First Grow Attempt

[jc405161]

Okay, as I am a new member here I thought I would contribute my very first grow attempt. Since I'm just starting out, I thought I would spend as little as possible (<$60 so far), while I was still making mistakes, so that when I put down some serious cash for lights and such, I wouldn’t be as much wasting time, money, etc...

I began germinating 9 seeds from some bag weed the day after Christmas. I went out of town for three days, which I believed to be a perfect time to germinate using the damp paper towel method. This was a mistake as my thermostat was turned way down during the three days I was away. Upon return, only a couple seeds began to spit apart. I rewrapped the seeds in a new paper towel and made sure they were warm for the next few days. All but 2 germinated over the next couple days.

 

[jc405161]

(Yes, I am aware that my phone’s camera sucks.)
By day 5 (starting my calendar with the New Year), 6 of the seedlings grew to between ¾ and 1inch and expelled their seed casings and two even began growing their first pair of actual leaves. During their seedling stage, I kept them in a damp paper towel which I wrapped around the root system. I’ve never seen anyone else try this, but it seemed to work alright for most of the plants.

 

[jc405161]

As the plants began to show their first true leaves (~day 7), I replanted them into soil using cardboard containers (an OJ container for the 2 larger ones and TP rolls for the others). I did this to keep my costs down and to save space. The soil used was Miracle-Grow Potting Soil, although not the best for this, I did not want to mess with adding my own nutrients this time around. Also, it is widely available, and since buying soil in January (it is cold here) is a little sketchy as it is, I wanted something I know I could find anywhere in case I needed more. There was one problem with one of the seedlings which I ended up discarding around this time. As I transplanted the plants into soil, I noticed one of them had developed a short, but fatter root. Also, since it was taking so much longer than the others for the seed casing to fall off, I VERY carefully removed it. After doing so, I noticed that the two round leaves were both half brown on the outsides. I discarded this plant as (although its roots had grown, no noticeable growth was detected after over a week.

 

[jc405161]

Good growth continued, the second pair of new leaves began to show and height was about 3.5 inches for most. At this point I had troubles keeping all of them growing upright. Maybe they were stretching toward the light??? In any case, I supported the stems on a couple as needed to support vertical growth. These are the two biggest.

 

[jc405161]

Another casualty as one plant wilted and I decided to discard. Only 5 remain. Around this time I switched to a 42W CFL from a 12-23-29W Adjustable CFL. Since I have yet to describe the growing environment, I think I’ll do that now. 12”d x 16”l x10”h boxes were used, lined on the inside with black plastic trash bags and aluminum foil. At this point, two boxes stacked on top of each other allowed for enough space between the plants and light. A single 3” computer case fan brings fresh air in at the bottom, as warm air escapes from the aluminum foil wrapped lid, which I found if left cracked allows for little light to escape and just enough heat to keep the temperature in the 75-78 range while in a room temperature of 66-72. Humidity was kept around 50-60% for the first couple weeks then reduced to 38-45%

 

[jc405161]

By this time the remaining smaller plants were placed in the larger 3in^3 containers. Two problems were discovered. The first was the recurring slanted growth on this plant which I attempted to correct with that piece of clear rubber at the base:

I think this was an over watering/humidity problem as I was anxious about leaving these in the open while I was away during the day (their nigh-time). Obtaining a quieter less powerful fan and leaving the top cracked during their night-time eventually fixed this problem. Humidity was in the 70’s during the couple hours I was away causing small water droplets on some of the leaves and I believe the droopage.

 

[jc405161]

The two larger ones were replanted into 6” cube containers as their roots began to wrap around the 3” cubes. At this time the two larger ones were about 5.5” tall as seen behind the other 3. You can see at this time “Droopy” has begun to improve, but still has a little to go yet. Meanwhile, I believe that either the 3 smaller ones either have inferior genes or were outgrown and shadowed by the tow larger ones. Also, they seemed to be cramped together a little so I tried to space them out a bit. As you can see, the middle lower plant has thinner leaves as the others are broad. Also the “undergrowth” on the top row is far superior to that on the lower.

 

[jc405161]

“#2”: Originally the smaller, of the two biggest plants (2nd picture at beginning of thread, on left)

“Droopy”

And all of them:

I have finally set into a watering routine which I have found to work well using a water bottle I have, watering with reverse osmosis water every 3 days. The CFL doesn’t get too warm so I don’t think much water is being evaporated. I was watering with less water every other day when the droopage occurred so since I’ve gone to every 3 days, It, as you can see, has worked better.

And now I would like to ask anyone with experience to share some of their wisdom with me. Something I would like to know is when would I be able to flower these while keeping them under 18” maximum. Currently, the two largest ones are right about 7.5 inches. I’ve heard they can grow 2/3 times depending on conditions and since they are over 1/3 of 18” Im thinking I’ll start the 12hour cycle soon for the “Droopy” and “#2”, and wait until the other three grow some more undergrowth and atleast 2 more inches (as right now they are at about 5.5”). Next time around I’ll probably upgrade my system substantially, probably with a 400W HID (undecided between HPS and MH), auto-timer, better grow container, CO2, different soil, nutrients, etc.... not to mention using quality seeds. Has anyone here ever grown Jack Herre??? I used to know a guy that supplied me with this strain, which I just loved. Either Jack Herre or some Northern Lights/White Widow. Any suggestions for a noob who wants an easy, fast, short, not so smelly plant??? Also, I really have to be careful with the smell during flowering, as I am living in an apartment. I was thinking about getting an ion air freshener, carbon activated filter and/or some other method. Also, I was thinking of buying some LEDs to supplement the CFLs during flowering. I am thinking of creating a flexable LED array which I can position around the buds below some of the larger leaves so that the undergrowth gets sufficient light.

