I am in my first grow too, and I would like to give you some advice from a newbie. I went through all the problems you are encountering now and here are some suggestions: If you are using flouros, you need to get the tops of your plants within 2 inches (but not touching) RIGHT AWAY! If your plants stretch anymore, the stems will pinch off and fall over. Also, the leaves are getting so large compared to the stem, that their weight is going to pull them over and pinch off the stem. Repot them immediately. If you don't have the money for pots, use a large, clean milk container with holes in the bottom, or beer cups (anything that is not clear and can have holes put in for drainage). When repotting, be very careful not to disturb the tap root. Take a good chunk of soil with it and plant into a potting soil with no ferts. Do not fert for at least 3 weeks, and keep the soil moist, but not drowning in water. Water enough to keep container moist for about 5 days and let it dry all the way down before rewatering. Plant your seedlings deeper when repotting (almost up to the first set of leaves) As long as you don't keep the soil really wet, the stem will also grow roots and the lower height of the plant will prevent if from falling over or pinching off. The funky looking seedling is no worries...some just start off that way, and in fact, it looks like one of the healthier plants. Give it some time and you may be surprised. My best plant looked like that at the beginning. As far as lighting, I feel for you! I can't figure out this MH and MPS stuff either. So I did seedlings under floros, and then put them out in my sunroom for 12 hours of direct sunlight. They are flowering beautifully. Good luck Peace and Love
Ave Thank you for the post. I have 5 gal. buckets w/ holes drilled in the bottom and I just bought the supplies to trans. them. before I do I want to ask what the best time (if any) to trans. them? light hours? dark hours? does it matter?.... they are on 18/6 right now under a ge kitchen/bath, and a f20T12/agro bulb mix. just in case you need this info. I'm surprised to hear your take on the plant resembling janet reno, its got a single leaf (about half inch long) coming out of the first split...funny looking, the two in the [same] coffee can i think will be difficult to seperate, and i will need to buy more soil to trans them as I want to put the biggy in a 5... speaking of her, (it looks already like its a female, it has hairs (two of them i believe) coming out of each stem base) the smell is already becoming evident....amazing, it woke me up last night, I tracked it to the shelf...i was happy. ;-) , the others have absolutely no smell at all... the doo-decks are gonna be able to find my house a mile away with that one plant, lol... I think I am going to just get a hps fixture as reccomended to me, by (i believe) sohigh on here... it will benifet my legals also... so i wont regret it... I already have the ballast/fixture, all I need is a bulb...(i got it given to me by a grower..) so we shall see how it all works out, problem is, I think im gonna wait to transplant all them till i get a light, I only have enough soil for about 2 plants (40 lb bag and im mixking with vermiculite and perlite.) so i would have two fives, and the two still in cans, under fluoro light, but no light for the fives, (not 18 ours of it anyway, as this is the light regimen)... so i may have to wait a few days.....about the leaves pinching off, I am amazed at how strong these little things are, Ive had a fan on them for about 5 hours a day now everyday, (lo speed but it keeps them moving) today it has been on them all day....the base of them is like wood, and its almost no different at the top, not a dried out type of hard, a healthy sturdy stem... I dont think toppling over will be a problem, but I still have much to learn. anyway, i have taken up enough time...I have to go figure out how small of a container(so i can reserve soil for the important guys) i can trans. melons into. Ave atque vale. Ave atque vale. SuiJuris
ok, im not one to beg... :::gets on knees and starts to cry::: but I NE-e-e-e-ed helllp. ok im done. No seriously, I looked at my newly transplanted queen, and noticed some of the soil moving, a second look affirmed that it wasnt the soil that was moving, nor was it giant microbes... they are a yellow-white, and pretty freakin small, I wouldnt have noticed them unless i got close, which i did... obviously. I read to increase humidity, as they like dry low humidity temps... figures that everywhere I look for growing info that they reccomend a dry low humidity inviroment (i cant seem to spell today, forgive me.) to increase resin... also, I noticed the cotyledons are yellow, some parts brown....no other leaves are discolored, on my other plants which have yet to be transplanted do not have any discoloration, only this one. I checked under the leaves, and there is no 'weblike' structure as the websites ive been to state. so my questions are, what is the discoloring from, and what is another method to getting rid of the mites without increasing humidity and decreasing temp, should I just put a fan on them? I have had one on though, so this obviously isnt working...especially if they work underground at the roots level.... Im bummin. Any help from anyone is apreciated... Ave atque vale. PS Ive noticed no stunted grotwth after transplanting, 3 days now, and a new set of leaves (this time with five fingers) came up, and a new one is starting.... ASIAN BROWN CLOUD THREATENS MILLIONS http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/08/12/asia.haze/index.html I have noticed over the past five years, my pristine aired area of the U.P. has turned from a bright blue, sunny skyed horizen, (when i first moved here five years ago) to a replica of a detroit sky line....that is to say, brown hued... I want to vomit...add on top of that the chemtrails, shit they all started releasing information on contrails all of a sudden in the news, and the corrolation between sep 11 when there was an absence of contrails on the whole united states and weather patterns, they are just now saying they think contrails may effect wether patterns.....NO SHIT, when you put barium alluminum and all the other colors of the rainbow, what a ya get...no not poisonus rainbows (which would make for lucky charms a bad breakfast) but a giant mirrior no shit itz blocking out the sun, stupid people....now everytime someone who has researched chems. and know its true, brings it up to someone, they will respond with the news articles and act like its normal.... I swear you just cant win. Anyway, in my area, at 6:00 sept. 11 there were planes still in the air, leaving the chemmies, I got pictures, so thats a bunch a bull....Look at the sky at about 6 - 7 at night, and tell me if those blotched out patterns, which swirl and change into shapes youll never see in nautre...are natural...anyone who wants pictures from Michigan, leave me your Email address (suijurisapollyon@yahoo.com),ill be happy to send them.... check out carnicom.com. Later and thanks for any info on the mites