours. Later m8
Don't use foil, it creates hot spots that can burn the plants and is actually not very reflective...flat white poster board is probably a good bet for a small grow like this, cut it to fit and attach it to the inside, will also effectively seal off light leaks if done correctly. You can also simply paint the interior flat white (which is more reflective than aluminum or even mylar) and allow it to thoroughly dry and ventilate outdoors before using it I also wouldn't use the homemade reflectors, it is unnecessary in a small space and will only serve to create the aforementioned hot spots, not to mention take up valuable real estate inside the box that the plants could be using. The lights are a little on the warm side of the spectrum...looks like they each have about a thousands lumens total output on each so they should work well enough for your purposes...you still have the other 26w/100w CFLs as well, right? I assume those are standard daylight cfls so around 6500k and 1500 lm, those two combined with the other 3 gives you about 6000 lm total output, so you're getting somewhere, although you're still gonna need more eventually. When you get a second go measure the total usable interior space of your wardrobe and pm or post it so I can figure out how much total light is necessary (and how you can configure the ventilation/odor control later on)
tHANKS FOR REPLYING M8, Sof far I got 1=23w,2(not 3)20w,1=11w. The box is - 17 and half inch across, and 29 inch height, (its a tall square box) But was gonna get more bulbs,(worried about any fire risk?) but what about getting one of these if i can wire it up to a socket somehow-- Sylvania Lynx-D Energy Saving 2-Pin 26W Lamp \t \t \t \t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t \t\t \t\t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tB Rated. 15000 hours average rated life. EST Approved. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t 4000K Cool White Dimmable Excellent Colour Rendering (Ra85) Model No 25914 Diameter: 35mm p.s i could just use the wardrobe which has a b igger space, but i just thought for my first time and to make it easier for vent and odor control it would be easier to construct a box? Unless there wont be major smells, (i.e if the bedroom door is kept shut 24/7 will the smell just linger in there?)
how much you looking at spending for all of these? You can look at your local home improvement/hardware store for a T5 fixture, and if you have walmarts around you they have a decent selection of cheap CFL lighting fixtures and bulbs to play around with...see what the best deal you can get is
that's actually a pretty ideal size for a single-plant grow, my recommendation is that you get a few of these: 55 Watt PL-L 6500K Daylight comparatively cheap to T5's and regular CFLs and very efficient for lighting small areas Put one or two at the top of the box to give the plant something to aim for, and arrange a couple or three more staggered around the plant to give it even coverage on all (or most) growth sites. LST, tucking leaves, etc. can take you the rest of the way and give you the most efficient use of the space. a couple single bulb T5 fixtures lining the sides and a couple of those PL-Ls above the plant would be the best bet, but a bit more expensive (closer to 50-60 $USD total)
Ive been looking at the various lights you have suggested but i live in a tiny village and theres no bargains anywwhere close to me. So im gonna have to go with - 4 20w Cfls. with reflectors. Once the box is ready and i move the baby should i go on to 20/4,? (i will keep looking around for other lights but iam totally broke,and these bulbs are like only $1 each) Im now gonna go with your suggestion of making the box white. Is that it for now ? -------->>>> one day!!!!!!!!!! Shes now happily sitting in her new home, foiled up at the mo, with 3-20w cfls with reflectors. she looks at lot more at home. Tomorrow (wednesday her house is gonna have a lick of white paint, and 2 more 20w cfls gonna e added-i might even add another 2 in a week, we'll see how she does for now) Check ya tomorrow jd
Hi folks and 'jd'. I havent updated for a couple of days cos not much happened. Ive now updated 2 todays picture. Shes in her 'growbox' with 5 20w cfls, 1 dual pc fan, had a good water yesterday so soil is ok i think. Ive now just switched her to 20/4 was thinking do this for a week, then 18/6 and so on. What do you think of little baby now she growing up, (i will get a better photo later when i light her back up. Peace dudes
