43 days in question

larrytopsoil

larrytopsoil

Member
So I started this on a bet with a good friend who has many awesome grows under his belt.
We're in competition to see who grows the better plant from the same strain.
I'm a country boy for the most part, with a green thumb, grew up farming, etc, etc...
Anyway, i'm 43 days in, and after reading a bunch of threads on here and other boards, I feel like this little lady should be a little bigger than she is.
I'm not sure of the strain, I knew at one point but I forgot.

Anyway, the setup is as follows:

Soil :
A mix of organic compost from my compost pile / bait worm farm last summer.
The compost was all discarded veggies and fruits, grass clippings, other dead vegetation, starbucks coffee grounds, vermiculite from an abandoned p. cubensis grow. It works wonders in the garden so I figured why not?
I mixed half compost, some black cow manure, a 4th cactus soil, and a 4th of some miracle grow root starter soil.
Lava rocks in the bottom for drainage.

Lights are:
1 fluorescent light fixture from the celing upstairs, wired to plug into the outlet (sylvania cool white plus bulbs)
1 Lights of America grow light 7800k color temp from walmart.
1 Phillips reflector flood light 2700k

I've been watering it about 4 times a week with a little miracle grow plant food and flushed with plain water once or twice.

I have a box fan hanging above the plants on medium speed.

Light cycle right now is still 24 hours. I was about to go to 12/12 but I'm not sure if the little thing is ready for that. It needs to be bigger I'm pretty sure.

Does she look ok for 43 (give or take a few) days?

I kinda started this just to goof off but I do love mary so, and now I'm in love with growing my own.

Other side notes:
I play all sorts of music, all day for the dog and the plants, from jazz, to underground hip hop, to punk rock, to cambodian soul....Whatever.
I burn incense fairly close to the grow room, often. I know light can't get in there but smoke definitely does. Nag Champa Kush! hah
Uh, I talk to the plant a lot like "come on little lady, make some magic happen."

I've been keeping a grow log from day 1 as well in a notebook. I figured i'd start asking some more experience growers though so I can use this grow as a learning one, and then build from there.
IMG_0052.JPGIMG_0053.JPG
 
rwbrock

rwbrock

Active Member
Well, she looks like she hasn't grown much in 43 days. I have my plants (couple different strains) at day about 28 days and they are 2-3 times the size. Couple things, you don't typically need to feed such a young plant and sounds like you have some decent soil mix so watch out for that. Plants seem healthy from picks? Second you may be over watering, can cause slow growth....want a good wet dry cycle for example with my small plants in a 2 gallon pot I water once a week under my LED. You also want to make sure soil has good aeration (perlite) so roots can grow more easily in the soil. How big of pots are you in? Sounds like you don't have enough light either and with CFL you need to keep them close to the plants (2-3"). You def want her to grow before you flip but you can flower anytime. Your plant will typically double in size once you flip. Smoke from your hippie sticks isn't good for your plants, small amounts of smoke shouldn't hurt but don't hotbox your grow area. Grow log is important....keep that going. Also keep in mind you have a 50% chance of male so next time you may want to start a couple....maybe get another plant started now. You def need to read up and get more info because talking to your plant with your current setup isn't going to do it.....you are the one who is going to have to make some upgrades/adjustments for the real magic to happen! Good luck.
 
jartlow

jartlow

Well-Known Member
Not enough lights if you're not wanting a runt. The soil sounds good but very hot for a young sprout

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larrytopsoil

larrytopsoil

Member
I lowered the lights today to about 3" away from her.
It's in a 5 gallon bucket because my buddy said it was probably stalling out in the other planter I had it in. That was about 2 weeks ago.
Incense noted and moved.

So I should let it dry out the rest of the week and then start watering with just water for a while unless the plant tells me otherwise?
 
larrytopsoil

larrytopsoil

Member
The big flourescent lights are mounted to the left side of the closet. They're too long to mount above it. I have a mirror on the entire other side of the closet to reflect the light.
Maybe I should just post a photo of the setup.
 
larrytopsoil

larrytopsoil

Member
IMG_0054.JPG
I don't have anything super scientific. But there's what's happening.
A little motivation hanging up behind it.
I have a second one in germ right now to plant in that second bucket when it's ready.
It was a solo seed given to me as a gift from a massive amount of lovely Indica.
Fingers crossed for both, but even if my 1st one fails or provides sub part results, I'll learn a lot from this adventure.
*turns vaporizer on*
 
jartlow

jartlow

Well-Known Member
You want to keep transplanting. A 5 gallon will work but I'd say you should do a 3 for now. The cfl should be 2-3" away. 2 cfl bulbs and 1 flor won't cut it. You'll get growth but definitely not something you'll end up bragging to your buddy about. You're a farmer, you know the more light the better. Remember you want these plants to think they're in the sun, not an easy bake oven. Also 24 hours on is probably not necessary. I'd do 18/6 for several more weeks.

