First Grow "Slow grow"

[dontlockmeup]

Cool man. you can't take advice from just anyone here either. I would say you are pretty safe listening to Stitch though. Just look through some threads here and you will see the reputation he has. Do that with anyone you are taking advice from here. Look at their post or in their picture galleries to see if they have proven themselves enough. This might help you be more confident in the advice you are recieving.

I learned a lot here before I ever joined, and never had to post a thread here in the infirmary until recently. Don't be afraid of the search button. it may take you a little more time on the computer but you can learn a lot by looking at other peoples problems/questions.

I had to do some gardening today. I had a small cutting that was pretty darn dry and droopy (holidays had me busy). I took some pics to show you that it is o.k. for them to dry out. I wouldn't let them dry out this much everytime. I should have gone and watered yesterday.

 

[dontlockmeup]

here she is before watering.


here she is 1/2 hour after watering




here she is 1 hour after watering.




Like I said it's probably not the best thing to have them dry out this much but it rebounded pretty fast. It's better for your plants to look like this once a week than to have them turn yellow and die.

It occurred to me that your definition of overwatering might be askew. What we mean by overwatering is that you are watering them too often, not that you are giving them too much water when you water.

 

[Rinweed]

GREAT pics man, thanks for the references. I might not be able to get the camcorder tonight, but I should have it early in the morning.

 

[Rinweed]

Pic time. Notes:

The two tallest plants got accidentally watered by someone else, but just barely, so I am letting them dry out. The rest are drying out from my last watering late night on the 24th.

 

[MynameStitch]

Thanks for the mad props dontlockmeup; big time bro

Yes, dont did some very nice pics for ya man; peeps here can be very helpful; we do get fustrated because of stubborn peeps and people refusing to answer questions, but want there answers answered!

As for your plants now, see how tall and lanky they are? You need to keep your lighting much much closer; they won't stretch like that if you do; the seedling stage is the most critical; because once they stretch they stay that way and when flowering time comes; you will have to tie her up when she gets buds.....

 

[Rinweed]

Thanks for the mad props dontlockmeup; big time bro

Yes, dont did some very nice pics for ya man; peeps here can be very helpful; we do get fustrated because of stubborn peeps and people refusing to answer questions, but want there answers answered!

As for your plants now, see how tall and lanky they are? You need to keep your lighting much much closer; they won't stretch like that if you do; the seedling stage is the most critical; because once they stretch they stay that way and when flowering time comes; you will have to tie her up when she gets buds.....

Should I just top her instead? I fear she will keep growing. The light when not taking a picture is 1 1/2" in. from the head of the plant I just installed a fan for a gentle breeze inside the box for the stems.


I'm going to my local nursery tomorrow and spending my 20% off coupon. I'm already going to pick up perlite, and hopefully some kind of nitrogen based fertilizer. If I should get anything else for the long run let me know I'd love not to make two trips

 

[dontlockmeup]

Honestly if I was just growing random bag seeds that didn't cost me anything then I would just abort them now. I would hold onto my cupon and I would take the next week to read as many threads on indoor organic growing here, check out some soil and fertilizer recipes and look at pictures of actual grows with the recipes and maybe look for some threads where compact floro's are used for lighting. After you do some research you will be a much more educated gardener and most likely have more success.

I think you may have missed the best piece of advice I have given you to date. That is "don't be afraid of the search button". I'm serious Man there is a lot to learn here. I'm not trying to be a dick when I say this but no person here is going to hold your hand through a grow. You need to put in some study time. wade through all the bullshit and figure out what is right for you. someone will be here to help you when you really need it. I bet if you put in enough study time you will need little to no help.

Don't take this as an attack but you have been some what wishy washy when giving info on your grow. For example first you were watering every 6-8 hours, then it was every 2-3 days, and you also said your lights were aprox. 5" above the plants then 1 1/2"(1 1/2" is good by the way). You need to be completely honest about things when you use the infirmiry. Remember People are here to help you not judge you. I think, like most growers, you were having a hard time in the begining admitting that it was something you were doing. You wanted so bad to be doing the right thing and instead accepting the responsibility you tried to blame the plants problems on other issues like poor soil. Just my observation and I'm just calling it as I see/read it. You can see though that even with your indiscrepencies we still continue to try and help you.

