Experimental, non-traditional, First grow.

Hey Everyone, and Merry Christmas! I'm new here, NEVER posted in a forum of any kind. However, I have read in these forums and studied for approx 40 hours before i started work on my Closet grow. I have been really sucessful i think so far, my goals have been reached thus far also. I'm basically looking for helpful advice, new ideas, and any imput i can learn from. I have always wanted to do this for some time, and i'm giviner now. My method and lighting schedual is intentional. I chose this method because of an amazing post i read here, and due to space limitations. Those limitations don't exist now, but the grow must continue. My setup now is as follows:

4 - 42W CFL (2 - 2700k & 2 - 6500k) Mounted on 45 degree socket splitters, under a nice big reflector attached to a pulley.

2 - 26W CFL (6500K ) Providing light to middle of plants

Closet is 3' x 5' x 7' tall, covered in Mylar.

A Fan causing indirect breeze, Timers on a 12/12, Ventalation
Temp ranges 70F to 87F Humidity ranges 35% -60%
Nutrients on stand by, Soil is your "typical perfect mix"
Waterings have been happening every 3-4 days depending on saturation.

Plant Statics:
Strain - Not sure, something from holland preserved for 25 years (I'm told)
Seed - Basically you'd call it bag seed.
6 of 6 germinated, 5-6 Chose a female sex, 1 chose Hermi
3 plants are 28 days old. the other 2 are 20 days old.
Hermi is now Mistle Toe.
All have begun to flower, one in particular at an excelerated rate.
They have all been on 12/12 light cycle from seed.

Am I on the right track here...?

I started tieing down the larger plants last night to get more light at bud sights. The plants responded well and within 6 hours they had oriented them selves strait up again.

I haven't really had any problems per say, so i don't have much questions to ask....Maybe my pictures will generate some feed back.

Thanks so much to anyone who follows this, and I owe many members in this forum, many thanks for my sucess so far, which i will give credit to when i can.

So here we have the oldest plant, A pic of the Hermi i ended up killing, and an early shot of the grow setup.

Hey, Sgt.Sly!
How are you`re plants feeling?

I have seen, that people choose 12/12 from seed, but haven`t found, why it`s needed. Why did You choose that? I`m here new, so it`s interesting to gain knowledge.

Good luck!

Sorry bro but you should have done more research. Those wont turn out to good because you went straight into 12/12. The whole point of veging is to get the plants big enough so when you flower them they produce good sized buds. Plant size and bud size are directly related, so small plants small buds. You need to allow your plant to grow and create a large root structure so it can feed the plant when it does start to flower. You cant mess with nature bro I dont know why anyone would go straight into 12/12 it wont be a great turnout. Rember its not legal to grow bud so if you do make sure you do your research so you dont wast your time. Im not trying to be a ass but this isnt a good idea and its just a fack. In nature plants veg for months and then flower thats how the plant works.

dsn. I chose 12/12 from seed for space reasons originally. From what I've read the plant will tend to grow one cola and not branch off. Exactly what I wanted. Not looking for BIG yeilds per plant. Rather.....MORE plants in the same small space. Another advantage is you can introduce new plants at any time, without having a second grow room with veging plants. Yet another advantage i've read about this light cycle method is: when growing from bag seed, it forces the plant to chose it's sex almost immeadiately, causing close to an 80% sucess rate of FEMALES. Much better than a 50/50 chance. I germinated 6 seeds......5 went female, one went Hermi. So far the proof is in the pudding for me. This project was concieved to be Small, stealth, and COST effective. Half way through i changed the grow room to a small closet......more on that later. I'll post the write up i read when i can find it again to quote it.

I'm runnin 12/12 too, it allows me to grow twice the plants (I'm goin to be using a tent in the living room with a fan in it for the dark hours of all plants and run my lights 24/7.)

jimbizzzale67123 said:

Sorry bro but you should have done more research. Those wont turn out to good because you went straight into 12/12. The whole point of veging is to get the plants big enough so when you flower them they produce good sized buds. Plant size and bud size are directly related, so small plants small buds. You need to allow your plant to grow and create a large root structure so it can feed the plant when it does start to flower. You cant mess with nature bro I dont know why anyone would go straight into 12/12 it wont be a great turnout. Rember its not legal to grow bud so if you do make sure you do your research so you dont wast your time. Im not trying to be a ass but this isnt a good idea and its just a fack. In nature plants veg for months and then flower thats how the plant works.

