Newbie here

[Bong_O_Matic]

I've hung around the forums a while back, pretty hard trying to get my knowledge up, but the funds are still down. So i've decided to go low budget and try and get my first grow off the ground. Here's what i'm working with.

60watt incondecent with no white coating

Reflective bowl that's mounted around a power source for the light so I can get the most light possible into one area

1 five gallon bucket, with drain holes and rocks in the bottom to help the process. (As a note the dirt is just that, nothing special, just dirt from the back yard, free of pesticides and other harmful things)

5 seeds from mid grade


I've planted the five seeds in the one bucket. (Bad idea I know, but i'm hoping to get atleast one survivor)

I planted them a decent amount of space away, and I recon i'll grow them by natural selection, when it comes time to flower i'll kill off the 3 smallest ones and hope to get atleast one female.

Here's how I have the schedule set up, any help or revisions would be very helpful.

I planted them today, about an hour ago. 8/24

I plan to let them veg under full time light provided via 60wat incondecent light with reflective shield, until November 25th, then i'll turn them on to only 12/12 (light/dark) and I plan to harvest on new years day, and place the buds(hopefully buds) into a brown paper bag, and place it in a dark cool spot and let it sit for one week.

A few side notes I should make.

I'm growing in a basement where humidity isn't too bad, unless it's mid summer. It's constantly 60 degrees and will get colder. (Hoping that the light will provide appropriate heat since the shield gets pretty hot)

and I watered the dirt with Ice mountain water to get some pre grow nutes in it, and I will be watering it everyday with the same water.

SO FAR! How does this all sound? am I taking proper steps? Also, how do you post pictures? I 've got 2 pictures of the grow room and set up and i'd like to post it up.

[trillions of atoms]

you can not use an incandecent light for a grow light it is the wrong spectrum



try ebay or home depot for an HID- 70w or larger would be best...that will yeild you some bud. if you need futher help pm me....id be glad to help

more than one plant per container isnt suggusted but to weed out one female isnt a big deal if your just starting. pm me when you get a proper light...............


toa

[Bong_O_Matic]

See if I can get some pics up...

[Don de Marco]

Incandescent bulbs can be used, but they're pretty inefficient. NWF is right, two 50 W HID or cfls, even fluoro tubes would be the better choice. Welcome to :420g: btw.

[mr_nice_guy]

the 100 watt farmtek cfl is supposed to work really well and there 50 bucks

[Bong_O_Matic]

Thanks for all the help guys, since so many people decided it'd be better, when I get the money i'm gonna grab a 100 watt CFL and replace my incandecent. Also will my plant grow with just Ice mountain water? I assume since it's a bottled water it's got some sort of nutrients in it (?) does it have the right nutes? Also are there any relativly cheap ferts I could use? I know miracle grow is out of the question.

[Bong_O_Matic]

WEWT! New light an such! Could anyone identify this light for me? If it helps the bulb inside of it is about 3 inches long, and not very wide, maybe the size of a pencil. No clue on the wattage, but i'm hoping that someone could point me in the direction of the kind of light that this is and what spectrum it provides, but ideally, is it good for growing?

[Bong_O_Matic]

WEWT! New light an such! Could anyone identify this light for me? If it helps the bulb inside of it is about 3 inches long, and not very wide, maybe the size of a pencil. No clue on the wattage, but i'm hoping that someone could point me in the direction of the kind of light that this is and what spectrum it provides, but ideally, is it good for growing?

EDIT! Forgot to put the poicture in like a dumb ass.

[nowherefast]

that looks to be a halogen work light of some sort, also of no use to you, unless of course youre painting your living room and want the paint to dry faster. but for growing bud, its no good. you need to find a flourescent light of some sort if you cant find an hid light. CFLs and tube shop lights can be found in any hardware store or discount store man, not hard to find and not expensive either.


