First time grow[indoor + outdoor combo] budget CFL + unstable power

[KushyHermit]

Hello all, i am a first time grower currently groeing my first bag seeds. It is very difficult and expensive to get quality smokes here, where as brickweed/"kush" is quite fairly priced and of ok quantity for the price, and at the lowest level what they call "bush", and all but the most expensive are packed with seeds. Last good smoke I had was over 3-4 years (maybe 1 or 2 good smokes in between) ago and have been frustrated with the smoke I get so decided to grow mine when i moved. I have done quite a bit of research before starting this endeavor and am growing under a budget. I will try to share with you the process I have used and look forward to all your advice.

I am located in a country with unstable power and as such have very frequent outages(every day) as such I cannot rely on a full indoor grow and so have my plants growing in pots which I try to place outdoor in the day time and then move them indoors in the evening to supplement them with some extra light, I am currently in between jobs and so have to really make do with a small setup. I have a spare room which I am using to grow, windows slight open to let in some breeze, temp is nice at around 25°c at night.

Soil was taken from my former yard, we had free roam chickens that fertilized everywhere, plus the soil was quite rich. I also got goat + sheep pellets which I placed just a few(4-8) in the top so when i water it takes some nutrients down? They seem to like it I think?

My main plants are my fantastic 4 (scorch, biggest, tallest, tiny), they are the liveliest of the bunch and the ones that get special treatment. All four have been topped and the tops thrown away because I am an impatient idiot who didnt realise I could clone the tops and flower them early to tell sex....

Anyway the fantastic 4 are currently 5weeks 6 days old from seedling, and only biggest has been transferred to a larger pot and has also undergone some small LST so I have 4main branches right now. I will wait for the smaller bud points ro grow out maybe a week or two more then decide if I am ok with the size to flower biggest. The other 3 will be transferred to bigger pots tomorrow and yes, I know I need way more lights, hopefully I can get 2 more cfls soon. The main problem I have is I do not have a proper mount for the lamps, but all in good time.

I will share with you the adventures of the fantastic 4 hopefully its not as sucky as the films :P i think they are indicas but I am really hoping rhere is some sativa in there for some head high. Tired of sleepy time

[Aloner]

Talk about growing against all odds! It seems like they're coming along pretty well so far. Good luck, I'll be watching!

[MedMan]

Looks like a great start so far . I would transplant the ones in the Dixie cups soon to larger pots they really put out roots at that age . Great Start KushyHermit

[MedMan]

Also KushyHermit since CFLs don't draw a lot if you can find an old computer battery backup or CPS you can replace the small battery with a car or marine battery and power outages won't be too much problem .Lot of times the battery goes bad and people throw them out and usually only thing wrong is the battery and they will connect to a car battery easy enough

[KushyHermit]

Thanks for the kind words and advice guys, i have a ups i gave to someone for repairs months ago and I am supposed to get it back so I will try to use that to support the lights, during outages, at least until I can afford a generator.

The plants are showing signs of maturity already; stems a bit spaced rather than opposite eachother. Can anyone say if the combo of outdoor + indoor + unreliable light is doing any harm to the lovelies?
Also can anyone see any sativa in there? I ask this particularly because sativa is native to the country but, im pretty sure the seedbags were mostly indica dominants. I dont mind whatever it is but I definitely wouldn't mind some sativa even as a hybrid

[MedMan]

To me they look like a sativa dominant strain a indica would have fatter wider leaves . But with so many hybrids now its really hard to get a pure indica or sativa . the longer stretch could mean lights not close enough or the sativa really showing up . Sativa's will stretch out and grow tall the indica's will usually be shorter . The regular Grow Weed Easy site has a lot of good info on all of that with pictures to help .

[KushyHermit]

Tnx, i have researched quite a bit but a more professional experience is more than welcome. Only recently did I start noticing those longish sativa looking leaves, they looked more like indicas before. Also 1 of them has a shorter and wider leaf design, i tried to mix the seeds feom different bags so I get some variety. Only biggest so far gets the most light while indoors because it is positioned right under the reflector between the other lights, so I guess some stretching in the others which are on the edge of the reflector is expected. Also I have had no power during the nights for 5 nights now so not sure if that may cause them to start flowering,will watch and see.

[GanjaGed]

Have you considered dropping the 2 side lights down a bit closer to the height of the smaller plants and directly over them? They'll help the small ones and if you keep the reflector center and over the big one they'll side light it and help with lower growth.

Do you have a way to replace the foil with something like white plastic sheeting or even just paint the inside of the box flat white? The foil can cause hot spots that can give you trouble, plus it's not that great of a reflective material. It can certainly be made to work but if other options are available I'd look into those, mylar, white plastic, white paint, etc. Since you have a small box like that you could look into mylar balloons, cut them open and the insides should work as they aren't printed on, or even piece them together from ones with mostly shiny outsides.

