first time.. grow setup

[Bleek187]

so heres what i got.. and remember that i have no idea what im doing.. just did a lot of reading and went with it..
Ive got my plants growing in rockwool cubes. started with 1.5"X1.5".. transplanted them into the 4"X4" cubes.. i have a 5gal bucket i keep the water N with a pump that feeds them 2 times a day for 15m.. the water drains back into the bucket so i never hafta mess with it.. i have them growing under 1 Maxlite 25w = 100w compact incandescent fluorescent, Daylight, Spiral light.. whatever all that good stuff means.. for buding, when i get to that, i have the same type of bulb except its a Warm white.. 1800Lumens/25w.. i have the light set for 18h on and 5h off with 1h of light in the middle of the dark time.. I also have the walls lined with mylar..
im using General Hydroponics FloraMicro/ FloraGro/ FloraBloom advanced nutrient system.. when my plants were about 2 weeks or so old i started feeding them the nutrients.. i gave them half of what it said on the bottle for "vegetative growth stage.. when they were about a month old i started giving them full strength nutrients.. i realized they were geting 2 much when they started turning yellow and brown on the leaves.. i cut it back in half and they are doing much better now..
both of my plants are about 7 weeks old now.. one of them is 13" tall.. the other is 6".. they were both just random seeds from some reg so maby thats why one is so tall and the other so small.. i decided to just use reg seeds for my first grow being as how i dont really know what im doing and would rather get it down good b4 i try to grow something of quality.. i also decided to try what ive seen from someone else on here as far cloning.. i got a tupperware tub and glued some air stones to the bottom.. i drilld some 1/2" holes and slid in some 2" strips of 1/2" hose.. so in a few more weeks im gonna give that a try and hopefully get some nice clones..
And that is pretty much my set up..

 

[Bleek187]

Pix

 

[Bleek187]

pix

 

[Bleek187]

so lemme know what U guys think.. and your advice.. thanks

 

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

OK your plants are stretched a bit and that can be due to lack of light and the light not being close enough. You should have atleast 3,000 to 5,000 lumens per square foot of growing space during veg. If you go down to the light section there is a post that will help you calculate the lumens you have per square foot. Your also gonna need more lighting when it comes time for flower. Other than that your babies are looking great. Here is some GREEN MOJO for the babies.

 

[hgih]

i think you wanna get rid of that felt and use mylar or panda film you increase your chance of mold with that felt and i think you should just use straight 18/6 i beleive your stressing them out with that hour of light during there dark cycle

 

[Bleek187]

yea thats prolly a good idea about the felt.. ill change that to mylar tonight.. and i read somewhere that the hour of light during the dark cycle would produce more females.. just what i read somewhere so i have no idea how true that is.. Also i added another 1800L bulb so i doubled the light they are geting now

 

[Bleek187]

ok i switchd out tha felt for the mylar and i like it alot better already.. didnt realize how much brighter it would be with mylar on the bottom like that.. i also added the extra 1800L light so.. these pix arnt that great but heres the update pix

 

[Bleek187]

ok so.. i took a cliping from one of my plants.. the plant was 7w old when i took the cliping.. i cut off a cliping about 4" long not including the leaf.. i then put it in a cup of water and cut a 45 degree angle on the end while underwater... i dipd it in some rooting gel and stuck it in the bubble cloner i made.. the next day i looked at the clone and it was laid over and looking dead so i put a dome over it and spreayd the inside of the dome.. that was yesterday.. so today when i looked at it.. the clone has stood back up and while the leaves are still drooping it looks ALOT better than it did yesterday..

here are some pix

 

[Hick]

i read somewhere that the hour of light during the dark cycle would produce more females.. just what i read somewhere so i have no idea how true that is.

..WoW!!..interupting the light cycle will induce hermies...not females.
I think someone else posted, reading that non-sense in HT.

 

[bombbudpuffa]

ok so.. i took a cliping from one of my plants.. the plant was 7w old when i took the cliping.. i cut off a cliping about 4" long not including the leaf.. i then put it in a cup of water and cut a 45 degree angle on the end while underwater... i dipd it in some rooting gel and stuck it in the bubble cloner i made.. the next day i looked at the clone and it was laid over and looking dead so i put a dome over it and spreayd the inside of the dome.. that was yesterday.. so today when i looked at it.. the clone has stood back up and while the leaves are still drooping it looks ALOT better than it did yesterday..

here are some pix

Try putting it in the dark for an hour or so, seems to help.