:bonghits:

[mr_nice_guy]

check this one out http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;ft1_lighting_fixtures_bulbs-ft1_light_bulbs_1;pg103995_103999.html

[gnarly]

whats up man. I dont know if you germinated your seeds before planting, but it is definitely something you'd want to do.

You can do a search, but the simplest method I used in the past was making a few layers of paper towel, putting the seeds between the layers, then moistening the towels with a light spraying. then put them away in the dark for a few days. keep it moist.

then after a few days the seeds will have cracked (those that worked) and you can plant them in your soil about an inch and a half deep.

[Bong_O_Matic]

whats up man. I dont know if you germinated your seeds before planting, but it is definitely something you'd want to do.

You can do a search, but the simplest method I used in the past was making a few layers of paper towel, putting the seeds between the layers, then moistening the towels with a light spraying. then put them away in the dark for a few days. keep it moist.



then after a few days the seeds will have cracked (those that worked) and you can plant them in your soil about an inch and a half deep.

That's something I wasn't sure of, how deep to plant the seeds? I just made a couple holes maybe quarter inch deep with a phillips screw driver, and dropped the beans in and covered it.

Also on the light issue i'm now aware that i'm using the wrong kind of lighting but I can't do anything about it for a week or so, so my question is, will the halogen light i'm using now hold them over until say the fifth of Sept?

EDIT! Also on the germinating I did NOT germ, but I was just kinda antsy, so if this grow fails before I get any plant at all i'll start over with some more bag seed I have and i'll actually germ.

[Bong_O_Matic]

WEWT! I got some flouro tubes finally, got it chilling about a foot and a half above the bucket, now I play the waiting game.

Soon as I get some sprouts i'll update with pictures.

[Bong_O_Matic]

Well, as this thread states I wasn't too smart about my first set up. BUT! I'm gonna let the 5 seeds in the bucket go, to see if I get anything out of it, if not, it doesn't really matter. I got 3 half cups with dirt in a small cooler that has white material all over the inside, and 2 40watt flouro tubes sitting overtop of them, as well as the other half of the flouro tubes sitting over my 5 gal bucket. SO! Hopefully i'll come out with atleast 1 female. Hope I weed them out wisely. Only one will survive.

http://www.420genetics.com/gallery/files/2/2/9/PIC-0056.jpg

http://www.420genetics.com/gallery/files/2/2/9/PIC-0055.jpg

[Delta-9]

the cooler is a good idea dont know how big of a plant you want but it would be a good clone box for me.;) but if you plan on growing the whole grow in the box as a micro grow you should tie the plants down from the start to keep it low veg for only a week or two then flower if you want them to just grow out of the box i would buy a few 2ft. 2 tube shop lights. or even better get 2 hanger light with a 15 ft. cord for working under your car take off the yellow cage used to keep the bulb from breaking and hang it. then go to home depot and they have light splitters i did 4 bulbs into 1 socket but 2 or 3 will be fine. and use regular home CFL the screw looking bulbs i think there 44w bulbs but are equevalent to 150w, so a 4 bulb setup is equal to 600w so they claim and your using 176w and they work great. either setup can be purchased for cheap money and would help alot IMO

[nowherefast]

the cooler is a good idea dont know how big of a plant you want but it would be a good clone box for me.;) but if you plan on growing the whole grow in the box as a micro grow you should tie the plants down from the start to keep it low veg for only a week or two then flower if you want them to just grow out of the box i would buy a few 2ft. 2 tube shop lights. or even better get 2 hanger light with a 15 ft. cord for working under your car take off the yellow cage used to keep the bulb from breaking and hang it. then go to home depot and they have light splitters i did 4 bulbs into 1 socket but 2 or 3 will be fine. and use regular home CFL the screw looking bulbs i think there 44w bulbs but are equevalent to 150w, so a 4 bulb setup is equal to 600w so they claim and your using 176w and they work great. either setup can be purchased for cheap money and would help alot IMO

just FYI, those 44 watt bulbs are indeed only 44 watts. the equivilent to a 150w doesnt mean anything, they only put out 44 watts, so you would need 10 bulbs to get 440 watts. a 4 bulb setup w those lights would be 176 watts.

