Hello everyone! I've been growing my first plants for about 2 weeks now, and I'm having a pretty fun time doing so . I've got a closet set up with a contraption I made. It's a big piece of wood that I drilled holes into so I can stick extension cords through them, and then I have little adapter things that turn a power socket into a light socket so i've got 10 of those, and then of the two ends I've got light bulb socket adapters that turn one socket into 2, so on the wood thing i've got 14 26w 6500k CFL's, and then I have chains on both sides to allow me to adjust how high it is. Then I have 5 clamp lamps, each with a 26w 6500k CFL, and a lamp laying down sideways next to my weakest plant. So as of right now i've got 20 26w 6500k CFL's in the closet with 5 plants, planning on adding mylar. Seeds are bag seed. After this grow I plan on ordering some femmed big bud and ak-47 seeds. My soil is a mix of scotts premium garden soil, basic top soil, and MG peatmoss. I'm watering them about every 4 days with half power MG plant food water. (not checking the PH right now, but I do plan on buying a meter soon. But i'm not sure how much to water, or if i'm even watering them as often as I should be.) The temp is about a steady 80 when the lights are on, and 75 or 70 when they are off. My current light cycle is 18/6. I was also wondering if anyone knew what was wrong with my little plant? it's the last picture in the list of pics, it's about just as tall but the leafs are no where near as big as the other 4 plants. I also have a side experiment going on, I had a horrible attempt at a outside grow last year, resulting in some shit-tastic plants, but I saved a small one I started even later and brought it inside after it was only budding for like 2 weeks. I picked the little buds off and I brought it back inside and had it chll with my plants next to the lights and it seems to of made a 100% recovery and had tons of new green growth and go back into veg state. So just yesterday I put it in a little white cabnet kinda thing and i'm starting to bud it, gonna see what happens. Sorry for the shitty quality pics... was taken with a phone cam.
Watering depends on a lot of different factors. The best way to tell if your plants needs water is to buy a soil-moisture tester. If you don't got the cash for that your finger will do the same bit. Just stick your finger through the top soil about 2-3 inches down. If it is still damp that deep, do not water. If the soil is dry and crusty about 3 inches down, its time to water. If you are letting your soil dry out properly, how much water you are pouring doesn't really matter. The soil should be completely saturated with water and you should be getting some dropletts coming out of the hole in the bottom. Eventually you will develop a good watering schedule and you will know when your plants need water based on weight of the pot or what the top soil looks like. On another note, the plants look real healthy. I'd suggest either repotting them into a dark colored pot or covering the pots they are currently in with something that will block light. Roots get disturbed when they get hit by light and it stops their growth. -Dupe
Thank you for the advice on watering, but I'm not sure what different color pots would do? the roots are under the dirt it's dark either way.
How old are they? They look too young for food. Don't feed until week three from seed. Does your soil have fertilizer in it? It might. Otherwise looks good.
The garden soil says it feeds for a month, but that's mixed with basic top soil and peatmoss which has nothing so I'm assuming it's not enough. The plants are about 3 weeks old now, but i've been watering them with half power nute water since a week after sprout every few days. Also I was wondering about something else.... I've heard that distilled bottled water that you can buy at the grocery store for like 80 cents a gallon has a 6.5 PH level. Is this true and if it is could I just mix my nutes with this water to water my plants and not worry about the PH level?
When I use soil with built in fertilizer, I typically don't feed until I go to 12/12. Duplicity is right: the most important things to remember when watering is to let the soil dry out completely before watering, and to completely saturate the soil when you do water it. Keep the pics coming!
I'm kinda confused on when I should start the budding process. They have been growing for about a month now... I've heard the best is 2 months veg, 2 months flower but i'm not sure if thats true with CFL's?
There's no real 'should' about it. It's up to you and dependant on different factors. For instance, the space you have to grow as your plants will at least double in size when you go 12/12. Personally I flower when my plants have been topped, put in there final pots, got over the stress and bushed out a bit, at this stage they are about 1.5ft. GL.
Based on your latest pics I would say not yet. You really want to flower when they are sexually mature. They are sexually mature when the nodes are alternating i.e. not at the same level. However they can be flowered before that it just takes more time and they don't give as much bud. So yeah two months veg is good.
Justin, I have a very similar setup to what you have. I would let your plants get about 1 foot and 1/2 - 2 feet tall before you switch over to 12/12....it really depends on the amount of space you have. **Remember,they will DOUBLE in size when flowering. Also, do you have air circulation in your room? Just let those babies do their thing for awhile, water them when the top is starting to get a little crusting, and don't be afraid to stick your finger down in the soil an inch or too to get a accurate reading. GL, I'll be rooting for you!!
Thanks for the advice! my biggest one is measuring in at one foot tall. how much longer should it take to get a foot and a half tall? Do you have a journal? And here's new pics! I topped them all 2 days ago, my cam sucks to bad to get nice up close shots of that. Also, as you can see in the last pic my middle one is noticeably bigger than the other ones, is this normal? I was also wondering if anyone can tell me if they look more indica or sativa?