completely new to this looking for some input

ok so ive recently started a small grow with some bag seeds from some mid grades (depending on where u are its little better the schwag) ive got them in miracle grow moisture control with two CFL bulbs that said equivelant to 100w so its like 6500k or something like that. ive been watering them every other day and recently got a small fan. just looking for some input on what i should be looking for with these. i attached some pics ... thank you for the input!
 

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riddleme

Well-Known Member
ok so ive recently started a small grow with some bag seeds from some mid grades (depending on where u are its little better the schwag) ive got them in miracle grow moisture control with two CFL bulbs that said equivelant to 100w so its like 6500k or something like that. ive been watering them every other day and recently got a small fan. just looking for some input on what i should be looking for with these. i attached some pics ... thank you for the input!
Everyother day watering combined with MG moisture control is like driving a car towards a brick wall with no brakes

Your plants look good but if you don't learn to properly water and get em in better soil your headin for problems
 

desertrat

Well-Known Member
what riddleme said first. then you are going to need a lot more light. your cfl's are no more than 26 actual watts each and are barely enough light for one plant.
 

rastadoor

Well-Known Member
By the pics it looks like you know to keep your clf close to the plants. Miracle grow soil is not the best soil so i would go out and gets some foxfarm if you can spend some money on this thing. Another thing is the watering... When you water is your soil compleatly dry? You should wait untill the soil is nice and dry (stick your finger a half inch to an inch in the soil) this helps the roots grow stronger since they are growing looking for water. Once your seedling have a really good root system they will be harder to kill. haha
 

That 5hit

Well-Known Member
look man what you useing is ok
its not what your useing it how your useing it
only water when the plants ask and dont add nute
for the first few weeks or so
pot grower perfer to ad there own nutes when they want to add it MG tends to ad it for you with out asking (time released)

here just follow this guide


SOIL GROWING BASIC
cherry popping grow technic for indoor soil growing
(get a few grows under your belt before jumping into advanced cultivation, learn the basic)
a good location, soil, nutes, lights, and co2 can only take you so far
big buds and good yeilds are based on genes and growing skills

plant life is tipicaly
2wks-1month veg 24/0 or 18/6
2-3 month flower 12/12
4 months (maybe 3) all together from seed to cured smoke

everything can be found at any bigbox store
place seed in a cup of water
check every day untill you see seed crack and or tap root
then place in a 1in deep hole covered with soil, in a 1 gal pot full of soil
water plants ever 2-3 days or when soil is dry
now get a digital thermometer, one with a temperature and a humidity gauge
optional items : heater, a/c, dehumidifier
maintain lights on temps of 70-80 (with co2 you can let it go as high as 95)
at lights off stay above 60. keep humidity around 40%-60% light on/off
when you see a sprout
re. young plants can live on the nutes that are already in every soil no need to add any nutes at this time just water
water plants ever 2-3 days or when soil is dry, try not to over water and add no fertilizer
place light (26 or 42 watt CFL 2700k warm with hood and clamp) over it keeping light as close as 2-4 in.
one bulb type can be used from start to finish, but better results can be had by switching bulb color at dirferant growth stages
...........cfl 6500 Kelvin (cool blueish/ white color spectrum) =to mh used for vegging bushing stem leaf
...........cfl 2700 Kelvin (warm redish/orange color spectrum) =to hps used for blooming fruiting budding
as the plant gets bigger add more light (if you use mh or hps follow light distance
guidelines, you'll find out more about them as you advance in you grow skill)
now time for veg growth
get a light with hood (and put it on an on/off timer set timer for 18/6)
water plants ever 2-3 days or when soil is dry
after 2 weeks of just plain water introduce nutes at 1/4 strength, every other water
when picking nutes (fertilizer)NPK try to keep it simple
for veg pick a nute high in N and low in PK
for flowering pick a nute high in P and low in NK
N: nitrogen is used to stimulate new vegetative growth and overall health.
P2O5: phosphorus oxide is used to stimulate flower development and rooting.
K2O: potassium oxide is used to stimulate stem growth and overall health
a great fert for beginners are any tomato plant ferterlizer
inrich air with co2 if you gat it (not needed if less then 6 plants, just open a window or pump in fresh air)
after 2wks too a months of vegging its time to sex and flower
tranpants to a 3-5gal pot
if still useing CFL's double or triple the amount of lights (the more light the more dence and bigger the buds will be)
set timer for 12/12 (depending on strain plants can double even triple in size (height) in this stage)
this will show sex and flower your plants, giving you smokable buds
keep the female's they grow white hairs
discard the males they grow grape like ball clusters (pollen sacs)
discard the hermi they grow both sex (re. if it has balls on it discard it)
give it 2 wks of 12/12 then increase nutes
lights will stay on 12/12 untill finish which could be 8-14 wks depending on strain dominates :
short plant with fat wide leaf = indica dom = 8-10 wks,
tall plant with long skiny leaf = sativa dom = 10-14 wks
by far the best way to tell when the plant is ready to harvest is by looking at the trichome
you want to harvest at about a 40%-50% red to white ratio. you will need a minimum 30x zoom microscope (radio shack)
flush plant by feeding plain water no nutes for last 2 wks (improves taste)
cut, hang, dry 5-7 days @ 40%-50% humidity
smoke
or
cure:
place in mason jars sealed tight for 12hr in a dark place
open jar and take buds out and let dry for 30m to 1hr or untill dry to touch
replace in jars resealed in a dark place
repeat this for 2wks to a month or untill buds nolonger become wet in jar after 12hr
now smoke
or seal away for long term store
 
