The adventures of Dirt

[chong420]

Alright after reading up a bit and finally coming to the conclusion to grow my own, due to the fact that i'm getting tired of buying as well as "connections" not coming through or for the simple fact that around here, it's pretty much dry..i've started with a 4 foot work shop light, burning two 48" fluoros (3400 lumens) in a 4' wide, 2' deep and 8 feet tall closet. Sprouted some bagseed, one came thru..i got excited and planted..so i only got one growing so far..put her in a tuppeware container thing with some miracle gro soil..don't know the specs on it..my girlfriend bought it last year..so that meant i didn't have to spend money on soil..the whole fluoro set up ran me about 40 bucks tops..(might get more fluoro's..that's if these damn seeds will ever sprout)..it sprang out last saturday..and today is wednesday..it's about 3" tall, about 3 inches away from the fluoro. been watering it everytime i feel that the soil is dry..or getting there at least..just kinda take it in the bathroom and run my hand under the faucet and sprinkle water on it until it looks pretty moisty..so far no problems..probably go back to Wally World this weekend and get another work shop light fixture..boosting the lumen to 6400..hopefully by then, i'll have more seedlings to put into the closet..i'll try to post pics, but my girlfriend broke my digi when we went to the beach last year..maybe some picture phone pics perhaps?

[Mutt]

you don't want to water that much. B. Grunt posted a great little article (somewhere) on overwatering. better read it. Lets see "dirt grow" good luck dude.Common newb mistakes. overwatering and over fertilizing. it is easier to fix underwatering and under ferting then the other way around. ;)

Click edit in the lower right of that post. and select delete then press the delete button. ;)

[chong420]

won't let me mutt..i can delet the replies..but not the actual post..what a crock..anyways..thanks for info..so i'll water, say every 2 days? she's still small..

[Mutt]

once a week for me. but depends on you relative humidty and temp. If you don't got a digital thermometer with a RH meter get one. wal-mart 5 bucks. While your there get some PH strips (10 bucks). (aquarium section). Trust me those things will come in handy.

[chong420]

ok..i came home and said, lets plant those other seeds..they didn't sprout, but the ones i did use were cracked and i could seed the sprout inside peeking out a bit..been like that for like a week already..so i said whatever and plant those suckers (dont' want dirt to be a male, so i want to increase my chances..plus i want to try and catch them up if they do grow, so they can flower together)..put in 'em some some tupperware things and into the soil..i'm thinking, maybe the nutrients from the soil will hurry them up out of the seed..might dig 'em up in a couple of days to see if they really did sprout, if not, i'll throw 'em out..but now i got four on the way (hopefully) and dirt..she just keeps on growing..all of 'em are about 3" inches away from the light..need to go buy a small desk or clip on fan so i can get some ventilation happening..it's not hot in there and the room the closet is in has a ceiling fan which is turned on all the time so air is circulating..but i've read that the circulation allows the stems to become more firmer so the plant will be able to support itself..we'll see what happens..

oh yeah, if you get a chance read "mikeys" grow journal...that poor kid..was funny though..his plants just looked awful..but he was determined..'til the ferret..lol..but good try anyways mikey, we all can learn from your grow experience..hope your next grow was righteous..

[chong420]

got the cam phone and took some pics of dirt..she's a week old..or maybe 6 days..i can't remember..but here she is..what do you guys think?

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

whats up chong420. your baby is looking good so far. keep up the good work and be sure to keep us updated on your progress.

[Mutt]

Kickass Chong420. That is the nicest looking "dirt" I ever seen. You'll get a kick out of it if its a female and tell your freinds. "All I got is some dirt weed" that gets em high as hell. :D

[Hick]

need to go buy a small desk or clip on fan so i can get some ventilation happening..it's not hot in there and the room the closet is in has a ceiling fan which is turned on all the time so air is circulating..but i've read that the circulation allows the stems to become more firmer so the plant will be able to support itself..

"Absolutely"..get a fan blowing across the plants just enough to constantly give the leaves a "shudder". It greatrly improves stem strength. You'll never have one grow tall 'n stringy and fall over.

