[Grow Journal] First ever grow, using CFLs

This is my first ever grow and will be strictly for personal use. I was amazed at the amount of information I found on RIU and definitely was motivated to grow by all of you. For this grow, I'm using bagseed. I figured I'd practice with that before I moved up to seedbank seeds. I mixed my own soil. It is 1/3 jiffy mix seeding soil, 1/3 perlite and 1/3 vermiculite. I began with germinating 5 seeds on 7/27/2009. 4 of the seeds have sprouted. The first 3 seeds sprouted after 3 days of germination(7/30/2009) and were placed in the soil mix above the same day. The fourth seed sprouted on and was then placed in the same soil mix. Each of the 4 sprouts broke the soil within 48 hours of being placed in the soil.

I'm using 8 CFLs (26W 6500K) for vegging and will also use CFLs for flowering. The 4 plants all received light from CFLs that were approx. 1"-2" away 24/0 for the first week and a half. On 8/10/2009, I began the 4 kids on a 20/4 schedule.

The grow cabinet that I currently have is about 24"x11"x31". I am having a bit of trouble keeping the temperature below 85 degrees with the doors closed (Average is 83.7 degrees). The cabinet sits 3" off of the wall, so I drilled 5 clusters of 16 holes in the base of the cabinet to allow for passive air intake. I have also cut a hole in the top of the cabinet wear I have a 4" desk fan. There is a 2nd 4" desk fan inside the cabinet for air circulation. Since placing the plants inside the cabinet, I have left the cabinet doors open to control the temperature. I plan on introducing the DIY CO2 setup in the next couple days as I've read that helps the plants cope with higher temps.

I also just bought a soil pH/moisture meter to monitor the soil. After doing some reading on RIU, I began to suspect that the pH of the soil was the cause of the leaf burn. I tested the soil and found that the pH was approximately 7.5. To remedy this, I added 5 drops of lemon juice to a gallon of tap water (sat out for 26 hours) that I used to water the plants this morning (I had previously been watering with rainwater but I ran out and it hasn't rained for the past few days). I plan on continuing to adjust the soil pH over the next week using vinegar mixed into the water until I reach about 6.5. No nutrients have been added to any of the plants to date.

My plants have now each taken on distinctive symptoms that lead me to believe something is wrong. Plant 4 is the only one without any symptoms and I'm worried that's only because it is the youngest of the 4.

Plant 1's stem is twisted to the point where the plant is barely 1/2" above the soil. Its leaves have begun to droop.

Plant 2 is much shorter than the others and has red spots with yellow circles on 2 of its older/broader leaves

Plant 3 has what look like burns on the tips of the leaves and the leaves have began to droop (new leaves are still growing).


I have pics of what the kids looked like earlier in their life cycle if anyone's interested but have only included the most recent ones taken this afternoon. I'd appreciate any feedback from you guys and girls since this is my first grow and I'm trying my hardest not to react to every little change in the plants.

ok bro i see what has happened to plant number one with the twisted stem. if you look closely you will see that the stem didnt twist it actually split and one side continued to grow. causin it to be fucked up i have done this myself with helpind a seedling out of the seed hull my plant grew the exact same way before it died

eleven days, The second one is looking fine. The first one will never get better or need serious staking. I think number 3 is under a little stressed. What is your watering cycle. How far are your lights? I would stick with 24/7 till thet reach one foot. then top. then 12/12. works good for me.But there are alot more experienced growers out there. good luck

I looked at the stem again of Plant 1 just to make sure that I was seeing it correctly and it is twisted, like I thought (See pic below). I'm going to attach it to a small stick to try and prop it up. Hopefully that'll train it to stand on it's own.

I've been watering about once every 3-4 days but I think I've been underwatering. 8/12/2008 was the first time I watered until there was runoff from the bottom of the cups. I could also feel the difference in weight from the water that many of the other growers have been referring to. The lights are less than 2" from each of the plants and each plant has at least 2 CFLs within that distance.

I dont think number 1 is gonna make it. Its never going to have a leg to stand on so to speak.

Thanks for all of you responses and I think you're all right about #1 being in trouble. I've staked it to give it some support so maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

The 1st pic is of Plant #2 as it looks today.

The last 2 pics below are of Plant #3. It seems to have responded positively to the water with the lemon juice drops mixed in. The lower leaves are still yellow and wilting some but the upper leaves and new growth appear better.

I checked the pH of all 4 plants again and they are all right about 7. I think the problem may have been that the pH was too high and underwater because I checked the moisture level again today and they all were dry so I watered again using the lemon juice water. I guess I was so worried about overwatering that I actually underwatered them for the first week and a half of their lives.

Any suggestions or observations?

the first one looks pretty healthy. when are you thinking about transplanting? id do it soon. give those roots some room to stretch out. gook luck

Thanks. I'll probably transplant tomorrow or Saturday. I want to get some Fox Farm soil to use for the transplant and I just haven't had time to get to the shop this week. I don't plan on using any nutes until flowering but may just buy them while I'm there. Which Fox Farm nutes do you use for flowering? Big Bloom?

Yup, Big Bloom seems to be all the craze, lol. Id say research it a little bit and get what you feel will help your grow the best. We can only tell you what worked for us, in our conditions, so unless you have replicated exactly what someone else has done, you will get different results. Genetics plays a factor as well.

I've got 6" pots for transplanting. Will that be big enough so that I only have to transplant once? Don't want to shock the plants more than is necessary.

Rock80 said:

I've got 6" pots for transplanting. Will that be big enough so that I only have to transplant once? Don't want to shock the plants more than is necessary.

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A good rule of thumb is 1 to 1 1/2 gallon per month the plant lives. Im planning on vegging for a month so I bought 3 gallon pots.

I just subscribed and am onboard.

