Beginner\'s questions

Hi All. I have a few questions about my marijuana growing which is used strictly for my own medicinal uses.

I am new at this. I bought a clone which seems to be doing well but.....

I am using two lamps that have Sylvania Grow Spot bulbs both at 120v, 240 in all. They are approximately two feet from the plant. They do put out some heat. I am thinking of adding two more to fully cover this plant. So we would be looking at 480 volts. Too much? How does that compare to other lamps such as metal hallide? The plant is about 3 feet tall and is sprouting quite well. The age is about 3 months old. I am about ready to start taking clones which I will put in a smaller enclosed area with a flourescent fixture with about 80 watts total. Do you think these plants for my mother are okay? Not sure how much elec they will take. I have been watering with a small amount of nitrogen mixed in the water on a daily basis, two times a day because the plant does dry out with the heat going on. I also have been spritzing the plant two times a day on the leaves. The lights are on 24 hours a day. I have a fan which blows slightly on the plant at all times and during the day I open the door to the 4x6 room to circulate air outside (outside of the room but still in the house).

I have noticed reddish color on the outside of the leaf. Small nothing major. Is that a deficiency somewhere? Major? I just flushed the plant with pure filtered water. About a gallon. I would say the plant is in a 3 gallon container which has outlets for the water to drain into a container which contains plant and its container.

I plan on doing this routine unless someone tells me I am doing something wrong. When my clones have developed and are doing well, then I will seperate clones from mother and decrease light on the mother (what type of lilghting is best, same light ok?) and cause flowering and buds. During this period I will decrease nitrogen and incrase potassium for better flowering.

Am I doing this setup ok? Can you suggest anything better that I can do to increase thc and potency. This is a clone from a female plant definitely.


Any help, advice would be greatly appreciated since this is my first time and my only advice has been coming from books

Thanks\

don

catskilldbg1@netzero.net (feel free to email me)
Any babes out there who want to chat are very welcome. Even guys with advice are welcome but no love connection. .

 

Look through the FAQ

 

Duffman if thats all youve got to say to help this guy out, dont even reply. Most people come on here for "PEOPLE HELP" after seacrching the web for info. Such as FAQ's.


Ummm... the only info i can help you out with since im still a newb as well is. You asked what kind of light will help induce buds and flowers. Well a HPS (high pressure sodium) is what you want. It emits an orange/yellow light. Me personally i only have a MH (metal halide) which i hear is best for vegative growth ( roots, leaves). But i also know that MH can be used for flowering as well.


But aside from that buddy, you already know more than me. I just cut down my first little plant. Now im just calling around trying to find some decent clones.


Hey maybe one day ill be asking you for fertilizer help.. You seem to know some about that. and i dont.


-good luck-

 

paintball, come back and talk to me when ur a member not a guest.

 

Potency depends on the strain of pot u have not what you do to it.

 

You seem to have done a bit of research, but just enough to scrape by. The above mentioned 'look through the FAQ' may not sound helpful, but there are many topics there that may answer the questions you have.


Most strains need a photo schedule of 12/12 (12 hours of light followed by an uninterrupted 12 hours of complete darkness) to flower.


The discoloration in the leaves could be anything from a pH problem to a nutrient issue. If you could get digital photos on here we'd be able to see the leaf abnormalities and better diagnose a cause/remedy.

 

duffman, paintball is a member in good-standing here at GK. god knows, he's paid his "dues"!


catskill, your clone is 3 ft tall?  if i were you, i'd save some electricity and let your plant 'rest' by giving it 6 hrs of darkness.  this is referred to as 18/6.  18 hrs on, 6 hrs off.


when you want to bud your plant out (flower), you'll want to switch to 12/12 to induce flowering.  you'll stay at 12/12 til harvest.


your spots on the leaves may be caused by your spritzing them.  they don't need any spritzing.  and the water could be staying on the leaves and then your light source burns those spots.


also, during the 'dark' period (lights off) be sure that no light can reach them.  NO light.  unless you want your female plant to turn hermie.


you do need to do some reading and the FAQs are there to help you.  you're off to a good start.  keep up the good work!  

 

MH for veg (400w works for me with 4-6 plants), and HPS for flowering they say is the way to go. I only have the MH, and things are working out rather well. I have considered a conversion HPS bulb for flowering, but have not yet tried it, so I won't attempt to tell you how it works, or if it is worth the added expense. Good luck.