[hashy&sour_kinda_dude]

you can get a 3 pack of 100 watt cfl's from home depot for about 12 bucks there are 100 watts but in reality only use 24 watts .. so it say on the package so in theory you can use all 3 and use almost the same amount of power as one regular 60watt bulb.....good luck:animbong: :thumbsup:

[nowherefast]

you can get a 3 pack of 100 watt cfl's from home depot for about 12 bucks there are 100 watts but in reality only use 24 watts .. so it say on the package so in theory you can use all 3 and use almost the same amount of power as one regular 60watt bulb.....good luck:animbong: :thumbsup:

once again, just FYI, but those bulbs are only 24 watts, the 100 watt equivilent means nothing. 3 of those will give you 72 watts of light, not 300.

[Bong_O_Matic]

Well my oroginal bucket idea I scrapped since the 5 seeds in there were their for 5 days and not one sporut. But ass you can see in the cooler I have three cups, all of which have produced a sprout, which i'll have some pics of here shortly. Each of them in order is one day older than the other one. I've already picked out the most healthy one, now i'm gonna have to get a bag of soil from wally world and fill up two more buckets. Cany anyone suggest a good soil to buy? That wal-mart would have?

[Bong_O_Matic]

The baby of the three

http://www.420genetics.com/gallery/files/2/2/9/PIC-0061.jpg

I SHALL CALL YOU NUMBER 2!

http://www.420genetics.com/gallery/files/2/2/9/PIC-0059.jpg

AND! The healthiest of the bunch, Numbah one!

http://www.420genetics.com/gallery/files/2/2/9/PIC-0058.jpg

[solo]

Is that dirt from outside? It looks like it will turn into mud when you water, so be careful not to over water. You can use some cheap peters 20-20-20 at about 25% dose every 2 to 3 weeks and thats is. that is the cheapest route, and it looks like your fund are limited. You should spend some $ on some good soil with no added nutes to put those sprouts in when hey get better. Go really light with the food more is not better. Good Luck and hope thats not in your parents house?

[Bong_O_Matic]

Ya the dirt is from outside and i've already experienced the mudding. I think that's why the 5 seeds in the bucket didn't even sprout, they were too compressed under mud or whatever else may have been in it. And as for feeding them all these babies get is what's in the water and the dirt, i've added nothing to them. I would like to use nutes but I dunno what to buy, or a decent price to pay for them. I'll be headed to wal-mart to grab some soil and a few CFL bulbs. I'm gonna work my ol' electrcians magic on a security light and rig it up so that it can be plugged into a wall socket, and i'll put black tape over the sensor so that the light remains on all the time, and when 12/12 comes up i'll juts unplug it in the morn before work, and plug it back in 12 hours later. AND as for the parents house, that's a no. However my grow is funded by them, thus why I have to wait until the 3rd of the month to do anything else. :blazed:

[solo]

Glad to hear your not doing this in your parents house, sooooo. Timers are cheap when 12/12 comes spring for the 7.00 one its better then playing the unplug it yourself game. The peters 20/20/20 will work for cheap and simple everyone will scream no, but it works and it is cheap cheap cheap about 20cents a grow. Easy sounds like your limited. Outside dirt comes with bugs, so be careful for bugs and other fun things.

[SFC]

Bong if you are doing this purely as a learning experience well that is great. But if you are serious about attaining smokeable bud in any kind of quantity, you should just stop right now. Re-evaluate your priority's here. I am not sure what state your in, but chances are you are still committing a felony. So if you are going to risk it, scrounge up a few bones,and do it right. At least get some perlite for Christ's sake.

[nowherefast]

make sure ya research your choices at walmart too, cause i dont think ive ever seen any security lights there that will do you any good, only thing ive seen there are mercury vapor lights.