[gqone333]

there easy to sprout in soil and keep them alive for the first 2 weeks ,but after that you have to treat them with special care,or they willl grow slow,or maybe die

[El Diablo Verde]

Also, make sure the container you have them in can drain. If you keep watering the soil, even if the top is dry, the bottom is probably soaking wet and if your roots sit in that, they will rot. If your "tupperware" doesn't have any holes, drill some in the bottom of the to compensate. one in the middle of the bottom and 3 or 4 other ones should do fine.(Of course, you need to plan on transplanting it sometime soon, lets say, within the next 4 weeks. After that, the root system will probably be too large and require a larger pot.)

[chong420]

thanks guys..yeah, i went ahead and "destroyed" the rest of the family...lol..i dug 'em up and saw nothing..but then again, i did do it yesterday..so i threw 'em out..then i took the seedling wannabe's that never want to sprout and threw 'em in the garbage..stupid seedlings..so now it's back to one..that's alright..yeah, i'll probably end up going to wally world later to get some stuff, i.e. bigger pot, to grow bigger pot..lol..get it? bigger pot to grow bigger pot?! i kill me..anyways, that and a fan..man i hope it's a female..i read somewhere, that if you plant your seed in at least 4" of soil, it's a female everytime..anyone hear of this? oh and check this out..i heard that for the summer the electricity bills are gonna go up like 72%..***!!..damn corporate greed..first the gas goes up like by double (almost 300 bucks a month) and now this? for crying out loud man!! i can't believe this..if it aint one thing its another..

[chong420]

and yes mutt, i do remember the analogy of squishing a pregnant woman's belly..but damn those seedlings!! they just kept teasing me..so i like to think that they were unable to grow anyways..(plus that keeps me from feeling guilty..stupid bag seedlings)

[Mutt]

Damn, I hope she turns out to be a girl for ya. Bagseed is such a pain in the ***.

[chong420]

thanks mutt..i hope so too..stupid bagseed..

[chong420]

i got bored and decided to put one of the "supposed" red spectrum bulbs in with the other one..so now one is a plant/aquarium bulb and the other a bath and kitchen bulb? ***? lol..maybe this will have some crazy side effect and it'll start "rapid" growth..i'm thinking of throwing in some birth control pills in the soil..anyone ever try that? i read it somewhere..don't know where though..grow guide? i dunno..

[chong420]

latest pic..gonna go to wally world to get that pot and fan..

[chong420]

got her a new home..

[Mutt]

Lookin good dude.

[chong420]

thanks mutt..means a lot to me coming from a "seasoned professional" as yourself..alright went to wally world and picked up another fluoro..this one is burning at 26watts/ 1700 lumens..making it a grand total of..(drumroll) 51K lumens! righteous..hopefully she'll start growing faster..(i hope)..plus i remembered to buy a fan for the room..so BAM..spending a grand total of 62 bucks and some change..another righteous!

[sicnarf]

Sup chong 420,

Please ditch the MG soil ASAP. I used it before I found out here that it pretty much sucks and troughs off PH levels and might cause your plant to experience nutrient problems. Don't use tap water, it has nasty **** in it that will/or can cause nutrient lock outs in the soil. Buy distilled water. That pot does not look too big. In a few weeks, before you flower and after the roots have developed more, transplant that hoe into a 5gal pot with pure organic soil (soil w/o nutes add to it). Buy Fox Farm nutes or shop online for some.

Oh yeah, I read in your post that you were going to rip you younglings out of the soil and check for roots. DONT. How are you going to put the plant back in the soil with out damaging the root growth...not to mention all the stress you will cause it. My bag-seed plant turned Hermi over stress I caused her...and she was a female clone. They hate stress, that's one thing I know for sure because it happened to me.

Wally World is cool and all but do this: Google: hydroponics store locations + "enter your city here" You can buy better **** at a hydro shop and really get some good advice from the ppl working there. I go in high to a local hydro shop where I live in The Misty Mountain Tops and chat with the stoned clerk about growing "tomatoes"...I don't know who talks more when I'm there the Hydro expert or the newbie hobbyist.

