my first grow how do they look and a few ?s

hello gardeners! well i posted on the general forums but my pics were wayyyyy to big lol and i really wasnt getting my questions answered so i figured id resize and repost and maybe get some feedback! all opinions welcome please help! these are my babies they are 2 weeks old from bag seed growing from 2 large cfls and 2 grow lights. i was wondering a few things. first how they look? i know the pics make them look more yellow but they are bright green they look healthy to me just a little different than what ive seen. I was also wondering about the first 2 leaves that grow and are on the bottom. they are now yellow and falling off, i read this is normal but is it? and once they do go can i add more dirt? i was also wondering about watering. im scared to over water at this age and was wondering the typical amount used. All help helpful. And i will be monitoring with pics so plz stay tuned for more! thanks all

Welcome to the forum. Yes it is normal for those bottom leaves, the plant will shedd them when it has used the nutrients out of them. You are right to be concerned about watering. Garden Knowm swears the best way to tell when they need water is to get a 'feel for your plants'. Next time you water the, make sure you get some run-off from each plant. Let it sit for a while and then pick it up and 'feel' the weight. DO it again, that is pick up the plant and 'feel' it. You will know when it 'feels' dry. I bought a moisture meter at wallyworld for $4.00. VV

hey thanks victor! finally some info hehe yes im starting to get a feel for the watering ive just heard overwatering young plants can be really bad so being cautious and thanks for the reassurance about the bottom leaves phew thats a relief lol. So what did ya think of the pics? do they look good/normal lol they look a lil wierd to me compared tho the pics ive been browsing. This is completely new for me so im just looking for some advice/ support / encouragement lol. Will be picture posting crazy so stay tuned plz!

ahh i was also wondering i dont know if you can tell by the pics but they seem really tall the first set of "big" leaves is about 1 to 2 inches out of soil for some of the plants they were tall as seedlings but i do not believe they are stretching b/c i have the good light and close enough and the stems seem to be strong. ahh i dunno i might be being paranoid but i was just wondering if this was normal and if not how to fix? i was also wondering about topping.. should i do it, is it bad for the plant, and when to do it? sorry alot of ?s but maybe someone out there can relax me lol!

Looks like you're doing fine bud. Don't over think stuff. It's a weed. It'll grow.

I wish I could answer your Q about topping, but I've never done it, so I won't bother giving you crappy advice!

don't cut anything is too early. Let it be for now. what type are the 2 grow lights you got ??

hey thx for the replys guys! i got the lights at a local nursery i dont know if they are any good for maryj but the lady said they were great for indoor growing i could use an opinion on that one too though. they are blueish sylvania 65 & 120 w bulbs they seem to be working well but would like to know if they are garbage lol. im also going to be getting an hps here soon hopefully for i know that is best. keep em commin good or bad :0

girldatgrows said:

ahh i was also wondering i dont know if you can tell by the pics but they seem really tall the first set of "big" leaves is about 1 to 2 inches out of soil for some of the plants they were tall as seedlings but i do not believe they are stretching b/c i have the good light and close enough and the stems seem to be strong. ahh i dunno i might be being paranoid but i was just wondering if this was normal and if not how to fix? i was also wondering about topping.. should i do it, is it bad for the plant, and when to do it? sorry alot of ?s but maybe someone out there can relax me lol!

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Topping is VERY good if your plants are quick growers. You get more cola growth (Main Tops--see below ) I've done it and works well. If you do top, wait until the fourth set of leaves to come out. One of the best things you can do is to strengthen your stems by providing a fan to blow on them. It really growths them thick (again--see below). As someone else asked, what kind of grow lights do you have? If you have that much height above the dirt or medium, yes you can put in more dirt up to the first "round" leaf. Other than that, you look like you have a good start. The first 2 pics are of the tops at 18 days into flower, the last one is at 40 days into grow and 7 days after topping so you can see the effect of the fan for stem strength. And btw, I didn't need to put in more medium or dirt, they were VERY close to the dirt to begin with and never stretched. That's because there is more than sufficient light.

girldatgrows said:

hey thx for the replys guys! i got the lights at a local nursery i dont know if they are any good for maryj but the lady said they were great for indoor growing i could use an opinion on that one too though. they are blueish sylvania 65 & 120 w bulbs they seem to be working well but would like to know if they are garbage lol. im also going to be getting an hps here soon hopefully for i know that is best. keep em commin good or bad :0

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blueish so i'm guessing its good for the veging. I'm really no pro so I can't guarantee anything but it should grow with those lamps. get that hps asap though the plants will love it.

are your "grow lights" incadescent?

Hey guys me again :X with some updated pics and one that shows the long stem, plz let me know what ya'll think -_- And i believe the grow bulbs i have are fluorescent thanks for the help so far and keep the replys coming! i look forward to them hehe

when you water, you want to completely wet the soil so there is a good bit of runoff.

You might want to consider investing in some T-5 lighting at least, not to say T-5 is the best or anything but it's still a large step up from hardware store CFLs IMO. my T-5's made a big difference in my closet grow (6 LR#2's) and I was using a 65w CFL before that in the same space for one plant.

In the most recent pics you posted the plants look to be streaching considerably. Looked like mine when I was growing with CFL's. Also the "grow lights" you mentioned, are they circle bulbs like other normal household bulbs with a filament inside? Because I've seen the ones your talking about and I've never seen them in a florescent version, only incandescent which is bad, bad, bad.

Watering can be tricky at first (it was for me) so don't worry if it takes a wile to figure that out. what I did is buy a moisture meter to be sure, for like $10 it's worth it, and use that inconjuction with tipping the pots to check their water weight. eventually you'll be able to know when they need water by simply tilting them a bit. Also make sure you give the soil some time to dry out between waterings this helps keep O2 in the soil and builds a strong root system by allowing the roots to search for wetter soil deeper in the pot.

Could you give us a more complete breakdown of the size of the space, number of plants and excact lighting setup your using?

Good luck!

hey there vegan thx for the advice! Well im growing in my basement.. its cool down there but not too cold. I have a platform thats meant for a dryer that is where i have them sitting.. i then enclosed this with 3 pieces of left over board from an old lizard cage. 2 sides are white and 1 is foil. I then have 2 30 w. cfls. and 2 fluorcent grow lights. and i was pretty sure they were flurocent but i double checked the package yesterday and it is 24 watt flurocent grow tube.

well i went away for the weekend and came back and boy have they grown its amazing after looking at them a few times a day then not seeing them for 3. I will be taking more pics tomorrow so you can see the progress and let me know what yall think.. still looking forward to all replys and advice. gonna get some more lights soon and hope these bad (girls) lol are healthy. oh and they are starting to smell a lil hope thats a good sign

Im new, and I honestly dont mean to hijack this thread, but didnt know if I should make a new one.

Im 100% new to this gardening mess, only witnessed the tree grow to close to flowering before police took it...

What do people mean by flowering though? How is it done?

read the grow faq, top left...

Nice grow girl, hope all goes well. Is that an outside grow or are you just taking pictures outside. They look pretty good for the amount of time. But yeah u wanna make sure you moist that soil all the way through, because you can only imagine the root growth of these plants.


Good luck growing and stay token

hey guys! hey beeharp.. no its not an outside grow basement baby well i only got 2 pics b4 my cam died so here they are. and again my stupid lights make the plant look more yellow but its green i swear lol I know these things may be stretched but they are healthy and the light is so close i dont know what else to do... the stems are very thick and sturdy and they seem to be fine but just a lil lanky so i dunno. lemme know what yall think oh and they were 3 wks old on sat.