# First grow with Metal Halide



## RiskyPack (Apr 7, 2009)

Hello. Here are some pictures of my plants in the seedling stage. I grow under 2 x 500 watt metal halide lights now. Can someone tell me why my plants keep growing taller, but not bushier?


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## hydrotoker (Apr 7, 2009)

I think your lights are to far away. Could be wrong. Never used metal halide. My 400HPS is about 18in away. Put ur hand at plant level, are you able to feel the heat? If its hot on ur hand, your to close. If you cant feel it your to far away. Your plants look nice just tall. If your planning on transplanting them which I recommend, you can make them shorter.

pull out the stakes bro unless you really want stunted no good plants you should have them in there own pots bro those lights are not what you think you need lumens those are not correct...57,000+ lumens for complete nice results

rememering that your tap root on each girl is now 8 inches deep and tangling with the sister nice scrog project if done right...oh brother are they top heavy ..6inx10in pot required to start each alone you need to study more 5hrs on this site get tips everywhere bro...the stalk is long due to that so called halide being 3 feet short of where it should be


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## Kupunakane (Apr 7, 2009)

Yo Ho RiskyPack,
    Strangely enough I completely understand how you ended up placing several plants into one container a couple of times, but your gonna do a lot better if you can transplant those babies into separate containers for each, and for size,  a three gallon pot will do well for each one. 
  The metal halide will work, but may I suggest for vegging that you seriously save on your electric bill, and use some T5 four foot grow tubes that you can pick up from just about anywhere. 
  When you wish to start the flowering, you will want to use HPS,      (High Pressure Sodium), as for the wattage, that will depend on the grow area. Your thinking is good, a few minor adjustments and you should end up well, and under good sail.


smoke in peace
KingKahuuna


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## Hick (Apr 7, 2009)

...5th picture... "those" are 2-500 watt _metal halides???_


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## purplephazes (Apr 7, 2009)

metal halide is good during flowering stage but as king states hps required until flower for optimal results if you repot it may slow the grow either way you have to do this and use that light but needs to be 1 footish above those ladies as hydro said use your wet hand for temp guide and remember the plant has extra sensitive heat detect i.e very sesitive imagine a wet hand/damp against the sun use that as a guide for now!


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## donkey942 (Apr 7, 2009)

purplephazes said:
			
		

> metal halide is good during flowering stage but as king states hps required until flower for optimal results if you repot it may slow the grow either way you have to do this and use that light but needs to be 1 footish above those ladies as hydro said use your wet hand for temp guide and remember the plant has extra sensitive heat detect i.e very sesitive imagine a wet hand/damp against the sun use that as a guide for now!


 
strike that and reverse it MH is for veg HPS for flowering.

and those lights arent MH their halogen and those plants will continue to stretch untill you get another light, Halogen isnt any good for plants and their way to hot to place next to plants.


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## maineharvest (Apr 7, 2009)

Donkeys right. Those are halogen, they are usually used on construction sites, not for growing weed.  They are pretty much useless and put off crazy amounts of heat.


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## RiskyPack (Apr 8, 2009)

You guys were right. It was halogen, and as it turns out pretty much useless. So I went down to my local plant shop today, and got myself a 125 watt cfl light. But now I'm beating myself up by thinking maybe I should have gone for the flowering bulb instead of the growing bulb. Is it possible to flower under this bulb, or will I need to buy one with the red spectrum also?

HPS kits were quite expensive in the shop, and you needed a ballast. So I went with 125 watt CFL. I hope it will do.

I know some of you are probably going to say get the light closer. But it doesn't go further down. Besides I'm away for easter, and a friend of mine will be watering the plants. In this way he doesn't have to adjust the lights. One of my plants have started to get brown spots on the leaves. Any way to save this little plant?


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## purplephazes (Apr 8, 2009)

sunlight bro if no 40,000 lumens for that age they will keep gettin taller!


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## RiskyPack (Apr 8, 2009)

They get sunlight every day in the morning. I don't mind them getting taller as long as they grow stronger. Unfortunately my new bulb is only rated to do 8100 lumens with color 6400k


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## Growdude (Apr 8, 2009)

RiskyPack said:
			
		

> They get sunlight every day in the morning. I don't mind them getting taller as long as they grow stronger. Unfortunately my new bulb is only rated to do 8100 lumens with color 6400k



Its not going to work out, you need more light than that bulb or window is giving them.

Lower the light I dont care how or raise the plants.

As for the spots what have you been spraying the leaves with? just water?
are you giving them any nutes yet? what is your PH? 

