Blonddie's grow. First time: afghan kush FULL CFL setup under $50

[blonddie07]

Hey everyone, i just want to show you guys the little journy i took while growing these plants and im surprised they ALL suvived.

Medium: Scotts Premium soil $5.99.Perlite: added in withs scotts soil $2.89.

Lights: 8 100Watt (23 watt) CFL's $4.30 each.
lowes 4 way light fixture $14.99.
4 x 2 way splitters to connect 2 CFL's into 1 socket $1.59 each.

Dome: automotive windshield covers as a reflector/dome $5.99.

Pots: $8 but you can use pretty much anything.. (2 litre soda bottle cut in half).

I know it adds up to be a little bit over 50 bucks... but you can use alternatives for the most. like the Light fixtures and the dome.

I would appreciate any tips or suggestions.

WEEK 1 11/14/07: Germinated Seeds, and planted in pots (3 in each) DONT DO THIS, PLANT THEM IN SEPERATE POTS (MISTAKE 1)

WEEK 2 11/21/07: Grew them outside for a while under the sun.

WEEK 3 11/28/07: Plants grow and I start to realize that outdoor growing is a bad idea (weather). As i try to move them into the garage i place them on a table that breaks and just spills all of the plants on the floor. (transplant 1)

WEEK 4 12/5/07: I move them indoors. And i joined rollitup.com this week. Learned about PH, light, medium, and learned how these babies grow. big mistake #2: i used 2 500watt HALOGEN lamps to light the plants. THe plants started to burn, the temps went to 90*+ with no humidity. Since i moved from the garage, my plants got infested with Spider mites. NEEM + water kills these suckers. and does not effect your crops.

Here my plants start to show thier getting burned and that my soil just ins't good enough.

WEEK 5 11/12/07: Transplanted again to seperate pots 3 days ago, changed the lights, changed the medium, and now am testing PH of water.

Transplanted!

Bought new light fixture!

here how they look as of today. Since many transplants and improper soil and lights, notice how my plants are quite small. But now they show rapid growth with my new setup (0/24) Quite burned due to the previous light/soil setup. But they are recovering as i can see the plants slowly turned green again!

 

[VictorVIcious]

So you made some early adjustments. Plants are starting to look nice. Keep it going. VV

 

[thenextlevel]

that was a quick save! but they seem to be recovering nicely. good luck with these.

 

[blonddie07]

somone help i think my plants are slowly decaying?... maybe still in shock from transplant?
check it out... all the brand new leaf that come out, the tips are brown.. and ive noticed some of the leafs turning bright green near yellow.. and some are droopy My ph is at 6.7. 24 hours of light.. under 8 100 watt 6500k CFL's and 2 4' 40 watt cfl on 4500k temp. I think i might be over watering..? the soil is still moist since yesterdays water.. i will not water.

notice here leaf is turning light yellow at the edges... Could be from over watering? i might have put to much...

 

[thenextlevel]

wow that first picture has one unhappy plant. that could very well be over watering. suffocating those poor girls perhaps? let the soil dry out a little bit between waterings. its much easier to fix under watering than overwatering

 

[mockingbird131313]

I think it is a little damp. Try using a turkey baister, ph water at 6.0, and a small drizzel every other day.

 

[blonddie07]

Humidity is at 32% temp is at 76F... all ph of soil is 6.7 and water is PH'ed at 6.8.... :/

 

[blonddie07]

Bump. to the top... somone please help out... should i start feeding?

 

[IlAureliuslI]

I think your plants are just had too much that happened at their younger stage, but props for keeping them alive, they look like they're still kicking. I agree with a cut back on the watering. Also, if no one else has pointed it out I think the spacing between the initial and first nodes may be an early indicator of stretching, how far away from your CFLs are your plants usually?
As far as feeding I'm not too knowledgeable of soil grows but I would start with a weak/diluted nutrient solution until they nurse themselves back to health.

 

[blonddie07]

I think your plants are just had too much that happened at their younger stage, but props for keeping them alive, they look like they're still kicking. I agree with a cut back on the watering. Also, if no one else has pointed it out I think the spacing between the initial and first nodes may be an early indicator of stretching, how far away from your CFLs are your plants usually?
As far as feeding I'm not too knowledgeable of soil grows but I would start with a weak/diluted nutrient solution until they nurse themselves back to health.

Hey thanks for the post.. The lights are about 3 inches from the plants canopy I don't feed them anything but I did but 17-17-17 plant food.... Should I mix with water and water the plants now with food? The soil is really dry now. No water for 32 hours .. Moisture meter reads middle of "dry"
. The stretching was caused by the halogen lights in my prev. Setup. They don't seem to stretch not but instead get really bushy

 

[blonddie07]

 

[heywhatsthatsmell]

to hot in there man need to bring it to 75-80 range

 

[blonddie07]

ok well i got desperate and i cut 2 holes in my walls for 2 PC fans... one blowing out and 1 blowing in... the inner walls are vented out from the attic and the air in the walls is VERY cool. the temps are not stabalized at 72-75*... 2 little fans made a big difference... ill post pics soon

 

[blonddie07]

I dont get it... i didnt feed the plants.. Soil ph is 6.6..... temps are stable(75*)... humidity is ok(33%)... and lights are more than enough(8X100watt CFL 6500k).. great ventilation.


Leaves it to one thing... OVER WATERING? 40 hours now.. and the soil is STILL moist.

 

[IlAureliuslI]

I believe you're correct, over-watering seems to be the case. The plants look like they're killing off old previous growth to sustain new higher growth because the root system is relatively small. I want to suggest foliar feeding. While you hold off watering to allow the root system to expand in search of water you can still deliver some of the nutrients the plant needs to sustain healthy growth through the membranes in the leaves. If you don't have the means to foliar feed then I'd suggest holding off watering for 8-10 more hours and then watering sparingly with a diluted nutrient solution. It may have been posted previously but what kind of soil are you using?

P.S. Some more experienced soil growers may want to give their two cents, I'm only giving suggestions to the best of my knowledge.

 

[blonddie07]

here are the plants... this 32 hours after previous pics up top (today).

Some of the most oldest leafs have fell off..

thier looking a little better since i havent watered... (52 hours)

 

[chewy*barber]

Interesting, you and I are growing the same strain and our plants look nothing alike --

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/36702-chewys_grow_afghan_kush.html

I like the CFL set up -- not because I like CFL's, but because your set up looks very clean -- awesome job!

 

[blonddie07]

Thanks!

I just watered today after 4 days of no watering... i used the " water till 10% of the water comes out the drains" and I hope my plants start to recover..

I put 17-17-17 plant food in one of the pots to see if it makes any difference.. if no.. TIME TO FEED!

 

[bwinn27]

to much water but you now that are you useing nutrients

 

[bwinn27]

good luck with the 10% watering thing.