True Ignorance...

[houseoftreasure]

After a number of failed efforts, my other half has decided to leave the grow process up to me, and to become my contruction crew/taste tester. The thing is, I don't care to have the same results he was having. I'm looking at some beautiful starts on here, and ours never quite got that far.

We woud get germinated, and even planted and growing, but our plants never grew any leaves. Instead, the stem of the plant would grow taller and taller until it finally fell over and died. This whole process would take about a week to two weeks, though we had one plant last three whole weeks and grew two sets of leaves at about 9", then fell over.

My question is, what was he doing wrong? I would really like to avoid repeating the same mistakes, as seeds are not exactly plentiful right now, and we want some freaking ganga for our efforts!

Any advice woud help. Here's some info. The plants were all planted in MiracleGro houseplant soil, and watered when needed. We had the lighting on a 12/12 cycle, and fans on the plants. The fans seemed to move the plants, but we later discovered they were not all that effective as blowers. Could this have been the problem? Temperature was 60-75ish, and they had their own cabinet home.

How do we make leaves grow, instead of stems! Help! I have my latest victim germinating, and I'd rather enjoy the fruits of my labor then condemn the poor thing.

Thanks for any help!

 

[bluealein56]

what kind of lights are you using? probably your biggest problem to begin with im gonna guess hardly ever water after it sprouts. only when its really dry. really you should spend all of your time reading all the links on here. this where most of us all started out. and theres alot of people on here with alot of knowledge so read this and then ask all you want.:welcome:

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9396

 

[Lemmongrass]

wrong, weak kind of lights and having them too far away.

that soil isnt that great to use.

read the stickies in the different forum areas dude, you can learn everything we will tell you here, then come back for specifics relating to your grow!


edit: damn, shouldn't have spellchecked, blue beat me to it.

 

[bluealein56]

:woohoo:

 

[houseoftreasure]

I have been reading for pretty much the entire day, and didn't find this particular answer, so decided just to ask. The information is so scattered and disorganized (I get it, it's a discussion board, shrug) and conflicting that I'm having a difficult time making sense of it.

I'll keep muddling my way through, but by the time I find the information I need, my poor bean is going to suffer the same fate as the others.

Thanks for the input. Will look into the soil issue.

 

[bluealein56]

I have been reading for pretty much the entire day, and didn't find this particular answer, so decided just to ask. The information is so scattered and disorganized (I get it, it's a discussion board, shrug) and conflicting that I'm having a difficult time making sense of it.

I'll keep muddling my way through, but by the time I find the information I need, my poor bean is going to suffer the same fate as the others.

Thanks for the input. Will look into the soil issue.

Well lets start here. What kind of light do you use?
if we know this we can begin to start helping ya out. Also, look at some organic soils that have zero nutrients in them. That way you can add nutes as you go. Miracle grow has time relseased nutes which can be hazardous cause everytime you water your soil releases nutes and those young seedling dont need fertz. this is one thing that can be killing them. try to keep temps around the 70 -80. once seeds break soil and sprout you should not water until the soil is completely dried out.

 

[420benny]

What lights were you using? How far away from the plants?

 

[mikepro88]

and even if u have the right light ur doin 12/12 thats for flower dont worrie hahaa u dont even want to hear my first story haha

go 24 hours or 18/6 light

but if ur like me and cant afford much to go wallmart and ask for the cheapest soil its like a buck or 2 and get some disstoilled (sp) watter and add about a shot of tap watter because of something the disstiled water has some thing tht wont let the plnt take in nutes ( so ive heard) and theres your start

Now the light umm i use CLF's thats the little spiral lookin bulbs mine puts out like 150w at 1700 lummiuns or some thing and u can put that light for real like half an inch from your plant you kinda have too if its like even 5 inches it wont do anygood yo ummm i cant think of any thing elce if u got paper to spend get a ph tester and some nuts and yeah send me some stuff too haha any thingelce just ask its what this place is for

 

[houseoftreasure]

First of all, thank you thank you thank you!

I am not sure what the lighting was, as we left it behind in Illinois, but I am sure you are right that it was not the right kind. We are looking to purchase gro-lux lights. Seems to be a concensus in this universe that they are best. Is that wrong?

Also, bluealien, thanks so much for the information on the soil. I was not aware of that about Miracle Grow, since my houseplants love it so much. I will look for the nutrient free soil, and obviously have a lot to learn about fertilizer.

I know they were probably being overwatered. I am aware of the need not to drown the plants, and will keep this always in mind. Thanks for the tip.

I was trying to be not too intrusive on the process, as it was his project, and so I am basically starting as a houseplant green thumb turned pot farmer. I want to grow in my 2ft by 8ft bedroom closet, turning it into a tiny grow room. I would like to do 12 plants at a time (based on other advice I got from the wonderful folks here. ). By our math that makes 80,000 lumens necessary (of course, none of the websites that sell these lights list lumen information.) What lights do I need? How many, what kind, how close to plant? Do I need to line the closet with anything, or can I just hang the lights and cover up the carpet?

Here's the little that I do know. I know the closet needs a full cleaning and sterilization. I know we need ventilation, and to monitor the temperature and humidity. I also know that we need to use the right fertilizer mixes, and the ratios will change over the growth of the plant. (Still learning about this part.) I am confused about light cycles as every thread and every web page seems to have conflicting information, but I suppose that experimentation and a willingness to learn from the mistakes of myself and others will help me figure that out.

