First Grow

[chingy]

Hi guys,

 

just waiting on some seeds to put down my first ever grow, got a 400watt HID, got a couple of pots, got some coconut palm hydro medium stuff and some nutients for the water.

 

i have no idea how long it takes these little puppies to grow up big and strong. the closet is about 6ft tall, and im wondering when i can expect them to head?

 

and at what point do you know to change the lights from 16 - 8 to 12 - 12?

 

thanks again,

[wassily]

The plants will head or start blooming after you switch the light to 12 hours on / 12 hours off. The height you flower at depends on how much the strain you have stretches in bloom - all strains have a shoot of vertical growth in the first few weeks of flower, the more sativa your strain the more stretch. If you don't know, then start at a safe height. With a 400 watter you want 30cm from the top of the plants to the light (unless you have an air cooled hood), plus your globe hangs about 15 cm from the roof - so the working top of your box is about 4 and a half feet or 1.35 mtrs. Flower when the tops of the plants are half this height - around 60 cm or 2 feet (including the pot)and see how you go. If they get too tall pinch the stems halfway and bend them down. You could look up some methods like supercropping or low stress training to increase the yield if need be.

Good growin,

Vaz

[F420]

mix some perlite in to the coco, it makes it a far better medium.

 

your lights you want at first at 24/0, then drop it down to 18/6 once they are growing well, then change to 12/12 at 1/3 of your available height, my current strain stretches 2/3 once switched.

there are products around that make the plant grow more compact and shoter internodes etc. bonza bud springs to mind.(growth regulators).

You can also get a product that STOPS any stretching, this can be useful because you can grow the plant the full size and then turn it, and the plant wont stretch at all, or at most 1 inch.

Rockbud and Xplode spring to mind, but they are similar to dutch master superbud, or sudden Impact.

 

The next grow with the same strain will be better because you will know how much yours stretches, and then that will tell you when to switch. IMO its better to grow smaller plants the first time than to run out of head room.(unless you use one of the products I mentioned).

 

you will also need some ph down, and some flowering nutes for later.

you will need an exhaust fan and a oscillating fan to gently blow the plant, and the exhaust to remove spent air that the plant has eaten the co2 out of.

 

Vas is spot on with the training, your could also put a screen in the wardobe and train it to that.

 

Good luck with the grow.

Edited August 24, 2004 by Ferengi420

[chingy]

thanks guys.....great info.

 

my little ones are now about 6 inches and quite thick and full (if that makes sense)

 

they have been down for a little over 3 weeks

 

i have my light pretty much as high as it goes already, so the plants are about 4-5ft away from the light, coz i was noticing that they were burning on the leaves a little bit...is that ok?

 

so there is no time frame for changing to 12/12? just do it when the height is 1/3? thanks guys......great!