[chong420]

thanks sicnarf..yeah, i was messing around the yard and i found one of those 5 gallon buckets..several of 'em..so that's what i'll do..as far as those damn sprouts..yeah, i already got rid of 'em..dumb sprouts..they just kept messing around..and never fully cracked open..just kept teasing me..(maybe i'll sprout..maybe i won't)...but i got more seeds so it's cool..next time i'll try and sprout 5 instead of 40..what was i thinking? besides..i wouldn't be able to handle those many plants..thanks for the advice about the grow store too..found one..just googled it..although, they do kinda sketch me out a bit..cuz i really dont' trust anyone, y'know? plus i live in the city, so who knows who's watchin..damn cops..hows your hermie doing anyways sicnarf? you gonna keep it? can you still smoke it? i would..what about the leaves..can you smoke the leaves? i think you can, but not sure..anyone know? maybe i'll post it..

[chong420]

ok..i can see how that other compact fluoro that i added made a huge difference..hours after putting it in, i noticed that the plant started turning toward it..like it's leaves were trying to point to it..sooo..i went back to wally world to get another desk lamp to hit the plant on the other side, cuz i don't want her to start growing all crooked..but i'm thinking the shop lamp on top isn't really doing too much is it? cuz it's kinda far from the plant..what do you guys think? but then again it is pushing out the most lumen..anyways..now i got 6800 lumens in there..she'll have to grow now..plus i mounted the fan on the back of the door to blow directly on her..so far so good..for flowering, to compensate for those desk lamps, i think i'll just get another shop light and put it in there..

[chong420]

ok check this out...some kind of sticky residue was forming in the center of the plant..what is that stuff? i thin some water got caught in the middle of it and it starting to turn white..smelled kinda weird..so i cut the fan off..and took some water to take off the white gunk..was it sugars? thats what i think it was..like the water got trapped and the plant was producing sugars or something, cuz it was veggin'..i'll check it in the morning..

[chong420]

oh god..now it doesn't look too good..now its wilting..what the ****?? any suggestions..

[chong420]

here it is..

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

whats up Chong420. your baby isnt looking to healthy. what have you been giving it?

[Mutt]

Thats over watering dude. can see it a mile a way. not signs of fert burn just wilting. you got the soil too wet.

[Stoney Bud]

Put a thermometer at the same place as that seedling for an hour. The desk lamps you're using put off a hell of a lot of heat from the bulb. If your plant is getting over 90 degrees, it would also wilt and kill it.

[chong420]

is it mutt? i hope it is..cuz now she's shriveling up..***?? yesterday when i checked on her, she had some white gooey **** like trapped in the middle of the leaves where the new sets of leaves were coming up y'know..and i was like, what is this stuff? i think it was where water was just sitting there, cuz water was sitting on her leaves..so i decided to kinda take that stuff off..and when i did, she just started to wilt..man..this sucks..then last nite i checked on her before i went to bed..she looked like she was gonna spring back, but now this morning she's lookin' real shitty..man..this sucks the big one..but then again..if i can't save her, i can now sprout my 5 seeds..so that's a plus..man, this blows...i'm ready to pull her up and just roll her into a ball and smoke her..is she salvageable?

[chong420]

straight stoney..thanks for the advice..i killed the desk lamps and stuck her under the shop light..hopefully that'll revive her..i did notice that the desk lamps were pushin a little bit of heat out..but man, how can you explain that white sticky stuff? like i said she was fine, til i started rubbing that **** off of her, then BAM, she's takin' the stairway to heaven!..i thought that maybe with the water trapped in the leaves, the plant was producing some kind of food, starch, sugar or wotever and i took it away from it and started dying..yeah it was wierd..white sticky residue, that smelled like rubbing alcohol in a way..cuz during photosynthesis, doesn't the plant produce something like that? i gotta look into it..it's been awhile since i took a biology class..

[chong420]

"The intermediary reactions before glucose is formed involve several enzymes, which react with the coenzyme ATP (see adenosine triphosphate) to produce various molecules. Studies using radioactive carbon have indicated that among the intermediate products are three-carbon molecules from which acids and amino acids, as well as glucose, are derived. This suggests that fats and proteins are also products of photosynthesis. The main product, glucose, is the fundamental building block of carbohydrates (e.g., sugars, starches, and cellulose). The water-soluble sugars (e.g., sucrose and maltose) are used for immediate energy. The insoluble starches are stored as tiny granules in various parts of the plant–chiefly the leaves, roots (including tubers), and fruits–and can be broken down again when energy is needed. Cellulose is used to build the rigid cell walls that are the principal supporting structure of plants."

and i had a big 'ol glop of it..if that's what it was..i think i killed it..

