ProductiveSmoker
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2006
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Well I've watched you all grow some beautiful plants, so now I'm going to give it a try! I am actually starting this journal a little late, it is now day 12 since they sprouted up through the soil. I used the wet paper towel method for germination and every one of my seeds sprouted.
I originally had them under a dual, 3' (30W each) flouro setup, which I had fairly close to the plants. I then decided I would be "safe" and move the lights up to 6" over the tops. That caused stretching, and by day 5 they were almost three inches of sheer stem. Needless to say, I wasn't pleased.
That same day I switched to my 400W HPS system, on an 18/6 cycle. I began with it about 3.5' over the plants and the stretching continued. At this point, the plants were in 1 gallon containers, except for one which germinated slightly later and was placed into a milk jug bottom, WITH NO DRAINAGE. Bad idea.
Day 8 - sliced some holes in the bottom of the milk jug, and realized I probably wasn't watering enough. I would wait until the soil was dry about two inches down and only add enough to get the roots wet, not let it run out the bottom. Starting today, I watered all the way through, probably had a half cup of water drain out of each pot. There was some yellow coloration on the proximal sections of the leaves, but that went away a couple hours later. I also moved the HPS bulb down to about 2' over the plants. This made it warm but from this point on it has held between 85-91 degrees F. The plants had new leaves almost overnight.
Day 10 - switched the lights to running at night, on from 7PM to 1PM as it is cooler and my apartment heats up in the day. Close the closet doors during the day, not light proof yet, but from what I have read that shouldn't be a problem during vegetation.
Day 12 - Plants are about 3.5" now, on average.
Day 13 - Milk jug plant is seriously flimsy. Moved the jug and the plant fell over - and it is my largest one! I cut 1" square holes around the bottom inthe same fashion as the professional 1 gallon pots I have and will see what happens. I think the soil needs to drain out better - those slits didn't work and I haven't added any perlite to the soil, will do that when I transplant. I ghetto-rigged a few chop sticks to hold it up for now, it can't even handle the fan. I read that the solution to weak stems that have been over stretched is to bury them almost up to the leaves when you transplant - anyone see any problems with that?
Setup:
Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil
400W HPS, dual 3' flouro that will go in later when foliage is dense
6 plants, 1 gallon pots (1 milk jug)
Fox Farms Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom, Grow Big all ready to go
In a closet, approximately 4' x 2', should be plenty tall
pH is ~6.8 according to my cheap little probe tester (not digital)
Watering every 2-3 days with tap water, next time will be with tap water that has sat out as I'm worried about the water being "hard". Don't have a way to test the water yet.
I originally had them under a dual, 3' (30W each) flouro setup, which I had fairly close to the plants. I then decided I would be "safe" and move the lights up to 6" over the tops. That caused stretching, and by day 5 they were almost three inches of sheer stem. Needless to say, I wasn't pleased.
That same day I switched to my 400W HPS system, on an 18/6 cycle. I began with it about 3.5' over the plants and the stretching continued. At this point, the plants were in 1 gallon containers, except for one which germinated slightly later and was placed into a milk jug bottom, WITH NO DRAINAGE. Bad idea.
Day 8 - sliced some holes in the bottom of the milk jug, and realized I probably wasn't watering enough. I would wait until the soil was dry about two inches down and only add enough to get the roots wet, not let it run out the bottom. Starting today, I watered all the way through, probably had a half cup of water drain out of each pot. There was some yellow coloration on the proximal sections of the leaves, but that went away a couple hours later. I also moved the HPS bulb down to about 2' over the plants. This made it warm but from this point on it has held between 85-91 degrees F. The plants had new leaves almost overnight.
Day 10 - switched the lights to running at night, on from 7PM to 1PM as it is cooler and my apartment heats up in the day. Close the closet doors during the day, not light proof yet, but from what I have read that shouldn't be a problem during vegetation.
Day 12 - Plants are about 3.5" now, on average.
Day 13 - Milk jug plant is seriously flimsy. Moved the jug and the plant fell over - and it is my largest one! I cut 1" square holes around the bottom inthe same fashion as the professional 1 gallon pots I have and will see what happens. I think the soil needs to drain out better - those slits didn't work and I haven't added any perlite to the soil, will do that when I transplant. I ghetto-rigged a few chop sticks to hold it up for now, it can't even handle the fan. I read that the solution to weak stems that have been over stretched is to bury them almost up to the leaves when you transplant - anyone see any problems with that?
Setup:
Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil
400W HPS, dual 3' flouro that will go in later when foliage is dense
6 plants, 1 gallon pots (1 milk jug)
Fox Farms Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom, Grow Big all ready to go
In a closet, approximately 4' x 2', should be plenty tall
pH is ~6.8 according to my cheap little probe tester (not digital)
Watering every 2-3 days with tap water, next time will be with tap water that has sat out as I'm worried about the water being "hard". Don't have a way to test the water yet.