First timer, need a lil help!

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BBgrl0887

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So me and my gf are growing for the first time, and we dnt have all the equipment like most ppl have, we jst use wat we have at the house and it seem to be wrkin cuz 2 of our plants have white hairs...were jst a lil confused bout the light cycles cuz I have read several diff websites where they said do 12/12 first and some said do 18/6 first...we did 12/12 for a whole week and its been about 2 weeks now tht we are on 18/6..like I said our 2 plants have hairs but only at the very top, so my questions are..1-shld I still be doin 18/6 or wat cycle shld I be on, 2-will the hairs make their way down the rest of the stem, 3-how long until they bud. Id greatly appreciate it if someone cld help me out with these questions, ill be checking bck on here but heres my email address to, it wld jst be easier if I cld gt answers directly to my email...Edit
 
Welcome to MP, I removed your email addy. We don't allow personal info or pics that show your identity. It's for your safety.

18/6 is for vegging your plants, 12/12 is for Flowering them after they have reached sexual maturity. Pics of your plants would help us.
 
Ideally you should grow your plants from seed under 24hrs of light as MJ is a high energy plant that doesn't need a dark period to grow. The starting with 12/12 thing was a trick to induce the sex a little sooner, but I don't like to do that as it puts unnecessary stress on the plants. Allow them to veg under good light for 5-7 weeks and they will reach sexual maturity. You will know the maturity by the branches beginning to grow staggered from each other rather than directly across from each other.

After they reach that point, they will begin to produce little "pre-flowers" that will either grow out on a tiny stem with a bulb, and look like a tiny lollipop(male), or they will stay tight in the cusp of the spot where the branch connects, called the "node point", and will produce 2 tiny white hairs that stick out of the little bulb (female).

Once you see these, you can determine if you have any males that need to be removed (unless you want to produce a bunch of seeds rather than quality smoke). Then iff the plants are the size that you want, you can switch the lights to the 12hrs on/12hrs off cycle to allow them to begin the flowering phase.

I don't know how much you know about growing MJ but, You will need good strong lights that are in the correct spectrum of color. Not just any lights will do, as these are not house plants. Ideally you want to have lights that produce a color that is in the 6500Kelvin range for vegging plants, and you need enough to produce at least 3000 lumens per square foot of growing area. Many of us use T5 high output florescent lights ffor this.

Then when it comes time to flower, you will need to increase the lighting to 5000 lumens per square foot of growing space, and it is best to use a light that produces around the 3000Kelvin spectrum as that is best for flowering. There are lots of options for doing this depending on how big and how many plants you wish to grow.

As I said, I don't know how much you know but there is quite a bit to growing MJ as it is a very need specific plant. I suggest that you do some reading here under the different threads, especially the stickies as there is a lot of valuable info there. :)
 
So me and my gf discovered yesterday tht 2 out of 4 plants were males :-( which was kinda upsetting but atleast we gt 2 females :) (nt bad for first timers huh). So jst so im clear since our 2 have hairs we shld have them on 12/12 correct? They will bud being on 12/12? And once they start budding do you continue them on 12/12? One the 1 plant the branches are staggered jst like you said and there is 8 rows and on the other there is also 8 so how old are they?
 
You really can't tell their age by the amount of branches on them. If they are fed and cared for well with plenty of light then they can get many branches, while the same strain of plants under poor conditions will grow less and have fewer branches.

If the plants have produced their alternating branches and preflowers then they are ready to be flowered if you want. Once the 12/12 light cycle has been introduced to the plants and they are showing their sex, then they should stay under the 12/12 light until they are harvested. Switching the lighting cycles or allowing light to get to the plants during the dark period will cause stress to the plants. When plants are in veg, they should be under either 18/6, 20/4, or best 24/0 and kept under this light level until they reach sexual maturity. Once they have reached maturity, you are free to either continue to veg until the plants are as big as you want, or you can switch the lights to the 12/12 and flower them out. But once the you have switched them it is not good to switch them back. Some people do this as a special trick but it is not a good practice for new growers to try.

If you haven't yet, I recommend that you destroy the males. To answer your specific question about the 12/12, yes it is specifically for causing the plants to flower. Only Auto flowering plants will flower under different light cycles. Do you have proper lighting and a controlled grow space for the plants? they need to be in an enclosed space where there is no light able to get to the plants during the dark period. They also need to have proper food and water. Can you tell me about your grow specs?
 
They do have the alternating branches, now the "preflowers", those are the hairs, right? We started the 12/12 last night and like I said our 2 have hairs so we kno tht they are females. When you say they shld stay under 12/12 until they harvest, do you mean jst until they start to bud or do I continue 12/12 even when they begin to bud. Im sry so many questions I jst dnt wna screw this up
 
The hairs do not generally show first at the top of the plant--makes me thing it might just be new growth which is often ,mistaken for female parts, especially if the plants were just put under 12/12. Can you post up a pic?
 
12/12 right till the end.
 
Well they were under 12/12 for a whole week first then I read something bout 18/6 so we had them in 18/6 for a whole week and once I posted my first question we then put them bck to 12/12...my 1 plant has a bunch of hairs at the top but none on the lower branches yet, and the other plant has a few hairs at the very top to but the branches right below it has a cpl hairs to...my phone is a piece of crap and it wont let me post pics...12/12 right to the end means until the buds stop growing, right?
 
Yes, till they are ripe and ready to harvest.
 