 

[Bleek187]

..WoW!!..interupting the light cycle will induce hermies...not females.
I think someone else posted, reading that non-sense in HT.

yea im not exactly sure where i got that from.. it was ether on here somewhere or some "how to" grow site.. sence then i changed the lights to 24h a day... if anyone knows tho... plz lemme know if 24h is better worse or not any dif than 18/6........ thanks

 

[bombbudpuffa]

Thats interupting the light cycle during the dark period of flower that induces hermies. I meant put your clone in the dark for an hour when it starts to die. In about an hour your leaves will be standing again then put her back under 24 hour lighting.

 

[Hick]

bleek...I'm with the 24/0 school. It works best for me. There are those that believe plants "need" a dark period, which is "reasonable". I simply am not one of them.
I run flo's on 24/0 but prefer a short dark period with HID's, more for the bulb and ballasts benefit.

 

[Bleek187]

yea i have them on 24/0 now.. i figured if there in Veg theres really no point in a dark cycle.. and honestly sence switching to 24/0 i think the plants have grown alot more.. maby not taller but they filld out alot more for sure..
so my plants are almosst 8w old now... and i have been reading alot about sexing.. i know that the only way to be sure is to bud them or clones of them but... ive seen alot of things about how they can show there sex while still in veg... but i really dont see any of the signs of ether M or F... just wondering if that is Bullshizzle or what?

 

[hgih]

it'll eventualy show you the sex in veg after some time depends on the strain

 

[Hick]

IME, around week 6-8 and at the 4th or 5th node, to see the first indications of preflowers. Preflowers can be tricky...for even the experienced eye, to "definately" determine their sex.
If there is 'any' doubt, a few days of 12's will determine for sure.

 

[Bleek187]

alright.. heres where im at now... both my plants are about to turn 8w old... i have been looking at them alot to see if i can tell the sex and from what ive gatherd from here.. i think they both may be F.. hopefully =) i have taken a clone from both plants now... so now im trying to figure out how i want to do this.. i was thinking about taking 2 clones from each plant and just flowering both of the mothers to get some product.. then i would have clones from both plants already 8ws old and ready to flower when the other ones got done.. BUT.. now im thinking about flowering the 2 clones first.. because if one is a M and one is a F i dont want to have 2 M clones when i could have had 4 F... if that makes any sence at all...

so basicly my question is this... i took a clone of one plant 6 days ago.. the other plant i took a clone of 2 days ago.. they are both doing pretty good but arnt rooting yet.. and what im wondering is when can i flower them to find out the sex? do i need to wate till a perticular age or can i go ahead and do it now? id like to do this ASAP so i can get to the good stuff...

OH and thanks everybody for all the advice.. you guys have helpd me out ALOT

 

[Bleek187]

New pix

 

[Hick]

alright.. heres where im at now... both my plants are about to turn 8w old... i have been looking at them alot to see if i can tell the sex and from what ive gatherd from here.. i think they both may be F.. hopefully =) i have taken a clone from both plants now... so now im trying to figure out how i want to do this.. i was thinking about taking 2 clones from each plant and just flowering both of the mothers to get some product.. then i would have clones from both plants already 8ws old and ready to flower when the other ones got done.. BUT.. now im thinking about flowering the 2 clones first.. because if one is a M and one is a F i dont want to have 2 M clones when i could have had 4 F... if that makes any sence at all...

so basicly my question is this... i took a clone of one plant 6 days ago.. the other plant i took a clone of 2 days ago.. they are both doing pretty good but arnt rooting yet.. and what im wondering is when can i flower them to find out the sex? do i need to wate till a perticular age or can i go ahead and do it now? id like to do this ASAP so i can get to the good stuff...

OH and thanks everybody for all the advice.. you guys have helpd me out ALOT

I see alternate nodes on at least one of the cuttings, and I "believe" I see them on at least one of the plants. "I" would flower the plants as soon as I was convinced that the cuts will survive. I would probably, also take another cutting or two from the lower branches within the next cpl of weeks. Haveing an extra clone around to flower, while one grows out to be a donor, is nice to have..