First Time Grow

This is my first grow and I have been reading a lot on this site. Its an awesome site with a lot of good information. I am currently Living in China and seeing how it is really difficult to get actual buds here I was able to get a hold of some seeds from a dj who picked some bud in central China. This would be considered a bag seed grow.

The room I have is 4'x6'x10'. The walls are already flat white and the floor is tile. I had to close up the window because it is next to a stair way and I dont want to risk anything. I am wondering if anyone has ideas about airflow? Should I use c02 from yeast fermentation or I have a gas stove I can use to burn for a few mintutes each day. I would appreciate any suggestions on this.

Currently I have three 65w cfl's 6500k and I have a 400w hps with high luminous efficiency bulbs on the way and I should have them in one week.

I started with germinating my seeds in a paper towel but only 3/10 seeds have cracked. I have since planted all three seeds in a mixture of 60% organic soil, 30% perlite( its not perlite but it has the same purpose but I was not able to find actual perlite here.) Its has the texture of sand but with bigger granules. and 10% organic fertilizer. Im not sure what the mixture of the fertilizer is but on the package it says organic fertilizer and the person at the shop said there is no chemicals in it and suggested I mix it into the soil.

It has been two days since I planted the seeds and one has since started to sprout. the other two have yet to sprout.

I am afraid that the temperature wasnt right for the germination of the seeds so since I now have the temperature regulated in the grow room I will start a different set of seeds germinating using the paper towel methed tomorrow.

The temperature is around 77degrees currently and the humidity is around 30%.
I am open to any suggestions on what to do since this is my first time growing.

I will be posting pics soon.

Any input would be great, please feel free to comment on my grow journal

Welcome to RIU

You probably need to worry most about odor control. I wouldnt even think about Co2. Get your basics down and see what you can acheive before introducing Co2.

Light
Air
Nutes
Growing medium
Temp control

Boneman said:

Welcome to RIU

You probably need to worry most about odor control. I wouldnt even think about Co2. Get your basics down and see what you can acheive before introducing Co2.

Light
Air
Nutes
Growing medium
Temp control

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Boneman!
Here are some pics

The first picture is a small picture of the grow room
The second is the sprout poking through the soil
The third is the temp and humidity.


I will post pics of the nutrients next.

Here is a picture of the nutrients that I will be using.

This is day three of the first sprout. I also started germinating the other seeds. I first soaked them in a glass of bottled water for 24hours and then put them in a plastic container covered in cloth that i soaked with water. So far one of the seeds has already started to germinate. It has been 12 hours since i started germinating them.

On the bag of soil i bought the ph stated it was 6.8 and I checked the water and it was 7.0

The temperature is 76 degrees and the humidity is 38%

Here are some new pics

fingers crossed for our man in China

NarrowEye said:

fingers crossed for our man in China

Click to expand...

Thanks NarrowEye, Im really excited about this grow.

Two of the seeds that germinated were planted and the sprout is looking good. Here is a pic.

The temp was 82 degrees today and the humidity was 30%. Im going to try and find a fan today, I havent been able to find a fan yet. Its still pretty cold here.

One thing I am worried about is over watering. But I think everything should be ok.

I saw this on ICURBYOUs grow so im giving him props for it.

Days since ground-break:5
Number of plants:1
Lights: 3(65w) CFL
Lumens:5200 (X3 = 15,600)
Light Cycle:18/6
Temps:29C 84.2F

I was able to find a fan today and I got it set up. I have the fan on the lowest setting. Since I have added the fan it seems my temperature has risen but im not sure how that is possible because I thought with a fan it would lower the temp a bit. A little help with that?? Anyone know why this is?

I am planning on trying to set my lights up different tomorrow right now they are hanging from wire and I dont really like that, it looks ghetto.

My sprout has grown a lot since the last post. I am wondering if it is stretching but I have the sprout two inches from the light.

I have also turned on the other two CFL's and focused them on the other germinated seeds.

