Newbie grow with mistakes, what should I do from here?

Ribbet29

Well-Known Member
Ok here we go, this is my very first grow (with mistakes and no planning or reading ahead of time) I started off with some old bad seed I had (mistake 2) and planted them in a bin I keep filled with miracle grow organic choice garden soil that I use for yard work (mistake 3). I started out 16 bag seeds and thought only a few would sprout as I didn't germinate them and they were real old, but a week later they ALL sprouted. That's when I found this great site and started reading into growing and decided to give it a shot, so off to lowe's to get supplies for my set up (mistake 4) heres a list

2 three socket vanity kits
3 26w daylight 6500k CFL's
3 26w soft white 3200k CFL's
20 ft ext cord

here's a few pic's

all 16 at week 2


my set up




At week 2 I picked out the 4 best looking ones and killed the rest I thought the spacing would be ok (mistake 5)

here's a pic of the final 4 at week 3



My problem is this, at 1 month old there only 6'' tall and 10'' wide so my spacing is way off, to combat this I started cutting off fan leafs once the leaf got 4'' long (not sure if this was a mistake or not).
what should I do about the spacing? should I kill a few off 2 maybe 3? should I start to flower them wait for sex then kill the males? or just scrap the whole grow and start from scratch the right way?

here's a few more pic's

week 3



1 month







Any info or suggestions would be great, thanks in advance for all your help
 

Micheal Kelso

Well-Known Member
They actually look really good - I dunno much about CFLs and soil growing so I don't really have any good advice ...

I myself would transplant them into different pots.. keep going with what you got going because it seems to be working.

If you get some males rip em out - otherwise for a slap together job they look like pretty healthy plants.
 

DJmick

Well-Known Member
You have got to put them all in different pots. Is Miracle grow your only option? What kind of nutes are you using?
 

UnEmploymentDude

Well-Known Member
yeah bend them over around the pot so it uses more space, your roots are probably tangled like hell. cant separate them now. overall their looking great so far.
 

Dr High

Well-Known Member
You might also wanna get more and stronger bulbs 42 watts. good luck PEACE
PS Oh yeah and get the v plugs so you can put twice as much! this oughta be sweet.
 

Chosen

Well-Known Member
I love em but what do I know. The plants look very healthy and the node spacing is tight. IMO it was a mistake to trim the fan leaves. The growth is also a little slow but this thread has me thinking. Lets see how a few others reply, I wonder if their roots have begun to tangle. Maybe there is still hope of transplanting.
 

weaponmaster15

Active Member
I agree with everyone else, you should have started them in separate containers. like peat pots or something. But other then that lst them the best you can and enjoy the smoke afterwards eh
 

Ribbet29

Well-Known Member
I really appreciate all the input guys thanks so much :-P
ok so I dug down a few inch's in the middle to see if I could see any roots from what I saw they look too tangled to repot, so I decided to go with the LST that was recommended, the only experience I have with LST is what I've read on this site I hope I dont stress them too much wish me luck, and from now on no more cutting of the fan leafs.

As far as getting more CFL's I really dont think I'll do that, my plan is to get this setup High Tech Garden Supply with my next check, I'll use the CFL setup for clones

And as far as nutes go I just started using some a few days ago nothing special just some MG with an NPK of 30-10-10 at a 1/4 strength

Here's a few pics of my LST attempt
</IMG>




 

Ribbet29

Well-Known Member
Checked on them just before the lights went out for the night they looked good, no wilting and they're all reaching for the light
 

Humboldt

Well-Known Member
Damn looking pretty sweet for CFL's I now have hope for mine, I recently started some bag seed familiar situation as yourself, I have 17 starts at different stages and I'm hoping to get at least 6 girls out of them, most are under two standard shop lights and I put my best three under CFL's,

Right now I only have one 26w per plant, I need to get more lighting soon specially once the others start to grow, I have a five socket vanity strip with two bulbs and I rigged up a third in the back under an old kitchen stove hood, seems to be working so far, I plan to put a couple 65w CFL flood lights on each side under that hood, or two 50w HPS Flood lights, check out the attachments.

Keep up the good work on keeping your plants alive, they are looking Awesom!
 

Attachments

Ribbet29

Well-Known Member
Here are a few new pics of them after a full day of being tied back,

Thx humboldt, I've actually been reading your thread Good job so far they look good, I'll be keeping an eye on them.





 

philli31

Active Member
I agree too
Should have started in seperate pots, The fan leaves are used for photosynthesis and will fall off on their own as they get older around the bottom. They look really healthy now but wont they start strangling each other as they get bigger and fight for nutes? ONLY THE STRONGEST WILL SURVIVE! Look for a hydroponics store near you.
 

Ribbet29

Well-Known Member
wont they start strangling each other as they get bigger and fight for nutes? ONLY THE STRONGEST WILL SURVIVE!
This is a very good question, I really don't know but lets see if anyone else does. Its an 18 gal bin with 2 cu ft of soil, any opinions?
 

SmokerE

Well-Known Member
Are you flowering now? If not wouldnt it be a good idea? I'm not 100% sure, but since they are cfl's I would probably flower at a really low height.
 

greenbud1

Well-Known Member
you can leave em in thier but it will affect the yeild...not all the plant are gonna get adegute light i would start trimming an tying back some braches to open it up a little...as for the roots they should be fine but as with what smoke said i would consider flowering soon depending on your grow height....peace
 

SmokerE

Well-Known Member
Usually what...they stretch about double to triple in size. If he doesn't have a light that gives adequate lumens for flowering I'm assuming the stretch will be more. I would get some horsepower soon.
 

greenbud1

Well-Known Member
ya i dont like cfls for nething other then cloning....an the 2-3 times strech is right even for high power hid depending on the sativa aspect in the strain...get a hid light... Discount Hydroponics is where i go an they got a 400 mh system for 169.00 an that'll blow all those cfer's away....mh is fine for flowering not as great as hps but the buds get better tri's as with the protection against all the uv....peace
 

Ribbet29

Well-Known Member
As far as getting more CFL's I really dont think I'll do that, my plan is to get this setup High Tech Garden Supply with my next check, I'll use the CFL setup for clones
I should have this setup within a month thats when I'll start flowering,
but the question was will 4 plants in a 18 gallon bin with 2 cu ft of soil start strangling each other as they get bigger and fight for nutes?
 
Top