Memoirs of a Diesel

My plant is now at 7 weeks old and was a sour diesel seed, possibly feminized, lucky me. I started the seed on the paper towel method and then quickly planted it in some left over potting soil.

I started it off under 24 hour light under a 13w helical light, and that was the first 4 weeks of its life. After it was about 6-7 inches out of the ground I filled up the pot in the pictures with new soil and planted it to where the first set was half an inch or so above the soil. It is now under the light you see in the picture which are 2 T8 lights. My knowledge of lighting is amateur at best and any advice is greatly appreciated. I know I need to move the plant closer to the light so it will grow more, that is something I have been meaning to do.

There are small white hairs at the base of the stems and the plant does have that sweet aroma to it when you put your nose right up to it. "Buddy" as I so call her has been on a tap water diet that is set out for 24 hours, and is also misted when it wakes up and before it goes to sleep. I water when the soil under the top soil is no longer moist, equals out to about every 4 or 5 days. The only nutrients it is receiving are the ones in the soil. I need to test the Ph of the soil and I am not exactly sure what I would say to nursery workers if they started questioning me so I have not done that either.

The plant wakes up around when I go to bed so before I go to sleep I will usually sit in front of it and read a book or something or just chill with it, lightly blowing on it until I get a fan. My chief, ha ha chief, concern is when the plant starts to stank real bad and what I should do for ventilation. My friend said just get a lot of glade plug-ins. I am growing the single plant and nothing else right now, it's my first baby and only baby right now and I want to get this right, and cause I am a poor college student I need to keep it cheap unfortunately, and I know that is not the way to do it but what are you going to do. Any comments or advice are more than welcome.

So when the plant woke up I moved it to where it is around 2 inches from the light. She has also grown her first 5 fingered leaf, how exciting, I'm lovin' it. have new pics up soon. Any comments advice, or constructive criticism are greatly welcome and appreciated.

Nice looking plant, looks grat for a first timer.

1. A lot of that light is wasted, since you got tubes. I would suggest you get some CFL lights instead and put it in a reflector. You can buy 27W CFLs from Home Depot for a few bucks and just get those cheap clamp light reflectors. If you want you can get a few more tubes and stand them up around the plants for side lighting. Alternatively you can grab a 70W HPS security light there too and use that with the tubes. either way you need to get your lighing straightened out before the plant gets bigger and needs more light.

2. You said the plant wakes up so I assume you have it on a 18/6 cycle. I use 24 hours of light for vegging, but opinions are split on which method is better.

3. I bought one of those time release gel vanilla air fresheners and placed it right outside my grow room, it covers the smell nicely. You should really think of building a grow cabinet inside that closet.

4. If you can snag one of those small oscillating desk fans it would help the plant grow a stronger stalk, in turn letting the plant grow bigger buds.

I'll be back to check in on you, nice job so far.

4. Don't worry about what the store clerks think. It's none of their business and they probably won't ask, but in case they do just tell them it's for tomatoes.

I'm not even growing diesel right now, but I liked the sticker

ReelFiles said:

Nice looking plant, looks grat for a first timer.

1. A lot of that light is wasted, since you got tubes. I would suggest you get some CFL lights instead and put it in a reflector. You can buy 27W CFLs from Home Depot for a few bucks and just get those cheap clamp light reflectors. If you want you can get a few more tubes and stand them up around the plants for side lighting. Alternatively you can grab a 70W HPS security light there too and use that with the tubes. either way you need to get your lighing straightened out before the plant gets bigger and needs more light.

2. You said the plant wakes up so I assume you have it on a 18/6 cycle. I use 24 hours of light for vegging, but opinions are split on which method is better.

3. I bought one of those time release gel vanilla air fresheners and placed it right outside my grow room, it covers the smell nicely. You should really think of building a grow cabinet inside that closet.

4. If you can snag one of those small oscillating desk fans it would help the plant grow a stronger stalk, in turn letting the plant grow bigger buds.

I'll be back to check in on you, nice job so far.

4. Don't worry about what the store clerks think. It's none of their business and they probably won't ask, but in case they do just tell them it's for tomatoes.

Click to expand...

Ok so the plant is on a 12/12 cycle. also I got home today, the leaves were drooping, I first saw this while the plant was sleeping, used a cellphone to check it out. I will get that fan tomorrow for sure. as far as the cabinet, any suggestions or previous projects that I could easily replicate?

