RollTide's first grow (CFL)

RollTide · Jun 9, 2009

Feel free to comment, just take it easy on me, I am a noob.

Ok, This is pretty much my first grow. About 6 months ago I had 2 that were about 2 weeks old and very bushy, but had to trash them. Now I am starting again. I only want to deal with one mature plant, so I will take the best (or only) female after I start flowering.

The Set-Up
-Growing in a closet that is approx. 4'x3' (x9' ceiling)
-Four 27 watt 5500k CFL bulbs
-Bagseed- got lucky and found 2 seeds in a 1/4 bag of some pretty good dank.
-Soil- Scotts Moisture Advance Potting Soil (I know many will say this is bad, but its possible to grow in it isnt?)
-I will transport these babies to 5 gallon buckets when necessary.
-Lighnting schedule- currently at 24/0, but thinking about switching to 20/4, or 18/6.....thoughts?

As you will see in the pics below, one is about a week old, and the smaller one is right at 3 days. The bigger one is a little unhealthy (nute burn from the Scotts I think), but so far, the little one is doing good (I guess?).

Sorry, I had to use my crappy iPhone camera to take these pics....will be getting my better camera back over the weekend.

These pics were taken around noon, and I can already see a little growth in the little one (or maybe thats just me seeing what I wanna see). I plan to update with pics at least daily.

I do have some other Questions:
-Even with the small one, should I pour water until it drains from the bottom?? Or are they too small to water that much?
-How often should I water the suggested amount? I know it all depends one my specific setup, but what would be a good rough estimate? Everyday? Every other day?
-Whats the best light schedule? 24/0, 20/4, or 18/6?
-Will the bigger one make it? Hopefully it isnt burnt too bad. What should I do to ensure it lives? Flush it? Leave it alone?

Finally, thanks for the views and any advice. Without RiU (been lurking for about year and a half), I would be lost big time when it comes to growing.

RollTide · Jun 9, 2009

Story on the taller, unhealthy one:
I posted this in one of my other threads, but Ill explain it so any viewers have the background. I germinated and potted 2 plants. After 1 or 2 days, I had to make an unexpected trip for 3 days. My only option was to put them out on my balcony. I would say that they got good sun for maybe 13-15 hours on a normal day. The thing is, it rain 2 of those days, so no telling how much actual sun they got. When I got back to them, they were about the height that it is now (maybe a little shorter), but only the very first 2 round leaves were formed. The soil was moist, so they got enough water (possibly too much), but I am guessing they stretched so much because of poor sunlight. One of them looked so pitiful that after a couple of days I took her out of her misery. Hopefully I wont have to do the same to the other one, but the new one that I added already has a thicker healthier stem, so who knows.

EpyxN · Jun 9, 2009

RollTide said:
Feel free to comment, just take it easy on me, I am a noob.

Ok, This is pretty much my first grow. About 6 months ago I had 2 that were about 2 weeks old and very bushy, but had to trash them. Now I am starting again. I only want to deal with one mature plant, so I will take the best (or only) female after I start flowering.

The Set-Up
-Growing in a closet that is approx. 4'x3' (x9' ceiling)
-Four 27 watt 5500k CFL bulbs
-Bagseed- got lucky and found 2 seeds in a 1/4 bag of some pretty good dank.
-Soil- Scotts Moisture Advance Potting Soil (I know many will say this is bad, but its possible to grow in it isnt?)
-I will transport these babies to 5 gallon buckets when necessary.
-Lighnting schedule- currently at 24/0, but thinking about switching to 20/4, or 18/6.....thoughts?

As you will see in the pics below, one is about a week old, and the smaller one is right at 3 days. The bigger one is a little unhealthy (nute burn from the Scotts I think), but so far, the little one is doing good (I guess?).

Sorry, I had to use my crappy iPhone camera to take these pics....will be getting my better camera back over the weekend.

View attachment 443642 View attachment 443643 View attachment 443644

These pics were taken around noon, and I can already see a little growth in the little one (or maybe thats just me seeing what I wanna see). I plan to update with pics at least daily.

I do have some other Questions:
-Even with the small one, should I pour water until it drains from the bottom?? Or are they too small to water that much?
-How often should I water the suggested amount? I know it all depends one my specific setup, but what would be a good rough estimate? Everyday? Every other day?
-Whats the best light schedule? 24/0, 20/4, or 18/6?
-Will the bigger one make it? Hopefully it isnt burnt too bad. What should I do to ensure it lives? Flush it? Leave it alone?

Finally, thanks for the views and any advice. Without RiU (been lurking for about year and a half), I would be lost big time when it comes to growing.

