My first grow is tragically amusing... Come See!

Ok, so where to begin... long time smoker, first time grower. Basically, i got quit smoking for a couple years, gave away alot of my 'babies', but held onto my seed collection. My wife still smoked during all this, and i decided I was tired of just buying her weed, so why not grow it? I mean, i had 5 seeds from white widow from an old friend of mine that grew, so what the hell! right? Well my assorted seeds had been consolidated by the wife, who saw I had seeds in different cases "he's horribly unorganized", she said to herself, as she set forth to fix my problem. And fixed she did. So I now have about 50 assorted seeds from pop-dank and no telling whats what.

So I germinate about 10 of them, of those 10 only 1 sprouted, and 1 other swelled to open. Good stuff! I'm awesome, high-fives all around for these 3-10year old seeds. I plant them in soil because I'm not sure if I'm really going to 'see this baby to term'(bad joke?). I originally did just 1 seed per square, but figured, what the hell, let's go Johnny Appleseed, and put 2-3 seeds per square for the seeds that didnt seem to germinated. Seedlings grow, I transplant to the ever-distinguished red solo cup from a party I just had, and all is well. The next morning I find that there is another seedling that just sprung up from ground next to the stalk of another seedling... Overnight! From nothing and no root to a solid 1 1/2 inch little seedling trying to cast off it's shell. So cute.

I move him to another cup and now we're all happy, I'm the proud father of 3 baby girls [God willing, because I have no idea what seeds I planted- though I am exicted to see. It could be anything! I could win the Jackpot!]
At this point they're just sitting in a closet with tarp walls/floor to keep everything in there clean, and 2 CFL 1425lumen 5850k lights. Everythings good, but I'm almost 2 weeks in and growth seems steady but slow. Am I just getting impatient? My temps vary from 71* hours after lights out, to 83* at my hottest, humidity ranging from 40-54. average right? I figure I don't have enough lumens for these poor little guys.. so it's time tweak the setup:

So Today I run to lowes, grab 4 more lights and build a seedling grow box out of a U-Haul box(I just moved). But I figured I needed to acoomdated 6 lights in a small space, I have no stands or anchor points, hanging is not a real option(3 lamps w/ clamps with a splitter to house 2 bulbs per lamp). So why not cut this box up and make a triangle? Brilliant! I not have an 18"x18" triangle. The top of the box also meets at a smaller tapered triangle- kind of like a chimney- and is held together by some velcro ties that I stapled on. i mounted the lights on the side of the box, thru a disc golf frisbee in the bottom as a drain pan(again, I'm high-class, don't be jealous), and called it good. But wait, everyone else has this cool mylar stuff, or paint, and everyone says dont use foil because it will magnify light... So? I foiled that bitch up.. and let me tell you, this thing was scary awesome. I mean, it was like looking at the sun! Light reflecting off everything and magnidying thru the top making a bright white triangle on the ceiling- i still see CFL coils when I look around! and it has a small little desk fan mounted in the side blowing air from the bottom, passed the lights, and out the top. Hot air rises, I'm a genius!

At this point I know have 6 CFL @ 1425lumen each, totalling at 8550lumen! That should speed up my grow! (I have no idea the lumens I should have per stage, but the CFL's I have lined up for flowering with total to 23160lumens in the same setup)

Eat some dinner, check on my plants in there new shiney space-age box... 99*F! Holy shit! I open up the top grab a nearby fan and just start blowing the shit out everything! "oh please, oh please, oh please..." I feel around and it geels warm in there, but not 100* warm... but then I feel it, the tingle that begs to ask "Am I getting a tan off these lights/foil?" Drop the fan, and I start ripping thru foil getting it all off the walls, and inner ceiling like a crazed parent desperately trying to find and dig their child out of a pile of rubble. 88*F. We're getting there. I put the big fan and funnel it behind my small vent fan to assist in blowing air thru the box. 20min later 82*F. *whew* So that's why they say no foil...

I'm an idiot.