Sorry for the picture quality. I only have my cell phone to use as a camera.

Not very many of my seeds have germinated. I am thinking that maybe they were not mature.

The first picture is the sprout as close as I can get without loosing all quality.

The second is showing the distance from the CFL to the sprout. Does anyone think I should bring it closer??

The third is a picture of the set up. I dont really have one right now. I am working on that but I used what I could find in my apartment first.

Tomorrow I will hopefully be changing the setup to look better. I am also looking for some type of reflective material but I havent been able to find anything here that I can use. I will be looking into it further.

Buying the fan was kind of funny because people were asking me why would you need a fan? Its too cold outside for a fan. I just told them I dont understand what they are saying.

I went out today to find something to put my lights in instead of just hanging by themselves. i was getting worried because when I brought in the fan yesterday they were moving a little bit and low and behold I found something that will work great.

I wasnt able to find any chain here to hang stuff with but I did get some type string that I think will do just fine. Its going to take me about an hour to set everything up. When I am finished I will post a pic of my new sprout and show you how much the other one has grown.

I have also decided to give my plants names.

The first one is named Asobi
The sprout is named Seksu

Pic one is the setup with five light fittings. One is for a smaller bulb. (I might use it later but I havent decided.)

Pic two shows one of the CFL's im using.
65w each, 5200 lumens!

I cant wait to set it up tonight.

for now, just one of those lights next to the sprout is good. 5200 lumens is plenty of light until you get like 6 inches tall at least.

as far as the fertilizer goes... hold off on it, of course, but when you do use it, consider mixing equal part of both the first box pictured and the second box pictured if you start having any nutrient problems. otherwise, one of them is grow ... and the other bloom ... so you might be fine just using one then the other. also try to determine if either box has calcium or magnesium in it. do you speak chinese? i hear those chinese girls like white boys

you'll have plenty of light between those (3) 65w CFL's and the 400w HPS to get some nice plants going and even stay perpetual if you want. so read up on cloning after you top ur plants later on and they get to about a foot tall.

may you sit cross-legged and have roast duck fly into your mouth

DaGambler said:

for now, just one of those lights next to the sprout is good. 5200 lumens is plenty of light until you get like 6 inches tall at least.

as far as the fertilizer goes... hold off on it, of course, but when you do use it, consider mixing equal part of both the first box pictured and the second box pictured.

you'll have plenty of light between those (3) 65w CFL's and the 400w HPS to get some nice plants going and even stay perpetual if you want. so read up on cloning after you top ur plants later on and they get to about a foot tall.

may you sit cross-legged and have roast duck fly into your mouth

Click to expand...

DaGambler - thanks for the info on the Fertilizer. I wasnt sure if the nitrogen was going to be too much. Ive read a bit on it and heard that 30-10-10 can be a bit much for vegging. I was going to hold off on the fertilizer until the third week. Im really wanting to try cloning. The only problem is I cant find root hormone anywhere here. But we will see when I get to that stage.

This looks like it might be intresting, Im on board. Good luck Chinawas

Days since ground-break:6
Number of plants:2
Lights: 2(65w) CFL
Lumens:5200 (2 = 10,400)
Light Cycle:18/6
Temps:26C 79F

I just finished setting up my new light set up. It took me a while. These damn concrete walls are hard to put anything into.

Everything seems to be going pretty well, except I am having some problems with seeds germinating. I am thinking that a lot of the seeds are not mature because I am getting a really low germination rate. Five for fifteen right now and only two have sprouted. I am wondering if anyone has any tips for me on this? I cant get paper towels here. I have only been able to find toilet paper. I am wondering if this has something to do with it?

Anyways, here are some pics for you guys to check out.

I apologize for the picture quality. I only have my cell phone as a camera.

