New grower here with a mystery seed...

[WeirdWiredWolf]

Hi everyone! First-time grower here; I was cleaning out our gardening junk box one day and came across a mystery seed. Plopped it in with another houseplant, after a while it started sprouting and...hey where did this come from? (that's probably the main mystery in my house; who got it and from where? It's gotta be pretty old...)

I want to say the plant is about six weeks old now, but to be honest I haven't really been keeping track. I started out in plain potting soil with another plant and transplanted it with no issues about a month ago. Right now it's in Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil and I'm feeding with Grow Big on a normal schedule (once a week), watering when the top of the soil looks dry. In general it's been treated like any other houseplant, I kinda want to see how far I can get this grow with a minimal setup.

I was using a standard full-spectrum light at first but my roommate thinks it'll do just fine with natural light....maybe, but for numerous reasons I don't want it to get any taller than it is now (indoor grow, I don't have a specific space set up). As a seedling it was in a window and got pretty leggy before I had the grow light and now that it's been placed in a window again (what part of 'stealth' does my roommate not get?) it's getting tall again. Seems healthy, but I did notice that a couple of the larger fan leaves are curling slightly.

I was trying to train it, but my ties kept getting removed <_< (roomie probably thought I was hurting the plant) I'd like to not get the plant much taller than the support rod...if it is a girl and I have to find a hiding place, that's about my height limit. I have some of the materials to build a space bucket or a reasonable substitute; one of my side jobs is freelance computer tech so I have spare fans and power supplies all over the place (now I'm wishing I didn't junk that spare tower case last month).

Growing is legal where I live, but we rent and I'm not sure how landlords are going to handle the new laws so I want to be able to keep this reasonably hidden. Any tips for training, and what's the easiest way to tell the gender? I think I know what I'm looking for, but I can't get a clear enough look. These pics were taken with it on the floor...if more/better ones are needed, let me know and I'll try to oblige.

[alltatup]

Hey Wolf, welcome to the forum! I'd say plant definitely needs more light, it's kind of scrawny. There's no easy fix to keeping your plant short; you have to do some seriousl reading over on the GWE site: I recommend you go over there and read about topping your plant, so it will branch laterally and produce more bud sites. And more light!!!!!

[oldjarhead100]

hey wolf alltatup is right looks like your girl is stretching looking for light . I would move her to a south facing window and snip her back to one of the nodes then the bottom branches will grow . but I would read all the tutorials on gwe soon it will give you ideas on taking care of her. she will grow whatever you do but her yield will depend on you

[WeirdWiredWolf]

The window it's currently in is south-facing, but the east window (where it started out, but the sill is too small for the current container) tends to get more light. I have a small grow light and tripod someplace so will set that up (and make sure it's undisturbed). Really curious to see how this turns out.

[alltatup]

Give her more light and lots of TLC, and you'll be glad you did!!

[dontknownuttin]

Hey Wolf, welcome to the forum! I'd say plant definitely needs more light, it's kind of scrawny. There's no easy fix to keeping your plant short; you have to do some seriousl reading over on the GWE site: I recommend you go over there and read about topping your plant, so it will branch laterally and produce more bud sites. And more light!!!!!

What he said

[WeirdWiredWolf]

I topped "Arthur" (roomie named it) to the second node about a week ago...tried to root the top but it didn't take. The main plant was looking a bit sad until a few days ago when we had a heat wave....she (hope it's a she) bounced back nicely. 7.5" tall now As an added bonus, the first mystery seed that I had given up for lost last month (forgot it was still in the smaller pot that I threw the top into) is showing green! (now things get interesting) I'm giving that one the grow light right off so it doesn't get as leggy as Arthur did and not letting roomie near it so I can train it properly this time.





I was planning to build a space bucket, but right now my best bet may be to just get a small grow tent (I'd like to keep her in the current container and the bucket may not be tall enough).

[WeirdWiredWolf]

Another update. I've had to change tactics with my space bucket idea; the wiring in this place can be questionable and my roommate has decreed that she won't allow any light fixtures that I rig up myself (as in build from scratch). Understandable.

I lost the lid (hmmm) to the bucket, so right now I have a single A19 LED bulb in a clamp-on reflector for Little Arthur, and it's working well; s/he's certainly more compact (I was able to keep the light as close as possible from the start). Container is a 2gal smart pot with Ocean Forest (what would be the best watering schedule with that combo?), this is week 3 I think. I still have to make something to raise the pot off of the bottom, but until then I'm watering in the sink and making sure to watch/empty the bucket every so often.

Arthur The First is a bit unruly, but thriving (still with natural light).