Germination & UV Lighting

a few days ago I invaded the last Lighting thread to ask for help about Lighting and Germination--: this is the problem


1) I had 5 seeds, I placed 3 of them in 3 pots, straight away, without using the wet towel germination method---I placed them 1cm below the surface, 18 hours have passed but obviously I cant see any changes.....DID I KILL THE SEEDS!?!?!??! I thought this was the original natural germination method :S .... if they are not dead...should I start giving light??? I have no sign to see if the seeds have sprouted or not.---

2) I placed the other two seeds on a wet towel in a plate, covered them with other wet towels and sealed everything with another plate...I think they should germinate...but I'm not sure... anyway... If they do germinate... Is a 400 Watt UV light ok to grow indoors??? I know UV rays are the ones who stimulate the plants to produce THC...but I wanted to know if I could grow using ONLY UV lights....I have a big room available and at the time being there is no need to use ventilation...(because I have no plants)...


anyway now approx 2 days have passed since I put the seeds directly in the pots, and one day has passed since I've put the other two seeds in the plate...oh I placed the plate in a think blanket and everything on the radiator which should be 23C° hot...I think those two seeds will germinate...but there is no clear sign...I think a small crack is starting to open in one of the two..I hope...anyway if you guys have any better techniques, I still have other 5 seeds to plant

Ok here we go!

first off seeds can take up to a week or more sometimes when germinating in soil or paper towels.

Here is a good example of this.
I took twenty seeds and used the wet paper towel method (as I always do).
Out of which only one seed sprouted (8 days). So I left the rest of the seeds in the towel and threw it out. About three days later when I was taking the trash out, I see sprouts in the baggie I threw out. I pulled it out and discovered three more seeds had sprouted and I also discovered that the other seeds looked like they needed help in opening. So I took the rest of the seeds and carfully removed the seed shells from them. I placed those seedlings in rookwool cubes and they are doing great. Out of twenty seeds I now have 11 growing.

As for lighting. A buddy of mine has a 600 w HPS that he does all of his grow cycles with (germ. veg, flower). His plants always turn out nice. Myself, I wouldn't use anything but florescents when germinating.

People have to learn to wait. Pot growers are always in a hurry to see results. Slow down, take it easy and let nature do it's job!

Don't be in such a hurry. Slow down, take a hit and let nature do it's thing.

ok, I've germinated the two seeds in the towel,. and set everything out in my bizarre growing room, with one really small fluorescent light,...(I'm not even sure its fluorescent...)...the lamp gives a good lighting...but its only around 16 WATTS! :S...

I've attached a few pics of my growing "ROOM"...I actually have a lot of space to grow my plants in, but since the plants still have to grow, I used up my desk... The pohotos arent really clear,,, I've covered 3 walls around the plants with shiny stuff... i . e alluminium foil and special tanning mattresses...while I left my window open in front of the plants...for ventilation.-.. the only thing which worries me is that the air which comes from the window is too cold(from 2C° to 10C° average 5C°)...but it also mixes with the hot air produced by the lamp and the 23C° which my room has...

anyway if any of you has any suggestions or improvements for my growing room etc...plz tell me!

You need better light, and you need it now. no you cannot use just a UV light to grow your plants, i'm pretty sure anyway.

you REALLY need to read this for basic info, then you can ask away.
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/937-how-grow-marijuana.html

Aluminum foil can harmfully reflect the light, because of the way it bends and crinkles. flat white paint or mylar or white pvc would be better for reflecting as far as i know, but you need to do something about your lighting and you need to do it soon or you're seedlings will die. i put a seedling in indirect light from 3 42 watt compact florescent lights and it wasnt having it, curled over and died.

i read up on this a while back. as best i remember there are different kinds of UV lights. UVA,UVB, and UVC. UVA(315-400nm) is the most common and least harmful. its what reptile pet owners use for thier pets. UVB(280-315nm) is the most harmful. its can cause sun burns and skin cancer. tanning lamps use UVB rays. UVC(100-280nm) are more harmful than UVA but less than UVB. common uses for UVC are water/air treatment or killing germs in a lab setting.
UV lights have no direct effect on plant growth, so useing just a UV light would have the same effect as not useing any light at all.
the way UV lights are used in growing marijuana is that UV lights acts on the plants just like intence sunlight. the plant trys to protect itsself from sunburn and drying out by makeing more oil to cover its surface. by doing this it turns CBD acids into THC. the lights are turned on a few times a day for about 1/2 an hour or so.
ive got a few cool links sumwhere around here. if your interrested in them let me know and ill see if i can find them. hope this helps n good luck

ok I get it, ...I read the guide and...well I just missed out the rockwool step...I dont even know where to get rockwool at this time of the year...everones on holidays!!! SHOOT! anyway...I started out in really big pots, straight away,,,will that affect my seeds?...here it says that you have to let the soil dry out...so the roots grow further out...I'll keep the soil moist but not quite wet as I used to, I'll also change lighting, asRussor said ..shoot, I dont really know where to get some nice lights...I think I'll keep that lamp onto ONE pot at the time being..at least I'll save ONE plant...while I look around for a better lighting system...Then...I'll change the alluminium thing... Thanks for the help guys !!! I'll keep you informed if the whole thing dies out... It was a X-mas present ,,, I hope the other 5 seeds will go better...anyway...all 5 seeds could still grow..YOU NEVER KNOW :O !!!

