a complete MJ growing N00B: my grow attempt

said earlier, i am 13, and i live with my parents. my bedroom is down the end of the hall way(my parents bed-room is on the other side of the house), and currently my Mum is going into my room quite frequently(cleaning and shit). i will need to stop this, or there the chance of me getting busted will be too high for me to sleep easy at night. but if i do get busted, at least i can use the word 'hippocryt' alot, because my dad also grows. i have about half a grand in the bank, so i can buy the right equiptment.
i have never succesfully germinated a seed, but i have tried many times.
if i am doing something wrong, then please tell me. all MJ growing N00BS out there, i earge u to follow this journal, and learn from my mistakes. lets begin.

day 1[13/04/07]: my parents and siblings are out, i am home alone! time to get started. i have two types of seeds that i have mixed together in one bag. one type i have no idea what strain they are, the other type i believe are WildberryXHawiian(i think that might be Hawiian Skunk, not sure).
i have filled a small china pot(about the size of a drinking cup) with potting mix(the potting mix contains soil, bark,small rocks etc...), and have planted 5 or 6 seeds in the pot(i used so many to try and get a higher chance of getting at least 1 germinated). i have thoroughly watered the pot and placed it in my growing box.
ABOUT MY GROWING BOX: i am using a wooden box that is about 1.7X1.7X1.7(1.7=1 foot and .7 of a foot. these mesurements are approximate.) and i have covered the inside of the box with aluminium foil(not yet FULLY covered). i am using a spot-light with a 100WATT HOLEGEN bulb. the spot-light has a battery that is rechargable, i am recharging it right now, i am hoping that i can fully recharge the battery, and keep the charger on, and the battery wont run out(like on a mobile phone). the spot-light takes 18-hours to charge, and goes for about 1 hour(hoping that battery wont run out if i leave the charger on). in the morning i will put the light on. i have the light about a foot and a bit above the small china pot that my seeds are in.


day2[14/04/17]: forget the spot-light. i tried leaving the charger on, but it just went out. i have found out that i can run it directly off any 12V power source(the connection i have is like the connection that can go into the lighter in your car. its a big plastic thing that has a metal thing on the end.). does anyone know of a 12V power source that i may be able to use(that can go into my bedroom without raising suspision).
i am now using a 60W candesant light. i should be buying a proper grow-light soon, i am thinking 400W. i have the candesant light hanging a few inches above the pot( i put it closer so that the heat will be closer to the soil). i also planted another seed right in the middle of the pot, and i was very careful to put it not to deep in, and to put the pointy bit down(thats right, right?). i have left the pot in my grow box with the light on, and covered it up. i know that i wont be able to have fully matured plants in this space, but im just using it for now.
the grow box is in my (messy) cupboard, and is camoflaged as part of my messy cupboard. the grow box has no light leeks.

i will update tomorrow.

 

How tall is your grow box?

If you have limited space, then you should grow lowryders.

 

1.7X1.7X1.7
its 1.7 high

 

day 3[15/4/07]: the light has been on 24/7 for almost a day now. the seeds have not germinated yet... i planted another seed in a small plastic container using a different type of soil and put it into my grow box. the light i am using(for now) gives off alot of heat. when i thouch the soil, it feels 'warm'. is this O.K? go back to school on wednesday. i will probably wag the first part of the day, and go and buy a good light. i am thinking 400W. how much will a good light cost me?
i will update tommorow.

 

IF you put a 400w in that little box you will have made a little oven

I would go pop a few $ to get the larget compact flo you can find.

 

am i doing anything wrong so far? i am using a 60W condesant light bulb at the moment.

 

Well not really but you really should have just stashed the seeds and waited a bit. There are pages and pages here on people's grows. Buffoonman's, Naturalhi's et al.

A 60 light bulb (incandesent) is not going to do much. It should allow a seedling to start but the spectrum is wrong. A cfl will put out alot more lumens and be in the spectrum (they are low on intensity) but will give the sprouts what they need.

I would have also keep the seeds separated. It would have allowed you to know what was what. From sprout to 1.7' should take about 90 days.

 

I wouldnt even turn a light on until i see them poking out of the top of your grow medium. Warm,Humid,Dark is what seeds need to germinate.

