whats up yall this is killachronic. Ive been reading the forum daily for the past year or so and have never posted, I usually just stop by to take a look at the grow journals or look at some nice bud pics. I recently started an attemp to grow some bud and ive run in to problem after problem along the way. Im growing in a entertainment center cabinet which is about 1.5ft by 1.5 feet and 4 feet tall. I started off with 5 plants and now im down to one and im hoping i can keep this one alive. It's just a bag seed from some pretty good shit. I germinated it and it sprouted way up the first few says and looked great. Im on day 12 and it seems as if it hasnt grown since day 7. The soil I planted it in is just some organic soil with no nutes added from wal mart. I have kept the soil moist but not wet and it just will not grow. It has 6 leaves (wish i could get some pics) but they have shown no growth and are very small. The first leaves that formed on the plant are yellowish and both have a small brown spot on them. I guess it has to be a ph problem because i havent added any nutrients to the soil. The newer growth looks teriffic green as can be but just is not growing. The plant is under 2 24w cfl's and a 65w cfl floodlight with a hood. My main question is where can you buy strips to test the ph and how do you adjust the ph. Also what are some other good things to plant in and where can i buy them in TN. If the plant starts growing again i will buy some good soil to tranplant into but i need to know what kind. I have one final question that is an electrical problem im hoping someone can answer. The floodlight is not a plug in, its made to be wired to a fixture. I wired up a plug in cord to it and it works fine but it cuts off when i try to turn to many lights on. Its plugged into a power strip with surge protection but when i turn on additional cfls it will cut the big light off, but when i turn the cfl's off it will cut back on. Thanks for the help and hopefully someone can solve these problems.
Naturaly, pics would help. It is not likely a pH problem. The soil of pH has a pretty narrow range, and weed will tolerate a lot in terms of pH. At this stage, I would say ventilaton/heat are your likely enemies. Also, you want your soil to dry out almost completely between waterings, and not to be kept moist all the time. An easy growing medium is a good soilless mix (moss/perlite/vermiculite). WalMart or Home De Pot will carry it as seed-starting mix.
Thanks, bluebong. you bring up a good point about the heat and ventillation. I have a small fan in the cabinet, but i can't really come up a plan to ventillate it because it's a nice piece of furniture and i can't drill holes in it or anything. The CFL's dont't really get that hot so i don't see how heat could be an issue, if it is could you please explain. Do you think having a fan in the cabinet to circulate the air and a constant room temp outside the cabinet at 70 degrees F is okay growing conditions?
The CFLs don't feel hot to you. But I bet they're warm, easily over a 100F, and heat accumulates. Find a thermometer and stick it in there. Check it after about 10 hours, and you'll see what I mean. I bet with outside temps of 70, your cab will be over 90 for sure. All that fan is doing is moving the air around, making sure it goes past the bulbs and heats up.
i agree with bluebong, if you get an extemes thermometer and leave it in there all day it will tell the hottest temp it got up to and then you will know for sure. cfl;s def throw heat dude. You can't cut a small hole in the back of the furniture at the top for a pancake fan or something?