My setup - Along with a few Q's and a good story..

Hi, so the story starts on a very drunken night..

I was back home in London for my mates 21st birthday party, got very drunk ( as you do ) and had the urge for a smoke, sadly I didnt have any weed on my person, I wandered into a " Perfect Fried Chicken " shop on the way home, and bumped into some lads, we got chatting and turns out they had some weed they were willing to sell, I only bought a 16th as I was only home for a few days. I was so drunk at the time that I didnt even realise there were seeds in the bag!
So a week or so later, i thought, what the hell! I threw the seeds into a mug of a water ( about 20 seeds ), allowed them to soak, then put them into some tissue paper, a few days later 2/3's had sprouted and I was pretty impressed ( I had a very pesimistic view at the start ), I went out and bought " John Innes number 1 compost for cuttings, seedlings and whatever " I figured it would be full of juicy nutrients for the seeds.. I also got a back of perlite, and mixed that into the soil.
In total 12 seeds had germinated and were looking good, I planted them up.
I then read alot about all the different lights and what have you, I decided to get a cheap fluorescent ( a 60W tungsten shaving light! ) I already had a 20W Ultraviolent fluorescent and hooked that up as well..
I had them in 10cm tall pots, and this afternoon i potted them up into much larger pots, I forgot to mention that only 4 of the seeds survived pushing through the soil. I was happy to see that two of the plants had nice roots, and the two others had very weak roots.
I've noticed in other peoples pictures that the plants are very short and leafy but mine are far more spread out, I dont think thats a problem..
I've enclosed pictures of my setup, and the picture was taken moments before writing this.

My questions are as follows..
Lighting Q's

Is it worth investing in a 250W HPS lamp, which i can find on ebay for around 40 quid, which includes bulb, ballast, holder, and reflector. Or do you think the shaving light will do the job?
I have a 300W halogen light, I havent noticed any one else mention these lights, do they work, and if so how well?
I also have another 60W lightbulb which has a blue coating on the lightbulb, will that effect the wavelength of the light? ( As i know the plants like the blue range )

Growing Q's

Is it worth cutting the top of the plant so it spreads into two branches, or should i just stick with the one?
Would you recommend growing the plants to full size then changing the light cycle to sex them, or take clones and sex those?

This is my first time, and cant believe how fast they're growing! hah

I look forward to your responses:
Thanks
Liquid

( I have a small fan hooked up on the right, the bowl of water has tissue paper semi immensed, I find this keeps the humidity high)

I can answer your lighting.... YES the hps will be worth the money spent... Halogen & incandescent bulbs do nothing. I recommend thoroughly reading the FAQ and Newbie Central "101 already asked questions".

The plants will double and sometimes triple in size once the bud light cycle 12on/12off starts. So plan to start the cycle at the appropriate time to limit the final grow height to your needs. Veg for AT LEAST a MONTH though when going from seed.

"Topping" or "FIMing" will be up to you, I would say for a first grow don't mess with them.

They do grow very fast. With the right watering, feeding and lighting you will be amazed. Also go get a temp/humidity meter and put it in your grow cabinet. I keep my veg area at around 65% humidity and between 75 and 85 degrees. Same temps for the flower room but less humidity... round 40 to 50%.

Hope that helps... here is a link to the FAQ and the Newbie 101 questions:

GROWFAQ
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/1326-101-already-asked-questions.html

Thanks for the reponse!

I read the 101 section throughly, my questions are more specific.. So hopefully I'll get a few more replies yet..

I have got a humdity dial you can see it in the front of the picture ( Its the white thing at the bottom ) And i do keep the humdity around 70.
The plants are just under 1 month old.

Liquidfire13 said:

Thanks for the reponse!

I read the 101 section throughly, my questions are more specific.. So hopefully I'll get a few more replies yet..

I have got a humidity dial you can see it in the front of the picture ( Its the white thing at the bottom ) And i do keep the humidity around 70.
The plants are just under 1 month old.

Click to expand...

No Problem. I should mention that they look a little stringy.. (tall & gangly vs bushy). When vegging with Fluro you should be 2" above the Canopy and no more. I have a fan blowing directly over my six 4' Fluro tubes and usually have them 1" or less from the plant canopy. I have yet to burn them. With the HPS you will want to be between 16 and 24" away depending on heat issues. Make sure you have plenty of exhaust fans for your cabinet before firing up the hps. They can make a small space very hot quick.

BTW Here are some pics of mine... They are 3.5 wks old from seed sprout.

Ok, so i took the advice is getting a better light, and invested in a 200W Envirolite ( as pictured ) - The only thing is now, the temperatute in the cupboard is exceeding 28 degrees, and the leaves have started to wilt, obviously i dont want to this happen, and i assume the excess heat is causing it.

So my question is, are there any ideas of how to decrease the temperature
a) without damaged the cupboard,
b) with damaging the cupboard a little bit..

I thought about hooking up a fan, and cutting a hole in the back of the wardrobe to xtract the heat ( near the top of the cupboard )

what do you think?


Thanks Liquid

you deffinetly gona need ventilation in there dude.try computer fans.one of them for intake and one for exhaust.

p.s. you'll have to damage your cupboard a lil bit because you'll have to make holes for both of the fans.peace

So, a few hours later, a bit of sawing and im finished...

Here are some pics...

But, Im worried about one of the plants it has like black veins!?
I've enclosed a picture, what do you guys think?

Thanks Liquid

nothing wrong with it looks great. look at what the leaves tell ya thats the most important.

I just wanted to point out that the black stems may be part of the strain genetics, cant tell which one, check your distance between the plant canopy and the light, plants may grow tall and lanky in order to reach the source of light, again it may also be the genetics.

you may want to tie down those plants, they look a bit stretched.

sorry to tell you that dude,but you'll need a lil bit bigger fans.try with those, but i doubt, that they will do the work.

the light has been on for 5 hours now, and the temperature seems a steady 27, which i believe is the optium temp? ( the exhaust fan is quite powerful, and i placed in high to grab the hotter air ) - I've increased the amount of pressure from the fan to try and get the stems chunkier.. I think the reason they're so lanky is because i was using a 60W shaving light previous, now ive switched lights, i can see leaves starting to sprout from each join ( where the plant sprouts leaves )
Hopefully things seem sorted now, i might post some pictures later, when the plant is bigger, can you only tell the breed of plant once you start flowering? ( obviously i have no idea what they're )
Thanks again

good for ya man.good luck with the grow operation @B-)

p.s. @B-) - that's Elvis LOL