Giving It a First Try

Hey guys,
In a nutshell I’m a 1st year undergrad and am hoping to grow my own at home... Not for profit, merely for self-medication. I'm on a low budget and so I can't afford all the expensive equipment’s a good sum of you guys can, but i think i can still give it a shot and compromise w/ less yield... np for me. I've read some really nice threads here and I think i've become knowledgeable enough to grow my own, though I will undoubtedly need help from you guys throughout the whole process. I hope to have a great experience!
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My Overall Plan:
- Purchase some seeds online, ideally some w/ high sativa concentration and that don't grow too tall.
- Grow them all, sex the plants (kill the males) and continue growing the female one's to about 1m.
- Then cut the clones of the female plants, and grow them till harvest.
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Apparatus:
- Buy the seeds (high sativa concentration and that won’t grow too tall)[SUP]1[/SUP].
- Buy plastic cups + pots
- Buy lighting (2 x 55W)
- Buy soil (standard one)
- Buy pH[SUP]3[/SUP] meter and TDS[SUP](not sure which yet)[/SUP] meter.
- Buy nutrients[SUP](not sure which yet...)[/SUP]
- Buy root tone/enhancer[SUP](not sure which yet...)[/SUP]

1 -http://www.marijuana-seeds.nl/northern-lights.html
2 - http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG-Supply-2-Foot-2-Lamp-High-Output-T5-Fixture.asp# or http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hydroponic-Lamp-Plant-Grow-Light/dp/B003ZV5PCY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328022956&sr=8-1
3 - http://cheaphydroponics.com/store/view-all/gh-ph-control-kit/prod_329.html

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Step-by-setp Plan:
Here I’m going to explain how I think I will carry out the WHOLE process. I’ll wait for some feedback from you guys until I actually decide to start this out.

Germination and Transplanting

1 - Place the seeds in a wet paper towel. Should take approx. 3 days?
2 - Put some soil inside a big bowl (enough soil to fill the plastic cups that will be used) measure its pH. Use the reagents to shift the soil's pH up or down to approx. 6.0. The soil that will be used first should have a high concentration of Nitrogen, so approx. 20-5-5.
3 - Place the soil inside the plastic cups. Make a small hole, approx. 1.5 cm deep, and place the germinated seed inside. Cover the seed gently. Do I need to water it beforehand?
4 - Use a florescent lamp and fix it at approx. 2.5cm away from the seed. Should this be done for 24hours the first day. Use a 18/6 schedule the following days? Should I adjust the height of the lamps in the succeeding days?
5 - Once the roots hit the bottom I will transplant them to a pot.

I'm still unsure as to how i should be watering the seeds at these initial stages. And should my ppms for the first 10 days is between 100-250?

First Growth

1 - At this stage the light should be approx. 50 cm above. Do I change my lighting at this point to CFL's?
2 - The pot should be filled with another type of soil now, one w/ a higher concentration of Phosphorus and Potassium approx. 5-15-15.
3 - The water I now use will be mixed with nutrients. The nutrients should be high in Phosphorus and Potassium as well? I will also make sure the pH level of the mixture (water + nutrients) is around 6.0.
4 - The ppms for the first 10 days should be around 200. After this initial phase I should increase them to roughly 500 for a period of 2 to 3 weeks. After this i shall increase them again to 900 and gradually raise them until necessary capping my ppms at 1300.

Sexing

1 - Spot the males and kill them.
2 - Let the females grow enough (~1m) to make clones of approx. 5 cm.
3 - The clones should be cut at the nodes at an anlge of 45º. These should then be wet w/ water, dressed w/ a root enhancer and then quickly (to prevent air bubbles) fixed into the soil. I should also make sure it's well fixed in the soil.

Clones (starting again)

1 - The clones should be misted daily w/ water for around 10days to 2 weeks.
2 - They should be continuously subject to fluorescent light during the first 24hours. The first 3 to 4 days the lamps should be kept 12 cm above the clones. They should then be moved closer to approx. 2.5cm until roots start emerging. I will probably water them 2 or 3 times before roots start emerging. These will be in 5 day intervals and the ppms during these days should be very low. During the first watering at approx. 0, on the second watering at approx.. 100 and in the third watering at approx. 250.
3 - Once the roots reach the bottom they should be transplanted to bigger pots and the lamps should now be at 50cm from these growing clones.