if i was you mate i would stick with the light schedual ur on untill flowering, if you keep changing like from 20/4 then 18/6 then say 24/0 you could stress ur plant, thats just my opinion tho lol
Cheers mills I just read it was good to do this? I want to 'clone' it asap and take a cutting and flower this one early but take my time time with the next one. Id say it was about 8-10 inches tall and a godd 6 inch wide with loads and lloads of leaves sprouting. Its just the very top couple of leaves are curled up at the edges - not too much tho, so i thought a change in lightin was better. Ive now got 5 cfls ready for later and a pc fan, so is this gonna help it to veg? Many thanks fellow growers gonna go enjoy one of their relatives now and get mellow
agreed 100%, pot's just like any other flowering plant, it likes consistency and all the seemingly small changes you might make (like the light schedule in this example) only serve to raise the chances of having a hermie on your hands, at least most of the time The rule here is K.I.S.S. - soil, pot, lights, water (and of course odor control/ventilation, since you're indoors) should be the only things on your mind. IMO, best bet is to forget about any ferts, forget about trying any cutting-edge techniques here, and focus on learning the most that you possibly can from this grow. not to be the bearer of bad news, but most first time grows never reach harvest... Instead of getting discouraged if this happens just focus on learning from any mistakes you made and improving even further on the areas where you did well. keep us apprised man! peace
Definitely not the time to take clones man! just wait it out and be patient, get your plant healthy before you do anything else for sure
Hi jd thanks for reply. I wasnt trying to run before i can walk. I wasnt thnking of taking any clones for at least another 4 weeks. Like you say most first time grows dont harvest even thought the plant is only actuaslly an actual 'weed'. But as she now has plenty of new growth and a very sturdy stem (really thick ans strong) I though it was best to go into veg state as i can just leave it to veg as long as i think it needs it. I mean if i only go to flower after another 4-6 weeks and only 5g id be happy, cos by then i will have 2 more growing (going aim for SOG PROBABLY BY FEBUARY 2010) BUT the best news of all which both you and 'mills' have kept saying is i may well be buying a HPS light tomorrow. As for ferts i wasnt gonna use any fora week or two then i was thinking of using some 'liquid seaweed'. Please let me know your thoughts on what ive said because i do listen to both of you, and thanks for taking the time to read. Respect guys TheMASTA09 & Mrs Firestarter - my plant lol P.S Today she will have 6 20w cfls, which is '6900' lumens so is that good enough to take her through to flower stage? hopefully i will have a HPS. **Update now also added 6 LED lights** Surely im getting somewhere close now?!?
Update 10-08-09 Since putting 6 cfls 20w and 6 LEDS and moving the fan a touch, she has now started to spread. The soil is starting to get dry, I last watered on saturday and i gave 1 and a half pints. I emptied the overfill saucer yesterday. I think she is enjoying it and with the light setup and at least 7000 lumens then I would hope she s going to now come on strong. What do you think? Is there anythng else i can do to help her out? The top few edges of leaves still curl up a tiny bit but i personally think that may have been because before doing the new light system she was definately having to stretch.. But being a noobie perhaps 'jd or mills' kn ow better.. I will add photos later tonight if i can. Peace out dudes I HAVE JUST 'WON' THE HPS LIGHT I WAS ON ABOUT IN MY EARLIER POST, GOOD OLE EBAY,!!!! --WON FOR GBP10.50p ($15.00) ITS A 70W HPS, SO THATS 7-8000 Lumens, so that added to my existing light setup would be amazing for the little lady i think..???? and all this ive done because i listened to the people who have commented on my blog, great site great tips great members and great plants, perfect combination. (mills,jd4083) I can get a 250w hps bulb for $10 equiv in uk so if this light will take that much wattage i will 'upgrade' "I Think Masta 'JD4083' & 'mills69' Your 'pupil has listened and learned what you said and carried out your instructions, you are certainly a masters of the weeds. So What next o great ones?? (WITH REGARDS TO NEW HPS I WILL PICK UP TOMORROW AS SELLER ONLY LIVES 10 MILES AWAY) PEACE
Pic 1 was taken yesterday 10th aug Pic 2 taken today after a good water with a tiny bit of baby bio (very very weak solution),