First grow! CFL, organic, multi strain & sexing. Need help with test lady!

[Genja]

My friend built himself a sweet little stealth box with double fans and 70W of CFL (1red 1blue). Then he got himself a GF and aint into it anymore (lucky me). Now ive moved to a house and got myself a little room 1.5x2.5m (im using 3 square foot or something) and im using his box open with another 120W CFL hangin from the roof in front of it. Yesterday i i bought 2 x 36W stripe lights, a bit weak but a nice and big area with decent light!

I started of with 2 seeds barely read into the basic rules of growing ladies but as you know, you never listen to the smart guys at the first time. Trail and error later i barely have any fan leaves (Actually, 3 atm) left on either. Overwatering, to much N etc. The taller is about 7 inches and the shorter 4-5 (not much hope here)...

Thing is she just went into flowering (or is she still preflowering and needs mostly cool light?) and is looking really healthy with good growth since i went all organic and made my own soil-mix (not entirely soil-less, about 15% organic 1 year old compost soil, 15% spaghnatum moss(?) 20% organic composted mould, 20% leca balls 20% orchid bark-thingy). Question is, best case scenario? Is she or even they, worth time and effort or should i just put my 1-inch girl in the sweetspot and have my lessons learned? The way her new blooms and branches comes from her stem tells me there is hope, atleast for the taller one. The shorter still doesnt seem to have a good rooting system and also still got some nutrient burnt tips on her few small few fan leaves. Another question, these ladies are auto, will the small one also be in bloom now or will she due to her bad health prolong her veg? If there is hope, how should i do with nutrients? I intend to stick to bio bact only when it comes to bottles since i like to keep it simple and organic. Im other then using a soil with lots of natural nutrients adding oyster shell, egg shell and wood ashes that i grind and mix with water. Will i be fine with low dosage of bio bact and a splash of that soup? Sorry for the wall of text but this is my first thread about (and the first time i write about it at all) cannabis cultivation. My first order of seeds is on their way and it just feels awesome growing the plant i love the most. =)

 

[NaturalWorksOrganics]

Get the tinfoil off of those lights god damn it!

 

[Genja]

These pics are from yesterday, few changes made and there still increasing in health and grows like 0.5inches/day! 10 seeds in wet paper (should these be in complete dark (box) or in the shade?), 5 hindu kush auto reg, 4 bubblegum x OGkush reg & 1 Critical fem! I also added a 120-fan actually hanging in strings from the roof and blowing along the tubes, cooling along the wall and taking air from the room next door since its not fully closed. Will this be enough ventilation (the room next door could have the second door or maybe even window open)? My new setup of CFLs is based on hanging them from the roof between the tube lights and pretty far down (between the plants) to light up deep down the little ladys. The idea is to use my 150cm by having most of the cool light to the left and only warm to the right, will this work or will even flowering plants need decent cool light besides the warm? If i feel photoperiodic strains is to complicated (only one grow space atm) i intend to make this an rolling band of autos with smallest to the left and with like 2 new females/month. Must be the easiest way to produce continuously as a newbie? Then the most exciting part! I grew up on the countryside, studied some biology and always loved growing. Ofc the most exciting part (like tying your own flies for flyfishing) is sexing and germinating a new living plant from a dry seed, then add being able to breed that seed.

 

[Genja]

Ps. Natural, wont that just let like 40% of the light to go out to nowhere instead of atleast have some of it reflected back to the plants instead? Anyway, thanks and done.

 

[Genja]

Excuse the spam but im just so excited, the seed started sprouting today so i hope the rest will come soon.

 

[NaturalWorksOrganics]

They work better on their sides rather than pointing straight down. Tinfoil will get really hot. Dont be scared to have the cfls within an inch of the foliage.

 

[Spicy8305]

you can use soda cans as reflectors, then you wouldn't have to worry about hot spots and it will be easier to focus the light directly on the plants. I'd say hang on to those plants, they dont look too bad and I think they will recover nicely with a bit more nitrogen or maybe just a small tomato stake (i use Jobe's organic tomato and veg) . I have pulled +1 oz off a snocap plant that started out all messed up like that. When mature it was about 24" and really only had the main cola but it turned out to be really good smoke. I also think you should hang on to it just to learn while your other plants are germinating and sprouting.