 

i know that the 60W candescent won't do much. but its all i have for now. as i said earlier. i am probably going to go and get a good light on Wednesday. i put the light on to make the soil warm. i have a can of water in the grow box, this should make it more humid? and i water the soil regularly. i will put another official entry in later on today(its 1:53 in the morning right now).

 

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=31605
read and learn....

 

woah he's 13, should you folks really be giving him this illegal information?

 

wow, im not trying to be an ass or anything but this is just an all around bad start. Incandescent is shit for pot, only good for addin heat during germination, nothing else. Get your self as many, largest watt you can find, CFL's. Id say maybe 4-6. Even with a small 70W HPS Security light, you would build up way too much heat in that area. Id stick with CFL's for now until you get yourself a bigger area. I don't know i posted in another one of your threads about how to germinate seeds and if you follow that you will atleast have sprouts started then you can work from there. All i can say is you need to read a bit more or just man up and see if your dad is willin to teach ya a few tricks. Either way, good luck and keep us posted.

- 42o -

 

day 4[16/4/07]: okay guys, i got some good news(finally). last night i put some seeds in between a few layers of paper towels, put them in a sandwich baggy, and left them(this is the ever popular 'Paper Towel Method'). about 15 hours later, the seeds had cracked open, and the tap root(the first little white growth,is this the tap root?) was starting to come out. i left the seeds for a few more hours, then i planted the one with the bigger tap root in a small pot and i put a sandwich baggy on top of the pot to create a 'humidity dome'(qouting someone who replied to one of my previous threads). is this nesisary if the the seed has already cracked open and the tap root has started coming out? i put the pot in my grow box under the light.(M4N14C42O, i am using the candesant for warmth at the moment).
how much longer can i leave the other seed in the paper towel for?
hopefully i will be seeing a seedling soon.
i will post some photos of my setup soon

 

hey bud, you can simply place a seed in a small container or soil, put the baggy over the container, and let it grow. You don't need to do the Paper Towel Method. You can just stick the seed directly in the dirt with the humidity cover and it will sprout alittle sooner than the way you did it. Give it a try next time, save ya a day or so.

I would put the seed that is still in the paper towel, into a container. Usually as soon as the taproot is an inch or so long you can put them into a container.

 

i planted the seeds i germinated, and i left them for a couple of days. THEY DIDN'T WORK! i think i planted them a little to early, the tap root was barely out of the seed shell. well im learning. i started this grow to early....i should have organized stuff first...i am going to start a new grow, but this time, i am going to get prepared. i have a small cupboard that i am going to convert into a growbox. i have limited space, so i am going to grow Lowryders. i am going to germinate the rest of my seeds and plant them OUTSIDE. i should be getting some Afghani seeds soon, so i might plant them outside with the other plants, but my main growing project will be the Lowryders.
thanks for all the replies guys.
(M4N14C42O, earlier u wrote "just man up and see if your dad is willin to teach ya a few tricks". i am just going to say one thing. u don't know my dad )

well, i better get to work

 

alright man, yer im doing the same sort of grow as you(stealth) i was going to buy some lowrider seeds, however, from what i have seen from other peoples grows put me off. Also i heard that most indica plants are fairly small anyway and by changing the lighting to 12/12 in the first week or so the plants will stay short. Also i just bought myself a 400w hps lamp with reflector. My seeds havn't arrived yet but its not too much of a problem because i need to build intake and outake fans into my grow cab. Safe man, i admire you for at least trying though, it took me ages to get the balls to actually try it!

 

thanks alot bongbongbong .
my grow box is coming along GREAT. today i bought:
a ph tester
12 jiffy pots
insect spray
fertilizer(liquid)
another ballast
some pots(those black bag ones)
a spray bottle
some nails
a measuring cup

i am using 2 125W flourecent power saver bulbs.
they take in about 25W, but they give out 125W.
will these do?
is CFL flourecent?

 

maybe im missing something but if your using 2, 125W(25W actual) bulbs, what do you need ballasts for?? Anywho looks like things are coming together, you'll like those grow bags....easy to use, easy to wash, easy to re-use. Plus a box of 100 3-gal bags weighs something like 5 pounds.ONe hundred 3 gallon bags can be stored in 2 3-gal bags.....CFL stands for Compact Fluorescent

good luck

 

why wouldn't i need a ballast?
i need something to put the lights on right?

 

CFLs have the ballast built in. If you are confused as to what a ballast is - don't sweat it. Think of it as the power supply for the bulbs - hps/mh/cfls.