New member/first time grower needs help!

[TVR]

Hi folks -- just joined and hoping for some advice! I got a hydroponic setup for Xmas, had some seeds lying around and figured I'd give it a try. and they seem to have taken off! but this is absolutely my first time, and I'm not sure what to do next. I've been reading a lot but it can be confusing, and I'm afraid I might learn the hard way. First, as you can see, I'm about to run out of room below the lights as they are fully extended. Just not sure what to do about that. I don't think you can transplant from a hydro setup? I've read about "training" for better yields, is that also a solution for this? should I bag these lights and get some hanging ones? Also I've read a lot about getting rid of the males to also increase yield. is that a must do as well? I bet there's lots of ways to skin a cat, and I would welcome all suggestions on the best way to proceed. lots of sites on the topic but this one seemed very friendly and grounded. thx TVR

[Rwise]

I'll address the males, you cull them so you get no seed on your females, or you let them have their way with the girls and have seeds for another few (100) grows.
I dont do hydro, those folks will be along soon, but it looks like its going to be cramped. With bag seed (?) you dont know what you have, male, female, auto, photo.
Give us some details, PH, RH, temps, wattage from the wall on the LED, details we need details!
Welcome to GWE, nice start.

[Rwise]

IDK if anyone does anything with males other than compost and pollen.

[OldManGrower]

Start with "Grow Weed Easy" website, at the top of this page. Every question you asked is answered on that site, No matter what you do, you are going to learn the hard way, so don't stress over it too much. Look on the GWE website under "plant training". I don't know how this setup was represented to you, but it is not really conducive to productive weed growing. After you read the website and some of the more pertinent posts in this forum, you will begin to gain insight into how to do this. By the way, welcome to the club.

[TVR]

Well this confirms how little I know! As for the seeds, they were literally what I threw in a cup when I cleaned something I had bought with seeds so I know nothing about them! I just kinda did this on a lark and am now kinda hooked. The booklet for the setup has no info on the light other than it is "four color" LED. it was made in China by a company called MUFGA. I'm using warm tap water and the fertilizer they included in the kit. I'm sorry I really dont know much! but now I'm in I guess.....

[SoOrbudgal]

OldManGrower gave you the best information on this current grow you have TVR. I think the setup you have would be most useful for lettuce and not the devils lettuce heehee. If your in a legal state we hope you are then start gathering the simple items first. Get the grow together FIRST before you jump in to this crazy hobby. It takes practice and yes reading an watching other grows. We all started like you not knowing, making mistakes. Can you grow outside during summer?

[AGH]

Welcome to growing! It is a TON of fun and you can put as much or as little time into it as you want. I've found that it's easy to get lost for a VERY long time in my tent where there are no clocks and the outside world doesn't matter. There's been times where my husband has searched the house and the yard for me only to find me in the tent with my plants.

I second OldManGrower - you will f-it up and that's okay, that's part of the fun! I learn something every grow which is why I keep a grow journal so that I can reference past grows and see what worked or didn't work when dealing with different situations. As long as you learn something useful for your next grow, that's really what matters. And in my experience, it's REALLY hard to mess things up so bad that you need to scrap everything and start over. Not impossible, but difficult :-) Remember, cannabis is a plant and it wants to grow!

Your plants look healthy and happy so that's a plus! Without the information that someone else mentioned, it's hard to tell too much about them so in future posts, the more info, the better. Understandably with this being your first grow, you don't yet know what's important, so keep an eye out on the other threads to see what kind of info people post about their grows when asking questions.

Now to your questions:
- Yes, it definitely looks like you're going to run out of room. Training is great for yields, yes indeed, but that's only a byproduct of why we train. We train partly for height but just as importantly, we train so that as many bud sites are exposed to fresh air and light. (Remember from elementary school...light is food for plants!) That fresh air and light makes the buds grow and fatten up increasing yields. For more info, as OldManGrower said, go to growweedeasy.com and search plant training and you'll have more information that you know what to do with! **See note below**
- I don't know that you can transplant from hydro as I grow in soil. Someone else may have some insight, but at the same time, if you feel like experimenting, f*ck around and find out!
- Your lights don't look like they've been made for cannabis growing. Although it's amazing to see what people do with the resources that they have so nothing's impossible. Although doing a job with the correct tools will make your job easier. There's also some great reviews for different kinds of lights for different budgets on GWE so take a look into those articles as well.
- Regarding males, at this point, get rid of them. They do not produce bud and they will pollinate your females which will result in lots of seeds and significantly reduced yields. Also, as someone mentioned before, pollen sticks around for a while and there is a risk of pollen from one grow to spoil future grows in the same space.
- Lastly, it looks like you're growing in a walkout basement or something similar in more of an open space. You will want to seriously look into getting a grow tent. One of the biggest reasons is that in the flowering stage your plants will need 12 hours of COMPLETE darkness otherwise they'll do weird things...think feeding a Gremlin after midnight! It will also help you to control temperatures and humidity, ventilation, circulation, etc. No need to get anything fancy as long as it keeps the light out. If you don't want to get a tent, there are some very clever things people have done using closets, unused rooms, cupboards, etc. I'm not clever enough to do those things though I am jealous of those who are so creative!

All good questions and great to have a new grower here! Your plants look young so you can either let them run and see how they turn out or you can toss them and start fresh. Personally, since you haven't spent money on your beans, I'd say purchase some seeds from a reputable breeder (bet you'll be surprised to know that there are articles on that on GWE as well...). This way, you get to enjoy what you grow after your harvest instead of just hoping for the best. Additionally, not even the best grower in the world can grow good cannabis from poor seed genetics. Starting with good genetics will make your life MUCH easier! While you're deciding on what strain to go with, you can research lights, as well as growing methods (ie. hydro or soil, organic or synthetic, etc.) and get yourself completely set up based on your resources and situation.