Look on e-bay for cheap HPS lights or get a ballast kit and mount it yourself.
Enclose you grow area with mylar or flat whit paint you are loosing most of the lumens you do have.

Dont cheap out on your grow, look at it this way, It takes just as long and with just as much risk to grow a couple of bowls worth or a nice amount from a single plant.


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## hydrotoker (Apr 8, 2009)

Your right, the light does need to be a lot closer. If the light does come down any further then put books or boxes under the plant. They should grow that fast while your away. The closer you get them more lumens they will receive.


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## purplephazes (Apr 8, 2009)

110% growdude !! you gotta care bro if it gets taller cos its reachin/crawling for the light that it cant benefit from...its like mounting a carrot on a stick and attaching it to the donkey and letting it chase it !!spindly and week


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## RiskyPack (Apr 8, 2009)

I found an old vcr in the container and a box from a fridge. Now they are 10 cm closer to the light 

Fortunately I got some easyrolls with the lamp today, so it is very easy to move it up a bit, when they grow taller

As for you growdude. I don't exactly have a growroom. They are standing in my bedroom, and I dont want to cover it all in mylar


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## Growdude (Apr 8, 2009)

RiskyPack said:
			
		

> As for you growdude. I don't exactly have a growroom. They are standing in my bedroom, and I dont want to cover it all in mylar



Just take some paneling or card board and wall it off. move it into a corner.

Use a trellis and cover it in mylar, just get some walls around it to contain the light.

Be creative im sure there lots of ways, never meant for ya to mylar your room.


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## RiskyPack (Apr 8, 2009)

Would look kinda cool though

I'm on vacation now. A friend of mine is checking the plants every day. Does any of you have some kind of suggestion, or ideas for a cheap do-it-yourself watering system? I heard some used plastic bottles put upside down directly into the soil.


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## RiskyPack (Apr 18, 2009)

Here is a little update.. Mostly my plants are doing fine. I need to start flowering soon. I read that 12 hours of light a day is the right for flowering, but can you go back to more hours a day, when the flowering process has started?


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## maineharvest (Apr 18, 2009)

They are looking much better.  You really need to get a fan on them though.  The stalks are very skinny and weak and they will fold under the weight of the buds.  

12/12 is best for budding.  They can have absolutely no light leaks during flowering.  During the 12 hours of dark they need to be in pitch black and uninterrupted.  How are you planning on keeping them dark when they are in the middle of your bedroom?  

Seems like your learning some stuff the hard way just like we all did.  Trial and error.  Do you have any nutrients to feed them?


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## donkey942 (Apr 18, 2009)

well I have to agree with mainharvest your going to have to put them into a closet for flowering the uninterupted light is crucial to the process, light in the flowering stage during the dark hours can cause hermies or spindley fluffy buds with no weight, no potenceyor even send them back into veg where they will continue to grow without buds. Take the advise that people are giving you and for gods sake get a HPS/MH conversion set up for them babys. Hope this helped and if you do order a new light have it sent to a freinds house and pick it up thats what I do with all ordered supplies. Be safe.


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## RiskyPack (Apr 18, 2009)

I have ordered some mylar rescue blankets which I plan to drape over the light and make an enclosure. In this way it should get pitch black in there. Plus the room is pretty dark already in the afternoon, so hopefully this will be possible. I already have a big fan blowing on them and the stems are looking better by the day. I have made a special lamp for flowering with 2700 k light bulbs. I will also be CFL with about 130 watt. As for nutrition I feed them some typical greenhouse fertilizer to mix into the water. It should have all the essential things for growing and flowering.


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## RiskyPack (Apr 18, 2009)

I seriously considering a 400 watt HPS lamp, from my local dealer. But it is about 100 euro and that is a bit much for my budget right now. But maybe it will pay off later.


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## donkey942 (Apr 18, 2009)

The hps light will pay off in the end check this out big ones are only 20 days old

MYGROW http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?p=454851#post454851


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## RiskyPack (Apr 20, 2009)

I'm almost crying right now.. I think I killed 2 of my plants today by accident. The hose from my vacuum cleaner knocked them over when I was cleaning behind my computer and ripped 3 leaves of one of them. I'm considering leaving the lights on for the night, so they can heal. :-(


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## Growdude (Apr 20, 2009)

RiskyPack said:
			
		

> I'm almost crying right now.. I think I killed 2 of my plants today by accident. The hose from my vacuum cleaner knocked them over when I was cleaning behind my computer and ripped 3 leaves of one of them. I'm considering leaving the lights on for the night, so they can heal. :-(



Dont change your light schedule, more stress wont help anything heal.
A few leaves ripped off shouldn't be a problem.