[hashy&sour_kinda_dude]

once again, just FYI, but those bulbs are only 24 watts, the 100 watt equivilent means nothing. 3 of those will give you 72 watts of light, not 300.

well how about lumen wise is it better? i dont know if the lumens matter but i would imagine 1 regular bulb would have less lumens then 3 cfl's would am i wrong? ...trying to eat your brain to gain your knowledge:animbong: :thumbsup:

[Bong_O_Matic]

I'm just looking to get a learning experience here man, after a few amateure grows i'll bone up. I already plan to plywood in my little area and place a door with a padlock. I'm gonna stick with my fluro tubes for a while, or maybe switching to 2 CFL's. If I can find a cheap one on ebay i'll gladly get a HPS. Also, getting some good genetics would be very nice. Also with ordering genetics do you have it shipped to your house, or to like a friends or something?

[hashy&sour_kinda_dude]

I'm just looking to get a learning experience here man, after a few amateure grows i'll bone up. I already plan to plywood in my little area and place a door with a padlock. I'm gonna stick with my fluro tubes for a while, or maybe switching to 2 CFL's. If I can find a cheap one on ebay i'll gladly get a HPS. Also, getting some good genetics would be very nice. Also with ordering genetics do you have it shipped to your house, or to like a friends or something?

dont ship to your grow spot maybe a good friend or cool family member anywhere but the place you grow at...just be cool dont get to wrapped up in having everything perfect remember mary jane grew wild before us just dont try and do to much just some t.l.c and a close eye on them everyday and you will be fine... i love weed and luckly never had to many problems just by keeping it simple good luck:animbong: :thumbsup:

[Bong_O_Matic]

Fianlly got some soil, it's Expert Grow, with horticultural perlite. It also has these small green pellet looking things in it. I filled up two buckets and transplanted a seedling into each of them. I go down there a few hours later and get a good look under the light only to see these small white insects hopping all over the top of the soil. I'm not sure why or how they got there but will they be any trouble to my seedlings?

[Don de Marco]

not if they're springtaills

[Big_D]

Hey there bong,, damn man,,, im with SFC,,, please stop! dont waste any good seeds till you can get em to grow like a pro im some $13.00 a bag pro mix ;) , and that includes germinating them seeds the right way.. lol...and i dont mean to try and discourage you in any way,,,im a newbie myself! im just starting my second grow ever and im close to $3G or more by now for me put into my little tiny grow box haha.
I would transplant em out of that soil ASAP if i was you lol them floros are a good start, now get a small fan. ,,do you have any safety concerns? like when they start to smell pretty lol... just wondering. hope i dont sound to negative on ya man hahah its just easier if you do it right the first time. me, i like to learn the hard way lol.. peace brother!

[BlazingImmortals]

Practice with some bagseed then buy some Nirvana Beans get some HQ soil like Black Gold and save up some money for a decent light system!! If you are going to start a grow you might want to do it right and learn from there and work your way up by doing alot of reading and such plus you have alot of good soilid peeps here that can help you :thumbsup: Anyhoo Good Luck

[Bong_O_Matic]

Well, i'm a week and a half, almost two weeks into my first grow that i'll be seeing the end of. And so far i'm pleased with the results. Whether I get bud or not, i'll be happy. Personally I find the marijuana plant beautiful.

Here's my baby, I don't know if it's gonna make it. It's the weakest of the three. It's in plain dirt with a bit of top soil around the base of the stalk.

http://www.420genetics.com/gallery/files/2/2/9/PIC-0068.jpg

Here's the middle one, it stands a decent chance of making it. It's in pure soil, expert grow mix with horticultural perlite.

http://www.420genetics.com/gallery/files/2/2/9/PIC-0067.jpg


And here's the healthiest one, it's in the same soil mixture as the one above.

http://www.420genetics.com/gallery/files/2/2/9/PIC-0066.jpg

[mr_nice_guy]

Keep us updated those floros look like there working for you

[Bong_O_Matic]

I'll be sure to do so. One of them got a little burned from having the fluro's too close, so I simply lifted the light up, and gave it a good drink, hopefully it'll be ok. The other one is doing well. The one that's smal lis going to die anytime on me. It's still very small. And some of the leafs are starting to yellow.