 

[qroox]

It would also be nice to clean the surface that they are from dirt,moist and whatever is laid on there.Having it clean will get you out of many many trouble ( requoting what i've read ) Happy start..!! ( like me )

 

[Genja]

Thanks alot for the answers. <3


Only the Fem Critical got her little baby root out in the paper so far but i did notice what i think was a shell crackin open on one of the other. Soon!


I changed the little temporary princess throne, getting all 3 CFLs mostly from the side and about an inch from the nearest leaf tip (maybe they wont get burned now without the tinfoil?
That was my idea from the start Spicy, these poor bastards are test subjects of the worst kind. They do however (even though im still overwatering lol) seem to love my new organic approach so now i mixed and bio bacted a few liters of soil and 9 little mini-pots for the seeds to go down in when it have cooked for a day or 2!


11:30 PM i also cleaned and vacuumed my growing room...


Is she in bloom? There are pistilles with 2 hairs on the stem so since its my first plant i have no clue, pre flowering?

 

[Genja]

I decided to end my experiment on going on low CFL, found photo bulbs (5500k/2700k) and ordered 4 bulbs totaling in another 480W. Feels like them along with the e27 splitters i ordered will settle the lightning issue! (total under 50$!).

 

[Genja]

Finally most of the seeds germinated (some had trouble popping the shell, some didnt react and some went full on seedling (bigger seed, better result)). One color for each strain, hopefully the little auto lowryder will be into mating when the hindu kush autos comes of age.
Hopefully i also get the chance to cross both critical and caramel kush with bubkush!




Now i need some more help with my lady though. Will she be fine in bloom with bio bact and my homemade-nutes (grounded ashes, eggshell & oyster shell) or will she produce less compact buds compared to if i gave her some bloom booster?


Her top is going wild! =)

Ps. Am i safe to upload pics from my iphone (location services for cam: off) or can them basterds track me from these files? ^^

 

[Spicy8305]

Finally most of the seeds germinated (some had trouble popping the shell, some didnt react and some went full on seedling (bigger seed, better result)). One color for each strain, hopefully the little auto lowryder will be into mating when the hindu kush autos comes of age.
Hopefully i also get the chance to cross both critical and caramel kush with bubkush!


View attachment 2877919

Now i need some more help with my lady though. Will she be fine in bloom with bio bact and my homemade-nutes (grounded ashes, eggshell & oyster shell) or will she produce less compact buds compared to if i gave her some bloom booster?

View attachment 2877937
Her top is going wild! =)

Ps. Am i safe to upload pics from my iphone (location services for cam: off) or can them basterds track me from these files? ^^

If you have anymore of those same seeds you can try to lightly score them with a razor prior to germination... some seeds simply have "tough skin" and take longer to germ but in my experience cutting them seems to help a bit. As far as the tracking goes,You may leave some sort of a footprint from your iphone, I dont think you have much to worry about... the feds aren't going to waste their money on your personal grow. they are looking for much much bigger operations. I load mine up from my droid via bluetooth all the time. but Then again I live in Cali and dont have a lot to worry about with my "legal medical grow". Around here they seem to mainly bust the 100+ plant operations.

 

[Genja]

If you have anymore of those same seeds you can try to lightly score them with a razor prior to germination... some seeds simply have "tough skin" and take longer to germ but in my experience cutting them seems to help a bit. As far as the tracking goes,You may leave some sort of a footprint from your iphone, I dont think you have much to worry about... the feds aren't going to waste their money on your personal grow. they are looking for much much bigger operations. I load mine up from my droid via bluetooth all the time. but Then again I live in Cali and dont have a lot to worry about with my "legal medical grow". Around here they seem to mainly bust the 100+ plant operations.

Good idea, i did something more of a caveman doctor thing where i either used fingers or teeth to crack the shell open. Your tactic seemed more safe even if i felt good carrying my babies in my mouth briefly.

