I think my weed is growing slow, any help ?

Hello !

I use a Queen ( dunno' model ) weed plant ( feminized ) - about 15 USD / seed cost.
I germinated the seed and planted.

Now this is my 3 weeks old plant :



I use special growing soil , and a 65 Watt light bulb ( economic ) that produces 250 Watt light. ( 1890 lm )

The growing box is kind of little 1 m / 40 cm .

I don't use any fertilizator.

The temperature is around 26.5 Celsius. ( I use a air fan to keep it constant )

The distance between the top of the plant and the light bulb is 20 cm. As you can see in this picture :



I use rain water to feed the plant ( 3 - 4 times a day )

The light system is like this 18 hours ON and 6 hours OFF ( during night )

My problem / opinion : I think my plant is growing kind of slow or am I wrong ? Any opinions would be much appreciated !

PS : Sorry my English ! Thank you !

Soil looks to wet.
Water and then wait 2 days before watering again.
Go Very Light on Food, no more than 1/4 of the recommended dosage.
your true wattage is 65 watts, not what they advertise.
Get up to at least 125 watts actual , 5- 23 watt bulbs is a good start.

the bulb is too far away

The 250 watts does not make it equivalent to a 250 hps

Don't water it agai until the soil is dusty dry at the top nd lower the bulb down to within 5 cms of the top.

otherwise it looks not too bad for that situation.

If you must go clf I would get a few more for side lighting

You are watering too much - the soil needs to dry out some.
I would get rid of the tin foil and paint the inside of the box with flat white latex paint.
Your soil needs around 20% pearlite - keep that in mind when/if you repot.

And you're going to have to train the crap outta that plant if you only have a 20 cm height restriction - if you put the bulbs in from the side you could gain a bit more room.

Welcome to RIU.

Not enough light, your grow medium is too wet and needs something like perlite to help aeration, and at this point you need a small amount of nitrogen rich fertilizer. Do you have fresh air coming into that little grow box?

I concur....with everyone above me

the CFL should be 1 or 2 inches (3 - 5 cm) and sideways to the plants, and will give you more room as mentioned by GreatWhiteNorth

replace the tin foil with either white paint or an emergency blanket (Mylar)

Ok so my update :

1. I moved the light bulb 10 cm lower, so the distance between the top of the plant and the light is 9 - 10 cm now.

2. I will water it 1 / day from now on as you guys suggested.

3. I will try to get another light bulb maybe a 100 real watt ( econonic because the energy cost is very expensive in my country )

4. Yes I have a air fan that gets the indoor air to my box. ( 2 times a day I open the windows for ventilation )

5. Thank you all for such a quick reply and opinions. Hope to learn more about this from you guys.

PS : again sorry form my mistakes in English ( not my native language )

I would move the bulb 5-6 cm away from the plant, add another bulb, and do not water 1/day. Wait until the pot dries out quite a bit, the pot should be much lighter and the soil should be drying out on top before you water. I would guess you should water once every 3 days or so.

Ok so new UPDATE :

I water it 1 time / 2 days.
Added a new light bulb .
Moved the light blubs at this new distances :



Any opinions ?

Thank you !

I was gone for the weekend... Looks better, you should start to see some better growth.

Good Luck!

Soil still looks wet. Don't go by days on watering. There is no set amount of days to water. Every plant is different. Go by the dryness of the soil. The soil should be dry as can be about 2 inches deep before you water again. Could vary water by water.