Its time: First Grow Journal:LST,150 Watt HPS,and Daily Updates(cause I have no life)

I read your journal, like the setup and the beans you grew out.
I have a few pointers, leave the veg to the cfls and forget the hps
for now, use that only for flowering along with the cfls for a mixed
spectrum for better buds. Your plants are hella small for a few reasons
one the container was way too big for those small plants to be transplanted
into, the plants put all their growing energy into growing a crazy root system
instead of growing out which is also needed, hence the reason for veg time.
Nothing can be done about that now, next time start in smaller container like
a red solo 16oz cup those are perfect for cab vegging.
Other suggestion is to back the cfls away about 5in or more to allow the plant
to start reaching for the light and fill out. Thats when you will see an explosion
in upwards and outwards growth. After about a week with the lights back out you
can top the plant for two main colas instead of one and then lst. You could even do it
now if you want and save some time. I would take those lights back to hd and get the
blue daylight bulbs, those are what you need for veg and also for flowering for mixed
spectrum, kinda like having a hortilux bulb in there with all the money being spent.
Cfls are best used horizontal for better light distribution.
Let me know if you need any other help.

I do agree with you should have kept the plants in the cups, but you had already transplanted so it was like oh well, but you will be fine...I would not move the cfls back at all... cfls have to be at least 4 inches or closer to be of any real value...Go ahead and add your hps next week along with the cfls... you can use both doing veg, because as long as you have those blue spectrum cfls right next to the plant it will help stop the stretch..by adding the hps you are adding more light but the plant will not stretch because of the blue cfls right next to it keeping those nodes close...now when you change to 12-12 thats another story, because that's when the plants will do alot of stretching ( in flower)..oh true that you get better value from your cfl when they hang horizontal... Your whole goal is to keep the plants short and squat with topping and lsd...don't cause any unnecessary stretching... the plant will do that on its on ( its call growing ) just my 2cents

I partially agree with you when it comes to the growing and stretching. You want the the plant to grow up and out during veg as well even though it will stretch in flower, the key is to know the sweet spot for your environment and for his he can do with some upwards growth.
You dont want too short a plant cause it wont produce ish. By the color of those cfls they seem to be the soft white type no bluish tint at all.

lol real nice setup man +rep
1 thing though, you might want to take down that sign that says do not touch and try to blend ur setup with something because when i see a sign that sais do not touch, i have to look haha
puff puff pass

I think the confusion lays when you look at his plants on the fact you think its 3 weeks in veg..its not..he is counting days he started to germ...they didn't pop soil until Nov 18...which makes them 16 days old..heck you still have to count at least 5 days for seedling time..so really his girls have only been vegging for maybe a week...I understand first new grow the love for his plants have him in rush mode ( we all been there..heck I smoke my first plant 4 weeks into flower..lol....hell it looked done...lol ) so when he said its 3 weeks yeah its 3 weeks from germing the seed........so I think his plants are right on track minus the transplanting too early...( remember we all rushed at one point ..lol )..... I really thought that he had blue spectrum 5100-6500 kelvin cfl bulbs, but after you said how they look I have to agree with you....

Daily Update: Growth Explosion (Day 21 from SEED!)

These ladies have had a veg explosion since I last wrote. They have definitely impressed me with their growth in the past couple of days.

The second set of leaves are in and are dark green. Multiple more sets of leaves are on the way (too many to waste my time counting). The stems have hardened up and begun to get rigid. I have a feeling this is from my fan constantly blowing decently strong at them. They are about 5 or 6 inches tall and have bent alot to reach the lot which looks/is great for me.

As for the lights... Yeah they are daylight cfls, not cool white. I went to Lowes (only one is in the ghetto) and I promise you all they had no cool white 42 watt cfls. So I got daylight. Idk how detrimental this is to my plant but they look ok so far. I ain't stressin' over it. As for light height, right now the girls look ok right? I will prob move the lights an inch or two further away but I am satisfied with the results so far. They are making upward progressing, don't you worry...

The cups they were originally in were see through so I got worried about light hurting the roots and might have acted hastily. I doubt this will hurt my overall growth (I hope).

It has gotten hot in there with the hps on...temps are hovering around 82-83 degrees during the day! I have begun to counteract this by turning on the AC for periods of time...