[mr_nice_guy]

Hows it growing?? Everything ok

[Bong_O_Matic]

Things are very well. Very well indeed. Sorry about not being able to keep updates. It seems my new puppy liked my phone cord. So much he decided to chew through it and now I can't upload pictures. But moving on. All three of them are doing very well. Even the baby that I didn't think would make it, is doing fine. He's starting to get a few nodes himself. The best one is at about a foot right now. AND! Thanks to me finding a yardsale of a previous pot grower, I snagged a few good deals. Maybe you could help me out with identifying some of these chemicals and how to use them, or should I even use them.

First on the list is
Dyna Gro -Liquid grow plant food 7-9-5. Directions say mix 1/4 to 1/2 of a teaspoon per gallon of water. Does this seem good?

Second off
Dyna Gro - Liquid bloom 3-12-6 ( I figured this would be good for flowering) The directions are the same as the last one.

Thirdly
Bang! 100% Organic Concentrate. It says it will ensure plants optimum health. It says mix 1 part Bang! to 3 parts water.

Fourthly!
A 400 watt Metal Halide balast
A 1000 watt agrosun agrocultural bulb (Not sure if its MH or HPS)
A 400 Watt Philips bulb(Not sure if it's MH or HPS)
And a 1000 watt phillips bulb (Not sure if it's MH or HPS)

I figure once I learn a bit about the stuff I have i'll be good.

The only thing i'm missing from my lighting setup is a hood with a MH socket.

As for the nutrients, has anyone used these before? Are they worth using? If so I plan to start use tomarrow.

[BlazingImmortals]

:icon_smil Looks good

[BloodFeastIslandMan]

not sure, but your top pic looks like, maybe you're watering that one a little less? maybe that's why she's growing so much slower than the other two? or is that just because the other two are better soil?

[mr_nice_guy]

Sorry can't tell you anything about the nutes, good find at the yard sale glad to see your still at it.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[MigrowGrower]

not sure, but your top pic looks like, maybe you're watering that one a little less? maybe that's why she's growing so much slower than the other two? or is that just because the other two are better soil?

Its gotta be the soil/dirt imo. Just not enough nutes in there for the little fella/girl to grow to anywhere near its full potential, nevermind the fact that its probably difficult for the plant to grow a decent rootsystem in that thick dirt with poor drainage.

Get it out of that dirt and into some real soil asap.

[Bong_O_Matic]

Hey hey hey, still no camera, but I got an update for you guys.

I started using those nutes, I used the grow nutes for a few days, and they really took off. The biggest one is just under 2 feet. The other two are about a foot, so I decided to start flowering. I've been flowering for two days now. How long before I can sex them? As soon as I get a positive female i'm going to clone her with the rooting powder I got.

[mr_nice_guy]

The plant will show sex, check out the FAQ's there are threads on how to tell, if you clone your gonna need 2 grow areas to you can reveg the clones...at least long enough to root them.

[Bong_O_Matic]

UPDATE! Still, no camera, but my babies are doing great. I have confirmed all three of them to be female, and I have been giving them bloom nute water for the past week or two, and they are doing fantastic. The very top of two of them are getting thick and covered with white hairs. A few of the other branches are beginning to show bud sights as well. The light is just a few inches off the tops of them to keep sufficient light with only 2 40watt tubes. I'm hoping to see my buds get a little denser and for the lack of a better word, a bit longer. Should there be any major growth in the last few weeks of flowering? Oh, and all of them are about 3 feet now. I believe them to be a Sativa strain, since they're tall and lanky.