First grow

[FredHampton]

Hey all, first grow. Been doing some research here, and corrected some mistakes I've made by doing several searches (I love google search "site:icmag.com [problem]").

I got two northern lights // hashplant clones. They were received prematurely as I've yet to get my hands on a 600W MH, digital ballast. To remedy this, I have a room that gets plenty of light (via a window that goes the entire width of the room), and a 1000W hallogen which I keep a good distance away from the plants, turned on for 3 hours after sunset to give it a good 12hrs atm. I also have a fan running.

My second fuckup was that I went and I transfered them into bigger pots consisting of Miracle Gro potting soil (for vegetables). After two days of reading here, I've read this is a terrible idea, so I went and bought two bags of BX which has in it peat moss, perlite, vermaculite, etc, and I've changed the soil.

I'm getting two more clones at the same time I get the lights. I also have some seeds germinating I'll get into later. I also have 25ft of mylar which I'll be adding shortly.

The light I'm getting is coming in this week. Is there any advice anybody can give me to alleviate this particular situation I'm in?

Here's pics. Btw, some of the pics the leaves look YELLOW, but this is not the case, it's just my camera's flash. They are very green in person.

Green bucket, my favourite

Green bucket side view

Grey bucket

Grey bucket again

Grey bucket again

This is the windowcill I keep the plants on when the sun is up. Usually a lot more sun than this, I took this near sunset. Can you spot the ladybug?

Here they are together.

Here they are side by side. You can see the 25ft roll of mylar chilling in the back.

Also, some general curiousities. The pots I have for these, they seperate at the bottom, about 3 inches up where there's a strain, the soil sits atop while at the bottom of this lower section of the pot is for sitting water (self-watering pot, basically). It also has a big hole from the side you can gain access to to add/remove water - hopefully good for oxygenating the roots. Is this okay for this setup?

Also, in the medicinal bud I got today, a very skunky indica, I found 8 fresh seeds that I unwrapped. I have them germinating now. How will I know if they are m/f? Should I take precaution in keeping them away from my clones?

Edit: Another question. I was told the ProMix lacks nutes, so I put the only thing I had, a liquid mixture of miracle gro for Tomatoes, that's suggested use is once every 7-14 days (only used once). Thoughts?

Q1: What can I do to aid the plant for getting maximum yield when I'm lacking a sufficient light for the time being (now going on my 3rd day)

Q2: Is the self-watering pot setup okay for the plants? Will the roots ever even reach the bottom and actually self-water as it suggests? Does it aid in giving air to the roots?

Q3: Should my potentially male soon-to-be-planted seeds be kept away from my clones?

Q4: Thoughts on MG Tomato food?

Thanks in advance, will update with more pictures. I've been lurking here for a while now, it's good to get involved.

QuickFacts:
# of Plants: 2 (adding two clones, and have seeds germ'ng)
Strain: Hashplant / Northern Lights mix
Soil: ProMix BX
Lights: Currently sun and 1000W hallogen to supplement lost sunlight, but getting a 600W MH in two days.

Fred.

 

[stickyickyicky]

Q1) plants, when in the veg state dont need very much light. just keep it consistent and get something decent ready for flowering. my last yield was 1 plant grown from clone - all my lights are CFLs and i pulled 34 grams from it after less than a month in veg. if your already flowering i dont think a 1000watt halogen is going to help you. get a HPS (High Pressure Sodium) ASAP!

Q2) i am not familiar with your exact pot but the plant grows roots DEEP and FAST. they will be at the bottom trying to escape in no time. i would say one of the main problems people have are over watering - because you like to give your plant a lot of attention... you start telling your self does it need this __________ does it need that___________? wait till the pot get very lite before adding water. it will save you headaches.

Q3) seed storage should be in a place like a small baggie or small paper folder\envelope. keep them in a dark place - dresser drawer etc. some people i hear keep them in the fridge or freezer. just keep them dry and dark you should be fine.

 

[FredHampton]

Thanks brother stick for the prompt response.

To expand on Q2, what if I added nutes to the water below once the roots did escape to that point? I forget what chemical it was, I believe sulphur, but I remember reading here that is hard to get through soil. Could it, or other nutrients, be provided in the in the water below, theoretically?

Also, to expand on Q3, I didn't mean to keep them [seeds] stored. I'm germinating them now in a ziploc'd papertowel between my shirt on the room heater. I was thinking if it would be wrong to put them, once planted, in the same room/under the same light as the fem clones? Or is this only a problem that needs addressing in the flowering state?

Thanks in advance,
Fred

 

[stickyickyicky]

some people do it... but MH is the wrong color spectrum for flowering. you need a HPS.

 

[stickyickyicky]

watering\feeding from the bottom is fine. lots of guys\gals do it.

if you are flowering 2 fems and are going to be starting seedling with them watch for the plant to start showing PREsex flowers daily around 1 month. although i would keep them under 24\7 light. you will get farther faster.

 

[FredHampton]

Thanks. I'm aware I'm gonna have to switch bulbs in the near future. Thanks for the tip on watering.