What did you do for a flowering room?


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## White WidowMaker (Apr 20, 2009)

...especially those ones with cars - LEO can easily zoom in on the license plates and find out who they are, WHERE THEY ARE, and then find you!

remove those pictures!


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## dr_toker81 (Apr 20, 2009)

Hick said:
			
		

> ...5th picture... "those" are 2-500 watt _metal halides???_




they look like the light lights i use for construction!


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## donkey942 (Apr 20, 2009)

well youve got to get them into a closet, the safety blankets leak light.


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## RiskyPack (Apr 25, 2009)

Some of my plants have started to show sex, but I'm afraid it is the wrong sex. How long should I wait before I kill them off? And can anyone confirm if it is male of female?

Can the female plant produce seeds even if there is no male around? As in sometimes you find seeds in your pot, but they must be infertile seeds right? with no ability to germinate.



			
				Growdude said:
			
		

> Dont change your light schedule, more stress wont help anything heal.
> A few leaves ripped off shouldn't be a problem.
> 
> What did you do for a flowering room?


As you see on the picture I used some old boxes. I now have 129 watt of 2700K cfl light hanging over the plants, and 125 watt of 6500K light standing in front of the plants inside the box. I think it will give the plants about 16000-17000 lumens for flowering. I know it is not 60000 like an HPS but will it give me a lot if I switch now?


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## dr_toker81 (Apr 26, 2009)

hey bro that light has to be wihin a few inches or they will keep stretchin for it. i made the same mistake . i just topped all them and repotted.now its all better!


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## RiskyPack (Apr 27, 2009)

Killed 3 of my babies today. Such a sad experience. My 3 biggest and strongest plants were males. Next time I'll only use feminised seeds


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## donkey942 (Apr 27, 2009)

yeah balls suck man, I dont use fem seeds because they turm hermie to easy and being this only my 5th grow im still to inexperienced ( this my first all indoor grow). I just start lots and then the males dont hurt as much when you chop em. LOL


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## PencilHead (Apr 27, 2009)

RiskyPack said:
			
		

> Can the female plant produce seeds even if there is no male around? As in sometimes you find seeds in your pot, but they must be infertile seeds right? with no ability to germinate.


 
The conventional wisdom on this site is that bag seed are usually the product of hermie's.  Unfortunately, they can be viable, passing on a very bad trait to those of us who grow our own smoke.


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## RiskyPack (Apr 27, 2009)

PencilHead said:
			
		

> The conventional wisdom on this site is that bag seed are usually the product of hermie's.  Unfortunately, they can be viable, passing on a very bad trait to those of us who grow our own smoke.



Hehe well I just tried to pop one seed in some wet soil, and it looks like it germinated. But if you kill the male plants anyway, it should do no harm growing them, right? I mean there will be no pollen to do anything bad to other plants.


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## RiskyPack (Apr 27, 2009)

The weed was not very good anyways, so it was probably just because the guy who has grown the ****, forgot to remove one of his male plants. But now I have some seeds I'll try to grow in my parents green house  Just to see their reaction.


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## PencilHead (Apr 27, 2009)

RiskyPack said:
			
		

> Hehe well I just tried to pop one seed in some wet soil, and it looks like it germinated. But if you kill the male plants anyway, it should do no harm growing them, right? I mean there will be no pollen to do anything bad to other plants.


 
I guess the only harm is that hermies tend to escape detection--you get lulled into thiniking you're home free and all the while this little wierdo's in there having its way with your girls.

Let me mention also that if your intention is to grow on your parent's property with out their permission you're going to get beat up around here--that's a very unpopular subject.


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## RiskyPack (May 2, 2009)

I got the worst possible news from my plants today. It turns out they are all males. How can this happen? 9/9 male plants? I feel like it must be something in the environment of the plants, that helps determine the sex? It really put me in a bad mood. And it is going to be a long time, before I have time for a new grow.


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## RiskyPack (May 3, 2009)

Turns out I jumped the gun a bit. One plant is still not showing sex, and my weakest little plant that had been in a bad shape from the start turned out to be a cute little girl :holysheep: I was so happy so see this, and I'll guard this little baby with my lift. See the pictures of this little baby, and one of the big bad boys.