If your soil has nutes already added into the soil then either do not use nutes or use like a 10% solution. (slowly dial it up over time to find your sweet spot). Your seedlings don't need any nutes right now, id say once they get some pronounced fan leaves, maybe by the time it gets to the 3rd almost 4th node.

I personally 24/0 for veg, others swear by 20/4, 18/6 etc but i personally find the most veg production 24/0.

Leave your plant. Don't flush it. You could try to flush it but there just tiny lil ones and can't take that much of a beating.

you probably already know this but never rely on a watering schedule. a plant may drink 1 gallon every 4 days then out of no where drink 1 gal in 1 day.

Get your soil nice & moist and pick up your containers. Now either wait for your plant to get some droopy floppy lower leafs or push your finger down into the soil every so often until 2" or so are dry then feel its weight. (this is depending on your container size, by no means wait for 2" of a 3" cup to get dry. Use common sense

always water when it feels real light.

As for your lighting, its enough to start those little ones but you will need a few more to veg when they start getting larger. I cover a 3'x3' area with 10 26w with a total of 6 mothers now (originally 9 but 3 males removed). and they have grown extremely well.

Hopefully atleast something i said made a little sense. I tend to babble on and on so.... If you have any questions I can answer i will be more than glad to.

Always take my advice & others advice with a grain of salt. what works for me might suck for you. Trial and error is the only way to learn to grow.

** Edit **

Get those lights to 1" from there tops

if you keep them @ 1" your plants will grow pretty compact (Dependant on strain though)

RollTide · Jun 9, 2009

Thanks alot, EpyxN. +rep. Will definitely try alot of this stuff, and move my lights down a touch. I was about to flush the bigger one, but Ill wait and see how it does...Hell, I have alot more seeds laying around if she dies, being so young and all. About the nutes...I dont plan on ever adding any (Im not extremely worried about a huuge yeild, as this is my first go at this, and plus the weed is just for personal use when I dont want to drop $60 for an 1/8 of dank). Im trying to keep this as cheap as possible. The Scotts soil says it will feed for 3 months continuously, but it is also causing burning right now, so hopefully my babies survive it without too much damage. I do plan on buying a few more CFLs when needed. Thanks again for the help and Check back every now and then and see how they turn out.

RollTide · Jun 13, 2009

So not really an update, but a reason for a lack of update. I had to go out of town for the weekend. I watered them Thursday evening, and a buddy is gonna go by tonight and water them if needed, and if not he will go by tomorrow and water them. Hopefully they make it through it fine, and I have some good pics for yall. Quick question though: I have jsut been kinda 'eyeballin it' when it comes to watering. What is the best way to explain to my buddy if they need watering? I told him drooping leaves was a sure sign, but I doubt they are that starved at this point to have drooping leaves. Since they are in just styrofoam cups, you think 1.5 inches of dry soil would mean it needs watering?

EpyxN · Jun 13, 2009

those don't look like very large cups, I would probably tell him 1/2" or so if that. Or maybe have him check there weight.

Or just tell him to move his finger on the top of the soil, if its bone dry & he feels like he's at the beech water them (if you have good drainage you should be safe)

RollTide · Jun 14, 2009

Alright, so I JUST got back to my home (been gone since Friday), and the first thing I did was take some pics to post. Im kind of disappointed in the progress of my plants, and Im not realll sure what the reason is. My grow before (before I had to trash them), came along alot faster, and I could see day to day growth more than this one. Anyways here are some pics:

Is there a reason why the smaller one's leaves are pointing up like that? Also, why is it growing soooo slow? It just seems like last time (under the same exact conditions) they grew considerably faster...?

God I just looked at those pics again and realized how baaad they look.. Just frustrating because last time my two plants were off to a great start but I had to quit my grow. Now, I did the exact same thing (well I thought, but obviously something went wrong), and my plants suck this time.

RollTide · Jun 15, 2009

So I havenoticed TINY, itsy bitsy little white bugs in the little plant's cup. They dont seem to be on the plant at all, just all in the soil. They are no spots on the leaves or anything. I dont think they are thrips, because the arent long and skinny, just little specks, like a grain of sand, only a little smaller. What could these be, and could this be related to the slow growth. I checked in the bag of Scotts soil Im using, and there are tons of these little fuckers runnin around in the bag (screw Home Depot for selling bug infested soil). What can I put on these? soapy water? Garlic water? any ideas?

RollTide · Jul 6, 2009

Alright so its been a while but heres some new pictures. I kicked them into flowering because I didnt want to drag this out forever and wanted to go ahead and get my first grow under me. From what I can tell it is female, but you cant really tell in the pics with my camera.

EpyxN · Jul 9, 2009

I have heard that you can put a thin layer of sand on the top of your soil and this will help keep them in check. Also a good soil cooking might be in order. pop it on a tray and cook it @ 350 for an hr or so.