Yeah, thats the diff. In sweden you hear about people getting stopped by civil dressed cops on the way home from the hydroshop, when they find growing materials (nothing illegal ofc) they issue a warrant and bust your grow. Learn to prioritize...
Hopefully theyre to stupid and lazy too look outside the swedish sites, especially since my ip says Canada or something. =)

Now i gotta google organic bloom boosters, my girl is starting to look chubby!

Anyone wanna give me advices om the newly started generation? Im not sure how i actually wanna grow yet, new plans since i added almost 500w CFL lately...
I have 1x4x4 foot grow area and wanna go like 2 plants every or every 2 months, smallest to the left and bigger to the right. How would you recommend i do? Breed a bunch of auto seeds this first run and then just use em to bring forth females.

For a newbie, whats the easiest way to get a good production without autos? I wanna go on and mix genetics of normal regular seeds but im having a hard time solving the timer issue with only one grow room. Maybe i can take out the flowering plants and put em below a window (stealth, short days up here now) for the last period. But will this work if i wanna have a generation for each month...

 

[NaturalWorksOrganics]

Dude, how many grows do you have under your belt? Cuz most people dont concern themselves with breeding cannabis when they haven't even learned how the plant works or how to actually grow out a successful harvest. Just sayin...

 

[Genja]

The 2 plants in these pics are my life first so yeah, im a newbie. But i prefer the hard way of producing my own seeds (much more fun aswell!) rather then spamming feminized, mostly due to the economic difference but also since i think it would be so fun to cross breed.

As i wrote before, these 2 plants where abused, overwaterd, fimed, grew up in crappy soil & with 60W CFL at most of the vegg. Next generation will not resemble these...

But it doesnt seem THAT tricky? Autos with autos for auto seeds, fem works with reg seeds but gives reg seeds?
The idea is to remove males and then collect pollen with a moist brush to pollinate parts of some females.
I dont grow to make money but for fun and better weed!

 

[Genja]

Both my lowryder and my seedlings is going strong! Amazing to see how they grow when they're in healthy soil.

Now im mixing the soil for the real grow. I got some composted materials (bark & soil) to witch i add bark used for orchid growing, white moss to give some wetter areas (less often watering needed) and lecas in the bottom for the ventilation.
Thing is i just went outside and grabbed a fistful of horse shit, what is the best way to use it? Just mix it in the soil and let it cook for a week before planting?

Love the composted components btw, there are already little fungi on the bark when i mix the soil.

 

[Nizza]

"cooking" is what you do to kill anything dormant (seeds/bugs) /bad in your soil
"composting" is used to break down organic materials into nutrients your plant can use.
if you have composted manure, it's most likely cooked too. Just buy some composted stuff and topdress the soil with about 2" of it. Watering it in should be plenty of nutes for a month.

 

[Genja]

Yeah thanks alot mate! I think ill stay out of the poop biz, to much hazzle.

I use composted bark/peat, should be an awesome top coating with nute! Only mixed it in earlier.
Cooking i picked up at some guide, he ment that it should stand and compost together many days to build up microlife etc.

I'll stick to my bio bact + grinded (i love round rocks) eggshell, oyster shell & firewood ash. Will i lack phosphorus?

Thanks again all! I really appreciate all the help, im having excitement issues (slow little seedlings!) and really need all the help i can get. And excuse me for being spoiled with internet and asking all these questions, but really, peace and love all. <3

 

[SeedlessRyda]

I don't think you will get any pollen from your autos for breeding, in my experience they are feminized. Listen to natural works, just remember everything you did wrong this time and your next grow will be better.

 

[Genja]

I don't think you will get any pollen from your autos for breeding, in my experience they are feminized. Listen to natural works, just remember everything you did wrong this time and your next grow will be better.

Really? No i bought regular autos, "Hindu kush". Anyone can confirm that normal autos often aint fertile?

Yeah man, i learned alot from ruining those ladies. Finally i separated the 2 plants and shit, now i know why to never let them share. The larger one had 90% of the root space so she went into a slightly larger pot and is still growing really nice!

Anyone knows how autos timing of flowering is affected by health? Ive used 20/4 timing all the way (24 in the early stage), seems they bloom late (how long into flowering do you actually see the flowers?).