**First Grower** How am I doing?

First Grow

First off, Im deciding to grow weed becasue I'm tired of selling pot and I'm tired of buying it too. So in theory, I would just like to be self sufficient. (wouldn't we all??). I've read alot about how to do it, and I think I have it down pretty well I just have a few questions...

I germinated 2 seeds I got out of a bag of pretty good Mids ($45 an 8th, nothing to special about it) in a paper towel in complete darkness until the tiny root had cracked through both. Took about 4 days.

I planted Feburary 14th, Valentines Day.. Stuck them down about double the seed legnth with the root sticking out.

Here's my setup...



Soil and fertz (.02% - .02% - .02%) Just something gentle to begin with.


Outside the box




Inside!!



I'm using 2 compact Flo's. Right now my light cycle is at 24/0. I'm doing this for shortest possible grow time. Also you can see the intake 12v computer fan schooled down to a slow 4.5v breeze via an old adapter



^^
Here are the leaves



I need help!! How do you guys think my plants are doing?? Do they look ok? I've been watering them accoding to the finger test. (water meter/PH meter ordered)








My temp in there is usually around 70 degrees F and humidity is around 30%...HOW CAN I RAISE THIS?

I've tried putting in a cup of water and it does not work!


When will I be able to tell the sex my plants?

I thought about switching to 12/12 light cycle after 1.5 months of vegitation. Any ideas here?



Any help is appreciated!!

Are you going to flower in that same box? Do you plan on getting more lights for flowering?

Is that a broken pencil you have staked in there.i dont think lead poison will help the babe,have you got a mixed medium in the soil like perlite for good drainage and are you going to pot them on into bigger pots after a few weeks.happy growing mate may you reach your goal of being self-sufficiant as its the only way to go nowadays with the rediculess prices folk are wanting for a 1/4.......godspeed

p.s i put my plants on 12/12 after 6-8 wks if they are looking really healthy

Pencils havnt been made with lead for some time. Its graphite mainly now.

Yes, I'm using a perlite and soil mix. I do have adaquet (sp?) drainage in my pots.
I will definatly be planting into bigger pots. The only reason i would keep both plants is if they are both females. Its a small area to flower so i'm not 100% sure i'm going to use that...if i did what would be a good height to start 12/12?

I didn't really plan on adding more lights, but do you think i need to? More is merrier, but i'm just trying to learn the ropes with this grow. Let me know anything though.

Thanks for looking everyone!

Ok, all I've ever read was "most professionals use 24/0 lighting for optimum growth", which is fine if your growing clones and don't mind tall plants. However, I was talking to the guy that owns the local smoke shop here and he said when growing from seed, the amount of light the plant recieves largely determines its sex. I had my plants on 24/0 for the first week and a half or so before i found this out, then over the course of 7days brought it down to 18/6. He said the more light they recieve the greater the likelihood of them being male are. I haven't found ANY reliable information to support this, but I definatly changed my cycle to 18/6 until flowering. Thoughts?

EDIT: Obviously you wouldn't want to go any lower than 14-16hours of light a day as it may induce flowering. but he said 16-18 was good for getting close to a 50/50 chance of females...

i think that guy is an idiot

^^^
I Would also like to know if the Amount of light Provided determines sex...

I Would say it all depends on the seed or not... But idk...

from what I've read its more environmental aspects that determines sex, but its a gray area. thats why im posting.

never heard of that before that's for sure

i don't believe thats true.

you shuold always have good environmental aspects when growin....can solve alot of problems before they start...mold, bugs etc...

Heehee, that's not the environmental aspects that he was talking about. And of the ones that he was talking about, I'd say that the hours of light/day is a very minor chance of affecting sex expression.

HTH


P.S. there are no experts in head shops.

sex is determined from seed..its written in genetics.there is very little proof that the sex is able to be changed or reversed bcuz of light.

Id run them on 24 hours light till ready to flower.You will definately need more light for flowering stage.Expect the height to double when going to 12/12 so know how much room heighth you half and cut in half then you know the height you should switch to 12/12.Foil is bad reflector causes hot spots and can burn like a magnafing glass.Sex is a genetic thing but possible to hermie a plant by stress.

you may wanna move your cfls closer to the plants it looks to me that your plants are stretching up to the light. Put the about 2-4 inches away. This will also make them grow faster (more concentrated light)

Thank you guys for all the feedback! Wow great ideas here.

I'm going to move the lights closer, still go on the 24/0 cycle. I'll be posting pics this week of how he/she is doing!

godspeed said:

Is that a broken pencil you have staked in there.i dont think lead poison will help the babe,have you got a mixed medium in the soil like perlite for good drainage and are you going to pot them on into bigger pots after a few weeks.happy growing mate may you reach your goal of being self-sufficiant as its the only way to go nowadays with the rediculess prices folk are wanting for a 1/4.......godspeed

Click to expand...

a pencil does not contain lead, well maybe little traces of lead, the made of graphite/carbon, wax and clay

Still you dont want the lead of a pencil in dirt.... just a wood or bambo or even plastic stick