# Is my plant healthy?



## ThetaGrower (Nov 15, 2011)

Hello everyone!
I am growing my first plant. I started by germinating  the seed in rock-wool and that I have put the rock-wool in mixture of  soil from my garden(that might be the mistake) and orcidaceae soil. I  am using a single fluorescent light bulb (100w equivalent) with a  reflector, about 10cm above the plant.
What worries me is: I have  noticed that the leaves are starting to turn a little white (it is not  very well visible on the picture) but i have a feeling that the round  leaves and edges of the other two leaves have a whitish cast. Please  take a look at the photo to see if my plant is healthy.
PS: Sorry about any grammar mistakes, I am not a native English speaker


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## pcduck (Nov 15, 2011)

Looks ok, but you need to post your pics on our server here.


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## Hick (Nov 15, 2011)

it looks pretty 'stretched', elongated theta'.. tell us about your setup. Lights, ventilation, medium, ect. ect.   
I'm guessing either 'not enough' light, or light not in the proper spectrum.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Nov 15, 2011)

A 100W equivalent light is not nearly enough to grow a plant.  I would suggest that you do some reading to learn what the plant needs to grow.  There is far far more to it than simply throwing a seed in dirt and putting a small CFL light over it.  Most have hundreds or thousands invested in a proper grow environment.


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## ThetaGrower (Nov 15, 2011)

I am planning stronger lights and a proper ventilation system, but I was afraid that too strong light will burn the plant in early stages, as the (100w equiv.) light is very intense near the bulb. Should I put a stronger light already? I think the plant is too tall because I used a incandescent light bulb for first 3 days.

The second mistake was probably mixing soil from my garden with orcidaceae soil. Should I replace the soil with a sterilized commercial one or is it already too late for that?

I do monitor soil PH and it is a little more than 6.5, which should be fine I think (i bought a chemical to decrease soil ph but there was no need so far).

I'm glad that my plant is not sick  :icon_smile:


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## The Hemp Goddess (Nov 15, 2011)

It may not be "sick", but it is stretched and if you do not get more light and some ventilation, it will continue to stretch.

You should have a space set up, tested and running before you germinate even a single seed.  What are your plans for light and ventilation?  I would recommend growing more than 1 seed at a time.  Where did you get your seeds?


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## ThetaGrower (Nov 15, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> It may not be "sick", but it is stretched and if you do not get more light and some ventilation, it will continue to stretch.
> 
> You should have a space set up, tested and running before you germinate even a single seed.  What are your plans for light and ventilation?  I would recommend growing more than 1 seed at a time.  Where did you get your seeds?



You are right, I started doing this a bit unprepared. I will have a chance to go to local supplier at the end of the week so for now I have replaced the lamp with 150w equivalent warm daylight and moved the plant very close to the lamp. I hope it will be fine for a few days..

The plan is to use a closed I don't use as growbox, I will put white papers(I have heard alu foil is not recommended) on the walls, buy a fan with carbon filter from the local supplier to vent gases, but I am still undecided between a sodium or just very strong cold fluorescent lamp(I will probably go for the second one). I have planted only one seed because I am only doing this for myself, but if this one does not grow well, I will plant another one and use better light from the beginning.

I have bought the seeds in a shop, they are supposed to be "Moby ****", "Green House Seed Co."


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## The Hemp Goddess (Nov 15, 2011)

I cannot urge you enough to flower with HPS rather than CFLs.  There are several reasons for this:

First of all, lumen for lumen CFLs are going to cost about *twice as much to operate* every single month compared to the same lumens from a HPS.  In addition, it is probably going to* cost more initially* for the bulbs, cords, sockets, and reflectors.  The CFLs will *run hotter* (no such thing as cold fluorescent lamps) than HPS.  And after paying all that extra money and having to deal with the extra heat, you are going to get *substantially less bud*.  The bottom line is that CFLs are the most expensive bulbs to use to grow and they produce the least amount of bud.  The 150W equivalent that you purchased only puts out about 2600 lumens.  Suince you really need 3000 lumens per sq ft for vegging and 5000 lumens per sq ft for flowering, this is good for a space less than a foot square.  For flowering it is good for about 12" x 6" or 1/2 a sq ft.  Let's compare with a 250W HPS.  The 250W HPS emits about 28,000 lumens and uses about 250W.  To equal this with the 150W equivalent bulbs, you would need 10+ 42W (150W equivalent) CFLs.  

250W HPS=28,000 lumens
420W CFLs=26,000 lumens

Ventilation generally serves 2 purposes--helping to keep your space cool and supplying fresh CO2 to your plants.  Your plants need a continual supply of fresh air all the time the lights are on for proper photosynthesis.

I would paint the walls FLAT white rather than hanging paper than may or may not be reflective. 

The reason for planting more than 1 or 2 seeds is because of males.  Male plants produce NO bud and are generally thrown away as soon as they show sex.  It is going to take 4-6 weeks for a plant to show sex.  If you plant 1 seed and it is a male, you have nothing to show for the 4-6 weeks you have invested and will have to start all over.

I really think that you need to back up a little, do some more reading so you have some kind of idea what it takes to take a plant to maturity, get your space in order (you really NEED an enclosed space), and then plant some seeds.  No offense, but you really seem to have little idea of what a marijuana plant needs to grow.  There truly is a lot more to this than putting a seed in garden dirt with a little CFL over top of it...


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## maineharvest (Nov 15, 2011)

Your plant is def stretched like everybody else said.  For a seedling that age there is no need to get a bigger light, the floro bulb you were using is fine but it prob wasnt close enough.  When the plant stretches like that it is prob cause it is reaching for the light.  Put a fan on it and get that bulb a few inches away.  But a few weeks down the line you will need a bigger light and to bud it you will need an even bigger light.  Like THG said, you have some upgrading to do and it really takes a lot to grow dank bud.


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## thedonofchronic (Nov 16, 2011)

Yes you may not need much more light but some
more flourescent light wouldnt hurt. You can also
make full use of your light source by using reflective surfacing
like mylar all around your grow to contain all the light that you
are losing from it dispersing around the room.
Good Luck!


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