What do you guys think with this new information?

p.s. Kate's (right plant) outer fan leaves are droopy while Meaghan's (left plant) are erect.

Any ideas?

plants looking good to me ..cant really tell about droopy leaves..how are you watering ???? is it hotter in one spot then the other ???

As far as the light well sometime you just got to use what you got ...would have been nice to have some blue spectrum in the mix during veg and flower but it is what it is..you can grow a plant from start to finish with just a hps so you will be fine..but the first chance you get go ahead and grab some blue spectrum ( you got other grows coming I'm sure ...try walmart) ...Your transplanting early should not hurt your grow it just slowed it for a period, but i think they past that now ...keep it up ...

edit ... you saying that you got daylight bulbs???? thats 6500 kelvins which should be great for veg...are they daylight bulbs????

I think that the plant under the ballast (plant on left side) gets more heat so I switch them around daily...dont think I can fix that problem

Daily Update (Day 25 from seed)

So the girls are getting pretty green and pretty lush. I gave them their last feeding of plain distilled water this morning. Their next serving will have 1/4th strength Fox Farm Big Bloom in it and maybe 3 or 4 feedings after that it'll have Grow Big in it as well. Moved the HPS up an inch while keeping the cfls pretty much constant. I think the time is right to LST.

LST- Anybody got any advice before I go off and try this. I have read alot of good threads on the subject and am still not sure what I wanna do. I was thinking about getting some bendable, fuzzy pipe cleaners and bending a loop in each on. This will loop around the plant where I want it to. Now I am not sure about topping. Do you do it before or after you start LST?

Here are some pics

Hey guy you want to use big bloom when you start to flower...you should be using big grow now in veg...check FAQ on this site for info on lsd, super cropping, topping and fim https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=category&id=104 you want to top along the 4th or 5th node ..but read up on it ..yes pipe cleaner would work you could put some eye screws at the top rim of your plant to have something to tie down to once you tie it around the plant...The more you read the more you will learn ...remember Google can be your friend...Google: Topping cannabis.... and then start the read...oh yeah most case you top first then you will start to see how you should lsd

Real talk dude go get some blu cfls even if they are 26w, they will do more good at this stage than the spectrum you are using.
The growth on the plants are seriously lacking regardless of what others want to say. That hps should come on when those bitches are at least ten inches tall, right now they are way to small for their age, I know their roots are hella big but that dont mean ish cause I cant smoke that ish. Get the tops up, thats where the buds come from. Go to my sig or my page and youll see that I have had grows with cfls and know what the hell Im talking about.
Whatever this is your grow regardless of how small or big, me im about going big all the way, fuck that shit I dont want small shit regardless of whether or not I smoke this shit, its about getting the most out of your space and your straight fucking it up listening to some people.
Do yourself a favor and check out grows at your age, youll see that your real behing on vert grow. meaning less yield which sucks dick.

I do agree that you should use the blue spectrum,but if that's all you got that's all you got...but if you can go get 5100-6500 cfl and yeah 26 watt are at walmart..but again if all you got is all you got..you can still grow...and far as that hps..dude you can do a straight grow with just a hps..maybe others just never have tried because they still using CFL..don't get me wrong CFL's are great but they can't kick out lumen like a hps..period..keep both them on if your babies can take the heat...but if you can replace the cfls you have now with blue spectrum do so...run the cfl close ..hps further away.....more light faster grow..just don't let the heat slow your grow....far as your plants growing slow..transplanting to0 early was the problem and the fact that budda cheese starts slow to boot , but as you see they growing now...by the way your 150 HPS light only penetrates 12 inches then you lose lumen GREATLY ..so waiting to cut on the HPS until the plant get 10 inches is crazy..do what you doing...top at the 5th node..start the lsd training..your goal is to keep those bitches short and bushy ..Hey I'm going to PM you a something so you can see I know what i'm talking about...this should be very helpful for you...Keep it up

Yeah I guess I did fuck up with the transplanting. Now when I'm on my 50th grow and I can say "I remember how dumb I was, on my first grow I transplanted to a 2.5 gallon pot after 2 weeks!". Oh well I guess. I can't be pissed at the girls, their too cute. And they actually are starting to smell like bud now. Its sorta cool. Just looks like an innocent little herb right now.