Well how do you kno when they are ready to harvest? Will they jst stop growing? When I took them out this morning there was hairs on the branches below the very top (and nt jst like 1 or 2, theres several) the hairs are slowly wrkin there way frm the top down, its so exciting cuz its our 1st time ever growing...if anyone else has any other helpful info pls feel free to share
 
First, you need to get a 30x or stronger magnifying lens to look at the resin glands (trichomes) when they get close to harvest, which can be anywhere from 7-14weeks depending on the strain. Iff you know what strain your plants are then you can look them up on a seedbank website and see how long their flower cycle is. When you know the breeder's flowering time, you can use that as the time that you start looking at the resin glands with the lens. Here is a inexpensive one that is 40x, ideal for your needs: [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Power-Lighted-Magnifying-Glass-Magnifier/dp/B005FV9YD8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1408285597&sr=8-5&keywords=30x+magnifier[/ame]
What kind of lighting are you using for them? outside? artificial? You can tell us about your setup as long as you don't tell any personal stuff that would give anyone who you are or where you are. It is also very important to know what kind of soil and nutrients you are giving them. You don't want to get them almost there and then have them die from improper treatment. MJ is very temperamental and very need specific even when grown in nature.
 
So its been bout 2 weeks since our plants have been growing hairs and since we have switched them bck to 12/12...the hairs are finally frm top to bottom, bout how long do we have to do 12/12 before they start to bud?
 
So its been bout 2 weeks since our plants have been growing hairs and since we have switched them bck to 12/12...the hairs are finally frm top to bottom, bout how long do we have to do 12/12 before they start to bud?

Depends a bit on the Strain, but most go between 8-10 weeks. With a few that might finish 7 and some that could go 10+. If it's a Sativa dominant strain it usually takes longer to flower her out. Just look through some of the Grow Journals and see how big their buds were at X number of weeks.
 
Well they were under 12/12 for a whole week first then I read something bout 18/6 so we had them in 18/6 for a whole week and once I posted my first question we then put them bck to 12/12...my 1 plant has a bunch of hairs at the top but none on the lower branches yet, and the other plant has a few hairs at the very top to but the branches right below it has a cpl hairs to...my phone is a piece of crap and it wont let me post pics...12/12 right to the end means until the buds stop growing, right?

From this post, it appears that the plants are only 2-3 weeks old and one or 2 of those weeks was under 12 hour light. Sorry, but there is no way they could be showing sex already, especially under those conditions. We absolutely need some pictures to determine anything. However, I would recommend putting them under 24 hour light. And here we are talking about adequate light. This generally isn't a project that you can carry out successfully with things you just have laying around your house. Unless you can set up a dedicated growing space and light it adequately, this is going to be an exercise in futility. I also recommend that you do some reading on the basics of growing. We can help you out, but YOU need to have at least some rudimentary knowledge about the growth cycle of marijuana.
 
Actually they have and are showing their sex and they have been been for awhile now, I dnt kno much bout growing but I kno wat hairs look like im nt tht big of an idiot...I actually have been reading alot an it wldnt hurt to read more, (The Hemp Goddess, if its a inconvenience to answer my questions then dnt, you act like its your duty/responsibility to answer my questions. And as a matter of fact we have gt our plants to the point they are at by using stuff we have around the house, ya we have some lights and stuff but nt those fancy ones. I dnt really give 2 shits wether you believe my plants are we I say they are or nt, im nt on here to prove anything to anyone I jst needed some questions answered but if you wna doubt me and in so many wrds call me a liar then id rather you jst nt respond to anything I post)...anyways, where the branches meet the stems there's lil things tht kinda look like lil bubbles/sacs, is tht normal if so wat is it?
 
Like ive said before, in unable to upload the pics and believe me i wnt to cuz i kno yous all think im lying, i really wna show you guys cuz were really proud of them and because you guys kno more then i do, the only way i cn do anythin is in a pic txt, im nt tryin to be a creeper or anythin but if anyone is willing to private msg me your num id be more then happy to show any of yous...even if i cld send them to someone and they cld post them for me tht wld be awesome.
 
Actually they have and are showing their sex and they have been been for awhile now, I dnt kno much bout growing but I kno wat hairs look like im nt tht big of an idiot...I actually have been reading alot an it wldnt hurt to read more, (The Hemp Goddess, if its a inconvenience to answer my questions then dnt, you act like its your duty/responsibility to answer my questions. And as a matter of fact we have gt our plants to the point they are at by using stuff we have around the house, ya we have some lights and stuff but nt those fancy ones. I dnt really give 2 shits wether you believe my plants are we I say they are or nt, im nt on here to prove anything to anyone I jst needed some questions answered but if you wna doubt me and in so many wrds call me a liar then id rather you jst nt respond to anything I post)...anyways, where the branches meet the stems there's lil things tht kinda look like lil bubbles/sacs, is tht normal if so wat is it?

All the people in this thread are being very nice in taking time to answer your questions correctly. I've learned so much in the year+ I've been here. But if you ignore what these guys say, ESPECIALLY members like Goddess, you'll kill your plant or harvest it too early or turn it hermie. If you act like a complete turd (which you are), you'll be ignored altogether. If you think anyone cares about your pride, or if you have anything to prove you are truly in the wrong forum. Try Yahoo or something.

As Goddess said your questions can't be fully answered without pics.

How do you not know the age of your plants? Were they clones? You just said you "had" plants. Also new growth sometimes looks like hairs as previously mentioned, so you actually, being the noob you are, may not be showing sex. And quite frankly I can't believe a 3 week old plant (????) would be showing male parts yet. Hope you didn't throw away some winners! But again...without those pics...who knows.

My advice to you, shut up and read more. Or, smoke your plants now because if you don't do it right all the way through growth you'll produce crappy bud anyways.

Also, use spellcheck.
 

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