Rookie CFL grow, First timer w\ pics

[culinaryninja]

this is a continuation of a different journal I started about a month ago, but encountered some delays with the arrival of my seeds. Finally got it up n running with some bagseed I got from a friend. I had around thirty seeds and had limited pots, Not convinced that many would take i put two or three seeds in each pot. much to my surprise they all took. i killed off three seedlings that were distinctively weaker so its pair would thrive. Ive had tons of pics but no time to post so here we go!

My rig is a contraption inspired from seemorebuds book, salvaged from parts from a thrift store and a renovation job I've been doing. currently I have one tube shaped 6500k, 90w I believe, 6 43w 6500k, 1 120w 4000k and half a dozen 23w 2700k. I plan on adding 3 more tube 6500's once I transplant tomorrow, Im using no name brand potting soil with pete moss and a bit of perilite, miracle grow 20-20-20. Havent used my ph testers at all yet, but im letting my water sit out for a day or two before use, no issues yet, ambient temp fluctuates between 28 and 32 with a humidity level of 42%. Heres some pics let me know what yall think.

I do have a couple questions, about what to do with the pots with multiple plants, i tried separating a pair and they basically stopped growing, one started again but I terminated the other. can I grow two in one? I was thinking about sexing them to weed out males, then go back to flower, Im not sure if it's a good Idea though.View attachment 1541338View attachment 1541339View attachment 1541340View attachment 1541341View attachment 1541342

 

[thexception]

no, u r not going to want to grow 2 plants in one pot under any circumstances. u can let them be until they get to the 2nd week of growth, by then they should be stable enough to seperate. Of course it will stunt them a little possibly, but they should be fine.

 

[kush714]

I would transplant them, dont leave 2 plants in pot. Its like 2 kids fighting over food, not good. I dont recommend you using miracle grow, that stuff is crap for what you are trying to do. I recommend Fox Farm Ocean Forest or Happy Frog, both really good. Dont try to do to much on this grow, do what you can and get advice on here and you will be good.

 

[culinaryninja]

Well I finally figured out a way to properly upload files, stupid safari. Anyhoo, these are pics of the seedlings, at a week or so and then again last tuesday, I will load fresh ones tomorrow. My aggravation has been endless with this camera.

Ive recently encountered some issues today, i was away this weekend and my friend checked them this morning and two were shrivled drooped, just awful. I;m pretty confident they wont make it as well as one ive transplanted from a duo in a pot.
Kind of orangy sillhouette inside the leaves. a little droopy. I'm not sure if it's light damage because early on one of them grew into the light and it had a little sear and it's my biggest one.
I have been lazy with PH testing, haven't done it this week, but will again when I transplant tomorrow.

Which leads me to my next question I'm weary to risk transplanting now, I'm at about a month but could I irreversably damage both? Since I don't want them too big could I not leave them in a larger container and let them just cool out?

 

[thexception]

great pics, overall healthy, but I am AMAZED at how the hell those thick topped plants are still standing on those little thin stems, lol. If u have not been blowing fans on ur stems, u need to start asap to help strengthen them before they all topple over from the top weight. But then again, maybe that is why those thin stems r holding it...because u have been strengthening with fans all along Really though, if u haven't carefully & slowly start blowing air on them.

No, these are WAY to big to be sharing containers, seperate the ones u have sharing, share time is over! They also look very dry.

 

[culinaryninja]

Well, I got a couple tiny fans in there now=) I wasn't using them at first because it was affecting my temp, but with the installation of a few extra bulbs the problem was rectified.
These are pics from two days ago, Basically Ive been losing a plant a day so Im wondering why and how. Ive got pics of my dead kids. I have a few theories, I think a pair grew into the lights, over watering or possibly too big for their pots. I am transplanting tonight, so well see what happens. Also, is it safe to separate them, when i dig them out what if there roots are intertwined, Im just concerned for their health.
Also when is idea for cloning?

 

[theoldmerchant]

I'd say you need to get those plants out of those tiny little pots asap.

 

[culinaryninja]

thanks for the advice, I bought some happy frog the other day. Your right, this grow, is just an exploration mission, work out some kinks piece together some better equipment, etc. I'm almost certain at this point I will be putting these ones outside in a few weeks and will be growing clones from these plants and growing a few designer seeds I bought a little while ago that I've been sitting on. My friend has a swath of White Russian clones available as well but I want to figure out what I'm doing first lol.

