Growing questions w/pics

How is it going... this is my first time growing and I have been learning so much for all of you. This plant has been growing for approximately 5-6 weeks. I have been on a light cycle of 8/16.


I just had a few quick questions.
1. Why does my plant have brown spots on it a few of the leaves?
2. Can I cut off the bottom leaves, so all of the plants energy is focus on the top leaves? The two very small leaves closest to the soil and the two directly above them.
3. Why does my plant only have 3 leaves? I think I can see the four leave growing now.. but i can’t tell
4. Is it too early to tell the sex? I can see stringy things growing from the joins, i tried getting a picture of this but my camera can't pick it up.
I don’t want the plant to grow too big. So would it be a good idea to stick with 18/8 for a few more weeks then move to 12/12?

Thanks

first observation I have is you could use some more light...also I would start giving them some nitrogen...and I wouldn't cut any leaves off yet...but get more light for sure..other then that it looks like it's healthy..

yeah man u need more light. mine are about 5-6 wks too but it have more leaves https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/47465-bagseed-started-12-24-07-a.html

thanks for the replies, i pick up 3 more CFL yesterday. Right now i have a total of 8000k lumens directed at my plant. I'm going to get 2 additional 43w CFL when the plant is ready for flowering.

Ok don't go nuts over the light. when we say more, it doesn't always mean another bulb. try 18 on/6 off for light. keep it as close as possible. If it is too hot for your hand then same for plant. water occasionally and don't MESS with it. just let nature happen. for about 2 weeks then you can start to use fertilizers

faralos said:

Ok don't go nuts over the light. when we say more, it doesn't always mean another bulb. try 18 on/6 off for light. keep it as close as possible. If it is too hot for your hand then same for plant. water occasionally and don't MESS with it. just let nature happen. for about 2 weeks then you can start to use fertilizers

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What fertilizers do you suggest?

I use 'Plant Food Plus' made by Schultz it is a liquid 7 drops per qt. (10-15-10) I use this about every 4th watering. I'd say 1x a week, but sometimes my plants don't drink as much. Don't know why, but it seems like they have 'moods'
for the beginning of flowering I use Miracle Gro all purpose plant food at (24-8-16. this is when the plant needs a lot of Nitrogen. Watch for over fertilizing (yellow leaf tips) if this happens (it happened to me a couple of times) flush immediately with water keep flushing until water runs out of bottom of container. DON'T OVERWATER!! a common mistake, caused by a curious noobie grower who can't keep his eyes off his plants (or was that just me? lol) no fertz for the first 2 weeks! Let them get accustomed to their new home.

Thanks faralos, i will have to pick some up. This weekend im going to be building a better setup for my plant. Right now it is temporarily located on my dresser. My idea is to get a large box to put it in. Then i can place the plant into my closet.

I also attaching updated pics of my plant. I recently notice that the main stem is turning brown (i hope this is good) and now the plant is growing 5 leaves.

Hey! Your a Cisco student? I got my CCNA a couple of years ago. I'm working in the industry now. Loving every minute of it. Good stuff.

I would recommend keeping those lights real close. Closer the better. I use Pure Blend Pro for nutes. Pick them up at your local hydro shop. "Grow" for veg, and "Bloom" for flowering (bloom comes in two versions-one for soil and one for hydro). I love it. Includes everything your plants need.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Ok, I didn't even think about you having legal places where you can just go out and buy everything. I'm here in the US so everything has to be clandestine. But, your leaves are drooping. put your light closer. If it's flourescents than no more than 2" from the top of plant. if you are going the box route, line it with either Myklar or alum. foil DULL side out to minimize too much reflection off of one spot. This will burn the leaves, hence dull side out for more even reflection. Too much heat inside it will also kill your plant. Careful with that. Leave light on 18/ off 6, for good vegging.

some of my plants have brown stems and some have green. Must be a strain characteristic. All my plants get the same water, nutrients so it can't be that. I wouldn;'t worry, just try to get a breeze of some sort on it to strngthen it. Even a small desktop fan will make it sturdier and promote leaf growth with a minimum of bugs.

