Finally found the right forum... So I started growing an Afghani plant kind of on a whim. I'm finding it much harder than anticipated. First of all, I don't have the money for a complicated grow, and I'm pretty sure I'm doing a whole bunch of things wrong, but I'm not exactly sure what. I got her July 25th as a clone, and started "vegging" (I think?) her outside. Then something got to her, maybe a snail, not sure, so I decided to bring her indoors. Set her up in my closet with a 150 watt sun lamp (like for a reptile) about 3' above the topmost leaves and with a few sheets of aluminum foil on the walls and a little fan pointed off to the side. I'm trying to flower her, so I just started giving her a 15-30-15 plant food (yesterday) and 12/12 light/dark cycles (a week ago). Some of her leaves look perky and happy and some are all wilted and limp. Also, some of the leaves are brown/yellow at the tips or on the edges. I just pruned a bunch of dead leaves off so she's looking kind of spindly. What am I doing wrong? And please be gentle...this is my first time... Let me know if moar pictures are necessary...
Lower your light 4-6" above the plant. More lights in the 2700K spectrum will help and a minimum of 100 actual watts or, more is the rule of thumb for a plant. The tin foil absorbs more heat than it reflects and will cause hot spots. I would use mylar or, a flat white painted surface. Water only when the plant dries out. Use fans to move air around. Check your ph runoff and adjust and follow the other suggestions and see if the plant improves.
Just wondering? How long did you have it in veg outside till you brought it indoors. I was under the thieory that you can go from indoor to out door. with times ajusted and what not. but not out door to indoor cuz i dont know never really worked out for me Hit me back
I didn't check your pictures as I am on my phone. But I grew outside this year as well. Check for bugs man. If you're outside it's super easy to get infested. And the last thing you want is bring that infestation into your home. Halogen and Incandescent are definitely a bad road to go down. At least get some 23-26watt CFLs 2700k for flowering and rig them up about 3-4" away from the plants. I'd recommend using more than just one too. A few at the base, a few in the middle, a few at the top. Evenly distribute the light out. I don't think a 15-30-15 Fert is good for the flowering stage...(i could be wrong about that I'm kind of a newbie myself) But I do believe you need something that is N<P=k.
How would you suggest lowering the light? I will remove the foil and try just the white walls in there. I already only water when the dirt is mostly dry, but I'll let it dry for longer. I have one fan in there that's pointed off to the side because I read that it's not good to have the fan directly pointed at the plant (?). I'm going to buy a pH testing kit today...the way I check the runoff is to check the water that goes into the plate under the pot, right? Well, hell, and here I thought I got the perfect light...it's supposed to simulate the sun, so I figured it'd be the easiest way to transition the plant from outside to inside... I'm sorry, but what do you mean by "150w eq. uses 42w for round 8-9 bucks"? She was out there for about a month and a half. I hope it'll work out, I've already put way more time and effort into this than I thought I would, but apparently my efforts aren't enough, haha... The bugs would be visible to the naked eye, right? Because I've looked all over that plant and in the dirt for bugs and I can't see anything. I'm not sure how to set up that many lights in my closet. As it is, I have very limited space and not many surfaces upon which to mount a light. As for the plant food, every pot growing website says when trying to flower, a higher "P" level is desired... Thanks everyone for your advice! Again, I apologize for my appalling ignorance...