Tamuuli said:

A good rule of thumb is 1 to 1 1/2 gallon per month the plant lives. Im planning on vegging for a month so I bought 3 gallon pots.

I just subscribed and am onboard.

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Id like to amend his rule of thumb. And add in, "at least". Meaning at least a gallon per month. Cuz you could grow for 2 1/2 months but use a 5 gallon pale if you want and feed from the bottom to increase your roots. Also, Ive seen people use way less than a gallon container, Ive seen a 2 1/2' plant grown in a red kegger cup and yield nice buds. So...idk. lol

woolypudding69 said:

Id like to amend his rule of thumb. And add in, "at least". Meaning at least a gallon per month. Cuz you could grow for 2 1/2 months but use a 5 gallon pale if you want and feed from the bottom to increase your roots. Also, Ive seen people use way less than a gallon container, Ive seen a 2 1/2' plant grown in a red kegger cup and yield nice buds. So...idk. lol

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No, thats actually very true, it really depends on genetics, strain and particular plants. Good catch wooly

I'd like to limit the height of the plants to about 3 feet max. So I hope these 6" pots give my roots enough room to stretch.

The 6" pot will work, its just most likely going to limit your yield. Another thing I found that works nicely is an ice cream pale. If you want to keep your plant at 3 ft or under, flower at around 12 to 16 inches. This will keep its overall height lower. Or you could do some lst, which I am finding is really nice for space restrictions. I think Im going to do this with all my plants even though I have some 8 feet of head room to work with, I just want extra tops for extra cola which equals extra yield!!

Get rid of that massey 4 fan for your exaust i had the same problem. I replaced it with sunbeam 10 inch one also at walmart for 15$ and put the fan inside your box. my box is a little smaller but my temp droped 5 degrees or more.

followed your link from my thread. i'm subscribed.. its trippy seeing something so familiar yet so different haha.
have to say i'm impressed everything looks really good so far.
my hydro shop gives away used pots for free. i picked up 6 a while back for a DIY ebb/flow tray i made. plan on using them for the soil grow.
also you should grab Garden Knowm's book Buds For Less 8 oz of Bud for Less than $100.. grown all CFL and soil, no nutes, just time released MG potting soil. i found it at borders or barnes and noble.. can't tell the difference those stores look exactly the same to me...

last note.. never grown soil, but if you keep those babies short before you start 12/12 you should be able to control the height really well. i'm not for certain because i don't know your genetics, but one of those little babies looks heavy on the sativa, so be sure to flower EARLY! sativas stretch for 2-3 weeks after starting 12/12 (in my personal experience) i had to trim back my closet tree grow quite a bit to get it where it is now.

good luck and happy growing!!


Shack

Thanks to smokin1 for the news that Smith & Hawkens are having a going out of business sale. Nutes were 40% off. I was able to get Fox Farm's Grow Big, Tiger Bloom, and Big Bloom all for $24. Had to go to the hydro shop for the Fox Farm Ocean Forest but a bag of that was on $24.

In a couple of hours, I'll transfer the three plants that are able to stand on their own into the 6" pots. I don't plan on mixing anything to the Ocean Forest but I've read that rocks can be placed on the bottom of the pots to help with drainage. Is this really necessary to avoid root rot?

jollytime said:

eleven days, The second one is looking fine. The first one will never get better or need serious staking. I think number 3 is under a little stressed. What is your watering cycle. How far are your lights? I would stick with 24/7 till thet reach one foot. then top. then 12/12. works good for me.But there are alot more experienced growers out there. good luck

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Damn bro! slow down a bit eh? lol. You have a great idea here. However, you don't have to run the lights for 24/7 until the plant reaches one foot tall. In fact, I would be against leaving the lights on a 24/7 schedule.. you should only leave your lights on the 24/7 schedule for the first 3-5 days. Then drop it down to 18/6 for about 2-5 weeks. Then hit your plants with 12/12.

There are all kinda of different schedules you can use. Ya dig? But thats the one I personally use.

First 3 days = Lights are 24/7
After first 3 days = lights go down to 18/6 schedule for about 2-5 weeks. Then.. whenever I feel my plant has reached the height that I want it at.. then I can switch to my flowering cycle. 12/12 until harvest.

Or, i currently have (what I hope is a female plant growing. in flowering still). I had two total plants.. one hermied on me ya dig? The one that is still alive.. still has not showed sex yet.. which is actually good. From experienced growers.. who have told me that.. the longer a plant takes to show its sex.. the better your chances of having that plant being a female is. So yea.. I'm hoping.

I also have two little sprouts that just broke soil yesterday. These seeds are from some of the DANKEST POTENT bagseed I have ever smoked. A experienced grower grew this type of bagseed. It was nice bro ya dig? .. had perfect color red hairs on the nugs, you could see how fluffy they were and could see the little hairs every where. Bag I am smoking.. has a considerable amount of seeds. But not many.. I can safely say this bag of dank doesnt have more than 10 seeds through the whole bag can ya dig?

Those are the two lovely plants that just sprouted broke soil a day or two ago. Ya dig?

I'm gonna see If I can fix the seed problem.
Either way, I'm growing it this time. So if I have no problems..ya dig? with these two new sprouts, I will have some killa bud. I'm sorry.. I'll have some KILLA DANK Schwagg.

K im done talking.. sorry about that.
what? im stoned. I talk alot when I get high.
I mean stoned.. If I get high i talk alot.. so Im not stoned.. im just really high. If I were to get flat out STONED? I wouldn't be saying anything. I'd just be chillin ya dig?

k well peace dude.
thanks

I had my plants on 24/0 for about a week and a half then switched to 20/4. That's what they are on now. I don't plan on changing it again until I switch to 12/12. I'm probably looked at least another 2-3 weeks of vegging before going 12/12.