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jartlow

jartlow

Well-Known Member
Also if you have no drainage holes in the pots you're gonna face problems later on.. roots gotta breath my man

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neo12345

neo12345

Well-Known Member
larrytopsoil said:
.
Other side notes:
I play all sorts of music, all day for the dog and the plants, from jazz, to underground hip hop, to punk rock, to cambodian soul....
Click to expand...
Your plant is just like most of the human race and is confused by Jazz as it doesn't make any sense!!

That's why it is stunted and stretching, either that or those lights just won't cut it!! You might as well be using candle light!!
 
mr2shim

mr2shim

Well-Known Member
You need to invest in proper lighting if you want to see proper results. Flood lights are terrible for growing. Is it halogen? You can't use those for growing, well you can but it will take a crazy long time for it to grow. At 43 days in those plants should be massive. Truthfully, for 43 days that's terrible looking. Buy some 23w CFL bulbs 6500 Kelvin. As many as you can afford.
 
larrytopsoil

larrytopsoil

Member
mr2shim said:
You need to invest in proper lighting if you want to see proper results. Flood lights are terrible for growing. Is it halogen? You can't use those for growing, well you can but it will take a crazy long time for it to grow. At 43 days in those plants should be massive. Truthfully, for 43 days that's terrible looking. Buy some 23w CFL bulbs 6500 Kelvin. As many as you can afford.
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^That guy gets it. Thanks for being real. That was the kind of advice I was looking for to be honest. haha
 
Ace Yonder

Ace Yonder

Well-Known Member
larrytopsoil said:
View attachment 3012413
I don't have anything super scientific. But there's what's happening.
A little motivation hanging up behind it.
I have a second one in germ right now to plant in that second bucket when it's ready.
It was a solo seed given to me as a gift from a massive amount of lovely Indica.
Fingers crossed for both, but even if my 1st one fails or provides sub part results, I'll learn a lot from this adventure.
*turns vaporizer on*
Click to expand...
I LOVE the motivation on the wall hahaha! Now I'm just worried that my wife will see it and I'm gonna wake up with pictures of dudes with sixpacks taped to the wall above my head
 
tbodes

tbodes

Member
Hit up amazon man search 250 watt cfl 6400k and another for flower at 2700k your lady is locked in a dungeon right now and looking at the darkest night outside through a damn peep hole lol!! They are cheap 50 buck shipped for the light and hood and it's not gonna get u medical grade but 3 days in it will have more leaves than that lol she's hurting just pound that both with light. And uh I thought i would mention, oh yea get her some adequate lighting, ;). If u would like I'm currently using 2 in veg for a total of 500 watts, i can post a pic for an idea of hate amount of growth u should be seeing!! Like u would be devastated to see a healthy plant at 43 days, but just my 2 cents!
 
neo12345

neo12345

Well-Known Member
larrytopsoil said:
^That guy gets it. Thanks for being real. That was the kind of advice I was looking for to be honest. haha
Click to expand...
Not to take anything away from Mr2shim but replacing them with 23w CFL's still isn't going to cut it, every post on here about small plants generally starts off with the words i'm using little CFL's!

People go and buy 10-12 CFL's which when added together still won't give you as much light as a 250w or 400w HID, then wonder why their plants aren't very big. When you add the cost of them all together you'll find you could have bought an HID for the same money.

If you are going to spend your time, money and effort in growing some weed then you'll want a decent return on your investment. I know some people may disagree and say you can grow with CFL's, and I would probably agree to a certain extent and I personally use CFL's for vegging. I use 2 x 300w Envirolites though!!
 
jartlow

jartlow

Well-Known Member
neo12345 said:
Not to take anything away from Mr2shim but replacing them with 23w CFL's still isn't going to cut it, every post on here about small plants generally starts off with the words i'm using little CFL's!

People go and buy 10-12 CFL's which when added together still won't give you as much light as a 250w or 400w HID, then wonder why their plants aren't very big. When you add the cost of them all together you'll find you could have bought an HID for the same money.

If you are going to spend your time, money and effort in growing some weed then you'll want a decent return on your investment. I know some people may disagree and say you can grow with CFL's, and I would probably agree to a certain extent and I personally use CFL's for vegging. I use 2 x 300w Envirolites though!!
Click to expand...
Or LED :)

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