$0 Grow-MY FIRST GROW!!!

just out of curiosity how long did the seeds take to germinate?

hypernovax-the first took like 2 days and the other 2 took 3 days.
saynotodrugs-1) thanks should see them any minute now. i'm rolling on day 2 for the first seedling and day 1 for the newbies.
2) i want to get them to about 2-3 feet. short, bushy, with a nice amount of buds. nothing spectacular but i DO want to reap SOME benefits...
3) thanks for the answer.
4) 2-3 feet.
5) i'll shoot for like 10 weeks flowering, i heard keep flowering until like 70-80% of the crystals turn "red"? true?
6) i have a small fan in there, it helps but what else should i look for? what helps the most?
7) yeah, the top of the soil gets dry, but then if you look you can see the moisture/humidity in the undersoil. so i'll let it dry a lil more before watering to let the roots stretch.

thanks for all the help and info it really makes things alot more feasible! you have some reppage!

will update as soon as something new is added or as soon as one of 'em breaks through.

Have you decided not to use miracle grow yet?

crystals dont really turn red. they turn amber. early harvest- all trichs clear/milky. peak harvest half are clear/milky and half are amber. late harvest- well later than peak lol. the problem with your 2-3 foot short bushy plants is, what if your seeds are sativa, waht u ganna do then?

and you gatta make sure the bottom of the bush gets enough light, cant wait to see the babies i have some i want to pop too!

you got a fan in there, but it isnt doing anything but stirring/blowing around hot air...

gotta find a way to get that heat out of there because those bulbs get extra hot

do you have a fan that sucks air out of the top of the box and fresh air blowing in?

it is essential to replace the spent air in the grow room with fresh air every 5 minutes. at the least. i change mine every minute.

billybob88 said:

it is essential to replace the spent air in the grow room with fresh air every 5 minutes. at the least. i change mine every minute.

Click to expand...

yep - what billybob said (I do air exchange three times a minute)

saynotodrugs-still undecided but once my plants break the soil, i'll start a post (if they ever do)
billybob-i heard you can "train" tall plants to 90-180* angles to fit in smaller spaces (which i also read causes a hormone reaction or something that causes all nodes to bush out? any truth to this?) i am adjusting my setup a little, will get into that at the end of this post.
kayasgarden-yeah if the lower nodes aren't getting light, i'll trim some of the bigger top leafs blocking the light, any downfall to this? no fan sucking air out, but that will be addressed w/ my little adjustment that will be made soon.
loudblunts-yeah they do feel really hot, i'll be fixing this problem momentarily.
email468-yeah this problem will be adressed soon, like 10 minutes from now lol.

questions-
1)could i have caused any damage to the plants by having them in hot areas for the first 2-4 days in the tank?
2)could this cause them not to pop through the soil?
3)or slow growth?
4) is there any downfall to taking them out of the tank? i feel this is restricting airflow big time while it does not have any positive to keep using it. opinions?

will take pics of the little changes i made soon.

thanks for the help guys. i never thought such a cheap ass grow would get so much attention... lol.

SeaOfGreen said:

saynotodrugs
questions-
1)could i have caused any damage to the plants by having them in hot areas for the first 2-4 days in the tank?

Click to expand...

while damage is possible, before the seed breaks soil heat and limiting air movement are actually desirable (think humidity dome).

SeaOfGreen said:

2)could this cause them not to pop through the soil?

Click to expand...

I think high humidity and heat are essential for seedling growth.

SeaOfGreen said:

3)or slow growth?

Click to expand...

No.

SeaOfGreen said:

4) is there any downfall to taking them out of the tank? i feel this is restricting airflow big time while it does not have any positive to keep using it. opinions?

Click to expand...

Unless I am misunderstanding something, i see no purpose to the tank. and as you mention, there are some pitfalls in using it.

hey man just stumbled over your grow and read it from the beginning.. you seem like a very reasonable rookie grower! with that being said there is one thing in your grow that i think would really really go to hell in a hand basket quickly... and that is the miracle grow potting soil... yes the ph is very high.. the "plant food" is nothing more than processed chemicles that will burn your plants roots . i respect that you are trying to grow without spending any money. but none the less i would highly recomend that you go purchase a 15 dollar bag of foxfarm ocean forest soil... when you grow in soil, the potting soil mix you choose is the most important factor next to light. nothing will kill your plants more effectivly than crappy soil..also on top of that.. your tube light floro bulb looks like it will grow those little guys for the next couple of weeks.. when you get past that point i would say do not waste your money on cfls... spend 143 dollars for a 400watt hps from htgsupply.com .. this will save you money in the long run.. cfl grows can be expensive. 100watts per plant ??? that would spike your energy bill through the roof. an hps at 400 watts has like 6 times the growing power of cfls not to mention they will come in very handy come flowering time...i realize that you wont be disapointed if the plants die because you didnt spend any money on it. but the thing is if your going to take the time and effort to grow its just a waste to do it wrong.. your on the right path.. you obviously have logic and passion which are the two most important factors to growing if you ask me.. but dont muck it up by planting your seeds in the "miracle grow".

hows the free electric coming along?

Dude, the $0 grow is awesome. Next time you are in people's houses check out all of their lamps.. snatch any sprial CLFs you see. lol.

You could take them out of the tank and make reflectors out of cardboard with white computer paper and create a bigger space with more air flow-- maybe? Use the corner of your closet for two of the walls or something. I don't know. But rock on McGyver, we'll be watching the experiement with excitement.

And if you get better yeild than I do with all my planning and purchasing, I will go mental.

its not free its "low income assistance"

And hey man, i did a thread on Miracle Grow. You might wonna look at it. There are alot of opinions.

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/43505-yay-nay-miracle-grow.html

email468-ok good on the limited air and high heat before they break the soil. yes i agree on the tank it is outta here!
jakebakingcake-good to see you enjoyed my thread so far, only more entertainment to come! i'm not using miracle gro soil, i have miracle gro plant food that i have not used yet. i am using scott's premium potting soil. i also agree with the hps but i can't spend any money on this grow. i'll stick w/ what i can find/snatch and that will be that, for good or bad, just to stay true to my goals for this grow. don't worry i'll be using htgsupply for my next grow. also, "low income assistance" I LOVE IT!
pastafarian-do you mean free fan? if so the great i guess. i mean it was free frome the sexy 72 year old cougar at my job! lol.
gigglegirl-thanks alot, i appreciate the kind words! and don't worry anyone i know who has any spiral cfl's will be missing them after i leave. lol. mcgyver, i like that! lol i'm the marijuana mcgyver!!! if i do better then you i'll go insane too!
saynotodrugs-thanks alot, doesn't look like i will be using the miracle gro. i'll just be sticking to the schultz plant food i have.

questions-
1) will the schultz 20-30-20 be good all the way through flowering?
2) should i start using the food now?
3) if not when?


new setup pics will be up soon, my wife took the camera to her mom's.
pics will be up soon...

Any pics to see how your plants are doing?

they still haven't broken soil... :/

here are some pics of the new setup.
magazine rack from the bathroom butchered to my needs... guess i'll be reading the back of the shampoo bottles. lol!

zip ties holding my fishtank light on.

another picture of the overall setup.

sandwich bags cut up and held on with my wife's hair ties. lol free individual green houses. i did poke a few holes in each to breathe a little.

i used a cut up bread bad first but changed to sandwhich bags after thinking the light would be blocked by the print on the bag.



no more fishtank. what do you guys think? yay or nay? again total money spent=$0!!!!

leave your comments/opinions. thanks!

if you want my honest opinion. nay. how are u going to flower a plant and actually produce bud with that setup?