Any advice will be taken and researched, and I would definitely love to hear about the failures of others and the lessons learned to avoid making the same mistakes.

Thanks, everyone for the free advice. If you live nearby after I harvest, come on over for a toke!

 

[mikepro88]

theres 2 stages for light veg and flower veg needs more light at a time thats why i said 24 or 18/6 flower needs 12/12 to make the plant think its getting late in the year and bla bla bla from what ive read a hps is what u need to flower ( i wouldnt know im poor ) really big buds but cfl's are fine to veg in just get some and get them CLOSE like right up on it

 

[420benny]

Have you looked in the Lighting section here? Lots of good info to answer your questions. Read the stickies. Lumens are talked about.

 

[houseoftreasure]

benny--

I did. It made me more confused...lol. The assumption there is that you actually know something before you start reading. I meant what I said about the ignorance. I've had beautiful houseplants, but I never intended to smoke those. Now I have to start like a complete ignoramous, and have to grasp the basics before I can understand WT-heck is being discussed there.

How do we know how many lumens are being put out by what? The websites I'm visiting are talking about wattage and light spectrums, not lumens.

sigh...the things we do for our buds...

 

[curiouscat420]

it should say right on your bulb package how many lumens it puts out...

your best bet is to find a grow shop in your area...

then decide your grow space and let us know here, then we can tell you what kind of light is best for THAT particular space...

ocne you get your light and light ballast, soil, nutrients, fan and space... a timer powerbar and your set!

its all about the light...
find a grow shop if you can. that the best place to start... there is a link here...

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24338

this might help you find a shop in your area...


what size of area do you have? 2 x 3? you said it was a closet so a 400W or 600W HPS would be sweet ... get some nice lush ladies out of that...

 

[cadlakmike1]

If you have not already found this link, here. From here you can click on other links and learn a lot.

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9396

Do not over complicate things for yourself. Growing pot is surprisingly easy. Once you have given the plant the basic things she needs, she'll do all the hard work and magic for you.

A 600 watt HPS would be sufficient for that area and depending on brand, ballast, etc... would give you around 5000+ lumens per square foot.

 

[cadlakmike1]

she said 16 sq foot.

 

[houseoftreasure]

Woohoo! Those links were awesome, and I am putting them to good use right now!!

Also, where I live there is not a lot of chlorine in the water, but I know there is flouride. Is this going to hurt my plant, and what can I do about it?

 

[cadlakmike1]

I pour my water and let it sit out for a day or two. This allows some of the chemicals to evaporate. The most important thing with water is PH. Do not add dechlorinaters to your water, but do adjust your PH to 6.8 or so, assuming you're sticking with growing in dirt.

If you are willing to spend the money you can buy distilled water, or even better RO water, unless you're willing to put a reverse osmosis system in your home. It would give you cleaner water for both you, and all of your plants.

 

[houseoftreasure]

I pour my water and let it sit out for a day or two. This allows some of the chemicals to evaporate. The most important thing with water is PH. Do not add dechlorinaters to your water, but do adjust your PH to 6.8 or so, assuming you're sticking with growing in dirt.

If you are willing to spend the money you can buy distilled water, or even better RO water, unless you're willing to put a reverse osmosis system in your home. It would give you cleaner water for both you, and all of your plants.

The reverse osmosis thing... would not be required here... Salem water is one of the cleanest in the world... but we were just concered about the specific effects of flouride... I would imagine that just letting it air out for a day or two, as you said you do, would be fine for the flouride evaporation...

Thanx so much for all your input... Stay tuned for progress of her first attempt, as I am sure to stay the hell away from it! LOL

 

[cadlakmike1]

Glad to help. I hope everything works out for the both of you. I forgot to mention earlier, welcome to the site.

If you are interested there is a section here named grow journals, if you start a journal on here and regularly update it with pics people will be able to diagnose and help if a problem does arise.

Just be sure to continue doing research before you even attempt to start a seed. Read as many threads as you can, completely set up your grow room and let it run for a few days with no plants in it. This will allow you to see if there are any problems(overheating, timer not working, etc...)before you risk killing plants.

If you decide to partake in the grow I don't think you'll kill them. You were both uninformed and are now taking the right steps to fix the problems. If you do both have your hands in the grow, make sure to keep a good log of when they were watered and fed nutrients so that you don't accidentally overwater/feed.

Good luck, I'm sure we'll see ya'll around.

 

[curiouscat420]

what is nice about these grow shops is they will provide you with everything you will need... most will anyway... to be less "obvious" you can do your research here and just go in looking for what you need, get it and get out... (some people are nervous in grow shops) .

I use tap water... it is really cheap...hehe... but i also use something called pH Down. it is phosphoric acid to bring my 8.5 pH tap water to a nice 5.5-6.0 (for aeroponics, not soil) . That is a HUGE thing, your pH... know your pH...

also, learn about the difference between male and female plants 'house', find out why you need females and why you do NOT want males even more than you think... (did you know that ONE male plant can ruin unlimited females!!!) -

cadalak is right, get your stuff together and in a line and discuss what you need BEFORE you germ... and since you have started germing, lets get er goin for ya!

here is some mojo - :bong: