first grow- could use some help

I am really excited to be starting my first grow in an unused shower and sharing the experience on RIU. I have been researching the past few days and have been really impressed with the amount of knowledge that's on this site. I am going to try to do a lot on my own and not bother too many people with paranoid questions.

So here's the current situation:
1/9 - placed 4 seeds to germinate in paper towels (2 are supposed to be GDP from a bag that i got a couple of weeks ago...the stuff wasn't really purple so i'm not sure if they got the name correct, but it smelled really strong and smoked like a champ. I'm not sure what the other 2 are but I grabbed them from a seed jar I kept. Hoping for a sour diesel...

1/12 - Only 1 seed (uknown strain) has popped

1/13 - Got impatient when I bought my FF soil and planted all 4 a few hours ago. QUESTION: Should I water them at all now? I'm unsure because like I said only one has popped as of a few hours ago. Also, when do they go under lights?

I was discouraged that they had been germinating for 3 days and nothing seemed to be working (i'm assuming its a temperature issue). Even though I have 4 planted and hope they work, I put 2 more GDP* seeds to germ this afternoon 1/13. Temps are a little higher so if they take off I will replace some of the unpopped originals with them. So currently I have 4 in pots hoping to see growth in a few days in at least one pot. I only want to grow max 2 plants in the end, but i know i need to find some females.

Lighting:
I know I really need to get on this now! I have been indecisive and need some solution. I have been going between 250w cfl, 400w hps, or just a bunch of cfls. Right now I just bought a 6 -pack of 26w cfls for now and i know thats nothing and i'm gonna have to watt up for sure.

I went to a hydro shop and they have lights but nothing like the prices of htg so i will probably order from there. At this point I think I'm leaning towards the $119 400w hps. Good price for me and hoping thats enough for a couple of ladies? But does anyone know about how fast their shipping is? Probably could use some more advice on lights.

Smell:
I hope this doesn't become an issue..I'm just growing in a spare bathroom. no one will go in there except for me, if I seal the floor to the bedroom do you think it would be fine? I've heard it goes through walls, and that could be a problem if so.

Anyway guess thats where I'm at for now. I'll be updating as I go...can't wait for the end result, but ready for the ride...

My advice would be stick with the 250watt CFL idea for now, dont use the HPS until after you switch to 12/12 light cycle, its best to use this for bud only - they really like HPS, a vegging plant will prefer the CFL

It depends on your strain, which determins the smell. My last plant kind of smell ever so slightly of cat wee at times so at least that masked the true nature of it at times - I dont think it will go through walls or ive never had that problem too bad anyways but my sence of smell isnt great either.

Dont worry too much about watering, its likely that since you have fresh soil the plant will have all it needs at this point, maybe a light sprinkle will suffice to give it a head start for now, they will last in the young seedling state for around 1-2weeks before you need to get some propper lighting in there

Hope it helps

hi all
for the nutes you may want to wait a week or two depending on how old it because it willl have plently of nutes in the soil for now.once you decide to add nutes first add 1/4 then 1/2 etc

hope it helps

you should just be keeping the soil MOIST (big difference between moist and soggy) until they break ground. After that, only water them once they really need it (droopy), this forces roots to stretch and grow bigger to get all the water possible. It helps alot in alter stages of life.

I have never used the paper towel method for germination, but did you keep the towel damp, dark, and warm? I know you should wait till there is a 1/16th inch to 1/8th inch tap root with the paper towel method. I personally use a half glass of mineral water (or tap water left out for 24 hours) and soak them in a dark consistent temp place for 24 hours, the ones that sink after you stir them at this point can grow.

The smell wont be at all noticable until after maybe 2 weeks at the earliest of age (meaning they have been above ground for 2 weeks).

Lighting: This is one field where there are alot of options, and i PERSONALLY like CFLs for the fact that they screw right in to regular sockets. Many people like HPS or otherwise for growing, its just my personal preference. But make sure you keep CFLs within 6" at the most of the top foliage, other wise your plants will stretch (strechy plants = looser, fluffy bud). CFLs dont reall emit much heat so you can have them within 2" of your plants without touching them and they wont burn. But marijuana grows fast, you should in an ideal world check your lights' proximity to the plants every day and move them farther up accordingly. If you plan on leaving for an extended time, move lights up enough to have a buffer to accomodate growth. Oh, to answer your question about when to start lights, i would recommend about RIGHT NOW!!! Your plants will have a hard time growing marijuana without light right? I keep lights on the plants from the moment they are in the ground, it helps keep soil warm too. (oh without light/heat on the soil, the seeds can rot, never good) In my expirience, plants take about 3-5 days to sprout, but they can be early as 2 days and late as 10 or 11. Just find a "Dawn" time that works for you and stick with it. Changing the dawn time on plants is just unneccesary stress.

You should look for a source of nutrients within the next 2 weeks too. They are sorted my their N-P-K (balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). Look for one with an N-P-K of about 20-10-10 (a 10-5-5 is the same thing, just a ratio). You can start feeding them 1/4 strength doses at about 2 weeks of age.

Sorry to ramble, just trying to give you all the help you need! If you have any more questions, dont be afraid to ask, we are all beginners at some point right?

