First Plant

I got my first grand daddy purple cone almost a week ago now and it has
been showing good signs of growth with this very basic setup I have (one cfl on a clamp cone, and a 3 gallon bucket of miracle grow). unfortunately this is the extent of my knowledge. So far I've left the light on 24hrs a day and have been giving it about a cup of water a day. Please any help a newbie out and shoot me some beginners tips to start a solid foundation.
Thank you to all.

Read all the stickies man you can learn a knowledge of wealth, look around man this place is a weed wikipedia. I liked 18-6 better when I first started growing i felt mine were more easily stressed under 24-0 especially right away when I was still learning.

As for watering I also feel it's better to water more less frequently and give it a good water you want it to get all the soil wet. After you water it well pick up the plant if when it dries it will weight so much less you will know it need to be watered before the plants start droopin

Thank you. I will do some reading. I guess I was curious about how my plant should look.

I agree with the advice on 24/0 vs. 18/6. I've tried 24/0 and wasn't impressed. IMO, it did nothing more than use more electric. Now that they're on 18/6, I've found that there is certainly lots of activity going on, during the dark period, whether they are recharging, rebuilding, replenishing, etc...at any rate, when the lights come on the next day, is when I have to be there to make sure the lights are raised, because they always grow overnight, up to 1/2". They grow during lights on, of course, but during the night, as well. IMO, it natural to them, and beneficial. I vote 18/6, all the way.

Cool thank you guys, I will switch that up asap!

i JUST switched mine to 18/6 from 24/0 and i couldnt agree more...i love turning the lights back on and saying, HOLY SHIT! like jawbrodt said, IMO they grow better and have more activity with 18/6..my lights will come back on in 1 hour 23 minutes : )

^Ha, your timer is setup almost exactly the same as mine, within 10 minutes. Cool.lol

My plant is about 6" tall with 6-7 fan leaves and nodes on each branch. I think I have over watered it (giving it about one cup a day), the leaves started turning yellow. About hw much should I be watering at this point?

^As long as it dries out within a couple days, there's no such thing as overwatering. You could run 1000 gallons through a party cup, and the plant would be perfectly fine. The only risk, is washing out the nutes in the soil, starving the plant. That's only possible, if you have lots of runoff.

It sounds to me like you're watering too often, rather than using too much. What kills plants, is keeping them wet for long periods of time(like watering every day, using soil with poor drainage ) I also use 3 gallon pots, and give my plants a liter and a half at each watering/feeding, and they look beautiful. Then, I let them go for about 4 days, then water again, and repeat, over and over. They're about 14" right now, and once they get a little bigger,(they go to 12/12 under HPS, very soon) I go to a full 2 liters, every 3 days, because they use more watering, being bigger plants, under more powerful lights.

My guess, is that they need a few days to dry out, assuming that your water is of the correct PH.(6.5 approx. I use 6.5-6.

Thanks Jawbrodt. I have been letting them dry out for the last three days or so. Are you familiar with Alaskan Fish Fertilizer? I bought some, but have my doubts about using it.