Coaster13

Hi there and welcome, I'm starting my very first grow right from the bottom up. I've been surfing the forums and have found the greatest of information as well as help from several excellent growers. May I recommend the thread "New Grow" started by TIG. It rocks, and it'll also serve as a blueprint to where this grow is at.
Right out of the gate I ran into some trouble, during propogation I had the seeds too far from the flouro's and they've stretched. I figured this would be the end of them but with help from friends like TIG, Peace seeker, stoneric & Farmergiles I've managed to keep them alive and am now moving them from flouro's to 400 watt MH's in a grow room. We are currently beginning week 3.
I'll try and get some pics up soon. It is my intention to give all the credit to the YaHooka Forums should this grow be successful and I'll donate any yield free of charge to medical marijuana patients from this harvest.
So, if you've got any tips, I'd welcome them. I've got tons of questions and look forward to hearing from anyone that would like to share their knowledge.

Peace
Coaster

TIG

Lets see some pics!

Peace seeker

yeah, start taking some pics of the plants and the set up

thats the only we can start making recomendations that help your plants grow better, faster and stronger

good luck

what strain r u growing again?

Coaster13

These started to do alot better once the forum got involved in saving them from my rookie clutches.

Coaster13

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This is the rest of my puny group, with the exception of the one with the bent stem, that one is recovering nicely with the application of honey to the break. I'll get more up when I get back to my home network. Peace my friends. Be gentle but be honest.

TIG

I'd be tempted to get a taller, narrower pot and bury them up to the first set of leaves. The crutches should work fine until you pot up tho. Health wise they look fine man, keep that light close and they should bush up.
Keep us posted!

tig

stoneric

If it's bagseed, I'd lick my wounds and start over.

bubbler211

nice seedlings! good selection potting them up in clay pots,clay tends to let some of my
noob seedlings i use to grow to a better height,plus clay leeches out most of any salt that can build up in ones soil

Coaster13

Thanks bubbler211,
I read that the clay was a good starter but had no idea about the salt being leeched out. Thanks for that tip. I'm gonna go with TIG's lead and re-pot them to 5 gallon buckets once they bush out some and regain their normal strength. Do you think that will be a wise move?

Peace seeker,
The seeds are from Mama's stash. I believe they may be a Kush, but we're calling them "The M4 Strain" (Mama's Mystery Medical Marijuana). I'm curious as to what you think as well. I took your tip about checking the hole under the clay pot and on a few the root is right there. Do I dare re-pot now? Or shall I let them bush a bit?

stoneric,
I'm gonna ride this grow out to the end, good or bad the result will only increase knowledge. My reasoning is that with this being my first go, I'd rather use the "bagseed" than to waste money on pure hybred seed and destroy the lot. I mean right out of the gate I went wrong by trying to propogate too many seeds (32) Peace seeler makes an excellent point in stating that I had not the means or equipment to see a grow of that size through had all of them sprouted. By the looks of things the 11 I have are gonna be a challenge room-wise. Which leads me into this...

Friends,
Wilst jumping the gun here a bit. What are your opinions on segregation of the the females I want to sinselmila and the 1 male I'll keep to collect the pollen from? Should I pollenate 1 female? I know I'm probably putting the horse before the cart, but my mind races with questions all of the time and I've got to get them to all of you as they come otherwise I'll forget. Peace my friends.

TIG

Actually I'm finishing mine in 3 gallon buckets. for a 400w i'd probably finish in 1 or 2 gallons, depending on how many females you end up with. The pots they are in will support another week or two of growth. I think I'd go with 1 gallons next.

tig

Peace seeker

its way early to re-pot. Wait until the seedlings start to look like real plants. Aproximately 2 weeks from now (at least). Proper repoting is science. Like other things, it needs a good timing.


the clay pots are big enough. PErsonally i wouldnt use clay pots, and i will explain later why (u cant water by "weight of the pot", because the weight of the clay tricks you, thinking theres enough water in there). Confusing? I ll explain later.

generally:

1) They re lanky. Put the light closer and put a small osciallting 7" fan (on low) to blow on top of the plants. Not directly on them. On top. So they get a light breeze on their stems. this will strengthen the stems and create a nice "natural" enviroment for your plants.