ok, if anyone still reads this thread, I've changed growing room & lighting, although I'm afraid the light still isnt enough...this is because my plants (which have germinated ok and are now little babies) are growing too tall. I'm not sure about this, so I took a few photos, maybe you guys can help me out and give me your opinions.

I'm sorry about the quality of the photos, they really suck, I made photos only of the tallest plant, so you guys can help me and give me a few tips on how to make it healthier. AND a photo of the light I use, although the entire room looks dark! PS: the type of marijuana I planted is called
ARJAN'S ULTRA HAZE #2

I think I should start my own growing diary, but I'm sure enough it wont last enough to see something growing and to see some improvement-----

Dude it looks like either your light/s are too far away from your plants or there not getting a gentle breeze from either a fan or a window being open. If there not getting a gentle breeze they'll become too tall and eventually collapse under there own weight. So my advice is either open a window or buy a cheap fan to get a breeze on to your plants to strengthen them up and move your light closer.

Hello! thanks for the tip, I opened the window slightly, in one of the photos you should see how much I opened the window, you can see that because I placed a ball of crumpled aluminium foil to stop the window from closing,(my window opens from the bottom.There's now a slight breeze on my plants, which will be good for them-...I'm worried about one of my plants, because I changed growing room for the third time yesterday, and placed the lamps really close to the plants, O.5cm approximately to each plant,(or even less)...and during the night one of the plants touched the lamp and slightly burned the tips of its leaves!!!. ..what should I do? . .. I dont think It's dying..

also, I placed one of my plants under a different type of lamp..but today it has not grown, and its the same size etc...does this mean the lamp isnt ok???

I'm thinking of tying one of my plants (which has grown too tall) to a support...which should help it in future.is that a good idea???? The plant has grown too tall, and will surealy collapse in future... the plant in the photo is quite healthy but too tall...its leaves are growing healthy...

anyway,,, in the photo you can see how far away my fluo lamp is from the fluo lamp (or whatever it is), how much I've opened my window...and how far the window is from the plants... thanks for the help guys

PS: hey guys...are you sure this web site is safe???I've posted loads of photos etc and I hope no one ever finds out I grow weed at home!!! but luckily I'm still growing a legal number of plants and amount of marijuana., .,.

1. Raise the lamp so its about 1 inch above your plant and try and keep that distance as the plant grows and the burnt leaf won't do any serious harm to your plants just try not to let it happen again.

2. If the plant you put under the other lamp still hasn't grown in a day or two then don't use that lamp again just use your floro light.

3. As a support for your plant get a normal drinking straw and cut about 2 inches off the end, then get the 2 inch bit of the straw you cut off and cut down 1 side so you can open it out then just put it around the bottom of your plant and keep a breeze on it.
You can also bend the stem using 1 of your fingers and lightley just push the stem back and forth gentley and that will also help strengthen the stem up.

Hope this has help you in some way
Catch u later

Thanks for the advice, I had the lamp at 0.2 inches or even less, now that I moved it to approx 1 inch I think the plant wont burn...and if it does, noticed the burns are little burns, because my lamp does heat up, but not as much to burn it the moment it touches the plant...anyway the burned plant seems to be recovering...I watered it a little and its opening up under the light...
I'll keep you informed on the burned plant's health tomorrow and in the next days...

I'll try to bend the plant tonight,a few times, I'll bend each plant gently...and insult you tomorrow if I brake the stems ,,as for the straw technique, I think I understood how its supposed to be done.... should I cut the straw in a manner that it will keep the breeze at its stem??and act as a wind channelling system or something similar?? anyway to keep a constant breeze I'll open my window a bit more, although I'm afraid that my plants will get a cold or something similar....anyway I'll try to level up the breeze that comes from outside to the heat which my lamps emit...so that I'll reach a temperature of about 20C° which is erm----70F°???(the temperature you read off every growing manual)...

as for the lamp...I'll tell you tomorrow if the plant has not grown...I'll change lamp if necessary...!

thanks loads for the help!!! Ill keep you informed



PS: if everything goes on ok,....when will I have to switch to a better lighting???? THe lamp I use now seems to work..but Its probably no more than 30 watts or something!!!

