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Getting an early start, try for 2 crops

T

Tathagata

Member
Hi,

Im in South Aus. I have just started germinating some seeds and this year (my second grow, my last was last summer) I was hoping to try to fit in 2 harvests.

I dont grow indoors, I use pots outside. I am happy enough to keep plants inside, but dont want to go through the process of setting up light rooms, etc. I kind of like outdoors but with renting a house cant plant in the ground.
Last year when it was inspection time I put the plants inside some large boxes in the shed.

So I thought that if I started early (now), halfway through the year (say around sept/oct) I could start bringing the plants into a light proof room each day and decrease the light to them that way (ill cover the window and door cracks)

Would this work?
if so then once I have them starting to flower Ill start another lot germinating.

Thanks!
 
High Country

High Country

Give me a Kenworth truck, an 18 speed box and I'll
Veteran
Good luck. I'm not putting these out till mid November when there is 14 hours of daylight.

40 FEMALE CLONES, INDICA....HIGH COUNTRY INDICA

picture.php
 
T

Tathagata

Member
Apologies, I probably should mention Im only talking a couple of plants here. Just my own gear and more for the joy than anything at this stage.
 
JWP

JWP

Active member
Tathagata said:
So I thought that if I started early (now), halfway through the year (say around sept/oct) I could start bringing the plants into a light proof room each day and decrease the light to them that way (ill cover the window and door cracks)
Click to expand...

That will work. Depending on how photo sensitive your plants are you might just be able to leave them outside the whole time.

Some will flower in 14 hours of light but want to reveg in 15 hours. And with the amount of daylight hours increasing from now until the summer solstice in late december most varieties will want to reveg.

If you are willing to put the ladies out each morning and put them to bed at night then it wont be a problem.

If you had an autoflowering variety then you could start anytime you like.

The only problems you are going to have is the plants wont yield much at all in the cold conditions...

:wave:
 
T

Tathagata

Member
Thanks!

Im happy enough to take them in and out each day. Ill give it a go and keep a diary of it to see where I end up.

After reading this
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=28484&highlight=compact+fluro+lighting

Ive decided Im going to try to grow one as a kind of indoor 'pet'. Ive bought a fairly small ceramic pot (20cm across x 15cm deep) and will just keep it as a house plant.
Im considering making up a light fitting that will plug into a standard light fitting, but have a long cord that drops down to hold 3 CFL's just above the plant. If I did that I would try to buy the highest wattage CFLs I can get and try to get 2 in the blue spectrum and 2 in the red, during veg I put in 2:1 blue:red and to flower I swap 1:2.

But this is couch surfing ideas, I havent been to Bunnings yet to see what kind of lights I can get. Point here is that I need to ensure its easily packed away and is cheap. This is my main reasoning for not going for a grow tent or the like, it just seems to big, expensive and hard to hide in a rented house, especially for just a couple of plants.
 
B

BudgetBud

Member
Sounds like you need to build yourself a micro cabinet of some description.
Covering/moving a few plants twice a day becomes a bit tedious after a few weeks, i'd just use the extra time for vegging.
 
T

Tathagata

Member
Thanks BudgetBud.
I guess at this stage Im just playing around with a couple of plants trying to learn with stuff I will consume myself only.
My main aim now is just to grow enough to keep me in constant supply, so I figured a couple of plants now and a couple mid year should do me :)
But see how things go, I do kind of like the idea of using the time for vegging, however Im in suburbia so getting them too big isnt a good plan (plus hiding them for house inspections).

The plants im growing are from seeds that I got out of some smoke I bought a couple of years ago. I planted some last year in summer and they shot up in the warm months and flowered around Dec/Jan by themselves, all I did was water and feed them (and a bit of trimming).
Im pretty sure they are Sativa as they have long stalks and big long heads...any more than that though no idea :)
When I cut them down I left the stalks (like you do with roses is how I was told) and have them sitting in pots waiting to see if they begin to grow again when it warms up. If they do that will be a bonus, hehe
 
T

Tathagata

Member
Ok, so I got the seeds started.


Picked out a nice pot, I figure this will be big enough. Plan here is to try to keep the plant small and have it as a house plant. Dunno if this will work but see how we go.


I let them go under a camping fluro until they shed their shell. I wanted to keep them going on a 16/8 (I get up at 7am and turn them off at 11 when I go to bed) for now. Ive been putting them outside whenever the light is good and its reasonably warm.

But time for an upgrade. Specifically went for these lights after looking around as I can use them later if I decide to upgrade, but really cheap and easy if I dont.
Std everyday grow light Sylvania Grow-lux F18W fluro x 2
The whole lot was $70 from local hydro store, I prob could have done cheaper at bunnings but the guy was full of good info and is easy.

Just got them sitting on an old CD box to lift them a bit


this is what the light actually looks like, redder than I expected.


