First Grow Ever. Very Excited!

[NewbieG]

So I started germinating about 3 weeks ago... Went miserably. All but one of my seeds didn't make it, but after about 50 bag seeds I finally have winner!!! I'm trying to germinate more seeds with the information I now have and am very excited about my one plant! It is currently sitting by the window, picking up what little sun it can get, BUT I should have a 400Watt HPS/MH system comming in some time in the next week or two. Right now I'm just enjoying watching little BJ (Bob Juana... ya we named it) grow like a weed haha get it??... I can't wait to see if the new seeds germinate (god I hope so!) and can't wait till I get little BJ under that HPS light in its little grow closet. Just so you guys know, I'm using Miracle grow, and I heard its pretty harsh for young plants, but this one seems to be doing great! I can't wait to see where this goes! It seems like its growing an inch or two a day! I plan on doing 24 hours a day lHPS light as soon as the set up comes in. This will hopefully be a very good little plant .

 

[NewbieG]

Well after real life took a nice chunk out of my life I'm back. I've ordered a 400 watt HPS/MH system that should be in in 3 days. Plant number 1 is doing very well, has two levels of canopy so far with very small leaves, it looked like it was stretching a bit (window sun) so I topped it off a bit, I hope thats not going to do any thing to it. Now plant number 2 has me a bit worried. Its rooted in soil very well, but its shell refuses to come off and I'm scared its going to die, I dunno if I should assist it along and remove the shell, or just wait and see if mother nature does her job. Any advice?

 

[bkguy]

got any pics of your set-up?

 

[NewbieG]

not yet, but as soon as I get it and set it up I'll get some pictures up. I'm really excited about it. Your using fluoro's aren't you?

 

[sweetnug]

You need to just plant into soil directly. They will 95% sprout. Pinch the seeds kinda hard (not extremely hard) and if they crack they are no good. You need more than 1 plant under the 400, that is a complete waste of light and money. Keep planting you will do just fine this sight will answer all your questions. Keep up the great spirit.

 

[Kupunakane]

Ya know,
That first real good grow will stick with you a long time. Good to have sweet memories like that. Good luck with your grow and yes pics are a must, as we are funny that way. Now what you need is a little bit of the MoJo to get going with so here ya go. A bit of GREEN MOJO for ya.thGreenMojo7.jpg

 

[bkguy]

Yea, 3 @ 1750 lumens and one @ 875,exhaust fan and regular fan they never get warm to the tuch i know its not the best but i didnt and dont have any cost in any of my set up other than time and water.

 

[NewbieG]

Haha thanks for the all the love guys. I am germinating bag seeds, and I've tried just putting in dirt with no success :/. But I took care of Mary, i helped her a little with the seed cover, and she grew about an inch and a half from yesterday so I think she's gonna be alright. I put a few more seeds in some water for 24 hours and one of the seeds actually started rooting IN the water, I transplanted them over to a paper towel so I should have Jean (plant #3) in dirt by tom. Then a buddy of mine spent 300 for an O of some pretty good **** and I went through it and got a few seeds so I'm very very much hoping I can get a plant or two from that. The bud was the best I've seen in a while. Right now I'm thinking 4 plants, about 3 feet high when I'm done (if all goes well). Im honestly expecting 50% plus to be males with my luck lol. Any idea on how much weight I can expect from a 3 foot high plant? I know you can do some thing to make them fatter and not as tall, pruning or some thing, but I'm worrying about light and the sex of the plants before I start worrying about that. As far as the fanning goes, should we be fanning the lights, or the plants?? I have the set up planned out right now and I would be fanning the plants... I've read that this will make the plants stronger (makes the stems thicker to hold more bud) and also might take care of the heat problem, but I'm not really sure.
Again I appreciate the green mojo and the advice

 

[NewbieG]

I dunno how... but I got some bag seeds from this pretty crappy stuff (smokes like a chunk of wood) out of 10 or so seeds, I got 6 to germinate... I just tripled the number of plants I'm going to have... I'm waiting on some more seeds from this really good stuff I got (sitting in water until tonight, then go into germ), and I'm HOPING I have half the success I had with this bad stuff.. How many plants should I have with a 400 watt HPS/MH set up? is 10 too much?

 

[NewbieG]

No one is really looking at this but I guess I'll just keep posting for my own sake lol. I got my set up today and its looking amazing! A little ghetto rigged but still good. I lined the walls of the grow away with aluminum foil to reflect the light, I have a fan blowing on the MH bulb and I haven't quite figured out how to use the timer, but I'll figure it out. I'm guessing that although my plants been sprouted for about 2 weeks, they are still in the initial stage before vegetation because its very very small. I currently have 2 plants, but should have another 5 moving in in the next few days, then another 2 or 3 after that... I hope :/ All depends on how well a job i did germing . I'm doing 16/8 for now. Then going to move to 18/6... or just 24 light in two weeks. I have a feeling its gonna be 18/6 due to electric bill... Now to do some research on nutes...

 

[RobZombie]

Good luck with your grow NewbieG I will be looking foward to seeing some pics of your set up and plants

RobZ

 

[Oscar]

I lined the walls of the grow away with aluminum foil to reflect the light

You know what I would of done?

I'm on a budget and I've found that the back side of laminated posters have almost the same reflectivity as mylar.
Have you got a poster so that you can see what I mean?

I'd say white is way better than aluminum.

Now for lighting, MH is ok but HPS is way superior.I use it from sprout to finish. And the lighting, I do 24/0 till I'm ready to flower. At that point, I put them in total darkness for almost 48 hrs then I put them on 12/12. At the end I do 10 on and 14 off.

