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My first attempt to grow anything - ever.
- Thread starter JetUsUp
- Start date
jetusup - just popped over - you're getting some primo advice. You don't have to and in fact can't "make up" for the lost light. I purposely stayed with a good old analog timer for just this reason - we get short sporadic power outages summer and winter.
Follow the advice given and you'll be well on your way.
Good luck!
Follow the advice given and you'll be well on your way.
Good luck!
G
Guest
What Mr. GreenJeans said is right, get an analog timer. Digitals are nice but they have one drawback, and you just found out about it the hard way.
Your plants are stretching , REALLY bad. That's why they are so tall. This is not a good thing. You need to repot ASAP, into bigger deeper pots. If you don't have money for bigger pots, look for empty BIG liquid laundry detergent jugs, 2 gallons or bigger. Cut the tops off and rinse extremely well, till you do not see suds anymore.Take a drill and a 7/8 inch hole bit, and cut at least 7 holes in the bottom, 1 in the middle, and the rest around the edges. Get some more soil and transplant, bury the stems to within 1 inch of the first 3 finger leaves. Then flip your cabinet on it's side. Why? You don't have room to veg them in there the way it is any longer, you are already almost out of room as it is. Pick what you think are the best 2-3 plants, and scrap the rest. I know this is harsh, but believe me, you do not have room for them all. And you have to have bigger containers or they will get rootbound, and that will suck too. Then get those lights down to within 1-2 inches of the top of the plants. Veg for 1 more week, maximum, and go to 12/12 light cycle. Even flipping your cabinet on its side is only getting you a limited amount of room, and you just don't have enough to veg much longer. When you go 12/12, those plants are going to stretch, and since they look sativa dominant, they will stretch like mad.
Now, I know that all sounds harsh, and I guess maybe it is, but I will not mislead you or lie to you and say all is well. You have a hard task in getting anything out of those, and as it is, I suspect you will get a very small yeild. You need MORE light, and you have to get them as close as possible to the top of the plants for it to be effective.
Not trying to bum ya out, but that's my honest opinion.
Your plants are stretching , REALLY bad. That's why they are so tall. This is not a good thing. You need to repot ASAP, into bigger deeper pots. If you don't have money for bigger pots, look for empty BIG liquid laundry detergent jugs, 2 gallons or bigger. Cut the tops off and rinse extremely well, till you do not see suds anymore.Take a drill and a 7/8 inch hole bit, and cut at least 7 holes in the bottom, 1 in the middle, and the rest around the edges. Get some more soil and transplant, bury the stems to within 1 inch of the first 3 finger leaves. Then flip your cabinet on it's side. Why? You don't have room to veg them in there the way it is any longer, you are already almost out of room as it is. Pick what you think are the best 2-3 plants, and scrap the rest. I know this is harsh, but believe me, you do not have room for them all. And you have to have bigger containers or they will get rootbound, and that will suck too. Then get those lights down to within 1-2 inches of the top of the plants. Veg for 1 more week, maximum, and go to 12/12 light cycle. Even flipping your cabinet on its side is only getting you a limited amount of room, and you just don't have enough to veg much longer. When you go 12/12, those plants are going to stretch, and since they look sativa dominant, they will stretch like mad.
Now, I know that all sounds harsh, and I guess maybe it is, but I will not mislead you or lie to you and say all is well. You have a hard task in getting anything out of those, and as it is, I suspect you will get a very small yeild. You need MORE light, and you have to get them as close as possible to the top of the plants for it to be effective.
Not trying to bum ya out, but that's my honest opinion.
I would say get some nirvana seeds, nice and cheap and reliable...id suggest the white rhino, white widow or citral all have been very good for me and yielded a decent quantity of quality smoke and for only a few $$, good luck what ever you choose to do, one thing for sure is that you have come to the right place.
