I am so lost! Someone please help me (:

Hey there; I am new to growing and started with 10 ATF clones planted in July. So far I lost 4, one is shriveling up, they are all REALLY small and I was hoping they would be ready about now. I live in the mountians @ 6000 ft elevation and don't get a whole lot of sun. I have learned that this strain is not as hearty in that particular environment. Next time around I am going to give growing indoors a shot, but these guys need help. I have been using miricle grow, grow big, and cal meg. Like I said, I am new to this and feel like a total morron. I don't know they need more time, need to be moved to a location with more sun, harvested (which I have no clue how to do)????? It doesn't help that I can not figure out how to navigate this site. Any help, direction, or resources would be soooo apreciated. Thanks so much!

Most definitely pics are needed here. A picture is worth a thousand words. Especially here.

Yes to pics. Photos of the full plant, and close ups of some of the branch structures and any problem areas...those would help people here tell you what stage your plant really is in and what your next step should be.

As for navigating the site, it's pretty similar to every other forum site out there -- there are main topic areas where people should post their specific questions (just like you did correctly, posting this in the newbie thread). An interface for posting and adding photos. And a basic search function. If you're having particular problems posting, let us know what they are and we'll try to help.

Clones and tiny plants don't need loads of food. It's November so I'm expecting you have less daylight now and this means they should've flowered as you have had them for months. You've fed them loads. Get a book and read up first and def get a camera !!

6000 ft. is pretty high for anything to grow well. Maybe a strain that was developed in the higher latitudes, like an indica dominant ,might be the ticket to raising a grow. If I am not mistaken ATF has about a 50/50 sativa/indica mix. Most of the sativas come from the lower latitudes where there is lots of sun and not much elevation above sea level.

As a side note: I had too much exhaust in my flower room and this caused a low pressure in the room, as I was expelling more air than I could replace it with due to small intake vents. As I am already at 3000 ft. the extreme exhaust created a condition such as you have of them just not getting the proper air flow/pressure to them and creating retarded plants. I fixed the problem and am up and running again, having learned something from my experiment.

I wonder if you added a few extra intake fans or blowers to your flower room to effectively up the air pressure, maybe that would do the trick. Assuming that you have a fairly tight room of coarse. If growing out doors, your probebly too high in elevation to effectively grow without hunting up some strain that thrives in that king of situation. I have no idea which would be good for that, maybe an Afgan Kush or a landrace indica or something of that kind.

Sorry I could not be of more help

Not only does it sound like you are overfeeding, but you also have thin air up that high also.
You might also study up on altitude affecting plant growth, or if it does.

it has to be because of where u live

I am familiar with the area (about 1000ft higher), and unfortunately it's just way too late in the season to have anything growing outside. The only way you are going to get those plants to pack on any weight at all is to get them inside with an hps or at least cfl's, so you can have them on a 12/12 schedule and keep them warm. Really, the only way you are going to be able to grow anything from this point on until June is to do it indoors. You can get by with a pretty basic setup, but if you want plants to grow well outdoors here you HAVE to start them indoors under cfl's or t5's (pretty cheap) in the early spring and get them started on a 12/12 indoors before you put them outside in mid June, because it is just too cold for them. Also, you HAVE to pick strains that flower in 8 weeks or less, because it starts to get down below 40 degrees by the end of August!
Good news is, if you time it right and have the right strains, you can get some REALLY nice color on your plants with the way the temps drop around this time Anything you flower in the winter and early spring will get color....very nice Good luck and let us know if you need any tips for growing way the f*** up in the mountains!

**By the way, we have had AMAZING results with White Shark 33 and MK Ultra; with clones flowering in 7 weeks, maybe a bit less

Thanks so much for your help ... I added pics to the post

Thanks sooooo much! I was getting advise from a relative, but they live in the valley and the way he grows works well for him, but it's total crap for me. I knew it had to do with where I lived! Again, I can't thank you enough. I will take your advise and let you know how it goes.

I am trying to find the lights, but the options are overwhelming! If I am going to grow indoors, I have a 10x6 space, and wish to grow 6-10 plants; is that doable? And what do I really need? Seriously, growing is an FN science! I feel like a dumbass trying to get this right, but I am determined. Thanks again for the help.