My first grow - Gonna need all the help I can get

[Green Tucan]

Hello everybody this would be my first time growing cannabis ever! So anyways I want to talk a lil about my grow room first and then ill get on to how my plants are doing. Anyways here is a pic of my grow room or grow closet what ever you want to call it.

Basically I had a closet and I divided this closet into 2 areas... one for flowering and one for vegging. 400 watt MH on right side for vegging and 400 watt hps on left side for flowering. I kno ... I kno I should use reflectors for my lights but I had to remove them because it was making my grow room reach temps of 100+ F ... now with out the reflectors and my intake and 2 fans going on in each room the temp is about 80 degrees and 90 - 95 near the light. I am sorta scared because I am not sure how important it is to have a reflector so I just lined my walls and stuff with mylar hoping it would help and I think maybe just maybe I will be able to get the light to hang in the middle of the plants (to make up for not having a reflector) but I am scared to do that as I think it will make my plants to hot so for now I just gonna hang the light above the plants until I find out what to do. I have 11 plants that just poped up from the soil ... do I have enough light for all these plants? Also I am sorta crammed up on height due to how hot the light is and how low the grow area is so I guess I am going to have to LST all my plants my first time around. Also I have out takes for each room and 1 intake that blows air to both the rooms. Also I am pretty sure both rooms are light proof.... some very faded light can come thru the flowering side into the vegging side thru my intake holes but is barley notticable... can this be a problem? Anyways I think I pretty much explained the whole grow room to you guys so now lets get on to talking about my plants. I decided to start my plants under 2 cfls in their own lil pots and about 5 days later all 11 of my seeds sprouted.



So when should I put these babies under the MH ? right now or wait till they get a lil bigger under the cfls? does it matter? Anyways the strain I am growing is called "Millennium Bud" from drgreenthumb and it seems to be a pretty short plant based on the description.... it says it only get to 24" when flowered at a cutting height of 12" but on the outdoor side it said 3 to 5 feet... will this strain out grow my room or not at all? should I even worry about LST'ing? (i would say I have about 4 feet of vertical grow height) Anyways ive probally left out some stuff I wanted to say so please keep checking on my grow and please help me reach it to harvest. Thanks for reading
(p.s buying an air cooled reflector is not an option for awhile due to money limitations but i do plan on getting one in the future)

 

[bilbo baggins]

GreenTucan,
Congrats on your first grow. Looks like its coming along quite well. I would keep the lil' ladies under the CFLs until they get at least 3 sets of real leaves on them. Then transplant them to larger pots, put them under your big light and start fertilzing them with a weak solution.

I'm curious why you decided to divide your closed into 2 areas. The picture of your seedlings, is that a separate area? If it is, I would make this your veg/clone room and then flower in your main closet. Or are you considering perpetual harvest?

It does sound like you have a temp issue on your hands. Temps in the 90s are no good. Is your intake coming from a climate controlled area?

You're a lot farther along than I was on my first grow so props to you! I would suggest to you to take all the advice from the great people on this forum, but learn from experience and tweak your grow each time until you've got it "dialed in."

 

[Dr Dog]

Yeah looks like you have everything kind of figured out here, nice set up!
Hey just ask any of the regulars you see posting around here, they will be glad to help
Some really great folks hang out in these parts

Good luck with your grow!!

 

[Green Tucan]

ok the reason i split the room into 2 was because its the only area in the house no one will stumble uppon so i wanted everything in the same place and the seedings are under a cfl in a closet with no ventilation and just udner cfls i put up real quickly and a fan blowing air on them but i dont want to keep them in there because its a temp. solution to just start my plants. Would it hurt to just start them now under the MH and if not why not?

 

[Green Tucan]

Heres a lil update on the seedlings. They seem to be getting very tall. Is this normal or what should I do about this, transplant to different pots so I can put soil around the tiny stems or put sticks next to them to support them? Will they flop over? Also if I put them under the MH is there any rules to how far away a MH light should be away from seedlings?