Maybe its wise to train them (alot) now, since they re too small to repot again and bury the stems. Gently start bending the stems all the way down. they need serious training, before the lankyness get our of hand. that would create problems later on when the plants add weight during budding. You want to keep them as bushy/short/compact as possible and as even as possible (the cannopy) for proper light penetration later on.

2) water properly. I see that some parts of the soil's surface are dry and some are wet. When u water, water so 100% of the soil (inside the pot) gets enough water. Then let it dry properly in the saucers.

Later on when the plants get bigger and u transplant into plastic pots, you gonna let the plants drink from the saucer trays for at least 5 mins, before you let em drain again, clean the saucers and place the pots back under the light.

When u dont water properly, u create what we call "dry pockets" in the soil. Parts of the soil that roots dont grow, since they dont have water. You want roots to fill out the pot. The more roots the better for your plants. A healthy root system is crucial.

So, dont be afraid to water. Water properly. Drain the pot properly afterwards (i assume u have enough perlite in your mix so it drains the excess water and doesnt become muddy!). Clean the saucers. Before u put the pots under the lights, lift each pot with your thumb and fingers.

It has a certain "heavy" feel to it right? It should. It has water in it and its heavier. 3-4 days later the pot should feel lighter, since most of the water will have evaporated. If it feels "heavy" 3-4 days later, dont water again. Wait until the soil looks thirsty again and the pot lighter. dont let it get totally dry though.Roots can die.

Confusing enough? Maybe. But you ll get the idea after 2-3 waterings.

The secret is : complete wet and dry cycles for your plants. not too much not too little.

gotta go in a boring meeting.

more later.

farmergiles

^ Some good info there.

__________________
Cultivate a stoic calmness

Peace seeker

a spliff for FG

stoneric

I wasn't trying to be flippant. I just think you could get to where you are right now in a couple weeks without going thru the hassle of trying to correct mistakes. That's why asked if it was bagseed before saying to start over. If you were using expensive seeds then I'd say continue on. I've ended up wasting alot of time trying to save plants from my mistakes over the years and when I look back on it I didn't really save much time and I had already gained knowledge by making the mistake in the first place. If you do continue on, I wish you the best and although everyone here is very knowledgable, I'd pay close attention to what Peace seeker and farmergiles have to say.

Coaster13

stoneric, no worries my friend. I thank you for your advice as well. And perhaps it's even prophetic in a way as I've just suffered a major set-back. As I finished my grow room set -up, I discovered my lights have been damaged in transit. The result will be another 3 weeks lost and my only option is the flouro's. So now I'm into the experimentation stage.
If at best the company responds immediately my poor plants will be at 7 weeks under flouro's. Are they salvageable? Can it be done? Has it been done?
By using TIG's and Peace seeker's advice they blew up after proper feeding & watering. I'm fairly heartbroken over this set-back because as puny as they were, they look 100% better than before. I'll ship some pics when I get back home, but how about it? Is anyone up for a challenge?
Peace seeker, thank you so much for the watering procedure, while not so confusing I'm grateful for the proper way to treat and raise these awesome green gifts. Peace all.

yoyoMaster

Yeah, you can do it. You would be surpised what these plants can handle. I had a major Ph issue and my girl recovered quite nicely. Make sure you put the flouro's very close to the tops (2-3"). If at all possible, for the meantime, try to purchase some CFL's (6500k) and place those close as well.

Good luck,
yyM

Coaster13

yoyoMaster,
Yeah brother! Welcome aboard and thanks for the tip my friend. I'll get out and pick up a 6500k A.S.A.P. Tell me about the Ph problem so I don't repeat it.
Peace

yoyoMaster

It was a combination of extremely high heat along with the ferts in the soil, which lowered the Ph. My mistake was not checking the Ph, with a meter, to begin with. After fixing the heat problem, the solution offered by the folks here was to slowly add dolomite lime. I haven't had a Ph problem since.

__________________
yyM

My 1st grow: http://www.yahooka.com/forum/hidden-...s-my-turn.html

Coaster13

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This is week 4 after some great feeding tips from TIG & Peace seeker. Now that I've got a challenge with the light debacle. How do the flouro's change the script? I estimate another 3 weeks will go by before I get the proper lighting system into place. That will be week 7 and I should be 1 week into flower. What can I expect? Peace!

stoneric

Why would you be in week 1 of flower 3 weeks from now?