My First grow

right now i am making examples of how to do it wrong

i have grown some seriously enviable crops in the 90's with a serious grow room that i built under my house with the help of a bobcat... so, i know i can walk the walk as well as talk the talk....

jump to 2008 and you find me growing in a couple of stacked up desks with a bunch of CFL's and still using bag seed as i get my game back... all i can say good about my grow these days is scoring pot means going to the closet and digging something out of the curing collection instead of waiting for that *#*&%# phone call... little light wispy buds though

now, i am moving (sloooowly) from my ghetto rig to a closet and going to have HPS again.... when that happens, i wont be able to refrain from showing my porn

Hell, after a few months of this, i only have one plant that makes me say, "that is a good plant!" and it only just showed me it was a she about a week ago or so.... which is a good damn thing cause that is the only plant i have gotten viable clones off of (cloned a few others, but the momma's went hermie on me, so the clones were culled.)

so, for now, i count as a poseur who is just talking up a storm but cant back his shit up... course, a true porn star can always spot another, even without pics

you just cant learn all there is to learn by reading... you gotta get some dirt under your nails (or some hydro equivalent analogy)

Well based on suggestions, i'll stay with the 8" pot that i have now, and just save the the 12 pot for the next go round. I went around the edges of my screen and started pulling back up some of the leaves to get light, i felt i may have been taking alot of its absorbing abilities away from it with the heavy tucking, i made sure to pin down areas where fan leaves were pointing up and covering budsites, so its still all even, but more leaf surface area to hopefully absorb more light.

Throwing around ideas for my next grow, whenever it may be....

I'd like a haze of some sort, purple is just a little gimmicky to me, dunno why, but i'd like to do a strand with a fairly long strong high, psychadellic of nature so more so leaning towards a sativa heavy genotype. Arjans haze Series look very nice, but are a little spendy for the american dollar right now, and looked to grow a bit larger than i may be able to contain, any suggetions of similar strands with a smaller stature, similar high? Nevilles haze looks fun, and Nebula, but there all more expensive than i'd probobly like.....anything similar to those that cost less?

Was walking around in lowes the other day, just doin a bit of looking lazy looking, and came across the HPS and HM bulbs, there relatively cheap $19 for single bulb compared to the bulb cost of amount of cfl's i have.......how would a 150w HPS compair to a 200w cfl grow, (cfl number not incandescent equivalent).

I was also trying to find the ballast, or socket for the screw in 150w bulbs, no where to be found, what do they look like and how much do they run?

What kind of stealth enclosures/tables/lockers/etc do yall recommend for a more perminent fixture in my closet?

just buy a growtent you can get them for like 120 and they are amazing

build the closet custom is my vote... you know what you need

the difference with HPS over CFL is the light spectrum and the penetrating power of the bulb. so, a 150 watt HPS will probably outperform 200 watts of CFL... it also will be a fuck lot easier to deal with... one bulb vs 8 or so and you wont be keeping that bulb anywhere near as close. when i set up my new closet i will be using the CFL's for veg only... unless i talk myself into a MH bulb too then those puppies will get used as regular lights.

check in the outdoor lighting section or security lights for the ballasts... no idea if Lowe's carries them or not... but one thing i have noticed... smaller stuff Lowes is all over... but larger things like inline exhaust fans, they dont have... Home Depot does though... so keep that in mind.... i have seen the smaller HPS ballasts online for about US$20-$30... the concept of a ballast is really simple though... a store bought one will just look like a box with a couple wires off each end (you want an external ballast!) and a switch on it that you wont ever use LOL

as for strains, in these small grows sativas give me the shivers... such a big and slow maturing plant.

have you looked at Jack Herer? that is some excellent bud.

when i place a real seed order i am going to try some of the autoflowering strains like auto ak47 because i think they are neat in their smallness... i also like the idea of getting buds out of my veg tank too

truth is, one of the things i am looking forward to is being able to grow all sorts of different strains. that is something i have never been able to indulge in and having the small grow makes more practical.

