First grow. Day 5 Fish Tank Lights. Pics Attached.

SarrixxStoner

Active Member
Hey guys, this is my first grow and I was in a bit of a rush to get started because I'm a very keen person who loves to learn as much as possible to do with the things I love.
At first, the idea to start growing my own weed basically originated for the same purpose that it does with most other people, obviously to grow, harvest and smoke my very own, home grown bud.
As I started looking into what would be required and how I was going to do things, i started reading hours and hours worth of threads, articles, books and guides.
I learnt a lot, and in the process of doing all this research, not only did my desire to start a grow become stronger than ever, my motives did also. Especially when I germinated 5 seeds successfully in 48 hours, it was the biggest sense of accomplishment and harvest time hasn't even arrived yet!
I always knew money would be a problem for me, and that I would not be able to afford everything that was needed. I looked into heaps of DIY projects and the cheaper ways to grow our beloved Mary Jane. Lucky for me, one of my other hobbies that I feel very strongly about is fish and aquariums! I looked around in my old supplies for some extra lights I could use (at this point I knew I would be doing a semi-stealth CFL indoor set up) and I found 2 small CFL aquarium lights.
These lights are no where near adequate enough to suffice for the whole grow, obviously. I am using them for the initial seedling stage while I go out and shop for some proper CFL bulbs, and from that point I'll be making my own ballast for it, as well as anything else needed.
Anyway, starting my own grow really transformed this from a mere desire for bud into a proper hobby for me.

Now that my ramble is over, here come the pics!!
Not sure on the strain, just some bagseed that another member on the forum very kindly sent to me to start my first grow with. I also have some other seeds my uncle gave me which I am yet to recieve details on, but I will probably use for my second grow.
They are coming to the end of day 5 and these pics were taken about 45 minutes ago. I currently have them on 24/0 and I'm following a growing guide atm. The guide flowers their plants at day 16 but I probably won't do this because a) The strains used in the guide are known and are indica dominant. b) I want to allow for some extra veg time to allow the plants to catch up to where they should be due to the crappy lights being used atm.
I like to think they are doing alright considering the available light.

Appoligies for the appauling camera quality, the pictures were taken on a video camera and the lights made the colour turn out all wierd.
Enjoy! :weed:
 

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HookdOnChronics

Well-Known Member
I am using them for the initial seedling stage while I go out and shop for some proper CFL bulbs, and from that point I'll be making my own ballast for it, as well as anything else needed.
lol, CFL's have a built in ballast so you won't need to be worrying about that part.

Sounds like you've done your research (thank you for doing so BTW, most new growers don't) and everything sounds like it's gonna work out for you. Do you have any particular questions at all? Or you just lookin for some love? ;) lol, j/k

Good luck and if you have any particular questions go ahead and ask! You got your nutes and everything?
 

SarrixxStoner

Active Member
haha no real questions, but im sure there will be as i go along. I mainly put this thread up so people could help me out as I go along if I start getting confused and what not. Just wondering what people thought so far! :)
We have some nutes right now but I havent had a proper look at them yet (mum just bought them for me from the store). Probably won't stick to them because I would like to go in and get my own nutes.

Actually I do have a question, pretty much when should I start feeding the plants some nutes? I've read lots of mixed opinions, some saying add them as early as next week (after day 9ish) and some saying wait till the third week or longer. As I wont be vegging these plants very long, just want to know what you thought?
 

HookdOnChronics

Well-Known Member
Actually I do have a question, pretty much when should I start feeding the plants some nutes? I've read lots of mixed opinions, some saying add them as early as next week (after day 9ish) and some saying wait till the third week or longer. As I wont be vegging these plants very long, just want to know what you thought?
Uh I usually wait untill the 2 1/2 to 3 week mark to feed nutrients. That's depending on the nutes in the soil of course tho. If you have a soil like MG Moisture Control (something with nutes already in it) you don't have to feed any nutes for a month and a half or so. But if your using a soilless mix (soil with NO added nutrients) your gonna want to start feeding around 2 weeks from sprout.

