White Widow Grow Journal - My First Grow

[DaveCoulier]

Im still here!

Are those 7 days since sprouting or 7 days since putting in the ground?

You'll be okay with temps around 85. My temps inside my tent are usually in the 79-85 range with lights on and the plants are doing just fine.

Im surprised you dont notice any temp difference with the fan on. Is it blowing across the canopy? My temps drop a good 3-4 degrees with the fan on at the canopy.

Id try to get that humidity up, but I dont believe in the bucket/bowl of water trick. Ive tried it, and it made no difference. Ive tried the semi-wet towel and it still made no difference. My humidity hovers between 40-50 and plants are doing fine. You can buy a $25 humidifier at Walmart. Place it in your grow room and hopefully it'll do the trick.

Im not a real fan of what you have your seeds in right now. Seems like it'll be more difficult to get the plants out, and harder to tell when they need water. Id stick with it until they can be transplanted and avoid it in the future. Can't really tell you how much water they need in a "pot" that size. Im using dixie cups right now, and they get around 4 ounces of water every few days. From the looks of the pics, I would say give them more water. How often are they drying out?

I would personally avoid Home Depot for your soil needs. They really dont take good care of their stuff. Find a Seed & Supply store in your town. You're bound to have one. Maybe you have a hydro shop in town you can get soil from. If you want a easy soil that doesn't require any amendments you can pick up some Fox Farms Happy Frog. You'll most likely have to get that at a Hydro shop, but Ive heard of Ace Hardware stocking FF soil before.

If you have no way to get FF locally, you can buy some organic potting soil and amend it with some worm castings/blood meal/bone meal/compost/perlite. Theres all kinds of ways to make your own soil mix. Im currently using Promix-BX/Perlite/Spent Mushroom Compost. Ive definitely noticed an improvement since adding the SMC to my soil mixture. When Im out of ProMix, ill probably go FFHF.

As far as ferts. I dont know. Im currently using Fox Farms liquid trio, but only for a few weeks now, so I can't comment on how good they are.

Go here to get a free sample from Bio-Bizz. Its not gonna last you your whole grow, but at least you'll save a little money and try something new. The request free sample button is in the top right.

http://thebiobuzz.com/

Bluemountain organics offers a very affordable line of nutrients on ebay. Check out the organics forum to research them. Theres a thread about them.

 

[whiterain]

Im still here!

Are those 7 days since sprouting or 7 days since putting in the ground?

No since I received the seeds and began germination. So do they seem to be on track?

 

[DaveCoulier]

Well I dont know how long it took for them to break the surface, so I can't quite say.. You can check my photo album to check out my second WW grow. Im updating pictures every four or five days. You should be able to get a good comparison for your plants.

 

[whiterain]

I'm going to be posting some more pics up here tonight, but I must say that there are two of my plants that don't seem to be growing whatsoever. There is barely any root growth whatsoever...how can I save them?

 

[DaveCoulier]

Maybe its under-watering. Those pics look pretty dry. When the top of my soil gets like that, I usually give my plant another 12-24 hours before watering depending on how the soil looks from the bottom of my dixie cup.

 

[whiterain]

Hey everyone sorry I haven't posted anything up in a bit, but I have been really busy with the holidays coming around the corner and everything. Anyways I have made some big improvements in my grow area, but unfortunately I wont be able to post up pics until tomorrow. Anyways here are the changes that have been made:

1. The Fox Farm Happy Frog soil was purchased and is being used as the soil medium for my plants. Overall, I am very happy with the soil as I have seen the plants receiving the dirt very well. Also, this stuff isn't even that expensive as it was $24 or something for a huge bags worth.

2. 2-Gallon plastic pots were purchased and all the plants were transferred into them. The two weaker plants were place into one pot , therefore sharing it. Maybe in a week I will remove one of them and put it into its own pot. I did this so the root growth can continue to progress and produce bigger plants and therefore producing more buds.

3. Black and white mylar sheeting was purchased as well and the entire lining of the corner of the grow closet has been lined entirely. I hope that once these plants get a little bigger that the reflection from the light will make a difference in growth.

 

[DaveCoulier]

You need to separate those plants in the pot together. If you let them go a week together their roots will be tangled up pretty good. You'd be amazed out how fast the roots grow.

 

[BigSkyBudTHC]

plants should always have their own pots. putting two together will cause all kinds of problems for you so asap get them there own pots. its also best in future grows to only transplant once as transplanting can have negative effects on your plants. i also believe when your plants are small like that you should never let them dry out. hope that helps a little. good luck to you.