Clones (growing process)

1 - Once the clones are in the pot I will gradually increase the ppms from 400 through 600 up to 1000.
2 - At this stage they should be drinking approx. every 3 days.
3 - When the plants have grown significantly I will switch to a 12/12 light schedule, give the plants 1/2 strength grow and a good sum of bloom nutrients.

Buds

1 - When the buds start to show I will cut all grow nutrients supply, and mainly feed them bloom. The ppms at this stage should be around 1100.
2 - When the buds start to form keep giving them bloom and increase the ppms slightly to 1200.
3 - When i start sees the colored hairs i will give them a good sum of bloom mixture and then only give them water on the succeeding waters.

Harvest

1- When the plants have big buds, that don't appear to be filled only w/ air i will cut the plants and hang them for as long as 3 days.


All feedback is very much appreciated!

Hey bud, I didn't read the whole post, just skimmed through it but it looks like you've done a good amount of research, which will always be helpful.

You could try out Dyna-gro nutrients, in promix media (soil-less). Some might say that soil-less isn't good for newbs, but from what I gather from your post (attention to detail), I have a feeling you'd be okay with it. It takes some figuring out, but if you're using good nutrients, and simple, proven methods, you'll be fine.

Here's a nice page that I wish I had found when I first started: http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/fourtwenty/articles/profiles.htm

Also, check out 'homebrewer' he's a member here and has some really great threads. I can link you to a couple if you need.

Hope that helped

Thanks for feedback!
It sure helped and I've already been looking at what you've given me. Btw, would it bother you to tell me if my lighting game is spot-on? Early seed, late seed, early clone and late clone.

Nice CV, your hired.

Sounds Great, here are suggestions:

If you want a sativa that is high yielding and not to tall, Blue Dream is great, im growing it now and its a really nice growing strain. So i'd recommend that one.

Soil, make your own! there is tons of info here, go with what you think is best for your situation, but remember, Marijuana is a weed - it grows in most anything (relatively speaking)! So find something that works for you. For nutes, I know your on a budget you can go cheaper, but I would recommend something natural and organic, I use foxfarm nutes, although it is kinda pricey. Just remember, whatever you give your plants is what they will become and what you will smoke, so pesticides, hormones, steroids, do you want to smoke that shit?

Keep it up and update us.

subscribed.

And fyi, my blue dream 4 weeks into flower, so its a strain that id recommend :

@CourageToGrow thanks for the info! I'll make sure i look for that strain when i purchase my seeds.

I live in europe, where do you guys reckon is the best website to get my seeds from?

burning24/7 said:

Thanks for feedback!
It sure helped and I've already been looking at what you've given me. Btw, would it bother you to tell me if my lighting game is spot-on? Early seed, late seed, early clone and late clone.

Click to expand...

There's only two light cycles, veg and flower. While you can change the veg cycle between 24/0 and 18/6, I just stick with 18 on 6 off. There really is no need to change the light cycle unless you are going to induce flowering, which would be a reduction from 18/6 to 12/12.

A good place to get seeds is from The Attitude Seed Bank (cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk)

Marijaunaseeds-nl rocks, nothing but good things. Check out the THC Snow

How long do you guys reckon it takes on average to be able to see what sex the plants are? And is there any correlation between the plant being sativa/indica and how easy it is to grow?

burning24/7 said:

How long do you guys reckon it takes on average to be able to see what sex the plants are? And is there any correlation between the plant being sativa/indica and how easy it is to grow?

Click to expand...

Being able to tell sex is tough. If your going to go straight into veg you really wont be able to tell until about 1-2 weeks into a 12/12 light cycle when you begin to flower. If you flip the lights to 12/12 for like 2 weeks when they are seedlings they will start to show sex so you can tell, kill the males, and then u can switch the lights back to 18/6 with the ladies, know the sex, and the plants will be fine. If someone tells you otherwise, they do not have a clue what they are talking about. As far as ease to grow, yes there is. GENERALLY speaking, indica's are easier to grow then sativas and they finish in about 8-10 weeks, whereas sativas can finish anywhere between 10-16 weeks of flowering. Indicas also tend to be shorter and bushier, although phenotypes vary, even by strain so its tough to say.