I close the top back up to it's "chimney" state and monitor for temp/humidity, because I need to know now before I'm gone all day at work, and the wife stays at home and ignores it's cry for help...

My questions thus far:
What average lumens do I need to have good growth? Im not buying big lights. this is a small stealth grow.
I'm using some old miracle grow potting soil I've had for a couple years... it feeds for 3months, so I should not add any nutes?
And the smallest plant sprouted up overnight, and openned by the next day along with its serrated leaves. but the serrated leaves have hard white tip on them.. kind of like a fingernail. no marks, or coloring on leaves. purple stems on all 3 tho. Does that mean I win?

First pic is the first round of seedlings(2) successfully sprouted! The box is as seen from above when the chimney is closed up- I was hoping for total light reflection... 3rd pic is my biggest seedling. and small stand alone plant has those hard tips i was talking about. any ideas? As soon as the pedals opened it had those tips on the serrated leaves- hard to see I know, my phone camera is not so good.
any input is appreciated, ridicule also!

No you do not win, not yet anyways, however your off to a start. I wouldnt go as far to say its a good start, but its a start! Your lumens question is more for the advanced topic. To sum it up lumens are a measurement of light, like a lux or a foot candle(yes, the more you have the better, so keep the numbers high). So to less confuse our self, lets keep the lighting basic for now. The main thing you should worry about is the "kelvin rating". Cannabis grows best under bulbs with a kelvin temperature ranging from 3000k-6500k. This is the full spectrum of light that the plant needs. In my closet i have 4 40w T-12 6500k bulbs hanging from the top, along the wall on the left and right i have vertically mounted 4 32w T-8 3500k-4100k bulbs (two are 3500k and the other two are 4100k, total of four bulbs, two ballasts, one of each bulb on each ballast). My sexy little girls are getting the full spectrum of light they need! Since the T-8 bulbs have a lower kelvin temp, they simulate "early morning, or sunrise". The lights are set up on a timer which turns on at 2, and i have my T-12 (6500k to simulate "afternoon or full sunlight") on another timer that turns on 4 hours after the "sunrise" lights. When i switch to flowering i will definitely need more light, so i have planed to set up another 4 T-12 and another 4 T-8 vertically so the light reaches all the way to the bottom of the plant.

Your second question had to do with soil and nutes. I hate to say it but Miracle Grow has had terrible ratings across all boards as a shitty medium. Most people will agree on here that Fox Farm is the way to go! I grabbed a bag of Fox Farm and a bag of Ferti-Lome and mixed em together and its been pure heaven. Your soil is three years old, I dont know if the chemical nutrients are even still active. You may want to head to the nursery and get some Fox Farm liquid nutes. Secondly i hope you dont expect a harvest within 3 short months so yea your going to need to get them some nutrients anyways. Cannabis has a annual life cycle meaning it is programed in nature to go from seed-adult-death within one year. Unless your growing clones, using a SoG system, or your switching to 12/12 photo-period the first time you see a pistil, then I highly doubt you will get a harvest in 3 months. So go buy the ladies you love some food!

As for your last question, it sounds like nute burn, which if it were that would mean the nutrients in you old ass miracle grow bull shit are still active! Maybe a little too active! However you do want to get them some nutes when that soil is about 3-4 weeks old (since you planted in there). I couldnt see anything on the leaves that looked like nute burn but they were kinda small/blurry pics. You got a long way to go and alot to learn! But hang in there your doing good so far! Im no pro, in fact im a first timer myself, so maybe we can share info! I just did quite a bit of research on the subject before i began. I picked up a copy of George Cervantes's Indoor/Outdoor Horticulture Bible and read a shit ton of threads on this kick ass website! Any more questions please ask!

First off i would just like to say congratulations your a father! its always nice to see another join the ranks of us proud parents.

on that note i also have to say thats some crafty shit you got there imho a little dis concerning that your grow box is made out of cardboard to me that just screams FIRE but hey to each his own.

