poormans cfl grow.

ok guys. believe it or not. i have done research. if i had unlimited funding i could grow a large crop, first try.

that being said.

THANK EVERY ONE OF YOU for posting your knowledge, and helping on a personal level as well.kiss-ass






recently, (3 weeks ago) i germinated a bagseed. i knew nothing about the soil, the pH, even what type of light to use.

so i was using garbage soil, and one small 14watt cfl.

needless to say, it did very poorly.
attached are pics at about 3.5 weeks.


so i germinated another seedling in soil i bought from the local nursery. it looks rich, but no nitrogen balls, so im pretty sure its nute-free.

now i have a 5800 cfl. planning on getting the larger 6k.

tomorrow im going to buy alaskan fish fertilizer, GH ph test kit, pH up, and pH down, and probably a better cfl.


the forum rules say do not post on someone elses thread unless they ask you.

so im asking you guys to post help.
i need, and love help.


thanks guys.

well. i went to the local hydro store and got my pH materials, and alaskan fish fert.

tested my tap water pH (used to water plants) and its off the charts 8.5+

so.

i prepared a pH balanced water and flushed the old plant to pH the runoff.

it was super high.

i tested the runoff from my seedling.

it was almost perfect.

same soil.



the seedling is showing good growth, and super rich green.

over the past day, the cotyledons are turned tward the light. the light is about 1 to 2 inches away. any thoughts might help.

i watered the seedling with super diluted, pH'd fert water...


i let the plants sleep 2 hours, since they are still in veg, and i need to burn off some excess moisture, im going to turn the lights back on now.

so not much to report today.

did no watering or anything. BUT. the power did go out at about noon today so i had to put the plants outside, with a towel blocking the direct sunlight.

well the towel fell while i was at the beach. it fell onto the plants.

they will recover. damnt . i always seem to be trying to fuck things up.

i got em back under the cfl's pulling them back straight up.

the fish emulsion helped overnight.

the 3 week old plant lOVED IT. today the toppermost leaves are greening and growing large, with new growth peeking.

the seedlings cotys have settled down. im going to go 24 hrs light until i see any signs of stress.

today i did add another computer fan. ran it for an hour or so, then turned it straight up. not twards the plants.

w/e its going to be good for intake/exhaust until they get larger.

peace.

well after selling a pair of bongos i got enough cash to skate around the neighborhood and look for lights and perlite.

long story short, i found 6500k cfls!!!

thank god.

so now i have 3 6500k cfls running.

this morning the seedling (under 1 5k cfl) had all its leaves pointing up. the color is fine, and the lights are super close. so im going to go hook up the 6500k lights, and possibly update later...

well after going 24/7 lights, ive switched to 18/6. the results are exactly what i had hoped for.

under 18/6 the leaves dropped horizontally. the 24 hrs must have kept them pointing, although they are pointing again now...(see pic)

but new growth is coming through, without stretch!

i dont want to overwater, so im going to wait til tomorrow, or later tonight to pH some water and check the runoff. ill bet its high.

well today was one of those, "no news is good news" days.

new growth is popping out nicely, without stretch.

they are still pointing though.

if they dont settle down today, or in the next few days, ill be afraid the damn ph is off again.

at least i can fix it though.

i hit it with a ph'd solution yesterday, but they didnt settle down.

ill admit the damn runoff was high.....


SO, the next 3 days, ill be watching it close.

ok, ok, ok. i hit it with a very very diluted soultion of fish fert, on day 1 or 2 or so. ONLY because the soil is nute free, and i know ill have to do it soon, anyway. just to be totally honest.

well i hate to say it, but i think im overwatering.

i was doing a bunch of watering to get the pH right, cuz the leaves point up.

it happened to another plant i had, and pH'ed water did the trick in 24 hrs.

the ph was high, and i nearly overwatered getting it straightened out.


the baby is back on track now.

well she is doing fine, albiet a little small.


sooooo, its time for her first nute shot.

tomorrow (day 22) i will prep a pH/nuted water and water it.

repotted her into a larger pot.



i repotted the oldest one cuz its getting large.

the roots were visible throughout the ball, so it will love the huge pot its in now.

im going to FIM the biggest one tomorrow or the next day, whenever the new growth stands up.

look for pics soon!

i fimmed the big one last night, and the second set from the top is drooping pretty bad....8( but the rest of the plant is fine.


i nuted the seedling the other day, and it took it well.

no huge amount of growth, so maybe ill nute it again within a week??

well the big one is growing well now, but i can not get it to flower.

must. try. harder.

the smaller one is growing well and bushy, but it wont flower either.

scotts was an auto-flower, and in about week two of flowering

pH, and re-potting issues have been my only problems

the little one has flowered female!

the big one was locked out serious with the pH super high.

just got my pH meter in the mail, no more drops!!!

scotts is getting biggggggg and serious hairy

i think today, just today, the plants are in the "optimum" pH range.

wish me luck

well.

after debating whether or not to chop the oldest, and largest plant, and putting a time limit on when i would do it if it did not flower...

i saw two little mushrooms growing off the base of the stalk.

lol

shitty soil i buy from down the street + big pot = very wet conditions

so

i chopped it

got a freekin lot of leaves

and now i can use the lights it was using on my females, and two new seedlings.

the seedling is approx 4 days old, and doing well