Peace and good luck

 

[green_grow]

you are getting good advice from stitch and dontlock ... just thought i would chime in on the lighting. if i understand correctly, you only have 1 x 23w cfl in there . that is fine for a clone or a small seedling, but your plants are big enough to be wanting more light now. if you had the bulb 5" away that would DEFINITELY account for the stretch (1 1/2" is fine, as already mentioned ... you can even go closer if you want).

also, again regarding stretch ... on my very first grow i placed an incandescent next to my cfl, thinking that the extra light would be beneficial . big mistake; i found out later that the incandescents give off a spectrum that makes the stem elongate. my seedling was sooooo tall that it couldnt stand up.

 

[dontlockmeup]

incadescents also give off a lot of heat and could have helped account for the stretch.

green grow is right though one floro is not going to get it done for a complete grow. you might be able to grow one little bud with that light. So you might as well flower your plant when it has 5 nodes.
Step it up and buy at least a 400 watt halide or 600W sodium light system. If your garden store sells lights use your cupon on one and save a few more bucks that way. when you get into bigger lights you have to deal with the heat they give off. You'll need some way to vent your grow and get new fresh cooler air back into your grow space, so exhuast fans become a must have.

 

[Rinweed]

incadescents also give off a lot of heat and could have helped account for the stretch.

green grow is right though one floro is not going to get it done for a complete grow. you might be able to grow one little bud with that light. So you might as well flower your plant when it has 5 nodes.
Step it up and buy at least a 400 watt halide or 600W sodium light system. If your garden store sells lights use your cupon on one and save a few more bucks that way. when you get into bigger lights you have to deal with the heat they give off. You'll need some way to vent your grow and get new fresh cooler air back into your grow space, so exhuast fans become a must have.

Good deal then, as tomorrow I'll go pick up 3 more 23W fluros. for veg. I just installed a fan inside to keep it cool for later on, right now the temp is fine. YES, I did start the two back ones on a older light, for heat and light reasons, so now I probably know why they're lanky compared to the rest. I switched it out like a week of use. Sadly my nursery doesn't sell lighting I think, but I'll pony up later and buy a HPS light and shroud. Should I just spend the dough and get a reflector and one MH bulb for veg right now though?

 

[green_grow]

depends on how you want to grow. i am a fan of microgrows and i see a lot of people running successful grows using cfl's . i use 1 x 150w hps plus 2 x 23w cfl in my flower cab. in veg i use only 3 x 23w cfl . this low power grow produces more ganja than i can smoke, but then , i am a lightweight smoker and i grow non-stop. if you want to harvest a big crop and then shut down for a while you will definitely want more light. by the way ... how big is your grow space? that is a major consideration when determining light needs.

 

[Rinweed]

4x2x3(height). I think I am gonna go with 2 4 Feet 2-tube Fluorescent T8 fixtures. Then A 600 W HPS for flowering. I just don't know which kind to get for the HPS. Also, if anyone knows a good nitrogen supplement thats fairly commercial, since my nursery only carries generic stuff, I'd love to hear as I'm going tomorrow.

 

[dontlockmeup]

You can get a 600w hps but it wont really be that efficient for your space. you would only be able to grow 6" tall budded mature plants . if you think about it with only three feet head space you need 8-12" for your light hood/reflector you need another foot from the canopy to the light(if your light is vented) that leaves you with 12" for your pots(6-10") and plants.

Let me make a suggestion. as much as I hate wal-mart (I think I saw the at fred meyers too) they sell regular plant/aquarium lights that are meant for installation under a cabinet like in your kitchen. the lights are made by lights america. they are 2' long and come with bulb ready to plug in for less than $9 a piece. buy a bunch of these remove the defuser lense that comes on them so the bulb is exposed to the plants and use them. you'll have to make some sort of frame you can mount all of them to it, one that will allow you to raise and lower them.I made a frame out of pvc. I used these for my first ever grow. I grew one plant and it turned out fine. Though I've replaced the bulbs since then I now use the fixures for cuttings. I recommend these because (and you'll see when you go shop) the whole fixure w/bulb is about them same price as just the bulb and once you have enough room to step up to a bigger light you already have lights for clones and vegging.

Go back and read this whole thread over again.
I'm beginning to feel like you are missing/ignoring the good advice you recieve and instead you are just gonna do what you're gonna do. That's fine it's your garden but you have a lot to learn.

I'm done with this one. Good luck.
Peace Out.