[KushyHermit]

Any opinions on using rain water gathered in a plastic barrel to water the plants? Is rain water good for them?, i have no tools for measuring ph. I live in a very backwards country...

[MedMan]

Lots of people use it . not sure about pH or anything but if you are using your soil from farm I don't think rainwater would hurt anything .

[KushyHermit]

Hello Here with some photo updates for week 6 day 6, tomorrow is their 7 week birthday!..... Well 2 of the fantastic 4 have gone into larger "pots" which have holes in the bottom for drainage, it took longer for me to transfer them because we had a week of rain which ended up drenching my soil. I finally got tired of waiting for my "sieved" soil and just used from the main batch which was drier but also has quite a bit of gravel stones, hopefully this gives it more air + drainage inside but also means less overall soil (I'll manage).

I have also been having some serious power outage that last through out the whole night at times (4 times this week already), as such the plants are probably small for their age(???small for 7 weeks old from germ?????). But I have been putting them outside in the mornings where they usually get direct sunlight(with mix of cloudy days, it is raining season) up till about 5pm. Temperature outside by my phone app says its around 28*c daytime with a humidity of 60%, night temperatures are 21*c but plants are usually indoors during nights sitting under lights and praying there is power.

I have also decided to start flowering "scorch" (the one in the solo cup) yesterday to use to gain experience on the flowering stage. I will try to observe how the flowers form, how long it takes to show, if my light timing is good, how it responds to the night room, how much it will stretch, if the soil is good for flowering,..... so many boxes to tick. I am also hoping to be able to purchase a magnifying lens soon so I can get in close and personal.

Yesterday I decided to try to narrow down what Strain this looks like from leaf design + location. I very much suspect that these are Nigerians, whether pure or not the genetics are not important in this grow, I am simply trying/hoping to know what I am growing. Like I said the only clues I have are location I got the bag with seeds and also trying to compare it to the few pics of Nigerians online. I am welcome to ideas and suggestions from the more experienced community so we can identify these mystery gals. One trait i noticed on the plants is a "curving-back" on tips of last finger leafs (you can see it in some of the pics), The larger plant also is a deeper green compared to his age-mates who went into bigger pots later, is this an age thing (the deeper green)? So far I also count 7 fingers but I am heavily suspecting the new growth have 9 fingers, just waiting on it to open fully.

And lastly for this post is when do you guys advice I flower Biggest? From the looks of it I have 4 main colas, I don't know how much the small bud-points will grow when set to flower (should branches be long before they produce bud?). I was considering putting biggest to flower at week 8 but I suspect SHE (because she can only be a she and nothing else ) will need some more time in the veg phase. I have also been reading up on defoliation and would like to employ some small strategic defoliation to increase yield.

[KushyHermit]

Some extra pics that couldn't fit in above, attempted close-ups too

[KushyHermit]

Hello just a little update, tiny seems tohave mutated and grown a 3 stem node, anyone care to share some light on here.

[MedMan]

It happens kushygrow its low on main lobe and will be defiled most likely . Great job so far will be watching

[KushyHermit]

Some good news guys, scorch who i set to 12/12 last week wednesday has revealed her first lady bits . She is the one in the solo cup and was wondering if I should move her into a larger container or leave her where she is. She is currently around 11'' and looks to be a sativa. What do you guys say? What is my window for transferring her?

Also 2 of the other potted plants have started growing pre-flowers, but they are still too small to identify. And funnily enough biggest is the only one not showing preflowers just these beautiful purple stems.

[KushyHermit]

Hello fellow buds and budlets, here to give you an update on the fantastic 4.

Due unstable /unreliable power we had a high current thwt blew out most of my bulbs at home including one of the grow bulbs, which on a budget just ruins any thought of a decent indoor flowering. So I decided to do and outdoor/indoor flowering and switch the ladies to flowering after 8 weeks in veg @ around 11" tall. They werent very lush with only 2 main colas but this is my first grow and as such I habe picked up on what to adjust/improve for the next one.

I ran into a few problems last week and ended up ripping one of the plants in half where it was topped, i was adjusting the hanger pins and didnt realise how the positioning made it easy to tear. As such I quickly got the only thing available, insulation tape.... But it didnt show any signs of stress and a week later is still alive and racing up with the others,will leave plaster on for about a month then look how she healed up. Second problem was biggest started getting pale yellowing leaves at the bottom and as such grinded up some more manure, poured it on top, then watered.

Scorch is now 2 weeks into flowering and has started filling out with pistils on the top (pictures below), biggest has also shown her beautiful flowers

[KushyHermit]

[namelessghost]

Looking good!