When I first started my plants (this is my second crop, my first was only 1 plant though!) some of them only had 3 leaves, some had 5 some even had 7! Now that they are bigger, most of them have 7-9 leaves!. Again, it seems different types produce different numbers of leaves. (If anyone has more info on this speak up) the smaller branches towards the bottom of the plant have less leaves app, 3-5 while the higher branches have more app, 5-9. I don;'t know if this is the strain I'm growing or lighting or anything else. But each plant is different, just like any other type of plant, there are bound to be variations. I wouldn't sweat it, unless they drop off! 'course you can always trim the lower leaves later to 'lollipop' it (and keep 'em for hash-making later on)(to make for a bushier top with no bottom leaves sucking nutrients away from the buds!)makes it look like a lollipop with a round top and just stem under it.

Thanks for the replies, tomorrow I’m going shopping for some stuff for the plant. I was also thing about getting a bigger planter for it. i will keep you all updated...

dude for one when it comes to CFLs you can NEVER have "too much light"

POUR it all on, and get a fan on blowing on the plant, and at the light too if u can.. This way it will keep the bulbs cool, and you can keep the plant 1/4 of an inch from the light..

If I were you, I would get some more seeds going ASAP, and look for higher wattage CFLs..
Look at hardware stores.. I got some fat ass 75 watters.. Look for 6500k or so range.. 8000k IMHO will be less effective..

You checking your pH?
High or low pH will lock up the roots, and it will not be able to absorb nutes from the soil

Take a look at my plant, it about as old as yours.. 5-6 weeks..
It is only about 4.5 or so inches tall(was stunted abit from high pH soil) but it was transplanted only a few days of being in the high pH mix



This pic is also about a week old.. Its gotten ALOT bushier and taller since...

YOU NEED MORE LIGHT, and A PH TESTER!

Start over you will not regret it.. That plant look pretty bad.. It wont yield as much as it would of if you would of given it a better start.

OR keep it alive, and maybe try to get a few clones from it.. Maybe they will turn out much better..
I know after spending over a month on one plant it sux to see it go, and start totally over again..

As of right now I only have this one plant too..
I only 2 days ago sprouted one more seed, and germinated 2 others

also the "stringy things" you see growing at the nodes is where future branches will grow from..

I really would just start over..
Or let it grow a few more nodes, after you get more light on it, and you see it not stretching as badly..
Then just cut off the 4-5 node of the main stem, and try to clone it.. Im not sure it will help, or salvage your plant

If you could of corrected the problems you are having maybe 2 or so weeks into growth maybe there would be more hope for that plant..

If it has been growing this way for 5-6 weeks I dont think it will be suitable to even concider flowering it..
The yield will be EXTREMELY small
UNLESS it makes a complete come back..

I think if you want to give this one a chance to flower, GET ALOT more light, keep up on nutes, and keep it as close to the lights as possible, keep a fan blowing up near the lights, and u can keep it SUPER close to the lights..

Then I would top the thing soon.. Like maybe now
This will slow the vertical growth for a short time, and encourage the lower branches to start growing!

Yeah I agree. As long as you don't fry your plant the more light the better. At this stage, anyways.

How do u "top your plant" i know u cut the top off but where at and how low would i go down on it??first time grower any help would be great thanks!!

Unicks said:

Hey! Your a Cisco student? I got my CCNA a couple of years ago. I'm working in the industry now. Loving every minute of it. Good stuff.

I would recommend keeping those lights real close. Closer the better. I use Pure Blend Pro for nutes. Pick them up at your local hydro shop. "Grow" for veg, and "Bloom" for flowering (bloom comes in two versions-one for soil and one for hydro). I love it. Includes everything your plants need.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Click to expand...

yeah im a student right now working on my degree in computer networking. i have not gotten any Cisco certs yet. But i plan to get them before i graduate.

Thanks for the replies; yeah this one plant has been a big learning experience for me. I started out by just putting a seed in a cup and throwing it by my window. I really did not expect it to turn into anything. Until I came back from winter break and the thing was looking good. So I started reading up about growing indoors and went out to spending some money on it. I ready don’t care how much bud I will get from it, because the fact is I will take all the bud I can get . I wish I could start more seeds, but I’m a college student and I only have a few more months left of this school year, before I have to go back home ( where I really can’t grow, mom's place). So I figure let this one keep growing and see what I get from it. Then next year, I will look for better seeds and a better setup. I will have the entire school year to grow.

Here are some updates...

I also pick up some fertilizer. The first one is plant food plus (10-15-10), which im going to use for 1 week. Then im going to switch to 12/12 light and start feeding it African Violet plus (8-14-9) for flowering.