First time grower in need of advice

sideshow128

Active Member
Hello
This is my second attempt at growing (my first was a real let down:cry:) I have purchased some feminized seeds and have decided to grow 2 to start. I have 2 seedlings 11 days old 1 white widow and 1 swiss cheese:mrgreen:. I have them under a 125w dual spectrum light in garden centre soil mixed with perlite and coco something or other. I am on a budget and was wondering what is the best way to keep my babies healthy? They are on 24 hr light do they need nutes yet? if so what ratio. How long do I veg them before putting into flower. Is it worth topping them after a certain amount of time. Should I invest in some more lighting? Any answers to these questions and any more info you guys can give me would be much appreciated. Many Thanks.:-? I can add photos if need be.
 

echonc

Member
I dont know about the type of soil you are using but if it has slow released nutes already mixed in you can go without for awhile. 11 days is still very small, some will tell you to wait, and some will say start now using nutes now. Just start with 1/8 or 1/4 of what the direction say on your nutrients. See how your plants like it. If you dont burn them then step up on your next feeding.

As far as your lighting goes 125w might be enough for vegging 2 plants but more light will always be better. IMO I would get one more of those 125w your plants will be happier. 24hr of light is fine for veg you could step down gradually to 20/4, 18/6. What ever works for you. And when your ready go 12/12. Hoped I helped a bit. Keep on reading you can learn alot from some of them more experienced growers on this forum.
 

McFonz

Well-Known Member
1. When you replant your babies put a lot of compost in the soil. The cheapest nutrients I know of. You can add whatever you want - if you have a few dollars to scrape you might wanna get high N and high P and K Bat Guano. That shit is awesome.
2. they need nutes when they start to become pale. Thats when they don't have enough nitrogen which is usually the first to run out.
3. you should veg them until they fill your space horizontically.
4. Topping produce 2 tops from where you cut. I don't know your setup so I can't say.
5. If you can - get a metal halide or HPS light. Even 150W. If you can't - tell us what you can.
 

sideshow128

Active Member
Thanks for the advice I will start timing down the light and I will wait another few weeks (?) before I add the nutes. I have just purchased 4 x 6500k lights for vegging and 4 x 2700k for flowering with a 4 way light splitter to put them in. I will make a home made reflector to concentrate the light. Does this sound like enough light and do you think I should side mount the 125w and use the others above.
 

redivider

Well-Known Member
If you do 24-0 your wasting electricity and light bulb hours. There's no evidence that suggests that 24 hrs will increase growth significantly...
 

Trollin

Active Member
a 23w CFL will produce 1500 lumens a 200w HPS will produce 24,000.

and remember the more light for flowering the bigger buds

:)
 

skunkmeister

Active Member
You can get a 150W High Pressure Sodium light on ebay for $79-100. That's what I'm going for next week. I think the maker is sun burst or something and you can plug it directly into a normal outlet. That's the best route for a budget grower. ;)
 

TommyHobby

Active Member
Top