To answer your questions i don't really look at lumens i kno your supposed to, but to me it just seems like a whole lot of unnecessary math and who likes math right you'd be surprised what a 24w cfl can accomplish (true watts not incandescent equv) the tips could be a couple different things some might say the miracle grow ps your using makes the ph too low mc is mostly for tomato plants so... my best guess would be heat that little 99 degree deal you had will mess a plant up quick especially a baby how much does it suck when you get in your car in the middle of the summer and its 100

Thanks for the response!
Ya i see Fox Farms all over forums, and ya my shit is all old(and from actual garden)... and yes, I have a slight fire concern, but the Lights aren't in contact and the temps on CFLs are surprisingly low(and left foil in between light and cardboard)...

And yes, just typing cardboard makes me feel dirty. hehe Ohh the shame...

But hey, this was a spur of the moment, ill-planned, fly by the seat of your pants operation. I wanted something I could easily store in a closet, concealed to where you wouldnt see light even if in the room(nosey in-laws) and ultimately quick tear-down for emergency. If I am unlucky enough to start a small fire, I'll throw all my guitar equipment up there and collect my renters insurance! then i can buy real nice toys!

+rep

and Yes, I think I do win.

Well, it sounds like you're not without excitement, that's for sure, but I'm sure you will get all the bugs worked out.

nosey in laws are not good at all, hope they are cool with weed cause if and when thoes things bud up its gonna smell in the house lol

"and yes i have a slight fire concern" hahahaa. Man your first post brought tears of laughter to my eyes. Reminds me of my first time!! hahaha

atlrhysdavis said:

"and yes i have a slight fire concern" hahahaa. Man your first post brought tears of laughter to my eyes. Reminds me of my first time!! hahaha

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Temps are holding at 85 right now, but i'd prefer high 70's rather than mid 80's. Ya I'ma go out later today/tomorrow morning and grab a little box fan and add it to everything. Which means I'll probly have to cut up my box... but you know what?

There is a certain sense of pride I feel just for making a triangle shaped box. I'll take pics of Pandora's Grow box from the outside and post before I demolish it.

And as far as nutes, I'll look on forums to see what NPK's i need. my soil was originally 21-7-14 or something close to that... who knows what's lasted this long though. But i'm hesitant to add any nutes for the next couple weeks- until I see what this new amount of light does. wanna make sure its growing slow because of nutes, not lights... i'm ok with smoking this for valentines day. what can i say- I'm a romantic.

WhiteSancho said:

Thanks for the response!
Ya i see Fox Farms all over forums, and ya my shit is all old(and from actual garden)...

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If you dug soil out of a old veg garden then you will definitely need to buy nutes.

Mac Luster said:

If you dug soil out of a old veg garden then you will definitely need to buy nutes.

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It wasn't used soil- still in bag- but from when I had some potted plants. I'm from the midwest so every now and then I need to grow a garden of some kind.

ahh i see, well how are the babies doing so far?

Things are looking pretty good. I've been documenting everything I've done. Watering every 2-3 days. I'm going to feed nutes/growth hormone alternating satudays, which will put nutes/gh every 2 weeks. Should I do more frequently? Since I have miracle grow soil, i went with a miracle grow nutes at 1/4-1/2 potency. the Nutes are at 24-8-16, and i've started testing my ph levels of water/nutes/hormone solutions so everything is slightly acidic. It's only been 2 days since I last inspected them(watered and added plant hormone on satuday), but the difference I see today is pretty huge.

Leaves are super perked up- had to rotate due to slight burn. Plants look pretty happy

i would keep it at 1/4 strength for now, the yellowish/brown "burnt" tips are caused by nutrients, too many of them in there but as long as the burn spot stays that small then it will be ok, your babies are looking happy, i number the quadrants on my pots, 1-2-3-4 and i turn the pots to the next number each time the lights come on to give them even lighting, so far everything is looking good on your end, other than the nute burn but that is damn near bound to happen every grow, i burnt mine w/o nutes lol, just the nutes that were in the soil i used were enough to burn my seedling, keep it up and keep in touch! oh plants also like music, no lie! so if u have an android or iphone turn on Pandora Radio to Sublime or Bob Marley radio, plants will enjoy it =)

Time for an update! mid week 3 from seed. Everything's progressing pretty nicely at the moment. starting nutes tomorrow!

