The saga begins

[maz3282]

Here goes nothing. After reading up for a couple weeks, I'm finally ready to start my first grow.

I planted 4 germed AK47 seeds in Tops Black Magic all-purpose potting soil. Decided to plant them in pea moss pots so I can just throw them into a larger medium when the roots start to take shape.

My grow space is a 2 foot by 3 foot closet, lit by a 250W MH (22,000 lumens). I'm also using a box fan to keep things cool. I rent, so cutting holes is a no-no, but I cracked the sliding door a little bit.

I'll post some pics once these little ladies start showing their beautiful places.

Thanks for the help so far and wish me luck!

 

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

Sounds good mang. Here is some GREEN MOJO to get your babies going. Good luck on the grow my friend.

 

[maz3282]

All right, day three, still no growth. I know this stuff takes time, but I'm concerned about a strange odor my girlfriend and I noticed. It's not quite a burning smell, but it's distinctly electric. I had my light and fan on a timer when we left town this weekend and the place didn't burn down, but still... Also, nothing feels hot to the touch. Any of you guys experience this smell? If so, how much of a concern is this and what can I do to alleviate it?

 

[Bubby]

How thick are the wires you used to hook up your lights? If they're too thin, they can heat up the plastic around them, and cause odors/FIRE. It might be that the heat from your ballast is cooking something near it (got it near a plastic pot or something?), but you say nothing's hot to the touch. It's probably nothing serious, but you should stick a smoke detector in there just in case.

Or maybe you just never noticed your house smells like burnt electric stuff.

 

[maz3282]

Thanks, Bubby. The ballast is sorta close to a cardboard box that my boxfan is resting on. Moved that. Then I hung my cords from these adhesive hooks I stuck on the wall to get them away from the light and heat. Just turned on my rig, so I guess I'll see if the smell returns. By the way, about how long does it take for the plants to break through the soil?

 

[maz3282]

Man, am I stumbling out of the gate! I turned off my light to move some things around and when I turned it back on, the damn thing crapped out on me. The bulb gave a little fizzle and then, poof, went out. I need to call the hydro shop tomorrow to give me a little guidance so, until then, I'm gonna put my pots on a window sill so they get at least some light. Has anyone ever had this happen to them? Keep in mind this is a brand new Sun System light and ballast with an equally brand new GE lightbulb we're talking about.

 

[manicure]

it is common for this to happen. im an electrician, so i have frequently had to deal with this type of problem. if you turn your light off and turn it back on within a minute or so, the light wont come back on for a few minutes. dont keep flicking the light off and on, just give it another try and let give it a couple of minutes and if nothing, check your wiring

hope this helps

 

[1luvforbud]

ive heard that the sweat off your hands causes that... so make sure u use gloves when installing a bulb "{

 

[maz3282]

Well, the light situation is resolved, but my plants had to go a few days without light. So, I tossed the four seeds I was using and started anew with three others. Germed them on Wednesday, cracked on Friday, in the pots and under the lights since Friday night. I'm sorta paranoid about watering, though. Everything I've read says not to over water them, but how much is too much? Also, is it a bad thing when you dump some water on and the seed becomes exposed?

 

[Bubby]

They're still in the seeds? You'll want them under a bit of soil, because light bothers the roots. The 'rule of thumb' I've heard, is put them under twice as much soil, as they are tall.
For watering, I use a misting bottle, it disturbs the soil less. I figure the little girls don't absorb much water, so I only try to keep the soil slightly moist. I also only plant the seeds in soil after they've 'hatched', and expose the two cotyledons. This is just personal preference though--keeping them in the paper towel (without light) doesn't seem to hurt them (any 2nd opinions on this?).

Also, are you using Jiffy Pots? The past month I've been trying to sprout some seeds in soil (my first time outside of hydro), and I used peat pots. I've had two problems with them, and I probably won't use them anymore:
They hold a lot of water, and on two of 24 pots, I've had mold start growing on the underside.
I've had no success with roots actually growing OUT of them, they only grew in between the peat pot layers (this was a pain, because to take them out of the peat pot, several roots had to be ripped off)

Maybe you'll have better results though? Again this was my first and only attempt with them.

What ended up being the problem with the light?
Also, have you checked the PH of you soil? I bought some potting soil that ended up having a runoff ph of 4.7 (should be 6.2-6.8), but was easy to fix with some limestone powder.

 

[maz3282]

Bubby, I'm not sure what the problem with the light was. I just unplugged it for a day, turned it back on and there it was, bright as day. Well, I did jiggle the cord and took and and put in the lightbulb again.

As for the pots, they're not Jiffy pots, just a pack of seven peat moss pots I picked up at Wal-Mart. I rechecked a grow guide on this site and learned to thoroughly wet the pot before putting the soil in. I've found that the top couple centimeters dry of soil dry out, but it's moist deeper than that.

The seeds: When I say cracked, I mean two opened and little tendrils came out. The last one didn't crack or open, but I threw it in there anyway just to see what would happen.

Soil: pH was around 6.5 when I first opened the bag.

Tonight, I buried the seeds a little deeper, actually I put more soil on top of them. Now, should I keep the lights on until they sprout or put them on a 16-8 cycle?

So, that's where I'm at right now. Any ballpark figure on when these babies will break the surface? If I don't get any significant growth by next weekend, what should I do? Could I salvage these seeds here?