Sorry I don't understand this completely:

if you are flowering 2 fems and are going to be starting seedling with them watch for the plant to start showing PREsex flowers daily around 1 month. although i would keep them under 24\7 light. you will get farther faster.

(1) Watch for which plant, and (2) what are presex flowers, and (3) keep the vegged/seedlings under 24/7 light?

Thanks in advance,
Fred

 

[Anima]

good going

good going

Heya Fred!
Welcome to the forums! I see much reading in your future...
My first (decent) grow I named my plants according to bucket color as well.

anywhoo I'll try and answer your Q's:
1: I'd look into "topping" the plant now so it bushes out and you can get multiple tops. or some training tchniques.. look into LST.
2:how big are the pots? I havent had any luck with the self watering pots myself, so I vote against them. I'd get AT LEAST 2 GALLON pots to flower in 3 is better. I used 2.5 gal trashbins with holes drilled for drainage for a couple of years just fine.
3:Keep your seeds sealed, DRY, AND COOL.. a grow room is none of these things.. If you are worried about pollination.. dont be.. thats like worrying that you are going to get a porn star pregnant watching her movies.. ridiculous :shrug:
4rop the tomato food..spend $20 or whatever on a bottle of flora nova bloom.. You can thank me later.

1b: Get a HPS (High Pressure Sodium) lamp and ballast.. you are wasting you money buying a MH before you have a HPS. I'd reccommend a 400 watt for a small garden for a beginner... hell I still only run my 400 watt and I'm a happy camper (most of the time)

Good luck man..
Welcome to the wonderful hidden hobby

Peace and kindness
-Anima

 

[FredHampton]

Heya Fred!
Welcome to the forums! I see much reading in your future...
My first (decent) grow I named my plants according to bucket color as well.

anywhoo I'll try and answer your Q's:
1: I'd look into "topping" the plant now so it bushes out and you can get multiple tops. or some training tchniques.. look into LST.
2:how big are the pots? I havent had any luck with the self watering pots myself, so I vote against them. I'd get AT LEAST 2 GALLON pots to flower in 3 is better. I used 2.5 gal trashbins with holes drilled for drainage for a couple of years just fine.
3:Keep your seeds sealed, DRY, AND COOL.. a grow room is none of these things.. If you are worried about pollination.. dont be.. thats like worrying that you are going to get a porn star pregnant watching her movies.. ridiculous :shrug:
4rop the tomato food..spend $20 or whatever on a bottle of flora nova bloom.. You can thank me later.

1b: Get a HPS (High Pressure Sodium) lamp and ballast.. you are wasting you money buying a MH before you have a HPS. I'd reccommend a 400 watt for a small garden for a beginner... hell I still only run my 400 watt and I'm a happy camper (most of the time)

Good luck man..
Welcome to the wonderful hidden hobby

Peace and kindness
-Anima

Wow thanks!

(1) Okay I'll look into topping

(2) The pots are ~10 gallons I believe.

(3) Just to clarify, yeah I was worried about pollenation (not about storing the seeds in the grow room, I'm germinating them now), and I see, you've relieved my worries. Just to double-check, even if they grow up to be males without my discovery, and they're in the grow room, it won't ruin the whole batch?

(4) Okay I'll drop the tomato food, thanks. I'll look into flora nova bloom, but the prices I'm seeing locally so far are $60 for a 1L bottle . I'm on a bit of a budget here.

1b: If I'm not mistaken, isn't HPS for flowering, and MH for veg? I'm buying the MH bulb and digital ballast now, and I'll get the HPS a few weeks down the road, before needing to flower. Is this not sensible?

I was thinking I would also get a second ballast and the HPS bulb so that I could have two sets going: ~4 plants under the MH that are vegging, and ~4 plants under the HPS which are flowering. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance, and thanks again for the helpful advice.

 

[Anima]

re 3: I thought you were scared of pollination from an UNGERMINATED seed... if you grow them out and they are males.. and don't chop them down after they show balls and the balls pop open they will release pollen which will cause you female plants to have seeds in your buds. that technically wont ruin anything.. you will have seeds to store for later, and get to learn about plant biology and whatnot.
1b:
HPS: you can veg under it just fine. BEST Light for Flowering hands down. You dont need to encase it in protective tempered glass hood.

MH: you can veg under it just fine, but you must keep it in a Tempered glass hood. These lights are a fire hazard without one as they are known to EXPLODE! (as the glass gets hot enough to easily light fires). Plus you can't flower for shit using JUST MH.

I use compact flourescent (6500k) to supplement the "blue" spectrum. (which is not REALLY needed anyways.)

I use and old school magnetic coil 400 watt HPS ballast myself. you can expect them to last a good 4 or 5 years or beyond, as opposed to the more expensive digi ballasts which last about a year or so from what I've seen. that "Extra brightness" you get from the bulbs with the digitals does take it's toll on the bulbs too. I'd HIGHLY reccommend the 400 w as a starting point.. 600W is waay too much for 2 small plants..

