First Grow: Black Widow

[DanDaMan1]

Hello all,
This is my first post ever. I've been lurking around for a bit and after looking at all the delicious plants decided I had to get my hands dirty. I will be updating this thread fairly often so check in if you wanna see how it goes. I'll be posting pics tomorrow of the grow room as well as my nuts and whatnot.
I'll start out with what I have got so far as well as some questions I have:

Equipment:
- 10 black widow seeds
- 400 Watt Bulb
- Nitrogen based fertilizer
- Phosphate based fertilizer
- PH UP
- PH DOWN
- Peat pellets
- Coco soil

Questions:
Should I put the seeds in the peat pellets after 24 hours of soaking in water (is tap water ok?)? PEAT PELLETS or PAPER TOWEL?
Is coco soil okay or should I purchase some regular soil? BTW coco soil is some dry soil in a plastic pack and when you add water its suppose to expand to 4 times its size or something.
Should i put tinfoil on the walls? its a 2 x 2 feet closet
Do I need a fan in the closet?


PS any tips, concerns or friggin' anything you want to tell me go ahead and write it here.

Dan

 

[Maj.PotHead]

Should i put tinfoil on the walls? its a 2 x 2 feet closet
unless foil is all ya have i suggest from your local sporting good store a emergancy cold weather blanket cheap very reflective. almost like mylar must be hung wrinkle free wrinkles can hold heat. if ya must use foil use the dull side it retains less heat then shiney side.

Do I need a fan in the closet?

yes a few wouldnt hurt i have a few small 3 inch fans blow across and through the plants.

400 Watt Bulb
this will create heat issues if you dont have adquite ventilation you must bring cool fresh air into and expell the hot stale air from the grow this is a must !!

i know nothing of coco grows srry
but heres some reading for designing your grow erea http://www.icmag.com/ic/forumdisplay.php?f=32
also look at ppls grow logs in thier sigs read read then read some more and you should be fine with good genitics 10 black widow seeds otherwise you could kill them. personally if this was my 1st grow i would do some good bagseed get my learning curve over with. get the grow erea dialed in yea baby then grow them 10 black widow seeds but thats me

 

[sproutco]

I would use soilless mix like promix hp (high porosity) or other heavy promix formulas with added perlite. Another good brand is fafard 3. All these mixes are pre-limed and will contain magnesium and calcium. They are composed of perlite, vermiculite, peatmoss and maybe pinebark. Your water soluble fertilizer should contain n p k plus micronutrients. You will also need some sulfur with your fertilizer like adding gypsum to the soil (promix I don't believe has gypsum added but fafard will) before you plant or using sulfuric acid if your nutrient solution (fertilizer plus water) is too high in ph. You will need a good ph meter to adjust your nutrient solution and to check soil ph occasionally. PH is very important. Soak your seeds in water for 1/2 day and plant in the soilless mix about 1/4" deep keeping the temperature around 75 degrees f or slightly higher. Use small pots like solo cups from the grocery store to get them started. You will have to make drain holes in the bottom. Cover the pots with clear plastic wrap to keep moisture in and remove as soon as the seedling breaks the soil surface. 400 watts, hid I hope, is plenty for your area. Keep about 12" away from the top of the plants. Use your hand to judge if too much heat is getting to the seedlings/plants. You will have to vent the area if it is closed up like what was suggested already. If you get stuck and can't get premade soilless mix you can make your own. Use advanced search and then by title only (here at ICMag) and enter this exactly as it appears: Tell me your light soil

Look for tell me your light soil/soiless recipe! I give instructions on how to make your own in there. Do not show or tell anyone you are doing this other than your buddys here. Do I get a small bud when your harvest?

 

[DanDaMan1]

Okay guys I gotta tell ya, I've never really been so excited about something before in my life. I have now moved the seeds from soaking in a cup to a wet cheesecloth where they will remain until signs of sprouting occur.
BTW should i be worried about fungus in the wet cheesecloth?

Grow Area q's(pics soon): 2 x 2 feet closet with beige walls 8 feet tall, white door (height of closet). There is no ventilation to the closet besides the cracks on the sides of the door.
Should I be worried about the colour of my walls?
How should i go about venting the room?

major thanks for dropping in answers very helpful!
sproutco, if this turns out there will def be a small bud coming ur way!!

 

[CalcioErba2004]

I usually use a papertowel but I dont see why a cheesecloth wouldnt work. Just make sure its not drenched by wringing it out pretty good but make sure its not bone dry. If it dries out your seeds wont crack and possibly die out. If you keep it too wet you will invite fungus and mold and your seeds with get attacked and killed. Once they crack and you see the little white tails starting to come out plant them into your peat pellets. Once again make sure these are not too soaked or too dry. Once you get it wet and it gets nice and soaked it should be ok for at least 4 days. You wont need to water it just wait for the sprouts to come up. :smile:

I use coco and its awesome. Mix it 50/50 with perlite and you are golden. I usually use it soilless. What kinda ferts do you have? Can you be more specific? Let us know!

EDIT: I love your avatar! That is awesome! Fuma hehehe!

 

[sproutco]

Use emergency blankets like the major said and hang on the walls. I use white plastic garbage bags tacked up. Make sure they are secure to avoid fire hazard. Fungus will probably not be on the cheeseclothe but could have been on the seed. Don't let the seeds that sprout stay too long before you plant into the soil to avoid shock. You could leave the door open and have a small fan hanging pushing air out. If you are going to keep the door closed with the light on you will have to vent out the ceiling by cutting a hole for a fan. The cracks may be enough to supply air when you do this.

 

[Jam Master Jaco]

You are definately going to need ventilation. You should build take off the door you have now and build a false door so you can drill an intake hole hole at the bottom and have a fan exhausting the air at the top of that false door.