Two little tackers eating up the new rays


aww so cute


you can see they just had a bath (light spray)


:)
 
T

Technique

Active member
Hey mate, you might want to check out an aquarium place i like for some good 4 pin fluros..

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.c...-light-2x-24-watt-power-compact/prod_131.html

and the 36watt globes fit these fittings they also offer.

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.c...s/36w-actinic-power-compact-tube/prod_22.html the blue actinic globe there

and a nice white/red combo would be good

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.c...bes/36w-10k-power-compact-tube/prod_1778.html

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.c...w-power-compact-tubes-plant-6k/prod_1970.html

The globes the whole thing comes with are ok, but you'd go better with the blues and reds


Otherwise.. good luck with it! i'm doing a similar thing, but going to try get them out alot earlier, however if the cold lingers too long i may have to pull them inside to finish em off.. i am looking to put outside within 30-40 days
 
T

Tathagata

Member
Technique said:
Hey mate, you might want to check out an aquarium place i like for some good 4 pin fluros..

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.c...-light-2x-24-watt-power-compact/prod_131.html

and the 36watt globes fit these fittings they also offer.

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.c...s/36w-actinic-power-compact-tube/prod_22.html the blue actinic globe there

and a nice white/red combo would be good

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.c...bes/36w-10k-power-compact-tube/prod_1778.html

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.c...w-power-compact-tubes-plant-6k/prod_1970.html

The globes the whole thing comes with are ok, but you'd go better with the blues and reds


Otherwise.. good luck with it! i'm doing a similar thing, but going to try get them out alot earlier, however if the cold lingers too long i may have to pull them inside to finish em off.. i am looking to put outside within 30-40 days
Click to expand...

Cheers Technique, I did want to get a blue and red but the local only had the red ones, he did mention I can grab a blue from a fish shop :) So these links are very handy, cheers mate.
I decided im going to leave one of these guys indoors, dunno about the other.
I may even try to put them on the flower lighting 12/12 in a couple of weeks just to see how they go.

Technique said:
Snap just realized you've already bought a light :(


All good! do you know what beans you've popped??
Click to expand...

heh. no. Ive managed to work out its a Sativa, but thats about it. I am sure its not the best strain around but its what I had available and havent built up the nerves to buy some online yet (did buy a nice new bong online recently tho so thats a first step, hehe).

I chucked some of these seeds in a couple of big pots last year and got two lovely plants outside, but that was all done in summer. This is me experimenting now :tiphat:
 
T

Tathagata

Member
Cheers, still going along nicely. Getting a fair bit of attn lately as im home with broken arm.
Nice warm days with much sun so i put thm out at every opportunity.

2nd set of real leaves coming up now. will post pics when i can. squirting them 2 to 3 times daily with very weak seasol mix and rainwater

Your words remind me of an old cheech movie:
"we plant the seed
we grow the weed
we smoke the weed...
we plant the seed..........."
 
T

Tathagata

Member


Here we go, sorry for the poor quality pics but you can see 2nd leaves coming up...yay.
The gold dust flakes around the soil is a very small amount of trace elements I put there as the baby leaves are starting to lose their colour.
I think (or hope may be more accurate) that the black colouring on the leaves is just from the seasol mix I am spraying on them each day. Its only mixed about 5ml to 500ml of water, so I dont think this will be a problem.

ATM they are mostly under lights but I do try to get them out each day for at least an hour or so, as long as its warmish and there is some sun around.
 
High Country

High Country

Give me a Kenworth truck, an 18 speed box and I'll
Veteran
Tathagata said:


Here we go, sorry for the poor quality pics but you can see 2nd leaves coming up...yay.
The gold dust flakes around the soil is a very small amount of trace elements I put there as the baby leaves are starting to lose their colour.
I think (or hope may be more accurate) that the black colouring on the leaves is just from the seasol mix I am spraying on them each day. Its only mixed about 5ml to 500ml of water, so I dont think this will be a problem.

ATM they are mostly under lights but I do try to get them out each day for at least an hour or so, as long as its warmish and there is some sun around.
Click to expand...

Don't kill them with kindness Tathagata, you probably only need seasol once every two weeks. Follow the instructions on the label. They are young with a small root system and cannot handle a lot of nutrients.
 
T

Tathagata

Member
Thanks High Country, Ill keep an eye on how much I am using of the Seasol.

Just so you know though, I am being careful with over feeding these guys, Im only using a tiny amount of seasol in the spray bottle and just give them a light spray.
On warm days if the soil is dry they may get a couple of sprays, other times maybe once a day.
I dont think its too much but will watch them closely and hold off for a while.

Cheers
 
Leeroy&Co:

Leeroy&Co:

Active member
good luck to ya hope they grow well :joint:
I've had to grow outside in a rental before and would bring indoors every night for several months. It can be done for sure, if your home alot, but too time consuming, and I'm not always home so back to the closet for me :)
 
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