BTW speaking of fire hazards... You DO have a FIRE EXTINGUISHER... right? Halogen lights BURN HOT!! and are gennerally NOT reccomended because of this fact. Those 2 plants would be happy under a few compact flourescents... until you get your HPS.

2: I highly doubt that those pots are 10 gallons... they look to be about 1.5 gallons to me.. I'm not afraid of the metric system you can give out the volume in liters or whatnot too.

What are you doing for ventilation?

 

[FredHampton]

3: Oh okay thanks!

1b: Oh really? I didn't know they can veg fine under HPS. So it seems like the most sensible thing to get the 400mW coil then which'll last me long, eh?

-

And I'm aware of the heat produced by the hallogen. I keep it a safe distance from the plants, and they only remain on for 3hrs (after sunset).

Thanks for the advice! I'll be sure to ask for what you've specified! Do you think that'll be sufficient (blue CFLs and 400 or 600MW HPS for four-six plants)?

 

[Anima]

heres a link to WAAY BACK in the day when I was growing 6 plants under my 400 watt HPS:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=61208
That link had most of my specs and whatnot in it.. you can click the ORANGE/GREEN link at the bottom of my post for the continuation.

GET A FIRE EXTINGUISHER! It is essential equipment, Plus it MIGHT save your LIFE.
Not as uncommon as you'd think: http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=142547 (thanks the powers that be he is ok) I bet I can count on him as a solid proponent in the investment of a fire extinguisher.. the bigger the better.

 

[FredHampton]

OOPS! Not 10gallons, lol I meant 10 liters. My bad.

Also, as for ventilation, I live at the corner of a building, so we have two sides from which the air travels up here on the ~20th floor. Lots of air runs through because of the numerous windows on both ends of this corner, especially in the room which it is growing. We also have a standard rotating fan in there, but with the draft that we get from just leaving the window open, it's already rather breezy.

And as well, I was thinking of growing upto 6 plants, but it seems from your grows that 400W is sufficient. In my case, however, I don't have a enclosed space full of mylar. I have a section of a room with giant windows (~20th floor) so I can't just mylar it, other than the lower half of the two walls its between. Anything higher would reflect light out, baiting out my position. Plus I'm pondering also using the sunlight from outside and not just the light, because the room gets a lot of sunlight. Do you think this is a good idea, mixing sunlight from outside?

For clarity sake, for the benfits of the ventilation and the great availability of sunlight, I've chosen this room as the grow room. Btw, there's no furniture in there, or curtains (yet). Nothing really flammable. It's mostly an empty room with just plants which will be moved out (aloe vera, bamboos, etc)

Also, do you have any experience with Phytamin? I have access to that, but it seems most here, including yourself, prefer Flora Nova which is relatively more expensive.

So on my to-do list:

1) Get ~400MW magnetic coil HPS ballast
2) Get Flora Nova (or Phytamin alternatively)
3) Buy a fire extinguisher o_o!

Anima and ICMag, you've probably saved me so many failures to have had to learn from. Thanks a lot . I look forward to getting more advice/criticism and posting more photos as it goes on. In a way I feel this is becoming a collaborated ICMag project derived from the direct and indirect experience of the people here, concentrated in my grow room... I hope to fulfill this to the greatest of my ability.

Thanks a tonne and I apologize for having taken your time; some things are just not always in search or are best asked directly

 

[FredHampton]

Update:

1) Not yet gotten the light because of certain complications atm. I expect to have it by Wed tho.
2) I've gotten DNF Veg and Bloom nutes.
3) No extinguisher, need to get into it. I've however made a temporary closet with mylar and some old presentation boards. Bought two new clones, and the old plants have made drastic improvements. I'm waiting for the right time to tie em down - one of the plants (my prized green bucket), is nearing the time suggested to tie down.

Pics:

Shitty ventilation, but it kinda works. The other end, the mylar is sealed to the board (as opposed to the wall), so the wind captured cycles in there for a bit.

Front view

View from the roof. I currently have a shitty 175w hallogen and a fluorescent in there.

Two new clones

Older clones (the green is my fav)

View from front 'entrance', prized green bucket bud.

Once again

And again

Newer grey bucket clone

Newer green bucket clone

I currently have a 175W MH ballast that was donated to me, as well as a 150W HPS bulb (lol..).

So I'm buying a 400W HPS ballast/bulb, and a 175W MH bulb. Gonna be working on/looking through other peoples closet ideas to see what's in my budget to build.

Fred

 

[facelift]

Love the box! Soil looks arid...

 

[FredHampton]

Thanks! I did water them right after, though.

Question: I removed the old fluorescent and hallogen, and I've gotten a 175W MH in there at the moment which was donated to me (minus bulb which I now purchased) while I wait for the 600W HPS digital ballast/bulb we ordered. Would it be a bad idea to put both in there?

Checkit, one of the plants is starting to show its pistils two days after the introduction of the MH:

Also, some of the plants have some leaves in there that the tips are crispy while the box itself remains room temperature and is well ventilated (wind shoots out of the crack of the front door). Wondering what's going on; I fed them the adequate DNF Veg Gro A/B formula on Sunday. Guessing nute burn