Big Bang First grow

Hi all newbie here. Wonder if anyone can help me out?

Got my 2 big bang feminised seeds craked after using the shot glass, dark, warm place method and put them 3.5" pots of 50% top soil (j.arthur bowers - loamy type) & 50% perlite.
That was 48 hrs ago. They are under 2 low watt cfl bulbs and the temp average is 25 degrees celsius with 40% humidity.

Has anyone got any idea how long it should be until I see some sprouts in my pots?

eager apprentice said:

Hi all newbie here. Wonder if anyone can help me out?

Got my 2 big bang feminised seeds craked after using the shot glass, dark, warm place method and put them 3.5" pots of 50% top soil (j.arthur bowers - loamy type) & 50% perlite.
That was 48 hrs ago. They are under 2 low watt cfl bulbs and the temp average is 25 degrees celsius with 40% humidity.

Has anyone got any idea how long it should be until I see some sprouts in my pots?

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no more then a couple of days... but if you want your plants to grow at least half decent stack your lights up till you have at least 100 watts. im using 125 watts right now and it working great

cheers mate, I had an old 5ft long fluro (nicked it out of mums garage!) but it broke 1 day after i set it up so i rigged up these 2 cfl's inside a wooden whiskey box and fitted a shelf in my grow room so i have the lights hanging just a few inches away.
my main light is a 600w HPS which is suitable for veg & flower but i read that seedlings are too delicate to start straight under HPS?

Any thoughts?

eager apprentice said:

cheers mate, I had an old 5ft long fluro (nicked it out of mums garage!) but it broke 1 day after i set it up so i rigged up these 2 cfl's inside a wooden whiskey box and fitted a shelf in my grow room so i have the lights hanging just a few inches away.
my main light is a 600w HPS which is suitable for veg & flower but i read that seedlings are too delicate to start straight under HPS?

Any thoughts?

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a wooden whisky crate? hahaha thats so awsome because up untill less then a month ago i was growing in a wooden whisky crate then i got soimething a little bigger.
im not to sure about hps. i've olny ever used cfl's. i wouldn't imagine the actual light from an hps harming seedlings but the heat of the light more then likely would.

eager apprentice said:

.... my main light is a 600w HPS which is suitable for veg & flower but i read that seedlings are too delicate to start straight under HPS?

Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

They may be too delicate for the heat that HIDs put out if you keep them too close, but I know from experience that growing seeds under HPS vs. Flouro, the HPS makes the plants stretch way too much.

not to tease you but i have 2 x greenhouse big bang two weeks from harvest and they smell amazing - nice fruity smell... roll on.

thanks for the replies peeps - would love to pick your brains from time to time whitewidow2 - did you grow in soil? under HPS? what nutes? etc.

eager apprentice said:

thanks for the replies peeps - would love to pick your brains from time to time whitewidow2 - did you grow in soil? under HPS? what nutes? etc.

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small cupboard soil grow... can get 5 plants in there max, i have a 250w hps in there, bathroom extractor fan as an intake, carbon filtered at the top and i used biobizz nutes.

Its best to use your nutes at 50% of the recommended value on the back of the bottle and use every other watering only - very common mistake for 1st timers to make is to overfertilise... also let the soil get really really dry before you water as the roots need oxygen too... invest in hps if you want decent results - im on my 3rd grow and the difference is night and day from cfls.

Good luck.

to big bang first grow.

you should have bout 70-90 humidity for seedlings. i put some water on a warm surface in my closet and it increased the humidity a nice bit. if ya have a propogator, than put the water in that to evaporate it.

dont use the hps until flowering, damage the plants and stretch them. they need the blue (spring/early summer) light for veg. and the orange (autum) light for flowering.

i have two rooms - i use cool white flouroscents for vegging and the hps for flowering

2 months between harvests is a long enough wait as it is

600w HPS is a big light. It produces mass emounts of heat. if with small wattage CFLs your on 24C you'll need massive venting and a air cooled hood to run that light properly.
Using HPS from the beggining has it ups and downs:
Ups; faster growth, less lights to change, doesn't need to be adjusted frequently as its already 1 meter away from the plants.
Downs; takes a lot of energy, produces lots of heat.

I fire my 400W cool tubed and a 180 CFM vent running through it (meaning it doesn't produce much heat), and a fan to move air around only after 2-3 weeks of veg.
until then I use one or two 45W cool-white CFLs and a PC fan to produce some wind.


Good luck

By the way, growing 2 plants to a size that justify a 600w light in soil will take at least 3 months. I would use more plants to cut down the veg time.

i been vegging for four weeks under 600 watt hps , i'd just say that you gotta have at least two fans blowing directly on the tops of the plants to keep heat down, but ive got 3 and an extractor and have had no probs at all concerning heat. my plants ( 5 church and 1 la woman all between 14 and 18 inches and lookin fine.

Using so much heat \ air circulation dries out the top of the soil much quicker than with CFLs.
If you water once a week for the first 3 weeks using CFLs you will water twice a week using a hugh HPS.
Also air circulation reduce humidity, and you want a 60-70% humidity for the first 3 weeks of veg. I don't know a way to get 60% humidity with tons of fans moving air around.