MVNugs

no thanks for the rambling, i definitely need the advice.... I guess I will try to just go the cfl route since I already have some and just need to get more sockets. I kind of didnt want to make a big light purchase until I saw how many I would be dealing with anyway. I will be monitoring them daily so keeping them within the 6" won't be an issue. I didn't think lighting was necessary until the cotyledons showed up. I don't even know if the 3 of the seeds have germed or not yet. But I will take the advice and getting lighting on now if you think it will help jumpstart growth. I def don't want any rot.

scape said:

no thanks for the rambling, i definitely need the advice.... I guess I will try to just go the cfl route since I already have some and just need to get more sockets. I kind of didnt want to make a big light purchase until I saw how many I would be dealing with anyway. I will be monitoring them daily so keeping them within the 6" won't be an issue. I didn't think lighting was necessary until the cotyledons showed up. I don't even know if the 3 of the seeds have germed or not yet. But I will take the advice and getting lighting on now if you think it will help jumpstart growth. I def don't want any rot.

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You can find "Y" splitter sockets at Home Depot or a similar store for about $2. They will allow you to two-fer your CFLs and give a good angle for optimum use of their light output (sides give more light than the end of the coil). You can also get a socket that ends with a plug so you can simply put it into an extension cord and tie it off where you need it. I'm 6 weeks into flower on my first grow (Nirvanas AK48s) and have done it all with CFLs and a few single tube T5s for side fill. At this time of year, the gentle heat from the CFLs is actually good to keep my grow warm enough. In warm weather climates they may put out enough heat to need temp control, so keep that in mind... but they are definitely cooler than HID lighting options.

scape said:

no thanks for the rambling, i definitely need the advice.... I guess I will try to just go the cfl route since I already have some and just need to get more sockets. I kind of didnt want to make a big light purchase until I saw how many I would be dealing with anyway. I will be monitoring them daily so keeping them within the 6" won't be an issue. I didn't think lighting was necessary until the cotyledons showed up. I don't even know if the 3 of the seeds have germed or not yet. But I will take the advice and getting lighting on now if you think it will help jumpstart growth. I def don't want any rot.

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Yeah like Manditroy said, Y splitter sockets are a great help, and you can get em for maybe 3 or 4 bucks a pop (at least around here they are, and everything is mad expensive where I live).
CFLs are a great way to go for beginning growers because they are easy to handle. You'll be fine with about 4 27 or 32 watt CFLs, but the more the merrier right? You should get 3 6500k (daylight) lights and a 2700k (soft white) light. They will say right on the package. That will keep you set for vegetative stage. And yes, rot is very very very very, and one more, VERY bad. Not fun at all, especially when it spreads... *shudder*

MVNuggets said:

Yeah like Manditroy said, Y splitter sockets are a great help, and you can get em for maybe 3 or 4 bucks a pop (at least around here they are, and everything is mad expensive where I live).
CFLs are a great way to go for beginning growers because they are easy to handle. You'll be fine with about 4 27 or 32 watt CFLs, but the more the merrier right? You should get 3 6500k (daylight) lights and a 2700k (soft white) light. They will say right on the package. That will keep you set for vegetative stage. And yes, rot is very very very very, and one more, VERY bad. Not fun at all, especially when it spreads... *shudder*

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I'll be getting those Y sockets soon and some new lights as well. Are all of those lights available at home depot or lowe's? Right now I have 6 26w cfl's but planning to get more.

Watered the 4 in pots yesterday and put them under 3 26w cfl's just to make sure they were kept warm. buying stuff to make the shower setup later.

Looks good. What are the Kelvin (color temperature) or your lights? Like I said, 6500k (daylight spectrum) are the best for veg.

Also, what are they in? Just a room or a box of some sort?

Just keep that soil moist until they break ground. Cant wait to see 'em grow up!

MVNugs

Smell? whatchu talkin bout smell? its called FRAGRANCE and YES, after some time in flowermode, you will pick up the stank...erhm i mean fragrance
just dont put too many plants in there you heard? more plants more smell

One broke ground overnight

scape said:

One broke ground overnight

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There you go man, your one step closer to being a happy ganja farmer like everyone wants to be!

MVNugs

Waiting on more cfls to come in...right now only have 3 100w cfls.

When should I start nutes? I'm gonna get FF trio from hydro store.

Plant 1 has had yellowing and brown spots...not sure what is causing this but its not too bad yet so hopefully it won't be an issue. Plant 2 also showed some small brown spots. But its a miracle the younger two are still going so I knew there would be issues with those.

Still early, just hoping for a couple of females.

plant 1- day 17
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plant 2 - day 9
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plant 3 - day 9
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wow that yellow one looks like it needs Nitrogen but it is way to young to need it that bad, Have you checked your ph, that may be causing the spots on the other plants

RyanTheRhino said:

Have you checked your ph, that may be causing the spots on the other plants

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I have one of those 3in1 ph/moisture/light meters but its shit...ph never changes. I know i will need to get something better to monitor it, i plan to get that when i go to the hydro store to get my nutes...do you know when i should start them on my biggest plant? And I dont think its really THAT yellow...its just the photo. But there are some yellow parts on about 4 leaves... so im getting worried the rust and yellow will spread to all the leaves.