 

The conversion bulbs work just fine. I used one for about 2 years with no complaints, then bought another 400 HPS and used it in conjunction with the conversion for a total of 760Watts of in your face power. Welders mask recommended

 

I use a 360 watt conversion bulb in my 400w MH lamp fixture.  Found the HPS to be much much cooler.  I have used MH for veg and then HPS for flower.  I see no difference or advantage to having to use two different bulbs.  I am an HPS fan!  No more MH for me.  I noticed a slightly higher female ratio using the HPS in veg.  Probably due to the lower temps.


wa

 

First: , Catskill .


Second: I'm gonna quote you , "I am using two lamps that have Sylvania Grow Spot bulbs both at 120v, 240 in all. They are approximately two feet from the plant. They do put out some heat. I am thinking of adding two more to fully cover this plant. So we would be looking at 480 volts. Too much? "


Well , I can't believe nobody has pointed this out , but lights can't be rated by voltage . Maybe that's why some would point you to the FAQs .


You say you are going to be growing for your medical needs , well it's time to educate yourself , cause you will be doing this the rest of your life , I take it .


The first place , in my opinion , to start is an education about lighting . You need to get a good grasp of the lighting issues before you can grow respectable and medicinal dope .


Soil , seeds , ferts , everything , is subordinate to quality light . It's the gasoline that drives the plant's engine . Without gas a Ferrari is a big paperweight .


Learn about Voltage and Wattage and Lumens and PAR Watts and the Inverse Square Law and the different lamps (HPS , MH , Floro , Incandescant , Halogen and why the last two suck . one of which you are currently using) . All those are Keywords for your searches . Once you can think in these terms you can make better descisions about your future as a medical marijuana provider for your own needs .


Lighting is the answer , what was the question ?


Hope that helps , Strato .

 

it was obvious to me that he meant 480 watts (not volts).  easy mistake to make for a beginner.

 

If those are the Sylvania Gro bulbs (looks like a heat lamp), I would ditch them quickly and at the very least smother the plant in florescant light. Strato offers excelant advice.... I just chimed in cause I started growing with the Sylvania Gro bulb & I was lucky I didn't fry the poor things when someone here turned me on to floros & HPS/MH bulbs. It's all in the faq's. Good luck with your garden.

 

Are you so sure Mary ? I'm not .


After all my 400 Watter is a 120 Volter but draws 465 Watts at 3.8 amps putting out 58,500 lumens . A little confusing , if not downright daunting to a newb . A little confussing ? Hell , even I am confused .


You are talking about beginner mistakes . And assuming anything with beginners and electric is a scary thing in my opinion .


Just using Volts as a mistake alone says he better read up on the terminology . I'm not so sure ,that he isn't refering to volts . And anyway there is no way to offhandedly compare an incandescant flood to a HID light in terms of just wattage used , or the same for wattage in floros .


Maybe I'm wrong , again . . . but , I'm just not ready to assume we all know this stuff and are too damn stoned to get it right .

 

Stoned- my favortie state of mind


I know I misspelled it but instead of fixing the edit I will just leave you all with this message


"Dyslexics of the world UNTIE!" :LOL silly , but I'm bored again. Think I'll just spend the day getting stoned, watching GK, and plinking my guitar.


(Edited by Joint Effort at 12:01 pm on Nov. 29, 2004)

 

am i the only one here that thinks catskill should look through the FAQ. i wasnt trying to be negitive when i said that its just that whenever i have a problem the first thing i do is spend hours looking through the FAQ before i ask the question. if he's using volts as a way of describing his lights then he has a whole lot of reading to do. no offence im a NewB myself.

 

Ditto, and no disrespect on my first reply DUFFY, its just im sure hes already seen the FAQ section and couldn't find exactly what he asked. So he registered to ask PEOPLE on the FORUM. YA know???

 

Thanks all. for getting the volts and watts mixed up. Watts is what I was referring to. But in my ongoing research I realize I have to concentrate on lumens. Unfortunately, at this time the mh and hps might be too expensive for my small project. But I do appreciate feedback and I will do more research at the Q&A. Too bad we can't just beam to a coffeehouse in Amsterdam and discuss.


Also, I have found an interesting site that sells coconut fiber and block of dust. Check it out. https://protected11.purehost.com/d30053026/index.asp?pg=welcome


ciao

 

lol, listen to us,


"im sorry man"


"No im sorry dude"


"No its my fault"


What a bunch of mello pot heads we all are.

 

check the faq.