Click to expand...

Remember i CHOSE to go this route for specific reasons. With that said, your absolutely right, in optimal conditions, you would want to veg your plant. These conditions were not available to me at the start and didn't know if they ever would be. However, I do believe you can manipulate mother nature to suit your needs. I guess you could concider this project a micro grow of sorts. thanks for the feed back, no offence taken. Also remember First grow = Fun grow regardless. Results only dictate changes for future grows. Peace

Ok I got new Pics. I'm hoping these will generate some ideas.
Girl 1: 29 days old.

In the last light cycle before these pictures, it must be known that due to exhaust fan faliure, they endured about 4 hours with temps at 95F. The problem is now fixed.

30 days since you planted the seed or 30 days since they sprouted?

Ive heard of people flowering early, but never from day one. At what age did you see noticable flowers?

29 days since they cracked the top of the soil. The First pistles could be seen at around day 20 - 21 Here is a pic of the day i descovered the first female A.K.A. Girl1

Have you tried this method before?

Im really curious what the final plant height and yield will be. How long do you think it will take till harvest.

Here is a breakdown of the benifits of 12/12 flowering from seed.
Courtsey of Guitarantula a member of this site who had read the same Article I did, wich cannot be accessed at the site of origin at this time.

1. Lights are on only 12/12, This will mean a lower electric bill.

2. No two rooms, since you are always in flower mode. Nice to have to only worry about 1 schedule--just set the timer and forget.

3. Always add extra seedlings whenever you want. Each plant can grow as slow or as fast as you want. Put some new seedlings in at any time and start them off, it has nothing to do with other plants and when they are ready to harvest.

4. Supposedly, these guys are getting 70-80 percent females.

5. Nutes only for flower, no more worrying about veg nutes.

6. Small pots, so you can have more plants at once. You don't get as much bud as with a normal beg plant, but you can grow more plants at once.

7. Not much side growth, so the top colas get all the energy and concentration.

Anyway, please read the thread. Some very ineteresting stuff there.

mario60185 said:

Have you tried this method before?

How long do you think it will take till harvest.

Click to expand...

I have never grown before EVER. Roughly 20-40 more days till harvest.....I really don't know, and there seems to be a lack of detailed CFL grows, so i'm doing this journal for all to know.

Good luck with the grow Sgt.Sly. I also like to experiment sometimes. This doesn't seem like a waste of bagseed to me. I look forward to your success.

Here's a pic of every one bunched in together basking.
And thanks for the good wishes, i do believe luck is on my side for my first grow....

Are you planning to clone from your plants at some point? Cause I don't get more than the rare seed from my bag weed, and get rid of any male plants when they show. I'm about a week behind you with my current grow, planted/started germination on the 8th.

I don't plan on cloning any of these, since the lack of veging has made the plant not grow any lateral branches. I am going to find out the potential of the plant and then Veg out a female for clones and then hopefully try cross breeding my own strain in the grows to come. Those RARE bag seed's can be JEMS. I have one growing in there it's been in 24 hr veg for 7 days, then boom into 12/12 with the rest of my plants. Came from this crazy Dank skunky weed, that you can aperently only get by clone out here, but i was lucky. It is growing, i forced flowered it to increase the chances of it going female, ....i wanna see what that plant can do. I am keeping a written log for that one.

Well today it looks like the plants are recovering nicely from the heat damage the other day. Some pics of Girl 2are here that i ment to post yesterday. Girl 2 showes the heat damage more so.

Also can anyone take a good look at it and tell me if this plant looks like it might be Hermi???????

I have a funny feeling it is....I know it bloomed like 6 days after Girl 1 and suffered more heat discomfort than the rest...but it almost looks like it's got nut sacs???

Anyone???

Can`t understand from those pictures - is it a hermaphrodite or not. If You`re not sure, take closer pictures.

I can't take any closer pictures these were taken with a 7.1 mega pixel cybershot with MACRO on.......can't get any closer. Compare girl one with girl 2 and you'll see why i question it.