Just make sure that for veg you use a nutrient with a higher N value, say an N-P-K of (26-8-16) or so..... and for flower use a nute with a higher P value, say an N-P-K of (15-30-15) or so. Doesn't have to be these exact values, just an example of the nutes I use in veg/flower. OH, and don't start feeding full strength right away either! Start at 1/4 the reccomended dose and slowly work your way up from there.
 

SarrixxStoner

Active Member
rad! thanks man, glad you told me because as a matter of fact I AM using MG which has a time released fertilliser in it :) Plants are doing good today, I will put pics of them up tomorrow! Going away for the night to toke with my mate!
 

SarrixxStoner

Active Member
I now have an available 2x21 watt T8 light that I will figure out a way of adding to the grow room. With that on ill have to keep the fan on all the time.
 

deprave

New Member
hey man I am just starting also, killed my first couple of seedlings and got some new ones now and some outdoor girls...here is 3 most important lessons I learned so far:

1. Make sure your ventilation is good, this I don't think is emphasized enough...good ventilation and airflow is key

2. Make sure your checking your temps and humidity and you got them in a good range - high humidity for seedlings and I think around 50% once they are vegitive adults, low humidity for flowering - Temperature makes a drastic difference to these plants - make sure you get a solid night time and daytime reading

3. Also very important check your PH of your water and your soil runoff - if your ph is not right you lock out specific nutes from the plant completely at certain ph levels the plant wont be able to get everything ti needs so this is very important

You might also want to repot them in something less hot when you get further in...add a lot of pearlite to that soil and possibly some lime if nesecary for PH - just read up on the soil mixes others are using on here, I am still learning with this.


Something else I learned - the sun is amazing and doesnt even compare to these indoor lights - outdoor seems really easy in comparison and my plants look a lot better that are outside, I have learned its good to get your plants the most sunlight you cant but ween them on it cause you don't want to shockem
 

deprave

New Member
also want to say that your seedlings look very happy healthy to my untrained eye...they looks almost as good as my outdoor ones so you must be doing a lot of things right so far, congrats on that, althou they look like the could be possibly starting to stretch you may want to move your light closer but make sure its not to hot or you could fry them...


Just remember take all my advice as a grain of salt as I am very new to this also - at least double check anything I told you above with a pro - just trying to help out a fellow noob
 

SarrixxStoner

Active Member
ok thanks for the advice! ill dig into old threads around the site and see what I can find.
Yeah the plants were stretching a bit so I moved my lights right in close.every morning i lift them up a bit because the plants end up touching them.
No burns or anything though, the lights I have don't put out much heat. The reason I'm not growing outside is because 1) its winter here in aus 2) it has to be semi-stealth
 

SarrixxStoner

Active Member
So here are the pics I forgot to add last night, took some to show the main growth of a couple of the plants too.

looking really sexy man, and you added those T8's already right?
Not just yet, turns out they didn't fit in the currently place I have the plants. So I will probably have to go out and buy a cabinet of some sort or buy some stuff so I can build my own grow box of the appropriate size. For now, I'm thinking of moving my plants to under my aquarium on the second shelf of the stand (where the T8's should fit) while I'm vegging and building the new grow box. Only disadvantage of that is that it's not blocked off so I'll have to put boxes around the stand in order to block out the light from my room.

I am actually quite surprised as to how well they are doing considering the amount of light they are getting. I'm rotating the pots every few hours to ensure all parts of the plant get equal light. It looks like there is a little bit of stretching but I think only a minimal amount.
 

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ozbrad

Active Member
Children they grow up so fast.
In just a few short months you'll be setting them on fire or vaporizing them.
 

kash959

Well-Known Member
subscribed. for flowering you should get a bit more light and some ventilation. looking nice so far tho
 
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