Also on my seedlings the starter set of leafs are looking sorta funny/droopy.. as if they have been given too much water? or is it normal for the starter set of leafes to look funny? heres a pic

 

[Green Tucan]

Day 5 seedlings. Nice pics About 3 and a half feet under the 400 w mh now also

 

[D Rock]

those seedlings are streching for the light. You need to get the light closer to them so they wont strech so much.

 

[Green Tucan]

They were strecthing earlier because they searching for the 2 weak cfls i had up earlier but now there under a 400 w mh but i am scared to lower it because i do have heat problems. Its gonna remain high until my air cooled hoods come in. DO you think they are probally still strecthing right now for the light?

 

[Dr Dog]

Yes they are stretching for the light, do you have a fan you can blow on the bulb until the hoods come in? just something to get the air moving.

 

[blackone]

There might have been a misunderstanding here. They have probably stopped stretching now the MH is up. How long have you had them under the MH - and how are they developing now?

 

[Green Tucan]

Well they have been under the MH for about 28 hours now... I am doing a 24 hour light cycle until i get air cooled hoods and then take it down to 18/6 or is 20/4 better? Also I am not sure how to tell if they are still stretching or not. Anyways I watered some more pots again today because some of the soils finally became dry. I am still sorta confused on when to fertilize exactly. I have this fertilzer that says its for seadlings and its by DNF and has npk 2-0-2 in part A and also 0-1-3 in part B and it says to mix together and feed to cuttings 1/4 tsp of each to 1 litre. Would this be good to start with when they start to need nutes like when they are 2 weeks old I guess? Also I have another chemical fertlizer with npk of 7.5.6 and this is what I want to use later on when they are bigger .. so is it ok to change to differnt type of nnutes like that. And yes I have 2 fans blowing on the MH bulb lol and the temps are at 78-80 most of the time. and like 14% humidity. Also I heard that putting an air pump in the water to give the water extra oxygen is good to water ur plants with? Is that tru? Thanks if u can help me out and thanks for all ur help so far guys.

 

[Green Tucan]

oh and also since my seedlings streched so much they are pretty tall. I am scared to tranplant them into a bigger pot because I feal that I can make them a lil bigger in this pot and then transplant when the root ball has filled up these green ones and also I am scared to mess up the transplanting process and kill them or stress em. So can this stem being very tall be a problem? Do i abosuletly HAVE TO transplant now? Or if the stems get to big can i just support them with a stick until the plant can support it self in the case of the stem getting to long?

 

[Dr Dog]

I don't tend to feed plants until they are about 3 weeks old or so, normally once they have like three sets of leaves, some may argue, but that is what works for me. At that point I normally give them half of what is recommended.

 

[da-2B]

everything will be good

everything will be good

Also if I put them under the MH is there any rules to how far away a MH light should be away from seedlings?







Also on my seedlings the starter set of leafs are looking sorta funny/droopy.. as if they have been given too much water? or is it normal for the starter set of leafes to look funny? heres a pic

hey Green Turcan,

welcome on board @IC and congratulations on starting your first grow okay now let me see if i can answer some of your questions...

yes you have to pull the lights lower to your plants, cause their stretching for the light. if youre using cfls place them directly over your seedlings 5 - 10 cm, if your using the MH i recommned 40 - 60 cm if your plants still that small as on the pictures, when theyre 2 -3 weeks old 20- 30cm is the way to go, place your hand over them hold on for 20 sec. if temperatures is okay, trees will keep okay, also.the leafs lookin normal just chill smoke some and let them grow up...

I am doing a 24 hour light cycle until i get air cooled hoods and then take it down to 18/6 or is 20/4 better? Also I am not sure how to tell if they are still stretching or not. Anyways I watered some more pots again today because some of the soils finally became dry. I am still sorta confused on when to fertilize exactly. I have this fertilzer that says its for seadlings and its by DNF and has npk 2-0-2 in part A and also 0-1-3 in part B and it says to mix together and feed to cuttings 1/4 tsp of each to 1 litre. Would this be good to start with when they start to need nutes like when they are 2 weeks old I guess?