Quoted you and going to respond in bold, as to be a little more organized in my responses and thoughts..

bfq said:

the difference with HPS over CFL is the light spectrum and the penetrating power of the bulb. i will be using the CFL's for veg only... then those puppies will get used as regular lights.

This is what i'm planning on doing myself, make sure i know how to grow first, then get a small hps for flower, and use my cfl's for vegging, they did very very well.

as for strains, in these small grows sativas give me the shivers... such a big and slow maturing plant.

I agree with this, have never seen anyone scrog or LST a sativa, that would be intresting to see and figure whats possible with a plant like that.......those strong heavy sativa are my unicorn. Afghani has been my best smoke, practically tripped every time i smoked it from a GB.

have you looked at Jack Herer? that is some excellent bud.

I've heard wonders about Jack Herer and also to add, Trainwreck, have only had a taste of trainwreck, have never even smelled a jack herer. I've had AK47 before, but it was nothing to shout out about (mabey due to grower),

truth is, one of the things i am looking forward to is being able to grow all sorts of different strains. that is something i have never been able to indulge in and having the small grow makes more practical.

This is my primary reason for wanting to grow, being able to try different kinds i know id never get a chance to, and being somewhat self sufficient (i hate waiting for that call).

Click to expand...

As for building something, its hard to finish it and make it look "belonging" to the room, and easily accessable. I'd like to continue with the scrogs, they seem like the best bet as far as yield.....so 3ft maximum height is all i need, and a 2ft square base. Making something stealthy is not easy.....

i love the Afghani strains!

yeah, AK47 aint all that, but it seems like it will be the most potent of the autoflowering plants, so i am looking forward to giving it a whirl when that time comes.

building stealthy is a drag... only really stealthy stuff i have seen took a false wall... but that allowed for a much larger grow area... i miss having feet to work with instead of inches!

i was just telling someone this morning that being out just meaning a walk to the curing closet sure beats the Hell out of waiting for a phone call

I'd love to eventually be able to grow something similar to the afghani strains, they just blow my mind, and i know it would keep for quite awhile.

Having a single plant geared towards a sativa strain and having a nice indica as well is ideal in my mind. I've no intentions of selling, (mabey sell 1/8-1/4oz just for expenses on seeds, fan, etc.) But its all personal, and should save me quite the bit at $50-3.5g of regular beasters, and allow me to save some cash for headies when they come around. Then i'll eventually have a sativa and an indica both for a personal stash...2-3 nice yielders per year is more than enough for the amount i smoke.

Thats the plan at least.......gotta get through this grow first successfully On my way!

my goal with growing in my new tent starting next year is to get 3 ounces every 1.5 months

That tent isint very inconspicious.......wont work for me. Though 3oz every 1.5 months is nice, mabey someday

I may convert a 7cf sub enclosure to a small grow box.......this has to be very stealthy, and stealthy is hard for perminence.

looks like i am going to have the fun of finding out what a sativa is like in a small chamber... one of my plants (that i had been calling Freaky Deaky because of it's weird and gangly growth) is clearly a sativa... i had my fears, but there just can be no doubt... she is already LST'd into a basic knot... wonder how many more ties she will get

Got any pictures of that, i'd love to see a sativa in growth, so i can start planning how to control them for small <3ft tall grows.

Heres an update picture from the day.

Pulled a few side leaves back out to absorb more light. Ambient temps have risen, high outside today was 94F, and box peaked and hovered at 87F. Inner growth seems to feel as though is speeding up slightly.....any thoughts on timeframe till the buds begin to fill in.....if possible?



I really want to grow sativas over indicas, just my personal preference, but would like to have both for the sake of....

you have a long way to go before the buds start filling in.... she is only just getting going.

i will try and get a pic for you... but it really jsut looks like a normal plant that is light stretched with really narrow leaves... it isnt light stretched though, i keep the bulbs about a half inch from the tops... it just grows out around the lights... so, i tie it back in on itself... it looks like a sad little mess LOL

Seeing That Plants Are Somewhat Clock, Like The 2wk 14 Days In A True 12/12 It All Should Start Up!!! We Talked Alittle In The Past About This!
How Many Days In Are U In The Last Shot!!?? Db.~tlb!
We Know Some Stressing Is Evadent, But Is There A Light Leak.?