Oh, I didn't realize you were flowering her already. I figured you'd wanna clone it first. The easiest thing to do is put a box in a corner, that way you only have to build the top, side and front and use the existing walls. Just screw some studs to the existing walls then attach plywood to them, should be pretty straight forward. If it's a small box you only need a few corner studs, plywood, hinges and screws.

If she's drooping already it's most likely over watered. Stick your finger in the soil and make sure it's dry 2-3 inches down between watering. My best advice is to learn the weight difference between dry and wet and judge by the weight of the pot, that's how I do it.

1. I didn't realize that a 12/12 cycle was strictly for flowering, but it is more appropriate for my budget. I haven't ruined the plants ability to grow to a good size have I? If I get the CFL I
will be able to switch the plant back to a 24 constant or a 18/6 and what will be the consequences my baby will have to suffer.
2. As far as the cloning is concerned, I am in a one bedroom apartment right now and if I were to clone I would want to do a SoG, but I would want to be in a house, which will happen
around August. Will I still be able to clone off her around then?
3. I got home and it has stopped drooping. It will give it a few days before I even mist the thing again.

Anything more than 12 of darkness will force flowering. You can't stay growing vegetative with that time regimen. Go 18/6 if you concerned about cost but the light you got now will only cost a couple of dollars a month, hardly noticeable. If you revert back now it will take around 2 weeks for the plants to switch back over and will grow a little funky but should recover eventually. By that time it will probably have outgrown the light unless you bend her to grow horizontally along the light. You should clone during vegetative because if you do it during flowering the clones will have to revert back to vegetative and force roots which is pretty stressful for clones. Not saying that it won't work, but it's not optimal and can be a pain in the ass. If you don't take cuttings you're gonna have to keep starting from seed. You can clone later on if you regenerate her. You should leave a little foliage on the bottom of the plant when harvesting and place it back in vegetative by adjusting the light timer back to 18/6 again. A few weeks later she should start growing new branches out of the tiny buds you left on the stalk.

Well then man, the plan for tomorrow is get the new light. switch back to 18/6 and see what happens. Hey man thanks for the help, i also know a few number of people who will be needing to thank you lol. I'll put up some new pics on monday.

Ok, got the plant under a single 27 w CFL with a 8.5 inch reflective shield, I have a 10.5 inch one for later when it gets bigger. Don't have a cabinet yet, but I tin foiled the wall and made a tin foil wall for some reflection. I will get some measurements for a cabinet tomorrow and post them up. So I have noticed that I fuck up a lot when posting and I think it is because whenever I post I AM fucked up so if you have the same problem, posting mainly when trashed, let me know. Oh yeah, also switched it to an 18/6 cycle and it is looking a lot better now that I have laid of the water. As far as a fan goes I am looking for something on the cheap, asked my friend if he wanted to invest and if he said yes he could clone off me, hope he is interested.

One plant doesn't need much Walmart has a 7" table fan for 16 bucks.

Check out this guy's album, he's built some nice grow boxes himself.

Man that guys got some expensive taste. I am thinking of making the box around 4' tall 2' long and 2' wide, I am wondering around what time should I start flowering my girl, i know it will be down the road a little bit.

Don't forget to include the height of the pots in your calculations. I wouldn't go by age but rather judge by height and internode spacing. Like you said; it's kind of early to tell how she's gonna grow yet.

Ok, I moved the plant under a 27 w CFl with a 8.5 inch reflective shield. I have also moved the plant to an 18/6 cycle. It was drooping quite a bit last night but this morning it looks just fine. Still needing to measure out the box and what not and I am getting a fan today, but until I get that box I think setting up the tinfoil around my baby is going to be the best I can do right now.

Nice man, that works for now.

Went to the store today and got some plant food that is a 15-30-15 when mixed and I was wondering if that is and ok mix for Veg. Let me know, I will post more pics on thursday!

Got some new pics. She is growing beautifully under the 18/6. Still waiting to use the plant food. Let me know what ya think.

Alright, so I went ahead and fed the plant this morning with a half gallon of 15-30-15 and i just got back and she is looking good. It had been almost a week since I had watered her and only the bottom inch of my soil was damp. the water didn't run through to the bottom of the pot but it will be fine I think.

That soil looks like it could have used some perlite, hope it doesn't cause problems for you down the road.

Yeah I got it from a nursery down the road and it is their own brand, I do go in a mix the soil around the plant every other day, but what does perlite help do and is it to late to get some in there?