Anyone with questions/comments please feel free to post. Thanks.

 

[sourdieselismyonlyfriend]

nice grow man. lookin real nice. they are growing pretty quick and strong. how many cfls are you using ? and as far as not knowing whch 400 watt HID to get. its as simple as this, mh for veg, hps for flower. i reccomend getting the hps system then a mh conversion bulb..

 

[cappeeler09]

yer ther comin on well mate
wot strain is it
cant wait to see more
check out my cheese journal and tell me wot u think...just added some good pictures of my buds on the last page
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/277194-cheese-journal-2nd-grow.html

 

[jc405161]

yer ther comin on well mate
wot strain is it
cant wait to see more
check out my cheese journal and tell me wot u think...just added some good pictures of my buds on the last page
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/277194-cheese-journal-2nd-grow.html

Unknown strain, bag weed seeds. The stuff smoked good enough, so I have moderate hopes for the buds. I'll go and spend some money on quality seeds when i'm more experienced. If this round goes good enough through harvest, I'll probably do the online order thing for my next crop. Right now I'm undecided between Jack Herre, White Widow, and Northern Lights. How much longer do you think I should let these veg??? I would like to keep them at or under 18" at harvest time.
BTW, I love the color of those buds, cappeeler.

 

[cappeeler09]

yer i would let them go for about another 10 days
i vegged mine for 26 days from clone and they unded up like 2 feet was the highest and the rest wer neaerly 2 feet and ther 4 feet now some r a bit over 4
so i would get them half the size u want them at harvest,and put them into 12/12
if i was u i would pick the widow out of the 3 u said
have u ever had cheese,its well worth a grow m8
peace and thanks for lookin bro

 

[jc405161]

nice grow man. lookin real nice. they are growing pretty quick and strong. how many cfls are you using ? and as far as not knowing whch 400 watt HID to get. its as simple as this, mh for veg, hps for flower. i reccomend getting the hps system then a mh conversion bulb..

I started with a single 3way 12-23-29W CFL for the first couple weeks but switched to a Single 42W CFL. Thanks for the advice on the HID's. I think I'll get the HPS for flowering and keep the CFL for veg... I really want to try out LEDs to supplement both stages though. Also during the first couple of weeks I think LEDs would work just as well alone since there isnt as much leaf area to soak up the lights.

 

[jc405161]

yer i would let them go for about another 10 days
i vegged mine for 26 days from clone and they unded up like 2 feet was the highest and the rest wer neaerly 2 feet and ther 4 feet now some r a bit over 4
so i would get them half the size u want them at harvest,and put them into 12/12
if i was u i would pick the widow out of the 3 u said
have u ever had cheese,its well worth a grow m8
peace and thanks for lookin bro

Nope, never had or even heard of cheese for that matter. Somewhere in your thread someone said something about the smell of it being very strong. With my current situation, thats too much risk.
About the when to flower, since I dont know what to expect from these unknown strains, I think I'll play it on the safe side, not letting them get above 8" before going to flower. All I really want is bud from the main cola anyway. Also my setup is sorta modular, adjustable to the size of the plants, so I can start to flower individual plants as I see fit. I'll probably get those big ones done before the others.

 

[kashro]

I am using a 400mh in my 3x3x7 veg room..I am going to flower using 1000watt super hortilux eye HPS in a 6x6x7.8 flower room..I am using roots organic and coco soil mix..ionic nutes and greenfuse for an xtra boost..what do you guys think?

 

[sourdieselismyonlyfriend]

oh lol you dont have a timer for your lights? ahhh dude you cant grow without a timer. its like being slave to an outlet for 3 months. go buy one now. they are like 10-30 bucks at home depot they use them for all kinds of shit.. u just need a timer with an outlet on it.. lol do you sit around all day and wait for the time to come and turn them off and get up early to turn them on? lmao you cant do that during 12 on 12 off. it will be hell. im not trying to bash on you im just saying from expirience ive done that before n its no fun..

 

[sourdieselismyonlyfriend]

I am using a 400mh in my 3x3x7 veg room..I am going to flower using 1000watt super hortilux eye HPS in a 6x6x7.8 flower room..I am using roots organic and coco soil mix..ionic nutes and greenfuse for an xtra boost..what do you guys think?

i think its kinda a punk move to syteal his thunder by posting your journal in HIS journal. kinda lame. if you aint talkin about the topic at hand wh bother?

 

[jc405161]

oh lol you dont have a timer for your lights? ahhh dude you cant grow without a timer. its like being slave to an outlet for 3 months. go buy one now. they are like 10-30 bucks at home depot they use them for all kinds of shit.. u just need a timer with an outlet on it.. lol do you sit around all day and wait for the time to come and turn them off and get up early to turn them on? lmao you cant do that during 12 on 12 off. it will be hell. im not trying to bash on you im just saying from expirience ive done that before n its no fun..

lol, I know, its weak huh. No, but seriously, my schedule is perfect for it. I'm a college student, classes from 8am-3pm most days. So I during the vegitative cycle I can come home after classes and turn them on, then turn them off before I leave in the morning. After 7 hours of classes and being on campus, all I want to do is go home and relax.

 

[jc405161]

I am using a 400mh in my 3x3x7 veg room..I am going to flower using 1000watt super hortilux eye HPS in a 6x6x7.8 flower room..I am using roots organic and coco soil mix..ionic nutes and greenfuse for an xtra boost..what do you guys think?

I think you should get your own grow journal.

 

[cappeeler09]

yer i get u
the cheese arnt jusy a main cola thing because they r very bushy and branchy and they do sometimes stink the place out
but its well worth the risk and wait
u need to try cheese its 1 of the best strains out ther i can garantee that 1