Peace
Peace
JetUsUp
Member
thanks alot stankbud. i know what your saying and i thank you for it. and i know you werent trying to be harsh or anything. this is my first grow and ive been having problems with it. but with what you guys are telling me, ive already learned so much in the past few weeks that i know my next grow will go great.
i have been getting rid of my smaller less healthy looking plants. im down to 4. my 4 biggest and best looking plants.
i already had the larger pots ready with enough soil to fill them. i have 5, 4 gallon pots. this weekend ill have some money and some time, so ill be able to invest in a real, good, big cabinet, that doesnt have tin foil (doh).
as for lighting, i have 4, 100watt CLF bulbs. i cant afford those $400 MH lights or anything like that.
im on a very low and small budget so after i get things going i wont have to worry about them.
thank you all for your help. and yes i have returned the digital timer and got a cheap analog one. i got cash back too.
i have been getting rid of my smaller less healthy looking plants. im down to 4. my 4 biggest and best looking plants.
i already had the larger pots ready with enough soil to fill them. i have 5, 4 gallon pots. this weekend ill have some money and some time, so ill be able to invest in a real, good, big cabinet, that doesnt have tin foil (doh).
as for lighting, i have 4, 100watt CLF bulbs. i cant afford those $400 MH lights or anything like that.
im on a very low and small budget so after i get things going i wont have to worry about them.
thank you all for your help. and yes i have returned the digital timer and got a cheap analog one. i got cash back too.
G
Guest
good job Jet!! hang in there brother, you'll get something good out of this yet!!
Don't worry about the HID lighting, and they don't have to cost that much either. I almost stopped and nabbed one this morning, a car knocked down a street light pole with 2 HID lights on it, if I knew for sure they was HPS I'd have one right now....( hint). Keep your eyes open, city crews change out lights yearly, warehouses close and sell off fixtures cheap, secondhand or surplus electronics, etc. And there's always good old ebay.
Saw ya found Lougrew!'s thread, hope ya got some inspiration!!
Don't worry about the HID lighting, and they don't have to cost that much either. I almost stopped and nabbed one this morning, a car knocked down a street light pole with 2 HID lights on it, if I knew for sure they was HPS I'd have one right now....( hint). Keep your eyes open, city crews change out lights yearly, warehouses close and sell off fixtures cheap, secondhand or surplus electronics, etc. And there's always good old ebay.
Saw ya found Lougrew!'s thread, hope ya got some inspiration!!
G
Guest
Hey jet,
It is always good to see people interested in growing actually taking the first big step and actually planting a garden. I am going to be honest with you, but don't take it the wrong way. Those plants don't have a chance in your attic, especially if you don't have airconditioning. I wouldn't start a grow indoors until you can make space and have everything ready to go. What I recommend is taking those plants outdoors. If you live in a city with no woods, you might be out of luck, but if you have access to a remote spot in the woods away from people, you might be able to get some smoke from them. If you can find a spot, I would get a bag of miracle gro sustained release fertilizer, dig a hole and fill it with the miracle gro and plant the little guys. You go about your business with getting what you need for a decent indoor grow and hopefully in a couple of months, you go back and get some nice smoke from your secret garden.
I not trying to discourage you from growing, but I started out like you and had really bad results that end up costing more than its worth. Keep reading the threads and decide what type of grow fits your budget and your situation. When your ready and you have what you need to grow, everything will go nice and smooth for you. Good luck with what ever you decide.
GS
It is always good to see people interested in growing actually taking the first big step and actually planting a garden. I am going to be honest with you, but don't take it the wrong way. Those plants don't have a chance in your attic, especially if you don't have airconditioning. I wouldn't start a grow indoors until you can make space and have everything ready to go. What I recommend is taking those plants outdoors. If you live in a city with no woods, you might be out of luck, but if you have access to a remote spot in the woods away from people, you might be able to get some smoke from them. If you can find a spot, I would get a bag of miracle gro sustained release fertilizer, dig a hole and fill it with the miracle gro and plant the little guys. You go about your business with getting what you need for a decent indoor grow and hopefully in a couple of months, you go back and get some nice smoke from your secret garden.
I not trying to discourage you from growing, but I started out like you and had really bad results that end up costing more than its worth. Keep reading the threads and decide what type of grow fits your budget and your situation. When your ready and you have what you need to grow, everything will go nice and smooth for you. Good luck with what ever you decide.
