My first grow

dubydude

dubydude

Member
I planted my seed today. It just stared to pop after putting it a damp paper towel for 3 days. This will be an experiment by growing it in my basement. It stays nice and cool down there even in the heat of summer. I put it in a black #3 pot and good potting soil mixed with 25% more perlite.
 
Final Phase

Final Phase

Well-Known Member
Cool what you are starting. When you get the lights in the room will hopefuly get to 75 degrees... Try and provide some ventilation and exhaust for them to get that Co2... Good Growing - You will learn a ton!
 
ebcrew

ebcrew

Well-Known Member
Yeah man give us some more detail on your grow brother!

Strain, lighting, soil, stuff like that.
 
JDGreen

JDGreen

Well-Known Member
ebcrew said:
Yeah man give us some more detail on your grow brother!

Strain, lighting, soil, stuff like that.
Click to expand...
My best advise for your first grow is not only be patient but the watet patiently. Water only when the soil in dry down to at least one knuckle. Over and underwatering are the mpst common problem. Overwatering can breed gnats which are nearly a death sentence.
 
sunny747

sunny747

Well-Known Member
Yea Duby, let's see some pics and details of your setup.

Lights, ventilation, strain, nutrients, water, etc..
 
sunny747

sunny747

Well-Known Member
Hey Duby, just wondering how the grow is going.. Please tell us the:

Strain
Photo or auto
Soil
Pot
Water source
Light source
Nutrients
Hours of light
Temperatures
 
sunny747

sunny747

Well-Known Member
Dubes.. Here is a quick breakdown on CFL's

100w equivalent CFL's produce around 1600 lumens each and use around 23w-26w per bulb. . It's generally accepted that to produce ample flowers you should have between 6000 - 10,000 lumes per sqft. To get good bud you should surround the plant as best as possible and make sure that each bud site is getting good light by manipulating the branches using some sort of ties. You will want probably 8-10 bulbs when the plant starts to show signs of flowering (3-4 weeks after sprout). until the end of week three 3-4 bulbs is sufficient. In week 4 your plant will start to show signs of significant growth.

CFL's should be kept within a few inches of the plant, but be careful because they will burn the plant if they touch it.

The Kelvin rating is important. Autos seem to do best with a mixed spectrum. So to have some bright white and soft white bulbs may be good.
  • 2700k = soft white. This light is redish/orangish this is most useful in flower as it mimics the fall sunlight.
  • 5000-6500k bulbs are white to almost blue. These are normally called "daylight" . These mimic the spring and summer light and are normally used for vegetative growth. These bulbs help to keep plants short and bushy rather than tall and stretchy.
  • Between 3000k-5000k I have read that there really isn't a lot of useable light for the plants. 2700k and 6500k would seem to be the best.

As for nutrients, General Hydroponics makes decent nutrients.
http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-FloraNova-Bloom-Quart/dp/B000W7C87Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1433451184&sr=1-1&keywords=floranova bloom

Advanced nutrients makes a PH perfect nutrient that might be best for your simple setup. It's supposed to PH adjust itself.
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Nutrients-Perfect-Fertilizer-1-Liter/dp/B007TG2G1E/ref=sr_1_3?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1433451321&sr=1-3&keywords=advanced+nutrients

There is always Fox Farms. You should get Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom.
 
sunny747

sunny747

Well-Known Member
Budzbuddha said:
I use these - 46w 150w equiv. in a 8-10 bulb hood . These produce 2650 lumens per bulb and cost less than a dollar a piece. ( .99 store has them but tough to find )

Believe it or not they work quite well , I run a mixed 5000/2700.

That's awesome pricing.. Duby, get to the dollar store asap :)
Click to expand...
 
dubydude

dubydude

Member
Day 6 into grow June 5 2015
photo.JPG
Seed- Northen Light - Big Bud Autoflower
Pot- 3 Gal.
Soil - Master Nursery Gardeners Gold Organic potting soil with 25% more pearlite
Lights- CFL 4-23 watt bulbs since start 20hrs. on and 4 hrs. off
Temp- 75 to 80
Water- one cup well water at start
My grow box is just white cardboard 22"x22"x36H. Placed in a small bedroom 8'x8'
I had to put a small heater in the room to keep the temp. up even though the lights put out a lot (still on the cool side here). Also I have a small fan blowing to move the air around it. I have some modifications to do yet but this looks good so far. Thanks for all the advice. There sure is a lot to learn but I have a good mentor...
 
sunny747

sunny747

Well-Known Member
Yep, looks great! Right now all the growth is below the surface. Once the tap root hits the bottom of the pot around week 3 she'll start to grow.

Hit her with 50/50 mix of well water and bottled water if the top few inches dry out significantly..
 
Hessam

Hessam

Well-Known Member
Budzbuddha said:
I use these - 46w 150w equiv. in a 8-10 bulb hood . These produce 2650 lumens per bulb and cost less than a dollar a piece. ( .99 store has them but tough to find )

Believe it or not they work quite well , I run a mixed 5000/2700.
Click to expand...
Did you make that reflector yourself?
I see some bulbs in there that are labeled 6500K!
 
Budzbuddha

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Hessam said:
Did you make that reflector yourself?
I see some bulbs in there that are labeled 6500K!
Click to expand...
It was an idea pulled from a YouTube video.
As far as bulbs : I use MIXED bulbs (5000k or 6400k / 2700k )
I prefer the 5000k because of the lumen output is higher than my FEINT ELECTRIC 6400k. I continue to run a couple ( 3rd run for those ) until they begin to lose intensity.
They are good bulbs overall but preferred the ECOBULB DAYLIGHT that I am using now.

FEINT ELECTRIC were very reasonable in cost ( $8 for four ) . And strangely available at Big Lots. It's trial and error with brands and results. But you don't have to spend much money to get decent bulbs. The OPTOLIGHT 2700k are 150w equiv per bulb !

Maybe on next grow I will run JUST THOSE from seed to harvest.

My girls are pretty happy with these ......

image.jpg
image.jpg
 
dubydude

dubydude

Member
Has anyone ever tried growing to music? I think it would be a really cool experiment. One plant listening to classical and one plant listing to heavy metal.
Day 12
day 12.jpg
 
dubydude

dubydude

Member
Day 15, today I soaked the pot until I had run off out of the bottom. Her first real drink. 50% RO and 50% well water. It took a gallon for it to star running out. The room is starting to get that skunk smell. Four lights on it with my fan blowing. I ordered my nuits today from amazon. 2 day shipping. going to feed it sometime next week.
 
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