No light leak as far as i know, i switched it over to 12/12 on the 1st, I do know for the first week-week.5 i made it stay up late and wake up early, and the first weekend i tried swapping it from being awake during the day to night, and switched back by that monday, but it did only show hairs on the 26th, so by my guess that first week-week.5 puts it at 11th/12th for uninterupted darkness, 2 weeks from then, is the 25th/26th, when it showed female hairs......its been a week since it sexed, so i guess i'm still ok on time frame since i threw it off almost 2 weeks.

Would this light stress flip it over to a boy, or am i still in the clear....?

Will be watering in a few hrs, any suggestions on particular nutes to give, was planning on some molasses and mabey a small amount of AJ since it didn't negatively impact it last time, or just stay with 1tspn molasses/.5gal. I used a 1/2 tspn last time in a .5gal, no negative effects at all, made her more perky!

It Was Prob. The Water That Made The Perky...
The Light Stressing I Am Hearing Some Bad Things About "hermie" Ish
But Realy Not Sure On This Yet! But Im Sure There Not Liars! So More Research Needed Here For That.
Your Levels Of Doses On The Appl. And The Mol. Seem Low Enough! But. I Would Alternate And Watch Them. Due To The "-p-k" Involved In Both.!
This Realy Is Your Call, U Are There.!!! If Your Not Having Any Advers Effects Then Were On The Right Track, Take Your Baby Steps Like Uve Been Doing. And Keep Being A Good Pintch Hitter For Mother Nature And Your On.!!! My Biggest Sug. Dont Try And "grow" Her,! Participate In It"
And I Think Your Doing A Great Job. Your Talking To Her, And Listening To Her As Well. Just Some Fine Tuning.! Allways Db.~tlb!

Thanks for the kind words and suggestions B THC, i'm going to water her in less than an hr with 3/4teaspoon molasses, and see how she likes it over the next few days. I really hope to not have any hermie issues, if thats the case will this downgrade the "quality" of the end result, or just give me seeds in with it as well?

I'll do some fine 15x magnification on some of the sites and see if i see anything in particular that looks like balls, but the little bit of looking i did, looked completely female. I will say when i switched time i was going from 18/6 straight to 12/12, so it would need to aclimate itself then start releasing hormone. The little bit of bothering in the first hr or so before and after it went to sleep shouldn't have a negative impact i'd think.......if it was in 3weeks 12/12 then abruptly a night of light during its sleep cycle might throw it off, but i'd think it moreso weening it into 12/12 of sorts.....can this be said correct??

Will update again tonight with another picture, also found a roll of twist ties at lowes, like on bread bags, $3 for 100ft, i only use them in .5" or 1" increments, so it'll last awhile!

With The Lighting, More Than A Days Snafo, And Then Maybe, But Just One, I Would Not Sweet It.! Db.~tlb!

You speak in riddles......

Riddles are fun, what do you mean in the last one.....More than a few days is ok before hermi or what?

Gave it 1/2teaspoon, as i beleive i gave less last time, water was slightly brownish last time, this time slightly more....but not full fledged brown.....looked like apple juice today....last time highly diluted, so i probobly only gave 1/4teaspoon last time......but being very light with it either way........

We'll see how it does, tems havn't hit 88F today yet, so looking good on temp, well good as i can do right now in my oven.

one thing about males and hermies... i have never seen them be slow to show themselves.

be careful with the molasses! specially with your temps! sugar water ferments and alcohol is bad for plants... 2 tablespoons per gallon is fine, but make sure to do it on alternating waterings so that the soil doesnt get all saturated. it also doesnt evaporate at the same rate as clear water.

this aint just me talking out of my ass either, i made one of my budding plants into a still last week

man i doubt that will be hermi ive known people who've put there plants through so much and they dont turn out hermi...

id say that if the female hairs are well defined and you can't see anything weird, then the chances are super silm and i wouldn't worry