Everyother day watering combined with MG moisture control is like driving a car towards a brick wall with no brakes

Your plants look good but if you don't learn to properly water and get em in better soil your headin for problems
thanks for the fast response.... so do you think i should be watering them less..... or are u just against MG... ive been leaving the light on 24/0 right now to
 

That 5hit

Well-Known Member
ok so ive recently started a small grow with some bag seeds from some mid grades (depending on where u are its little better the schwag) ive got them in miracle grow moisture control with two CFL bulbs that said equivelant to 100w so its like 6500k or something like that. ive been watering them every other day and recently got a small fan. just looking for some input on what i should be looking for with these. i attached some pics ... thank you for the input!
get more then the 26w(=100) cfls
each plants going to need at least 70w for its self
buy the 42w (=150) cfls and get hood with clamp
add one as the plants gets bigger until each plant has its own light above it
keep lights 5-6 inches away from tops, even thought they are cfls they do get hella hot, pluss if they are to close it will slow growth
 

riddleme

Well-Known Member
thanks for the fast response.... so do you think i should be watering them less..... or are u just against MG... ive been leaving the light on 24/0 right now to
Not against MG, it is simply a different animal that requires a different skill set, lots of folks grow great using it but usually takes a few bad grows to learn it

your plants look great, so I would say your doing ok so far, I was more trying to warn you to go slow and be careful, what was said earlier the soil needs to dry out for healthy roots to form and with moisture control it takes longer for this to happen

best thing I can tell you is DON'T water again untill you see the leaves start to droop (a sign they are ready for water) when this happens wiegh the pot to get an idea of how it feels then water it and wiegh it again. doing this will teach you how to water properly
 
get more then the 26w(=100) cfls
each plants going to need at least 70w for its self
buy the 42w (=150) cfls and get hood with clamp
add one as the plants gets bigger until each plant has its own light above it
keep lights 5-6 inches away from tops, even thought they are cfls they do get hella hot, pluss if they are to close it will slow growth
yeah ive got the lights about 5 inches on a desk lamp with a clip that i can bend around.. and i have a flourecent 24" tube i just found and put in now... i'll have to look into getting some brighter bulbs.....should i be fine for my whole grow with those 42w ones or should i change them up. The plants are about 1 month old and im still using the 24/0 do you think i should change it up soon judging on the way the plants look?
 