And CFLs use less energy, meaning less money spent on electricity.

thanks guys, interesting stuff.
just to fill you in a bit more (will post pics once i have sussed out how to do it):

This is a really tight budjet grow to start with ie: cheap light, fan & seeds to have a go and learn along the way, other than items just mentioned i have bought a ph meter for water aswell as one for the soil and will be ordering biobizz
My starter light is not made using a wooden whiskey crate, its a whiskey box - like the ones you get just one bottle in with a plastic slide in/out cover. drilled it out on each end and fitted 2 bayonet light fittings inside it (one each end). The only prob is they are only 14w each so not strong enough.
The light hangs over a shelf i put up in my grow room, room is 4.8' long x 2.6' wide x 7.3' high.
I have a 600w HPS (which is suitable for both veg & flower according to the manufacturers as it has some blue spec in it aswell) ready and mounted to the ceiling on chains for when they have grown enough to take it, and a bathroom extraction fan for outake air that is only 72 cfm but once i get my plants vegged i will buy a carbon filter with inline fan and use this on my intake.
I'm just concerned that nothing has popped through the soil yet after 6 days in their pots. The seeds had only just cracked and had very small root tips when i planted them - no bigger than 3mm long.
they are in just top soil and perlite 50/50.

any advice would be really appreciated

I have had a big bang has part of my garden for the last few grow and it is a massive producer if grown right.Big bang is a nice stought plant.Make sure that the lights are kept close once the plant go's under the more intence lights h.p.s/h.i.d and the internode structure is realy close.Everyone that i have done has always had about 4/8 off shots differant brances shooting of the main one so i top the lot.It says that it is a 8 week strain but this is one plant that i would tell any grower of it to give it a extra couple of week for extra crystal growth.In the greenhouse dvd about this plant arjon remarks on it smelling of green apples and he is not lieing there is a tint of apple smell to this strain but the skunkyness soon out powers that.Great choice for a first time grower easy to clone too.But be careful whaen growing this because if space is a issue it grows has far out wards has it does upwards.

how deep did you plant them?

From my experience, the few things that you rather spend your money on are seeds and potting mix. compared to other things you buy they cost nearly nothing and they have GREAT impact on the outcome.
Keep that in mind for your next try

If you put them less than a cm under the soil, they should pop. Give them 4-5 more days. If they don't pop, pull them out and check whats going on.


Good Luck.

Yo man, got the BB going aswell, +rep
subscribed.....
HPS does make dem stretch, but if you got good circulation, you can get the light pretty close man and they wont stretch... Im using a 400w HPS from seed and ive had no problems...touch wood check out my grow man, now switching to 12/12 ....

thanks guys.

i planted them only 10-20mm under the soil, in one pot there looks like something is happening now but nowt in the other. after looking at grow4joe's journal i am seriously considering sticking them straight under the 600w hps with my os fan blowing at the bulb. With my ex fan on constant and the light 2m away temps are steady 25 degrees celsius so should be able to get closer to pots if fan is blowing at bulb aswell.
I have been spraying / watering with 7.0 ph rain water and as im still waiting for my soil meter to arrive haven't been able to check the soil (it is coming from hong kong mind! ebay hey, could have got it in this country for couple of quid more but like i mentioned - tight budget!). I did test the soil mix run off water before planting tho and it was 7.1 ph.
what you said about green house seeds tho is slightly worrying grow4joe.
great journal joe by the way - i'm going to keep picking your brains if you don't mind mate!
i was also thinking of putting them on my window sill during the day and under the current cfl's at night,

I have no clue why people say plants strech under HPS. I don't know any other light that will promote less streching.
When they are seedlings they don't need much light, don't bother firing up that HPS of yours.
Until they show some serated leaves you should have no problem at all putting them on your windowsill, if there's no pests issues around there.
At night give them some CFL light and your good.

If you can, just get a 45W CFL at a daylight color. (6500 or 6200 Kelvin)
Mentioned tight budget? check what will cost you more; running a 600W +your vents W at 18\6 (thats what I use with my 400W HPS to save energy) + you oscilating fan, or buying a single 45W (real wattage) daylight CFL, and running it 24\7.
Calculate by 3 weeks.

I got a closet with the top part used as a growing chamber (rest for storage). I currently veg there.
Its not THAT quick growing, but it have nice rate and everything, to me, looks healthy.
I use a 6" cool tube (DIY), a 60cfm exhaust vent, passive light trapping intake, fully reflective with astro foil an reflective duct tape. Running at 21°C due to strong ventilation and the cool tube.
Tell me if you see any problems with it.

eager apprentice said:

thanks guys.

i planted them only 10-20mm under the soil, in one pot there looks like something is happening now but nowt in the other. after looking at grow4joe's journal i am seriously considering sticking them straight under the 600w hps with my os fan blowing at the bulb. With my ex fan on constant and the light 2m away temps are steady 25 degrees celsius so should be able to get closer to pots if fan is blowing at bulb aswell.
I have been spraying / watering with 7.0 ph rain water and as im still waiting for my soil meter to arrive haven't been able to check the soil (it is coming from hong kong mind! ebay hey, could have got it in this country for couple of quid more but like i mentioned - tight budget!). I did test the soil mix run off water before planting tho and it was 7.1 ph.
what you said about green house seeds tho is slightly worrying grow4joe.
great journal joe by the way - i'm going to keep picking your brains if you don't mind mate!
i was also thinking of putting them on my window sill during the day and under the current cfl's at night,

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Thanks man, you can ask me what you want man, but i only know so much,
Try not to keep checking on dem, sometimes they will take a while to sprout, if it has sprouted, you could damage the root tip with your light, so try and be patient, some seeds take a while....
Sounds like you got the right temps, what about your humidity?
I prefer to use ph around 6.5, but if it aint broke dont fix it... but if it does get any higher maybe you should bring it down slightly, you could use vinegar, but i wouldn't recommend you do anyting untill you get your PH reader, for obvious reasons..
Dont get mislead like i did by tales.. yea maybe 2 didnt sprout, but the ones that did seem to be real healthy..
I suppose nobody can really garantee 100% germ rates, i mean, you gotta let nature do its thing baby..
Im not going to buy 5 packs no more though!



.G4J.