K sound

If the lamp you got isn't producing that much heat then it may be that the plants being over watered which can eventually lead to root rot, easiest way to see if you need to water your plant is just stick your finger in to the soil and if the first inch or 2 of the soil is dry then water it if not then leave it,
you should be watering it about every 3-5 days.

as a support you could use a wooden dowel

when you have the lights on just open the window, at night close the window and the temp won't bother the plant to much.

just get a few compact fluorescent lights and they should do the job all the way

I have a typical multi tube fluorescent for the plant which I thought wasn't growing...but this morning I noticed it did grow a little...instead I have a single tubed fluorescent (a long one) for the other three plants....I thinks I'll have to buy 3 fluos to substitute the long one...which wont be enough in future...or I'll buy a HPS lamp, like everyone suggests..

as for watering ... :S I practically water my plants 4 times or 3 every day :S ...this morning I noticed that by leaving the window open, the soil of my plants remained moist...but I watered the plants anyway this morning..and now the soil is very very moist. so I closed the window, in this way the heat produced by the lamp will dry out the soil, so It wont be too moist, But I'll wait untill tomorrow or tonight to water it some more... I usually add two bottle caps full of water to my plants...every time I water them... It probably is too much :S

I'll post some new pics of the plants tomorrow so you anyone can check them out...

CHEERS!

k looking forward to seeing the pics
catch ya later

HEEEEEEEELLO!! here are some pics of my plants,,,they're looking ok...I think I've watered them too much in these days, because I wanted to take good care of the sprouts...but now that they are bigger, I decided not to water them for 2/3 days, so they'll develop their rooting system...

anyway...from the photos, can anyone tell me if I can start to reduce their light hours???

the plants are starting to grow more leaves from the centre...(you can notice the small green dots in the centre of the plant... I took photos of 2 different plants...one of the two is the most crappy I have, and Its under a different type of lamp.. anyway I decided to reduce my light ours to 12-12 step by step....I'm going to start when you guys think its best...or in a few days... this is how I will do it




2/3days: cut light from: 18:00PM to: 19:00PM(1hour darkness)

2/3days: cut light from: 18:00PM to: 21:00PM(3hour darkness)

2/3days: cut light from: 18:00PM to: 23:00PM(5hour darkness)

2/3days: cut light from: 23:10PM to: 7:10AM(7hour darkness)

2/3days: cut light from: 22:10PM to: 7:10AM(9hour darkness)

2/3days: cut light from: 20:10PM to: 7:10AM(11hour darkness)

2/3days: cut light from: 19:10PM to: 7:10AM(12hour darkness)

(nice schedule huh?? )

I'll start some day.. I designed this schedule to best fit the hours in which I go to sleep and wake up to go to school .... the only thing which worries me is that at 7:10AM there could be some light in a few days...so I will have to make sure to put some blinds at the windows in my growroom.... the light will have to be 12/12 when I start the flowering stage right??? and I HAVE NO CLUE on when that will be!


if any of you have some suggestions on how much time I should wait before I should start to apply my schedule to the lighting hours I would be grateful!!! or if any of you have any better suggestions on the way I could set out the schedule and change in light hours....


CHEERS!!!

Air said:

12/12 Is used for Budding the plant
18/6 Is what most people use to Veg
24 is what some people use for starting and vegging
I personally use 24 for the first couple of days then switch to 18/6.

This will also depend on some factors. do your plants like 24 hour light? (some cant take it) Thats why 18/6 is a more general rule for veg. Also if you cant get your plants to start budding on 12/12 I have heard that you can put it at 10/14 or 11/13 untill they start to bud.

Switching to the 12/12 (Budding cycle) is up to you, unless the plant is an autoflower, You can grow it to 5 feet or 5 inches. Most people wait till they are about a foot and a half tall to start buding them, Keep in mind they will probobly double in size while budding. Hope this helped.

Click to expand...

As written by Air

Thanks for the info BUDdy!! I'll have to wait a little more since my plants aren't really tall enough,,,the only yhing I'm not sure about is the size of my pots....they're approximately 15-20cm long and 20cm tall....what would you suggest??do I have to transplant???

I'll keep this thread posted when anything new happens!

CHEERS!

damn, my stems are too weak, and one of the plants dust bends to one side, and its only a really small plant,,,I'm thinking of transplanting it into another pot, and cover the lower part of the stem, to make it more resistent....is it a good idea^???
or is there a better method to keep the plant growing straight

With the repotting i'd give it a few weeks because the plant probably won't be strong enough to handle the stress, if you wanna strengthen up the stem just go and buy a cheap fan and put it on the lowest setting and that should really help and just keep bending the plant until you get a fan.
Thats all i can think of at the moment sorry, i suppose if you were really desperate then you could try the repotting thing but be very careful!!!!!