You can sex in veg if you grow the plant to sexually maturity before flipping the light cycle to 12/12. After about 5-6wks of veg the plant will start to throw out preflowers and the nodes will begin to alternate, this is how you know your plant is sexually mature. Usually if you grow a plant to this point it flowers a bit quicker, and I feel you get better colas when the nodes start to alternate.

If you choose to flower before the plant is sexed it usually takes a week or two of 12/12 to identify the sex.

Some people might say sativas are harder to grow because they can be lanky and the stretch you get in flowering is greater than that of an indica. There are however many training techniques you can employ that help manage the canopy. The flowering time can also be much longer so that's something that has to be considered.

I'm planning on growing the THC bomb strain - apparently has v high levels of THC (for obvious reasons) and really big buds. It remains short and appears to be v strong. Anything you guys want to advert me about beforehand? Things you came across or herd about whilst harvesting this strain?

Also the sativas I have had experience with were finicky about nutrients. Indicas seem to drink them up abit easier so you have more room for error.

The only reason i'm asking for how long it takes to identify the sex is so that I can know when to expect to cut those clones. My plan isn't to maximize the yield out of my first female since i think i recall it being said somewhere that these females don't give off many buds if not any...
So, acknowledging what you guys have told me, the best thing I should do is to start straight off w/ my seedlings in a premature flowering cycle w/ a 12/12 light schedule, w/ a high on phosphorus and potassium fertilizer and adjust the lamp so that it's around 50cm above my seedlings. Like this i will be able to tell the sex reasonably early and kill the males. Then I'll need to switch back to the 18/6 light schedule, w/ a high on nitrogen fertilizer and adjust the lamp so that it's around 2.5 cm from the females. Then I'll want to let them grow STRONG in this vegetative cycle until they're around 1m and then cut the clones off the nodes. Does that seem reasonable for you guys?

burning24/7 said:

The only reason i'm asking for how long it takes to identify the sex is so that I can know when to expect to cut those clones. My plan isn't to maximize the yield out of my first female since i think i recall it being said somewhere that these females don't give off many buds if not any...
So, acknowledging what you guys have told me, the best thing I should do is to start straight off w/ my seedlings in a premature flowering cycle w/ a 12/12 light schedule, w/ a high on phosphorus and potassium fertilizer and adjust the lamp so that it's around 50cm above my seedlings. Like this i will be able to tell the sex reasonably early and kill the males. Then I'll need to switch back to the 18/6 light schedule, w/ a high on nitrogen fertilizer and adjust the lamp so that it's around 2.5 cm from the females. Then I'll want to let them grow STRONG in this vegetative cycle until they're around 1m and then cut the clones off the nodes. Does that seem reasonable for you guys?

Click to expand...

Sounds good . . . sort of, the thing about growing weed is you've just gotta do it! setting rules for yourself before hand on heights and times is not the way to go. In part you gotta judge it as you go. Follow the energy (karma). But sounds like a good start for sure braddah!

@CourageToGrow Yeah it definitely must be a feeling the energy experience - though it would help to know if what i've researched is correct. Should the lights be kept closer during germination and veg and further in the flowering cycle?

burning24/7 said:

@CourageToGrow Yeah it definitely must be a feeling the energy experience - though it would help to know if what i've researched is correct. Should the lights be kept closer during germination and veg and further in the flowering cycle?

Click to expand...

It all depends on your lights. If you go with HID lighting (HPS, MH) the you want your plants about 24"-36" away as seedlings and then 8"-12" away during veg and harvest. For HID Lighting you must consider temperature since HID lights cause a ton of heat. So obviously, if you have good venting and your room is cool, then you can have your lights closer, if they heat up the room, keep your lights further. As i said before its all about judging your unique situation and adjusting from there. If you have CFLs then you can keep your plants 1"-2" from the lights since they do not produce heat.

Thats whats so much fun about weed! you can have the best genetics ever and get shit weed cause you don't know hot to grow OR you can get the worst genetics ever and get some DANK weed cause you grew it right. It's all about the energy and understanding. But regardless, remember, its call WEED for a reason, its a fucking weed, it grows in most conditions.

I will be reporting the process very soon, w/ pictures and everything and asking you guys for advice. Buying most of my stuff online atm...
Do you guys reckon one 400W HPS lamp will do for growing on average two plants?