 

[sproutco]

^^ Is there any way you can get us a picture of your false door?

 

[CalcioErba2004]

^^ Is there any way you can get us a picture of your false door?

here is mine. :smile:

its hung on hooks and velcroed down with the velcro stickers or whatever.

 

[DanDaMan1]

Okay guys this is pretty exciting, i check the cheesecloth today and most of the seeds have white sprouts forming. HELL YEA!

thanks all for the info, got some white garbage bags ready to be pinned, got some ideas coming about the ventilation just need sometime to think if anyone has any other ideas feel free to post them

And I've got an updated list of items with brands:
Cocoearth by Grotek
Gold Fulvic by Best of Hydroponics
PH Up by Grotek
PH Down by Grotek
SVA - Super Veg A - 1.5% Nitrogen, 0% Phosphate, 2.6% Potassium
SVB - Super Veg B - 0.5% Nitrogen, 0.5% Phosphate. 5.0% Potassium
the light is a HPS - 400 Watts - 120 Volt (if anyone can clarify on different types of lights that would be awesome)
and the seeds are Willy Jack Seeds(sprouting hoooorahhh)

Calcio - gotta go pick up some perlite but sounds like a good soil mix to me
Sproutco - Got some GLAD white garbage bags and some pins ready to be placed all over the room
jaco - fake door might be a possibility but im trying to keep it a little stealth... and a big wood door the doesnt belong might be hard to conceil, but definately, if it comes down to it, will do for sure

Anyone have any comments on my nuts/equip? is some of it not even worth using?

 

[sproutco]

Make sure to pin the garbage bags well to prevent fire. Growing in Coco and perlite will require you to add calcium,magnesium,sulfur, and micronutrients into your nutrients solution along with n p k you stated you had already. I wasn't sure if your nutrient concentrate contained these things. You will use little to no dolomite lime, that would have supplied your calcium and magnesium, in the soil mix. Perlite requires no lime because it has a high ph already. You will need to adjust the ph of your nutrient solution to 6 or slightly lower. Remember to plant your seeds soon and not let them get long "tails".

I finally figured out how to provide a link. I descibe making your own soilless mix in this thread. Might want to take a look.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=30755

 

[DanDaMan1]

Okay guys, I know I promised pics, but my cam is with my bro and I should have it back this friday.

Things are going well in the closet. I planted the seeds in individual pots and almost all (but 2) have some sort of sprout. I have a problem however some of the plants that had early sprouts out of the ground now have bends in their stems and the top where the four leaves are facing the soil. Any idea whats going on?

What sort of nuts should I be feeding them at this "seedling" stage?

When is it okay to put direct wind from a fan on the plants?

If some growers could help me with these quesitons that would be F'n awesome.

 

[Maj.PotHead]

What sort of nuts should I be feeding them at this "seedling" stage?

nutes as a seedling none i use none, i wait untill the 1st set of 3 prong leaf is out and the 2nd almost then i use a 1/4 dossage of what i use once a wk. i really dont believe nutes during veg are needed if you start off in a small container like 2x2x2 or 3x3x3inch you'll be transplanting about every 2wks after the seedling stage when the true 3-5-7 so on prong leafs come out. fresh soil has enough nutes in it to sustain the plants n/p during this amount of time 2-3 weeks. this grow i started off in 3x3x3 transplanted into a 2 liter soda bottle about 2.5 wks later into 2 gal grow bags

When is it okay to put direct wind from a fan on the plants?

i used a small not hard blown 3 inch fan right from the start ventilation is a key factor in a sucessful grow your must bring freash air into and exhaust the hot stale air out of the grow erea. a fan gently blown on the plants helps to promote strong sturdy branchs for them huge heavy fruits . object of proper ventilation for the grow is move 3-5 times the erea volume of air each miniute. you'll also want to look into a carbon scrubber weather ya buy 1 or DYI make it your gonna prolly need it. smell during flower for sure and maybe even veg like mine did

for ideas on ventilation and carbon scrubbers http://www.icmag.com/ic/forumdisplay.php?f=32

 

[treehuggers]

I really wanna know how this BW will turn up. Will follow this one...

Good luck!

 

[sproutco]

Make sure to pin those garbage bags good we don't wont a fire.

 

[Guest]

dude, fuck tin foil,emergency blankets etc etc, get yourself down to a hardwear store and get a bucket of ANTIFUNGAL MATT WHITE PAINT (for bathrooms)
shinny surfaces break up and scatter your light (refracting, not reflecting) in all directions makin it appear bright (hence the blinding glare off it), if you must pin something up get the proper stuff from a grow shop but in my experience matt white paint will give you better reflection than most products out there at half the cost, plus the antifungal stuff gives you peice of mind later down the line as a defense against mold,

NO OFFENSE & APPOLOGIES TO FOIL & BLANKET USERS, IM NOT SAYING IT DOSNT WORK, I JUST FIND THIS METHOD HAS MORE BENIFITS LONG TERM

 

[DanDaMan1]

Okay guys, disaster has STRUCK.
I knew something bad would happen on my first run.
8/10 seedlings have succumb to some sort of disease. Their plant tops have all fallen over and are facing the soil. Their stems have withered and turned brown. The top of the soil on most of the rotting plants has a white residue on it (maybe mold).

Anyone have any ideas on what the hell is going on!? I need to save my last 2 babies!

 

[Guest]

PICTURES.....ASAP, pleeeze

 

[Guest]

some form of quarantine might be a good idea until we have more info

 

[sproutco]

Was your soil mix sterile? Soilless mixes are usually sterile. Spraying seedlings with a fungicide like daconil 2787 using slightly less than the ornamental rate is always wise. Did you overwater? This will easily bring disease on. In the future, you can sterilize small amounts of soil in a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 200 degrees and no hotter.