 

[Hupomone]

Plants should never share a container unless the container itself can be separated into 2 chambers somehow. The last thing you want is to think you know exactly when you should transplant to avoid root tangle, but come to find out your ladies roots have been getting freaky all this time underneath the soil and you have a mess on your hands. If you dig them out and they are together then all you can do is be as careful as possible in separating and cross your fingers they don't die as a result of the shock. Transplants shock the plants already without having a tangled root ball.

I would recommend against forcing your plants into sexing just to remove males. If you are properly tending to your garden you will be able to find the males and weed them out before they pollinate your females as time goes on. There is a TON of pictures online, and this forum, to help you learn what to watch for during sexing.

Other than that they look good so far. I don't really know why your plants are dying. I've heard bad things about Miracle Gro with young plants so it could be your soil, but I would wait for a more experienced member to come along that knows more about that particular brand.

EDIT: I just noticed you said you bought some Happy Frog (soil) the other day. Nice! I read somewhere on here that people were mixing Happy Frog half-and-half with the Ocean Forest soil and had good results if you are interested in knowing. Happy Frog by itself should be a lot better than MG.

 

[lee harvey]

yeah man..my buddy has 3 plants.. 2 in foxfarms and 1 in MG organic... that MG plant is pretty much dead and the ones in the foxfarm soil are looking great..could be the soil.., could be the heat problem you mentioned.. how high do the temps get??? good luck dude

 

[culinaryninja]

yeah man..my buddy has 3 plants.. 2 in foxfarms and 1 in MG organic... that MG plant is pretty much dead and the ones in the foxfarm soil are looking great..could be the soil.., could be the heat problem you mentioned.. how high do the temps get??? good luck dude

Temps were averaging 31-34c, Since transplanting, its dropped for some reason by almost ten degrees, I think someone's been leaving the window open as well. . . also my cyclee was interrupted three times in the last two weeks, problem has since been solved.
I took a pair apart the day day before transplant to see what would happen, the results were not favorable. . yesterday I left two of the pairs together, Im going to grow them and hope for the best. I separated another pair as well, by shaking as much dirt off then cutting up the middle. Not idea I know, but their roots were so entwined. One seems like it's gonna make it, but the other I dunno. It's gonna be touch and go. Got a few winners though, they exploded since transplant. I'm super stoked.
It takes forever to upload pics but they will follow shortly

 

[culinaryninja]

So here are some pics I took yesterday, I went out to watch the hockey game and I was too tired to wait for pics to upload yesterday, but here they are.

the first one and the second last pic that are droopish are the conjoined twins that I separated, one is not looking very happy but the other looks like she might pull through. I'm going to check them here in an hour to see if they are ok.

I opted not to separate the others my logic is I don't want them to grow that big so maybe it will work out.... If one is a male then my problem will be solved easily with a sharp pair of scissors.

the little dot is a picture of the little buddy that came flying out yesterday when I opened er up. Like I posted before it resembles a lady bug with zig zaggy stripes, I'm going to peruse the web and see what I can find but does anyone have any ideas?

 

[lilmiggy2009]

Looks to me the ones that died were because of nutrient burn considering how they turned yellow/brownish. As people said earlier in your thread Miracle Grow is horrid from what I have seen and not good for seedlings. Also you pots do look really small, I'm on my first grow as well which is in my signature and I transplanted mine when they were tiny into 1gallon pots and my plants are only suppose to grow up to 19inches at most. They're currently 17 inches. The ones that survived on th eother hand don't look too bad at all keep those maintained and those other ones will just be a thing of the past.

 

[culinaryninja]

So, Transplant seemed to have been successful for the most part, total fatalities come to four
However on a more positive note the rest seem to be thriving.
I had some issues with my timer and the lights were off way longer then they were supposed to for a day or two. I don't know if it had any kind of effect. The ninth photo is one I've dubbed ginger, it's the one random looking plant in the bunch.

They all look pretty different with the exception of two, but they look pretty good to me,addition of two fans keep the temp around 33, a little warm? Im putting in a slightly bigger one tomorrow, with an additional 4 6500;s. Got some stuff called The Hammer, I'm going to start adding it tomorrow, construction of my veg box is almost done. Next step is to take some clones, wondering when is ideal.