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## PencilHead (May 4, 2009)

RiskyPack said:
			
		

> Turns out I jumped the gun a bit. One plant is still not showing sex, and my weakest little plant that had been in a bad shape from the start turned out to be a cute little girl :holysheep: I was so happy so see this, and I'll guard this little baby with my lift. See the pictures of this little baby, and one of the big bad boys.


 
She looks good and green.  About the sexing odds, keep in mind occasionally someone wins the lotto--it's all about odds.  Not to rub it in, but this grow I planted 9; 1 never broke ground; 1 was male; 7 were female.  I'll never have that sort of odds with me ever again, I don't think.  Good luck and take care of the baby.


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## RiskyPack (May 17, 2009)

About 2 weeks into flowering. One of the girls is a bit sick, but she has always been the weakest plant, I have tried to change the PH a bit so see if that will work. The other one is looking great.


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## RiskyPack (May 28, 2009)

I just received my 400 watt HPS lamp with a special reflector. I looks super cool I was so psyched when I turned on for the first time. Then I got kind of disappointed with the measly light coming from it. But after about 10 second it turned on for real, and it was like gold in my eyes. I could just feel a big smile appearing on my face, like a 4-year-old child on Christmas night. I know it is a bit late for my current grow, but my next grow will be crazy I promise you.


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## RiskyPack (May 30, 2009)

She is getting nice and frosty


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## kalikisu (May 30, 2009)

risky those are some nice looking girls. Have you been able to identify where the spots are from? If you know let us know. happy grow dude


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## RiskyPack (May 30, 2009)

No unfortunately not. I think it must have been some kind of fungus. The plant was weak right from the beginning, and I had to harvest it early because all the pestils turned brown. I think it must have been something in the soil. As for the yellow leaves on my last plant the cause is a bit too much fertilizer. But I don't think she took any harm from it.


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## RiskyPack (Jun 13, 2009)

Today is the day of harvest.. Got 60 gram out of her after manicure... Not bad for a first timer... Next time I'll try to double the outcome per plant... But isn't she beautiful?


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## RiskyPack (Jul 23, 2009)

I started to use the buds now, I ended up with about 20 g of dried buds, and the quality is absolutely superb. I can't wait for my new plants to grow bigger.


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## kalikisu (Jul 23, 2009)

keep it growin' keep it :joint:


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## kebnekajse (Jul 23, 2009)

RiskyPack said:
			
		

> I started to use the buds now, I ended up with about 20 g of dried buds, and the quality is absolutely superb. I can't wait for my new plants to grow bigger.



More than a month of curing, that's good my friend! You seem to have learned a lot this grow and the next will be even better. Keep it up!


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## RiskyPack (Jul 27, 2009)

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?p=512686

This is my second gro, if you would like to check it out


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## RiskyPack (Aug 12, 2009)

Just a small smoke report.. I don't know if it is a particular potent strain, but it seems like these buds can get the best of everyone I tried it with. It starts out with a really nice head high, that seems to last forever. Me and my friends agreed that it comes in waves, and we were trying to count the waves of laughter, but after 10-12 we lost count, and just continued laughing. Then we checked the time, and only an hour had past since we lit the joint. 1 of us used to be a pretty regular smoker, and had his share in Spain and Italy, and I have smoked in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, India, and Nepal. But there is no fighting against the Northern Light, you just have to surrender yourself to it. Finally when the laughter stopped one of my friends started to feel a bit sick and went to sleep, another friend just kept on saying how his mouth felt funny. After about 2 hours I was clear enough to ride my bicycle home, but the sleep after one of these babies is fantastic.

Also tried with one other who started hallucinating and he swore that is heart was slowing down, and his head exploding. Finally he took a cab to the hospital, where they told him not to smoke weed.

But what I am trying to say is that it is a strain that will give to a very big hit of sativa, and it can be too much for some, but damn I really love my first homegrown buds.


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## kalikisu (Aug 12, 2009)

Sounds like a good time!


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## RiskyPack (Aug 22, 2009)

I don't think I have mentioned this, but the seeds are Northern Light Special from KC Brains Seeds. If you are thinking about trying a new strain and you are not looking for feminized seeds, I highly recommend that you give this strain a try. I had some probs with it, but it was also my first grow. I can only imagine what some of you experienced growers out there could get out of this strain.


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## lordofwar (Nov 7, 2009)

dont fertilize for a while when your ready to harvest like 2-3 weeks


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## RiskyPack (Jan 14, 2010)

Wow learned so much since then... I got 60 g out of her wet... She was only in week 6 when I harvested.. She was a beauty though and a good smoke, but I would have gotten so much more out of her now. But I have to try Northern Light Special again one day.


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