 

[NewbieG]

You know what I would of done?

I'm on a budget and I've found that the back side of laminated posters have almost the same reflectivity as mylar.
Have you got a poster so that you can see what I mean?

I'd say white is way better than aluminum.

Now for lighting, MH is ok but HPS is way superior.I use it from sprout to finish. And the lighting, I do 24/0 till I'm ready to flower. At that point, I put them in total darkness for almost 48 hrs then I put them on 12/12. At the end I do 10 on and 14 off.

Thanks for the advice, I'll look into the white thing, and I do know what you mean about the reflective white back poster. As far as the MH vs HPS, I know the MH is better for vegetative, and my set up can use both. So Im gonna switch it once im done with veg. I've been looking, and I currently have the plants about 2 feet from the light, is that a good distance, or should I increase it a bit?? What about the fan, should I have the fan on the plants or on the light?? its in a closet, and the closet is quite a bit warmer... I dunno I'm figuring it out. Any help would be appreciated...

As far as the other plants I have, should I put them under the light asap. or should I wait till they come out and stretch a little?

 

[dj_destroyer]

Don't raise the lights. 2 feet is ever overzealous a bit even. Just watch your plants and see how they adapt to varying heights.

The fan placement isnt that important... whether it's on the light or the plants, it will do both. It will beef stems up and it will cool the light, as well as circulate the air. Put it wherever it creates the most wind to both the light and the plants.

Get any plants under lights immediately.

GET PICS ASAP

 

[NewbieG]

Ok im trying to figure out how to get the pictures from my phone on to the computer, so as soon as I figure that out I'll post up. I'm so excited, but I do think I could get a few suggestions from you guys to improve or at least make it easier for me to handle it every thing...

 

[85cannabliss]

high newbieG, first of all, its good having a light and all, but environment is just as important. have you got any ventilation in the closet of yours??? your gonna need it to get rid of all that heat coming off your 400watter.
how big is your space... (w)x(d)x(h)?????
it sounds small, so a 4"RVK would be ok with a passive intake.
and i would have the fan on the plants, like you said it strengthens the stem up, and hold them fat buds.

::edited::
scrap the alluminium foil and go with mylar, that wont help keep temps down, if it has metal conducting it all

 

[OliieTea]

Good Luck Newbie... got the last of my bag seed in now..waiting to see if they will take.
My first real successful grow (Im just finishing ) was a true test of patience and still is for that matter.
Good Luck.. look forward to seeing some pics..

 

[NewbieG]

Thanks man, I've already learned sooo much. Before I was getting like 2% germination with bag seeds, now I'm getting closer to 60-70%, and thats in like two weeks... I can't wait to see my plants take off. I plan on cloning to cut down on the time a little. I'm just excited to share what i've done so far and see the results of the light on the growth difference in the next couple of days/ weeks.

I guess the next big thing im worrying about is WHEN to have the light on... I mean I've heard that electricity during the day is more expensive so I'm going to try to do it at night, 8 PM- 12 PM I think?

I think the temperature is good, but I'm a little worried about humidity... I wish I had some way to tests this... myabe ill just go and spend the 15 dollars on the device that tells you.

I also need to look into nutrients, whats the best to get the heaviest/ largest yield per plant.

I got lots of homework to do, but its all good. Thats part of the fun
​

 

[NewbieG]

high newbieG, first of all, its good having a light and all, but environment is just as important. have you got any ventilation in the closet of yours??? your gonna need it to get rid of all that heat coming off your 400watter.
how big is your space... (w)x(d)x(h)?????
it sounds small, so a 4"RVK would be ok with a passive intake.
and i would have the fan on the plants, like you said it strengthens the stem up, and hold them fat buds.

::edited::
scrap the alluminium foil and go with mylar, that wont help keep temps down, if it has metal conducting it all

Ya I know these guys can't grow above 90 degrees so I'm trying to keep it as comfortable for them as possible. Although I don't have an exhaust fan, I have a pretty large fan blowing cold air into the grow area at full blast and it actually seems to be working wonderfully. When I walk in I can honestly say its not even hot in the grow away. I leave the closet door cracked open about a foot and that seems to take care of all the fresh air I need. The only problem from this is my first two original plants that were by the window had stretched due to insufficient light, so they were having a little bit of trouble with the wind, but I got some sticks, put some floss on them and they are doing alright now with the added support. As far as the other plants go they have sprouted, then developed the first set of leaves no more than a 10th of an inch above the dirt level. I'm assuming this is due to the good light, and the wind from the fan?
The grow area is actually very small. After my initial problems with germinating I got the hang of it and I now have more seeds germinating than I have space for, so I'm going to have to decided between the three different straints im using and sacrafice some of them for the space . I'd say the grow room is about 3 feet by 1 foot and the height is adjustable.

Every thing seems to be going well for now. The only thing I'm worried about is the lighting cycle. I like having the light on during the day so I can check up on it, but at the same time I know this is adding to electricity costs due to the price going up during the middle of the day and being lower at night. Also, if I decided to skip a cycle (keep the light of for 16 hours or so to get the night cycle going instead of during the day) what will this do to the plants? I imagine it would increase stress, make them stretch, and possibly increase the probability of them turning out to be males... More research I guess... I just wish I didn't have school work to do :/ lol

 

[85cannabliss]

i would recomend looking into some sort of extraction mate, you wont be able to keep the door open in the dark period. you may get away with it but it will have effect on your yeild. not 100% on that but ill stand by it

and temps should be below 80 if you can get them down that far. if its hot in there, then there will be a build up hot, stale air. not good for your plants at all.

sorry i cant be of more help, but im telling you mate, look into extraction