[Stoney Bud]

From: waynesword.palomar.edu/chemid2.htm

Because of its hydroxyl (OH) groups, THC is technically an alcohol. It lacks nitrogen and is not an alkaloid.

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From the cached archives of "Overgrow.com":

It has long been known that the green part of plants, when exposed to light under suitable conditions of temperature and water supply, intake carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen into it. This gaseous exchange is the result of photosynthesis. The intensity, quality and daily duration of illumination all influence the amount of photosynthesis that takes place.

Each type of plant, whether it's sun-loving or shade-tolerant, has its own rate of photosynthesis. More photosynthesis appears to occur in the orange, short red and blue bands of the spectrum than in the green and yellow bands. In general, the longer the daily amount of illumination, the more photosynthesis will take place.
****
From: 1stmarijuanagrowerspage.com
Section 4: Factors affecting the rate of photosynthesis

There are other factors other than the obvious amount of light that reaches the plants that affect the rate of photosynthesis. These can be manipulated by the grower to achieve maximum speed of growth and larger yields in a shorter period of time.

Humidity

The humidity in the enviroment is the amount of water vapor present in the air. Most growers know that humidity in excess of 85% percent increases the probability of the appearance of bud mold. The humidity is also critical during germanation when the seedlings are extremely fragile. Humidty should be kept over 80% at this stage in the plants life to prevent the soil from drying too fast. Experimentation has shown that a relative humidity of 65% to 80% increases growth rate. Below this level the plants develop extremely narrow and tissue paper thin leaves to try to prevent excess loss of water. Above 80% relative humidity the plant have trouble disposing of toxic chemicals through evaporation.

Temperture

Marijuana can survive tempertures from 32 degrees F to over 100 degrees F. Cannabis will grow best with a temperture of 70 to 75 degrees F day and night. Higher than 90 degrees F the enzymes within the plant begin to breakdown and photosynthesis is affected. The same is true for low tempertures.

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a gas that is essential for the light reactions in all plants that carry on photosynthesis. CO2 is absorbed through the leafs stomates and is combined with water and light energy to form glucose (used by the plant as energy) and oxygen (which is released). Therefore supplementing CO2 to the existing amount in the air will speed up photosynthesis and therefore, growth will occur faster. Experimentation has also shown that CO2 can help marijuana toloerate higher tempertures (up to 95 degrees F) with little affect on the rate of photosynthesis.

Water

Although only a small portion of water absorbed by the plant is used in photosynthesis a shortage of water does affect the rate photosynthesis occurs. This happens because when the plant is low on water the stomates on the leaves close preventin the release of waste gases and other toxic chemicals. This closure will severely slow down or even stop photosynthesis from occuring.

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From: www.greenmanspage.com/guides/indoorv1.html (http://www.greenmanspage.com/guides/indoorv1.html)

Over watering marijuana is very harmful to growth rate.
****

[chong420]

thanks stoney..so i'm thinking its the almost the end for dirt..still contemplating on whether to pull her..ima smoke it..stem and all..pulled five more seeds, stuck 'em in a moist paper towel and put 'em in a empty dvd case and tossed 'em on top of the stereo that's always playing..hopefully they'll sprout..cuz when they do and dirt is still looking crazy..ima 'bout to go Dr. Kevorkian on her..

[Stoney Bud]

thanks stoney..so i'm thinking its the almost the end for dirt..still contemplating on whether to pull her..ima smoke it..stem and all..pulled five more seeds, stuck 'em in a moist paper towel and put 'em in a empty dvd case and tossed 'em on top of the stereo that's always playing..hopefully they'll sprout..cuz when they do and dirt is still looking crazy..ima 'bout to go Dr. Kevorkian on her..If you like, and you're able to use a hydro ebb and flow, I'd be glad to help you design one for your application. It's easy. Costs more than the other ways, but only once.

[chong420]

dirt is dead..i pulled her up..she was drying out and looked horrible..so i balled her up and smoked her..well some of her..she tasted harsh..lol..took two tokes and that was all i could handle..i think a headache is starting to come over me..

[El Diablo Verde]

My suggestion to you would be to read an online grow guide and then go to the pic secyion and try to find somebody with a full grow journal. They are usually contain good pics of a naturally progressing plant.