updated stealth grow.

[kusher89]

hello,ive been posting here and there on here and i really like and appreciate the people on this site *a very large help*. i wanted outside opinions on my first grow.let me sate the obvious and go on a limb here..i have a 2x2 area indoor climate controlled area. with 2 cfl's. temps at 66-67 degrees at all time. one is a 13w and a 26w both 120v bulbs..im growing in a soil that i got from a neighbor in her garden that has had proven successful in the past.i had bought some mj from a friend and noticed the bag was full of seeds. so i ended up planting this in a little jar and have transplanted 3 times because of root size getting larger and needing more room. i would be lying to you if i could tell you any type of genetics on it..its been roughly almost 6 or 7 weeks since shes gotten to her current size. MY question is.. i noticed on the stem of my plant underneath the leaves that on both sides i have 2 spike/pistol spurs there.since this is a first time grow and a bag seed grow at that im curious to know if this will be or is a female? considering i got it from a smoke-able product.. i would also like to know exactly how to top her and when shall i begin the light switch chang to 12 12? * i should be also painting the enterior brilliant white for as much light possible.
any help tips or advice would be greatly interested.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

We are glad to have you here.

Your little plant is really quite stunted. At 6-7 weeks it should have far more growth--12-15 leaf sets at least.

I am going to start with the soil. In general, it is not a good idea to just use garden dirt. I suspect that your soil does not have good drainage. Also if there were residual fertilizers in the dirt, this could have caused problems. Virtually all soil needs some kind of amendments to provide enough drainage for marijuana. In addition, the plant is small enough that I know that it could not have been root bound. Every time you transplant something it goes into shock a little and takes a while to recover.

Lights....you need way way more light. For a 2 x 2 space, you need a minimum of 12,000 lumens for vegging and 20,000 for flowering. If you are using CFLs this would mean that you need a minimum of 7-8 26W CFLs for vegging and a minimum of 12 or 13 26W for flowering. You also do not want to paint the interior brilliant white--good quality flat white provides better reflection than any kind of glossy, semi-glossy, or satin paint.

Do you have any ventilation? You should have some kind of exhaust fan to provide fresh air and a small oscillating fan to move the air and strengthen the stem.

The little spike/pistols that you are seeing on the stem is almost certainly where the seed leaves fell off. Normal and nothing special.

Under normal circumstances, at 6-7 weeks most plants should be ready to flower. However, your plant is about the size of a normal 2-3 week plant. You are going to need substantially more growth on your plant before you can flower.

I also recommend starting more seeds in case you get males. In addition, keep a close eye out for hermies as this was bagseed.

Your plant is a little ways from being ready to top--I would get her healthy and growing first. And I like to fim, which is like a mini-topping. You simply pinch or cut off about 1/2" of the growing tip rather than take several nodes.

Your plant is certainly salvageable, but you are going to have to make some changes to your space and soil if you want to be able to finish her out.

 

[kusher89]

do i seriously need 20,000 lumens for a single plant? i might have about 7000 lumens close to her with the addition of another cfl light. and i havent had much ventilation in my area,i have to figure something out. i had ideas on using a basic 5'' computer fan somehow. and if the plant always has wind type of fan blowing on it will thus make it stronger of a plant?

 

[kusher89]

@ the hemp goddess.... would i ever be able to do a nice auto of like ak47 or hindu kush,white russian and afghan kush in the area that i was given to grow in? perhaps 6 plants, since they wont be too large and the seeds would be all feminized.

 

[Lemon Jack]

6 plants in a 2x2 space No way IMO.

Light and ventilation are the 2 single most important aspects of your grow. They can't be skimmped out on. IMO

 

[Hushpuppy]

I have said before in other pages to use brilliant white paint...THG says not to use it but rather you should use flat white...for any that have read that, She is correct. The reason that I have said to use brilliant white is that I have seen several different shades of "white" paint, and brilliant is the "whitest" of them and it comes in "flat". But I think the most important to note is to use "flat white".

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

do i seriously need 20,000 lumens for a single plant? i might have about 7000 lumens close to her with the addition of another cfl light. and i havent had much ventilation in my area,i have to figure something out. i had ideas on using a basic 5'' computer fan somehow. and if the plant always has wind type of fan blowing on it will thus make it stronger of a plant?

The number of plants is immaterial when figuring lighting needs. You need a minimum of 3000 lumens per sq ft for vegging and 5000 for flowering. You only have about 2400 lumens with a 13W and a 26W CFL (as a general rule, you can figure that a CFL is going to put out about 62 lumens per watt). In addition you need bulbs in the 6500K range for vegging and in the 2500-3000K range for flowering. You need more light and a lot more light.

A 5" computer fan may work in a small space as an exhaust fan. The oscillating fan is to move the air around and encourage the plant to grow a stronger stem. It doesn't necessarily mean that it will be a stronger plant.

Before you do anything, you really need to figure out why your plant is not growing. I suspect that your soil does not have adequate drainage and since it came from a garden, it could have had nutrients in it (a no-no for a seedling). I am a hydro gal so am not good at soil mixtures--you might want to check the stickies for some good soil mixtures. At 6-7 weeks, your plant should be a lot larger. I don't want to make you feel bad over this, but look at some of the other 5-6 week plants on here and you will be able to see what I mean. There is something wrong with your grow (other than lights) that is stunting your plant.

I believe that you might get 4 autos in that space, but remember that more plants does not mean more bud. You are basically going to get x number of grams. Yield is mostly a function of your lighting and the strain.