First pic: the set up

Second pic: new sprout aka "Seksu"

Third pic: Asobi

Days since ground-break:8
Number of plants:2
Lights: 2(65w) CFL
Lumens:5200 (2 = 10,400)
Light Cycle:18/6
Temps:28C 82F
Humidity : 50%

Everything is going pretty well. The sprouts are looking great and I will hopefully be planting some germinated seeds tomorrow. My HPS setup should be here by Friday and I cant wait for that. I just spent about an hour trying to light proof my door because I noticed there were some minor light leaks.

I am also wondering if anyone can give me some advice on when to transplant to bigger pots? I am thinking of doing either 2 or 3 gallon pots when the HPS gets here.

I cant wait to find out if I have indica or sativa strains. I havent really been able to find much info on what type of buds grow in China but I read that in Tibet they have indica. Im really hoping for indica but sativa will be totally fine with me.


********* my connection is shit right now, im trying to get it fixed so im not able to upload any pics right now. I will as soon as I get my connection fixed.

Sorry guys

They are looking good though!

good news. Have u got some extraction for ur grow space? Ur gonna need it with a 400w hps.

mr west said:

good news. Have u got some extraction for ur grow space? Ur gonna need it with a 400w hps.

Click to expand...

I havent set anything up yet for extraction. I was able to find some exhaust fans but I havent bought one yet. I will be looking into that this weekend.

On another note, my internet is back up again and here are some pics

The first twp pics are of Seksu and is catching up with Asobi. The leaves are a little strange looking though. The seed shell took a few days to fall off.

The second two pics are of Asobi. Growing more every day.

Days since ground-break:10
Number of plants:3
Lights: 2(65w) CFL
Lumens:5200 (2 = 10,400)
Light Cycle:18/6
Temps:28C
Humidity : 50%

I finally got my 400w HPS system delivered today. I was really excited about it. I ordered two bulbs in case i screw one up accidentally. I bought the best bulbs I could find. The bulbs are high luminous efficiency 56,500 lumines. Im not going to set it up until next week. Due to lack of supplies for hanging it on the ceiling. Ive been trying to find chain to hang it from with no luck. I cant find any chain here. Ill have to figure something out. Also, the ballast came set with a timer on 18/6 and I can easily change it to 12/12.

Asobi is doing great, definately getting bigger every day. Seksu is also getting bigger but, not as fast. I also had a sprout come through. I am just naming it #3. I am waiting for four more to pop out of the soil and I will be set.

I also added CO2 to my grow room. Its the ghetto way using a 2 liter bottle with yeast, sugar, and water. Its the best I can do~

Here are some pics:

The first pic is the HPS set up. It looks like a huge spoon. Thats the only reflector the company carried but im sure it will be fine.

The 2nd is Asobi.

The 3rd is Seksu.

do u have any speaker wirer spare thats as good as chain imo for hanging ur lights from. Your plants are gonna love the new light if u dont burn them with it is that the ballast i see attached to the end of the reflector? That will get so hot so be carefull. Have you looked anymore into extraction? You want to try and keep the temp about 24°c

mr west said:

do u have any speaker wirer spare thats as good as chain imo for hanging ur lights from. Your plants are gonna love the new light if u dont burn them with it is that the ballast i see attached to the end of the reflector? That will get so hot so be carefull. Have you looked anymore into extraction? You want to try and keep the temp about 24°c

Click to expand...

I did find some wire that I might use, I have got to drill some holes in the wall to put some fasteners into the concrete wall. I also found some exhaust fans but i havent found the cfm of them. I have to make the intake as stealth as possible, so im working on that when i get some spare time. The ballast has some type of heat sink on the inside and it also has a ceramic plate where the bulb is screwed in. The intake is coming from a window at the top of the wall and i will have to possibly drill a hole in my door because the wall is about two feet thick. I cant drill through that. The door is easily replaceable so im not worried about that. Also, the company that sold me the ballast sold it in a package and assured me that heat will not be a problem. Its operating ranges are -10c to 60c the engineer did rigourous testing before shipping. He had to make sure the timer and everything worked correctly.

When i get that set up I will definately post some pictures. Thanks for the input Mr West!