keep an eye on watering dont overwater them (most of us do it @ firsttime ),put your finger in the dirt, if soils drys out 3 - 5 cm deep then you have to waterthem , keep in mind that little plants cant drink big amounts of water...Me, like dr.dog says feeding them with nutrients or fertilizers is not necasseray in the first 3-4 weeks, of course you can get fertilizers for seeds in the market but the problem is that you can buy any kind of stuff there good or dont, for them only € $ is what counts. fertilizers and nutes are great at right time and dosage in most other cases you killing yield and your plants so that you got nothing @ the end...(in the worst case).
okay so far keep us updated and then well see it groin...

greeeeetz da-2B
(and plz excuse my bad ass english)

 

[MajLeeStoned]

no feeding the seedling

no feeding the seedling

As the Dr Dog and da-2B have said no feeding the seedling. I don't think transplanting now is good, just stake em till their big enough to be transplanted.

As all have already pointed out your light was likely too high. Lights almost can't be too close with floros. I have had floros touch with no burn. Also maybe the first time you watered a little too much as the top of the pots are just now drying. Remember: recovering from an over water takes days, recovering from an under water takes minutes. This is especially true with a small seedling in big pot. Over watering seedlings is often a cause for loss. Careful with a fan they need to be staked first. When you repot them you can burry the stem and plant deeper.

Keep on growin!

oh and also since my seedlings streched so much they are pretty tall. I am scared to tranplant them into a bigger pot because I feal that I can make them a lil bigger in this pot and then transplant when the root ball has filled up these green ones and also I am scared to mess up the transplanting process and kill them or stress em. So can this stem being very tall be a problem? Do i abosuletly HAVE TO transplant now? Or if the stems get to big can i just support them with a stick until the plant can support it self in the case of the stem getting to long?

MK-Ultra

 

[Green Tucan]

Well heres a couple more pics of my lil seedling babys. Also I am sorta wondering ... does the color look alright on the leaves? They are looking sorta yellow in the middle of the leaf or not or is that the regular color they should have? Also some of them are pretty tall. I may have to stake one of them to support it. These are 7 days old now. Also about how much longer until these guys stems start to fatten up you think?

 

[Dr Dog]

wow are they ever tall, you should start to see the plants stems thicken as they start to develop the next set of leaves. You should try and get some sort of air movement in there at that time then, not alot but enough for the plants to fell it, as they are gently swaying in the breeze, they will start to thicken up. I normally start with the air as soon as I can without them toppling over, with a small 6 inch desk fan on the lowest setting.

I am not completely sure, but the coloring of the leaves could have something to do with the height of the plants and getting the vital plant juices up such a climb, I would just stake them and let the rest of them catch up to the stems.

 

[Green Tucan]

there is definately air movement in there. In one of the pictures I think u can see my intake and that provides a nice breeze for my plants. Also theres 1 fan blowing just for air circulation and another fan to blow on the bulb to keep heat down. Also does any one know about the soil "Premier Pro-Mix BX" general purpose grow medium as thats the soil I am using for my plants. Is this soil ok for the plants? Just wondering because I just read this soil can cause ph problems. So should do anything about this? Also is it ok to keep my soil outside the house or can like bugs and stuff get and the soil and kill my plants later on?

 

[Dr Dog]

I can see the equipment, just not the air, just a little patience, I know it get a little frustrating when you see others that seem to have their plants doing better than yours. I have had the same happen as you are having now, the best thing to do is nothing; just wait it out.
You have about 4 months to grow your weed and not much to do while it is happening, so there is lots of time to do nothing.
try reading this thread http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=35636&highlight=lazy+growing

This dude has teh right idea, I try to follow what he does, seems to work for him

 

[Green Tucan]

Just wanted to show you guys my progress. I got really lazy to continue my log but i guess ill continue from here on. My babies have been in flowering for about a week now and I got 8 females out of 11 plants... the male plants are now dead. (lol it was fun killing male plants..) Anyways i had some ph problems but I think i solved that (hopefully lol). Heres a pic of my lovley ladies.



Also I havnt taken any clones yet... Is it too late to take a few clones from each plant? How many clones at max should I take from each plant with out hurting them if so?

Before I had my room split into 2 different areas but this was too much hassle with light proofing and crap so i just decided to make it 1 area so I would have room etc...