Plants are looking good bro. Dont worry about using the cardboard box it will do the job! And I highly doubt any chances of a fire unless you're putting like 500 bulbs in the box and making it go past 100f. My advice to you would be try to go with one plant your first time, especially if you're in an enclosed space. I started out with 3 and had to chop one down (was a male anyway) for space, and now my 2 flowering girls are taking up their whole box and touching the lights no matter where I put them. Also get some nutes for your babys they will love you for it. Get some real nutes, I went with General hydroponics Maxigrow and maxibloom and havent run into any salt buildup problems or anything pretty much my entire grow. (im growing in hempy though, you're in soil, could be different)
If I were you id put as many lights in there as I could, while maintaining the temperature, doesnt matter what kelvin spectrum they are, more light is more light. I have all flowering bulbs and they grew my plants freaking awesome. If you really want to get some bud in the end you're gonna have to spend some money. Personally I havent spent more than $50 and im very happy with how my plants are doing

The biggest mistake you can make is over-reacting. You can make growing as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Just remember to be easy with the nutes (start out with 1/2 or 1/4 strength then work up.), dont overwater, and bring those light bulbs as close as you can to the plants without them touching the plants. the biggest thing you have to remember is she is a WEED, so she will grow like a weed. You could break it in half and, with some strains, it might even make it grow 2x faster.(my case, I snapped a top branch in half, now the branch is 2x longer than the other top branch)
Good luck with your grow, feel free to check mine out im about to update it with a pic or 2

Pirax said:

I have all flowering bulbs and they grew my plants freaking awesome. If you really want to get some bud in the end you're gonna have to spend some money. Personally I havent spent more than $50 and im very happy with how my plants are doing

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You mean spend money on some flowering bulbs? I'm going pure CFl all thru this first grow. my flowering bulbs will be

by spending money I meant on soil and nutes bro. Soil is Very important if you want a good plant, I forgot to mention this. i was growing first in some shitty nutragrow grocery store soil and my plants grew like an inch a week. I switched to hempy (nothing but perlite) and now I notice new explosive growth every morning I check the box

I'm willing to say that if you started out your seed in that soil, then went to hempy after it sprouted, your plant would at least be a little bit bigger by now, especially after 3 weeks. And once those roots meet the reservoir and youre feeding them full strength nutes, (which you would probably have been doing some time soon by now) your plants would be blowing up like no other. I started 1/4 strength nutes right after the cotyledons started turning yellow and upped the dosage every week I think. Ive been using full strength for the past... I dont even know how long, and I feel my babies are loving me over it

Cardboard box huh? I started in one of those I think the best advice I can give a beginner is that it's much easier to kill a plant through overwatering and overfertilizing than underwatering and underfertilizing. I never use full strength nutes even when flowering (I DO have high quality organic soil though)...

While it is possible to grow with CFLs, I think that if you do more grows in the future, you should look into HPS, LED or induction lighting...it can still be in a stealth setup, especially the LED...I just think you will be much happier with the results...In the mean time try to keep the lamps as close to the plants as possible (without burning them, that is), and only water when the top 2-4 cm of the soil feel dry. And DON'T feed them too much....you can always add more, but once it's there, it's there.

ddimebag said:

Cardboard box huh?

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Of course I use a box... why else are they called grow boxes? [waits for response]...No, then it would be called grow crates. [pwnd]
I'm giving 1/4-1/2 dose of nutes tomorrow. schedule I'm using is Hormone or Nutes on Saturday, 6.5 PH water on Monday and Wednesday.
Used SuperThrive last saturday, and the difference really was amazing.