 

[BigSkyBudTHC]

for example i germinated my seeds in moist paper towels then planted in party cups. after two weeks in party cups i gently cut the sides with a razor blade and transplant into their final home, 4 gallon pots. i wonder how hard its going to be transplanting from a one gallon pot? good luck.

 

[BigSkyBudTHC]

You need to separate those plants in the pot together. If you let them go a week together their roots will be tangled up pretty good. You'd be amazed out how fast the roots grow.

two weeks time the roots from a baby sprout are lined down the sides (roots grow outward) of my party cup and the bottom
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[whiterain]

Alright so I went over to the grow spot tonight and watered them again and took the pictures I promised. Here they are:

Here is the new setup. I would like to note that there is a back left pot, but you just can't see it in this picture as there are books raising the front left pot.

Here is plant #1 the one in the front left.

Here are the other 2 plants that are currently sharing a pot:

Here is the back left plant:

Here is the back right plant:

Overall there has been a lot of progress made and I look forward to the coming weeks. Thanks for the tips on not sharing a pot between multiple plants. I'll be sure to separate them in 2 days when I go back to water.

Any comments or further tips would be much appreciated...criticism is welcomed!

 

[whiterain]

I have some questions...

1. When and where do you cut the plant to top it?
2. When can I decide on my mother plants and begin taking clones off her?

 

[DaveCoulier]

Read Uncle Bens thread on topping in the Advanced Marijuana Cultivation forum. I dont do mothers, but I imagine you can start cloning when she looks strong and healthy and wont mind losing a bit of foliage. Probably a month or so if all goes well.

 

[whiterain]

Checked on my plants the other day and watered them more. I noticed that they were not using as much water as they were before so I will probably be limiting water to every 2-3 days...is this typical? Also, due to time I wasn't able to take pictures, but the growth on these girls were unbelievable and I can't wait to see them tomorrow or the following day.

Also, I have a question as far as growth goes. How tall should the plant generally get before you start flowering?

 

[DaveCoulier]

In a container that size, I wouldn't water every 2-3 days. I think you'll be fine with 4-5 days. I would wait till the plant is 12 inches before flowering. You can go taller if you have plenty of space to work with. More veg=more yield.

 

[whiterain]

Ok great that makes things a lot easier. In the beginning I was watering every day and noticed they needed it, but now they don't. Growth is great at the moment and I will post pics in a few days when I visit back. Thanks for the input.

Also, how long do you usually veg for? 4-5 weeks?

In a container that size, I wouldn't water every 2-3 days. I think you'll be fine with 4-5 days. I would wait till the plant is 12 inches before flowering. You can go taller if you have plenty of space to work with. More veg=more yield.

 

[DaveCoulier]

Id say most veg for 4-5 weeks from seed. Me, Im going longer because I fucked up some things for my first batch of seeds . I think Im 7-10 days away from putting my biggest plant in flowering, but Ill probably just wait 2 weeks to get the other ones catch up some.

 

[whiterain]

Hey so I finally have some new pictures to show you guys of some white widow girls growing away...take a look!

#1 Plant

#2 Plant

#3 Plant

#3 Plant again from sky view

#4 Plant

#4 Plant from sky view

Unfortunately, one of the girls is no longer with us, but I learned a lot from her. Anyways, the big girls are about 3" tall, but are growing substantial bulky growth in the middle. They are white widow, but don't they look like they are almost indica plants?

Anyways, I looked at the big girls and I can see that they have developed 4 nodes and was thinking about cloning some new ones soon.

Also, I have one last question and that is should I make this whole grow cfl or should I invest in a 400 or 600w HPS system? The only concern I have is energy consumption. I live in an apartment complex and don't want to raise flags as they take care of the electricity bill.

 

[DaveCoulier]

The plants are looking pretty good. Those were all started the same day right? If so, I surprised two of them are growing so much slower than the two big ones. How old are they to date now?

You're really not ready for cloning yet. Give em at least a month of veg first.

I wouldn't worry about a 400w HPS/MH system causing any red flags. It'll add between 20-30 bucks a month if you're on a 20/4 cycle. You can do 18/6 if you're really worried about cost.

You'll need to get a oscillating fan to help dissipate the heat though.

You're #4 plant definitely has the indica pheno. One out of my ten Nirvana WW look just like that one. I guess its not a very common pheno.

 

[HookedOnChronic]

AWESOME WORK DUDE those look like some plump widow plants
if you want to take clones you should in a week or 2 off those bigger 2 plants for sure

as for HPS, they arent cheap and u said u had heat issues earlier u fix em??
id stay with cfls unless u get winter where u live then HPS doesnt have heat issues
ive seen a few wicked cfl grows on here, just cant do as many plants with them