RollTide · Jul 16, 2009

There are now visible white hairs!! The plant is still small, but its showing progress...Just added an oscillating fan too.

These pics are from 7/14, two days ago...

...and these are from about 10 minutes ago...

I am not far into flowering, and i know this plant pretty much sucks, but do you think I will yield anything? I know it will be pretty small, but any idea?

RollTide · Jul 19, 2009

Update July 19th PM:

I can notice some small growth, dunno if it visible in the pics though. The plant definitely smell stronger and stronger of pot each day haha. I put another germinated seed in a cup and am going to grow it 12-12 straight from seedling alongside the one I have going already.

jwop · Jul 19, 2009

you should check out what i wrote on time release fertilizer in this post https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/216118-do-they-look-okay.html

if your using "time release" ferts ... you have to admit my point makes sense

Mysticlown150 · Jul 19, 2009

Hey I'm not trying to be a jerk but scotts soil most of the time is riddled with bugs. First thing you should of done was inspect the soil. And baking the soil will kill the bugs but it lowers the quality of the soil. Next time around use better soil. That plant is super small so I don't think your yield will be that great. I'm still rooting for your new seed though and I hope it sprouts. Good luck

jwop · Jul 20, 2009

Mysticlown150 said:
Hey I'm not trying to be a jerk but scotts soil most of the time is riddled with bugs. First thing you should of done was inspect the soil. And baking the soil will kill the bugs but it lowers the quality of the soil. Next time around use better soil. That plant is super small so I don't think your yield will be that great. I'm still rooting for your new seed though and I hope it sprouts. Good luck

Scotts is no more prone to infestation than Fox Farm

just because it's inexpensive ... doesnt mean it's cheap

RollTide · Jul 20, 2009

Mysticlown150 said:
Hey I'm not trying to be a jerk but scotts soil most of the time is riddled with bugs. First thing you should of done was inspect the soil. And baking the soil will kill the bugs but it lowers the quality of the soil. Next time around use better soil. That plant is super small so I don't think your yield will be that great. I'm still rooting for your new seed though and I hope it sprouts. Good luck

There actually were some bugs in the bag of soil....unfortunately I didnt notice til after this one had been started. It pissed me off so bad to open up the bag and see shit crawing around. I Nuked the other soil I used for the new plant. And to the other poster, I actually sifted out the majority of the little fertilizer balls, but I didnt do tha until after I tranplanted my plant from a little 16 oz cup to the bigger pot, so that is prob why it suffered so badly. I plan on letting it finish out though, bc I am growing the other plant immediately from 12-12 so there is no harm in seeing how much it will yield.

grow space · Jul 20, 2009

yo man.cant tell u how would those yield cas its the shittiest question ever, U now that yourself though.anyway, dont give up, when they are a lil bit bigger and when 3-4 weeks from start has passed, start to give nutes too.12-12, then use some bloom nutes and increase the dosage each feed, starting low, cas those look really small and a lil weak.

happy growing man.....

Mysticlown150 · Jul 20, 2009

jwop said:
Scotts is no more prone to infestation than Fox Farm

just because it's inexpensive ... doesnt mean it's cheap

RollTide said:
There actually were some bugs in the bag of soil....unfortunately I didnt notice til after this one had been started. It pissed me off so bad to open up the bag and see shit crawing around. I Nuked the other soil I used for the new plant. And to the other poster, I actually sifted out the majority of the little fertilizer balls, but I didnt do tha until after I tranplanted my plant from a little 16 oz cup to the bigger pot, so that is prob why it suffered so badly. I plan on letting it finish out though, bc I am growing the other plant immediately from 12-12 so there is no harm in seeing how much it will yield.

To jwop. Everyone knows scotts soil isnt the best. It is CHEAP soil.Question, how do you get premium inexpensive soil at home depot? Answer is you don't. And im not talking about mixing your own soil either. I don't really need to explain anymore since you've probably never even grown with it.

Rolltide it happens man. Its all a learning experience for real. It's impossible to get everything right bro so just finish them out the best you can. Of course you should finish it out even if you yield a small portion you have yielded something which is better than nothing. :peace:

jwop · Jul 20, 2009

Mysticlown150 said:
To jwop. Everyone knows scotts soil isnt the best. It is CHEAP soil.Question, how do you get premium inexpensive soil at home depot? Answer is you don't. And im not talking about mixing your own soil either. I don't really need to explain anymore since you've probably never even grown with it.

Thanks for the PM you asshole.

Put this in your pipe and smoke it.

tom__420 · Jul 20, 2009

You can get a cheap good mix from home depot. Got any pics of your plants mysticclown150? I can't recall ever seeing any pics of your work.....................

RollTide's first grow (CFL)

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