GS
JetUsUp
Member
biggest change yet
biggest change yet
with so many posts from many differnt people i have made alot of changes. and i want to thank everyone that has stopped by and said something helpful. especially stankbud, you even went around and posted in threads that have people who might help me posting in them.
first the biggest change is upgrading my grow area. im still in a cab but its much bigger. its 3.5ft(h) x 3ft(l) x 2.5ft(d) giving me a total area of 26.25 cubic feet. much much bigger than my old cab.
heres a pic of it.
it looks ratty and old, because well it is. its an old dresser that i found for free at a yardsale. thought it would be perfect for the new grow area after a few changes.
upon studying it i found that the bottoms to the shelves could be easily removed. this allows me to continually change the height at which my plants are near the lights. allowing a total of 3.5 feet for growth.
i painted everything on the inside white and drilled holes at the top allowing the light wires and fan wire inside. no more tinfoil here! (doh.) i know, i was new and had no idea.
here is a pic with my plants on the second shelf. ive gotten rid of all the small ones and im left with four rather healthy, but small, looking plants.
theres these 3.
and then this oddball which looks nothing like the other 3.
does anyone think they might be able to identify the strains? i know theyre still small but i was wondering.
i hope everything looks alot better than what it did.
biggest change yet
with so many posts from many differnt people i have made alot of changes. and i want to thank everyone that has stopped by and said something helpful. especially stankbud, you even went around and posted in threads that have people who might help me posting in them.
first the biggest change is upgrading my grow area. im still in a cab but its much bigger. its 3.5ft(h) x 3ft(l) x 2.5ft(d) giving me a total area of 26.25 cubic feet. much much bigger than my old cab.
heres a pic of it.
it looks ratty and old, because well it is. its an old dresser that i found for free at a yardsale. thought it would be perfect for the new grow area after a few changes.
upon studying it i found that the bottoms to the shelves could be easily removed. this allows me to continually change the height at which my plants are near the lights. allowing a total of 3.5 feet for growth.
i painted everything on the inside white and drilled holes at the top allowing the light wires and fan wire inside. no more tinfoil here! (doh.) i know, i was new and had no idea.
here is a pic with my plants on the second shelf. ive gotten rid of all the small ones and im left with four rather healthy, but small, looking plants.
theres these 3.
and then this oddball which looks nothing like the other 3.
does anyone think they might be able to identify the strains? i know theyre still small but i was wondering.
i hope everything looks alot better than what it did.
G
Guest
No way to tell from pics what the strains are Jet, it looks like ya got 3 Indica dominant(good), and that last one looks sativa dom ( not a bad thing, just worried about stretch). The dresser will work out fine, ya got room to work with now!! Ya got 4 lights, right? Keep one on top of each one, and let her rip! Next project, we need to get ya some ventilation, air in, air out. I can see you've been studying on it, what do you think the best option is?
G
Guest
these threads ought to help then...
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=11357
http://www.icmag.com/ic/forumdisplay.php?f=32
The one at the top will be for air out ( warm air rises ) need another for air in, but it can be a passive air intake, no fan needed.
One more thing, is that attic air conditioned?
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=11357
http://www.icmag.com/ic/forumdisplay.php?f=32
The one at the top will be for air out ( warm air rises ) need another for air in, but it can be a passive air intake, no fan needed.
One more thing, is that attic air conditioned?
You could put a muffin fan near the top on the back wall of that cab...then just a hole at the bottom or another fan pulling air in. Temps should be below 80F(27C) if possible. Plants have to get a fresh supply of CO2 for photosynthesis, and circulation to remove toxins from the leaves.Ju can do et...
Excellent...
BenitoCereno
Member
You might want to switch both fans to exhaust...air usually finds its way in but needs fans to take it out and you are going to need as much exhaust to handle the heat as possible...heat becomes a big issue in a small space.
G
Guest
75 degrees is just right, if ya can keep it there. Job well done Jet!! Temps are mucho importante, lower temps= more females!! If it's maintaining 75, 1 intake 1 exhaust is just right.Now tell your girlfriend to look out, you're going to have something BIG for her soon!
JetUsUp
Member
thanks alot guys.
i now have a grow cab that im not ashamed of. woohoo!
any other recomendations are greatly accepted. oh i will be in the market for a larger and much brighter light that will be easy to install.
so any recomendations as to what kind of light and where to get it would be nice.
something under 200 bucks is what i need.
actually if i do get a new light, i might invest in some seeds off of seedbay and just restart my grow.
i now have a grow cab that im not ashamed of. woohoo!
any other recomendations are greatly accepted. oh i will be in the market for a larger and much brighter light that will be easy to install.
so any recomendations as to what kind of light and where to get it would be nice.
something under 200 bucks is what i need.
actually if i do get a new light, i might invest in some seeds off of seedbay and just restart my grow.
G
Guest
Casa de pot (home depot) has 70 and 150 watt HPS lights for under 100 bucks, and there's a thread in the growroom designs forum that tells how to remote ballast them