Yeah i GUESS i will go back to walmart for the 500th time and waste some more money. GhostSamuri, I just find it hard to believe that my grow is going to be shitty because I have 45 watt daylight cfls and not 26 watt cool white cfls. I know I need some more space between the nodes; if anything I need to raise my lights.

Hey we all learn from our mistakes..Its true that its best to veg with blue spectrum cfl, but you can still grow with what you have...but if you can afford to just go to wal mart and pick up a few...remember when you flip that light to 12/12 thats when the real stretching begans 150 to 300 percent ...!!!!! so keep that in mind...and hey you want close tight nodes in veg..they will stretch believe me !!!!! I would just move the lights if heat becomes a problem....How long you thinking about letting them veg???? oh on that link check how that fan is on that 150w tiny bubble system ( first page scroll to sig) ..regular old pc fan just blowing right across the bulb...makes a hell of a change and its so simple..

Daily Update: (Day 26 from Seed)

Another day in paradise. The girls are looking fine as usual. They are a lush green but I feel like its time for to start the Fox Farm Big Bloom (its the micro nute [.01, .03, .07] not the flowering nutes [2, 8, 4]). They will get a good watering either tomorrow night or the next morning with 1/4 strength FFBB. This should fill up their small tummies and give them a boost. I went to Wal-Mart again tonight and whaddya know. They had no GD COOL white cfls. Not even 26s or 23s. All they had were soft white and daylight like I said. So officially, everyone cause suck one on the GD blue light cfls! Mine are stayin.

I plan to LST the girls tomorrow. I picked up some fuzzy pipe cleaners and am gonna bend the bitches into submission. Problem: I don't know when is a good time to Top the girls. I know how to Top but should I do it before I LST, during or after?

Here is the tentative schedule:

Schedule (Open to Changes)

11/7 - LST

11/8 - Begin feeding with 1/4th strength micro nute (FFBB)

11/16 - Clone both plants. Induce flowering.

11/20 -Harvest 10 ounces

Topping ?

Last one is a joke but the rest is the schedule for now. I am sure I am going to get an earful for bullcrap from the community about moving too fast but damn it I don't have that much space! If they really do double or even triple in size, I am gonna be tight on space (even with LST)

I am also sure everyone is gonna bitch about cloning too early. I know you should clone a plant when they are at least 2 month old for the best genetic results but GD it I am working on a time frame. I will also construct the bottom clone area this week.


Here are pics:

1.top first the lsd...if you looking fo a date to top by the way they growing I would do it hell next friday..
2. you keep saying daylight and daylight kelvins are 6500 which are great for veg..but your bulbs now are suppose to be daylight and they don't look it...remember on the box it should have a kelvin reading you want anything between 5100-6500 kelvins....if you plan on cloning you will need to get the right spectrum, so find some bulbs before you clone !!!!
3.Guy you must learn patience when growing if not you will phuck up your grow...We all wish that we could just stick our finger in the dirt and presto out grow a pound of weed..but darn it God only made it were we can just stick our fingers in the soil to see if its moist...( darn God) ...so patience patience.... ..

Daily Update (Day 27 from Seed)


So I finally came across some cool white cfls. They are only 26w but damn it they are the right color. Some bad news... the girls don't look 100%. They are starting to get light green to yellow in some parts of the fan leaves. I didn't want to start fertilizing them until they started to yellow anyways so I am not worried. The light green/yellow just tells me they need a little nitrogen. I gave them a good watering with 1/2 strg Fox Farm Big Bloom (.01, .3, .7). Think that ill be enough to fill up their small tummies? Either way I plan to head to my local grow shop and pick up Fox Farm Grow Big and maybe Tiger Bloom.

And don't worry about the patience. I would never do anything rash without consulting the community first. Just like to think about it. Make me happy/excited!

Here are the pics. They are not that good because my camera is cheap.

oh also a couple of things. I want to LST tomorrow. Would it kill me if I topped after I begin to LST the girls? AND I just checked the pH/moisture/fertility/light with my 4 in 1 meter and they are all in the green. This reinforces my belief that it is a nitrogen deficiency and that all it needs is a good feeding.

one more thing, I have been looking at other threads of the same strain and their leaves aren't a droop and as curled at the end. Whats the deal? I have been watering prob once every two to two and a half days with plain distilled water. Have I been watering too much?