1st Grow…New to RIU….All feedback welcomed

So like I said in the title, I am new to RIU and new to growing. I have been smoking on and off for years now, but always had an interest in growing. I had never really attempted to grow anything, maybe a few bag seeds in the woods (eaten by deer), but a month ago that all changed.

After reading countless articles, blogs, magazines, and books I decided I was ready for a small stealth grow. Below is what I decided on….
· Aerogarden 7 pod- I wasn’t completely comfortable with doing outdoors, and wasn’t looking to drop a lot of money on an indoor system, and after reading about the aerogarden it sounded perfect.
· Organic grow sponges – used in aerogardem pods, and seeds germinated in these as well.
· Green House Seeds; Green-O-Matic feminized – first grow, this seemed best due to low grow height and not having to worry about correctly sexing my plants.
· FoxFarm 3 quart trio pack
· Natural oxygen rocks – found these rocks at a local pet store for fish tanks
· Bottled spring water
I ended up setting this garden up in a small closet.
To start I tried germinating 3 seeds in these aerogarden sponges I found, and only 1 ever sprouted. The one that did sprout took a week to do so, and the two that didn’t were pulled at week 2. Since my sprout was sooo small I decided to germinate two more seeds using the paper towel method. I germinated both seeds, but only 1 sprouted after being transferred with tweezers to the aerogarden grow sponges.
The first seedling had such a slow start; they are about the same size, so for date purposes lets call today day 16.
Nuets were first added on day 14.
I don’t know what else to start off telling you all, but please ask away. I have attached two pics (shitty camera phone pics…sorry) but if this journal starts up ill bust out the real camera.
Both pics were taken today.
Pic 1 – the seedling from the first germination attempt.

View attachment 1026791
Pic 2 – the seedling from the paper towel method.
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Looks pretty good man, hopefully their female!!

Im hoping so too!

I did go feminized, is there any worry I should know of?

Oh.....no you should be fine.........the areoponics seem like their doin great tho

legalizeitcanada said:

Oh.....no you should be fine.........the areoponics seem like their doin great tho

Click to expand...

Cool man, thanks!

Be sure to keep checking, I'm going to keep up on this journal as much as possible. Hoping to learn a lot, and maybe a few of us can learn something.

you should search for some of riddleme's threads, their awesome, learned almost everything from that guy so far. He's pretty cool. Will do, sub'd. will def help ya with your grow, his calling all noobs thread is pretty cool, long but good read!

Subscribed, you should cover those grow sponges, and your pH seems a lil off.

[QUOTE="SICC";4359508]Subscribed, you should cover those grow sponges, and your pH seems a lil off.[/QUOTE]

Hey SICC, glad to have you on board!

What should I cover the sponges with?

And what's making you say that about the PH? Ill get more pics today and make them a little better.

Anything is fine to cover the sponges, and i said the pH may be off due to the light green almost yellow color of the plants, you want the pH around 5.8

[QUOTE="SICC";4360412]Anything is fine to cover the sponges, and i said the pH may be off due to the light green almost yellow color of the plants, you want the pH around 5.8[/QUOTE]

I was hoping with using the aerogarden, such a small reservoir, I wouldn’t have to worry much about pH, but I guess that’s not the case.
As far as when looking at pH kits, anything in particular I should be looking for with this setup? Are the basic pH kits (test strips with adjustments) I see at the pet store for fish tanks okay to use?
Once I find my usb cord I will be sure to get some better quality photos up.

Yeah those test strips are fine, i use this

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BNKWZY/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0965248410&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1XZ2KEHH99A6TJ78J2T9

[QUOTE="SICC";4361340]Yeah those test strips are fine, i use this

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BNKWZY/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0965248410&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1XZ2KEHH99A6TJ78J2T9[/QUOTE]

Hey SICC,

I actually had that same kit via Amazon saved on my favs! I have a busy week this week, but I will research the PH stuff by the weekend.

I took a few new pics today with the camera, any feedback welcomed. I know they dont look any different then they did 2 days ago, but hope the color is more true. I do see one dead leaf on the bottom of one, but I had a period when the pump wasnt on, my bad.

Also, on a side note, my buddy told me to trim my roots a little, and that will make them go wider. He was here when I did it(sterilized scissors), so he made sure I ddint go to short. I have not seen this in any of the posts I have read..........whats you input?

thanks again

DO NOT cut any of the roots.
These pics actually looks alot clearer then the last, now that i look at the plants they dont look as off green as before. They actually look pretty good. Just get the sponges covered like i stated before and you'll be good.

yeh bro he got u cutting the wrong end of ur plant, dont top ur roots..
sometimes the need may arise if theyve grown into a res and get outta control but less the better..
the smaller the res the bigger the pH fluctuation..

whos got a yield estimate?! closest wins a bud

Thanks for the advice guys. It will not happen again.

SICC, I will be putting covers over the sponges. I assume this is to prevent mold growth?

As far as amount I expect, not much. These are small plants to begin with, and it being my first time let's say I would be thrilled with 7 grams of dried product!


Ill keep you guys posted.

wpf6915 said:

SICC, I will be putting covers over the sponges. I assume this is to prevent mold growth?

Click to expand...

Yeah you dont want to get any stem rot or anything like that

Based on the pics I have uploaded, guys have any gues on when they will start flowering?

For all I know, they could be flowering now. Like I said, this is my first grow, and am still learning.

No matter how much I read, doing it is a whole different story!

Well unless your using auto flowering seeds they still should be vegging, you have a timer right?
The lights need to be set at 18 hours on, and 6 hours off, then when you want to flower you switch to 12/12.

[QUOTE="SICC";4371365]Well unless your using auto flowering seeds they still should be vegging, you have a timer right?
The lights need to be set at 18 hours on, and 6 hours off, then when you want to flower you switch to 12/12.[/QUOTE]

They are auto flowering. Green-O-Matic.

From what I have read it sounds like around week 3 or 4. You agree? Since they see auto flowering I keep the aerogarden on 18/6.

Oh ok, you should get a timer and put them on 20/4, but 18/6 should be fine.
Are you gonna get some extra CFL's once they show sex to flower with?