Keep us posted and good luck! Welcome to the forums!

**Note: One of the biggest mistakes new growers make is loving their plants TOO MUCH! This usually comes from a very good place, but remember you won't do it perfectly the first time or second time, and hopefully you're still learning after your 100th time! So, while there is tons of info available, remember that you don't need to use it all at once. Just because you have a toolbox full of fancy tools, it doesn't necessarily mean that you need to use all the tools at the same time for a job. A hammer is still pretty much your best bet for driving a nail into a board.**

[90Gizmo]

Time to flip them if you're going to keep them in that setup.

[Blowdout2269]

I'm fairly confident that you can transplant from hydro to soil, but not the other way around. I would also do it soon, before the roots are to entangled with each other.

[Puglover1]

I started my first grow in an Aero-Garden. I transplanted into medium size peat pots with potting soil then later into plastic pots. The root ball was tangled up but I took my time, freed the smallest plants first. I didn't kill anyone. But you will need proper lights and an environmental space if half are females. GL. You need to get some of them sorted soon, after you read up on the main site.

[Bluey]

You've made a terrific start, well done.

The setup you have is not big enough for one cannabis plant unless you bonsai it, I know nothing of that approach.

You'll need to transfer them and youll need to spend some bucks on a setup you can control.

Some here manage to grow some pretty decent plants under very little light...say 100w LED....I'm sure they can help

[TVR]

Ok so first, thank you all for the comments and warm welcome. a great community. second, I took the advice and went off and read and read some more. and all the while things were growing of course, and I think I'm in a bit deeper now. I've attached three pics. the first is the hydro setup, and I've been training and they are all not going the "christmas tree" route. and getting some nice shoots. but I think I'm pretty tangled up to the point above on roots tangling, and perhaps now past the point of no return. the second two shots are what I did with the extra seeds I had germinated. they're taking off but a couple weeks behind the hydro. and I suspect I'm heading toward the same problem. too crowded? one question tho, half of these will be males, so I will get rid of them as much as that seems to hurt! I get it. so would reducing these plants by -50% give me the room I need? the hydro has maybe 16 plants; each bucket maybe 10, so after sexing (if thats the term) I'd have 8 or so in the hydro and 5 in a bucket. Still too much? for the larger hydro ones I'm about 4-5 weeks in, and I think they show their gender at around 6 weeks or so, so I'd be close in thinning the herd on that. Maybe that's the best I can do with those. on the buckets, I think I should transplant now perhaps? if this is too crowded, how many should I have in a bucket? So my next steps would be thin the herd on the hydro, and let it go as it might be too much trouble to do more at this point, and on the buckets, transplant now and thin later when they reveal their gender? they do all look happy . and yes again to the above and my reading, I need more/better lights perhaps, and need to be ready with a tent/closet etc. to be able to provide total darkness at the flowering stage. again appreciate all the help. I do think I've fallen down the rabbit hole as they say.

[Puglover1]

I wouldn't give up on trying to separate the 'hydro' root mess. I had 3 cannabis plants, basils and more herbs. I successfully separated, potted them up and grew them all to the end of their lives.

[SoOrbudgal]

Well is all hydro the plan? Good looking healthy what ever sex they are. When i use reg. seeds i place one in each small 1 gal pot then flip to flower get a magnifier an check daily for the sex. Man you did kinda fall down that hole but you can dig them out gently they can take abuse better than you think. Except autos screw with there roots and they stunt or worse.

I think a solo cup would be too small at this point, it can be done in 1gal that's all i've used. Good luck

[TVR]

I think my hydro setup is too small(?) to accomodate what I've got going, so I think I'm going to go the potting mix route which is what I have in the buckets?

[SoOrbudgal]

OK yes that's a small hydro for sprouts an lettuce. Do you have a tent and correct lighting for doing indoor grow? I've sexed photoperiod outdoors also but that was in June here in Oregon too cold for anything like MJ outdoors now. Those buckets will work fine just drill 12 or so holes in them. You got room enough to seperate them and put them into their own pots? If not I'd flip them real soon cause their gonna start really growing big soon.

[TVR]

OK I'm back! I've managed to transplant all my plants out of my lettuce hydro and dixie cups in to 4 gal pots. only lost one plant, and have about 38 and they seem to be doing well -- see the pic. the oldest are now about 6-7 weeks old, and I think I should be able to start seeing the sex? I've attached a couple pics from the top of my oldest, can someone help -- can you tell from this? are those the tiny white filaments that say female? they're easier to see here than in person. really appreciate the help. have been reading everything and more than once, but it's still challenging when it's your first time!

[Bluey]

Congrats. It's a girl

[dirtymike]

If all of those are she's, your going to have a nice harvest in 4 months!

[TVR]

Alright!! And I promise I wont post every one, but here are two more of my bigger plants. these both are more "gangley" if that's the right word -- taller, more space between the leaves etc., which I understand are typically more male traits? but they just have these spiky things. I think from my reading that I'm just entering the "vegitative" state and it can be hard to tell the sex till toward the end? JUst want to be careful to get rid of the boys asap but not lose any girls!

[Bluey]

Both girls..congrats....
Outdoors the males tend to take on those traits for sure
FYI the veg stage starts the moment it grows its first leaves

[TVR]

PS I've read so many stories/pics etc. on gender, but this seems like something that only comes with experience so I appreciate the insight -- first grow as they say!