Not against MG, it is simply a different animal that requires a different skill set, lots of folks grow great using it but usually takes a few bad grows to learn it

your plants look great, so I would say your doing ok so far, I was more trying to warn you to go slow and be careful, what was said earlier the soil needs to dry out for healthy roots to form and with moisture control it takes longer for this to happen

best thing I can tell you is DON'T water again untill you see the leaves start to droop (a sign they are ready for water) when this happens wiegh the pot to get an idea of how it feels then water it and wiegh it again. doing this will teach you how to water properly
thanks for the input i'll start weighing them out and watering that way. i noticed that one of my plants leaves are drooping down a little so i'll keep an eye on the watering with this one especially
 

desertrat

Well-Known Member
each plants going to need at least 70w for its self
buy the 42w (=150) cfls and get hood with clamp
sorry to bust the thread but pm isn't working. just wanted to say +rep for the great guide and that you should add this to the lighting section or you're just going to keep getting the question. another change i'd strongly suggest would be to add a little bit about security.

i hope site admin will take something like this and others and put together a stickie.

and a little tip - you can replace the code in your signature with the description using: BRACKETurl=http://www.YOURTARGET]YOUR DESCRIPTION[/url] so that people will know what they're linking to. replace BRACKET with [
 

rastadoor

Well-Known Member
thanks for the input i'll start weighing them out and watering that way. i noticed that one of my plants leaves are drooping down a little so i'll keep an eye on the watering with this one especially
Leaves drooping can also be a sign of overwatering but if you havn't watered in a bit its most def needs watered. This stuff is tricky but you will get the hang of it soon enough.
 

That 5hit

Well-Known Member
yeah ive got the lights about 5 inches on a desk lamp with a clip that i can bend around.. and i have a flourecent 24" tube i just found and put in now... i'll have to look into getting some brighter bulbs.....should i be fine for my whole grow with those 42w ones or should i change them up. The plants are about 1 month old and im still using the 24/0 do you think i should change it up soon judging on the way the plants look?
i've done whole grows with them just fine
people will till you to switch up the color temp, but i say fuck it
put a 42 over each plant then vegg for like 1.5 - 2 wks on a 18/6
then add another 42 to each plant then switch to 12/12 (each plant should now has 2 bulbs each, go crasy and add more if you want to the more lights the better for side lights i would prolly do shop light but you could get by with just the cfls )
 
a little update on my plants.... one plants leaves are drooping pretty bad now... ive been maintaing the moisture on it right now and let the soil get pretty dry before i re-water it... what you guys think i can do for her(hoping for a girl)
 

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That 5hit

Well-Known Member
sounds bout right slow up on the watering dont givem any nutes keep lights close
make sure the soil is not to tight
the roots like it loose
never press down on the soil with you hands
allow the water (when watering) to do that job for you

you should have drain holes at the bottom of those cups
 
yeah i got some cuts in the bottom of the cups.... i just started 18/6 and i'll leave off on the watering for that plant for a few days and see what happens...... what kind of nutes do you think i should add in with the MG moisture control and when? thanks a bunch also
 

That 5hit

Well-Known Member
with mg you dont have to add nutes almost for 4-6 wks
but let the plants tell you
they will start to turn light green to almost yellow
then start 1/4 strenth maybe even less
any good nute will work get a flowering type of nute because i dont think you will need any veg nutes with that type of soil
it should carry you all the way to flowering
a bloom or flower nute will do fine

but before all of this you need to be thinking about the next size pot (how big of a plant do you want
 
with mg you dont have to add nutes almost for 4-6 wks
but let the plants tell you
they will start to turn light green to almost yellow
then start 1/4 strenth maybe even less
any good nute will work get a flowering type of nute because i dont think you will need any veg nutes with that type of soil
it should carry you all the way to flowering
a bloom or flower nute will do fine

but before all of this you need to be thinking about the next size pot (how big of a plant do you want
im in a closet so not to crazy
 
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