First time growing and just wondering if I’m doing this right. Made a grow box lined with foil. My light is a cheap Bell and Howell Grow Burst. Plants are Auto Flowering. They are about 3 inches tall and moving very slow. I have the red and blue light on for about 16 to 18 hours a day and 8 to 10 hours for darkness. I wait for the soil to get dry before watering. I used Fox Farm soil. Am I doing something wrong? Can someone tell me what to do.
[date=2023-05-22)
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Welcome to the forum.
Your duplicate post has been removed. Please don’t create duplicate posts.
How big is your grow box?
The major issue I see is that you will not be able to grow cannabis with the light you have. Lighting is the single most important factor for a productive grow. It takes at least 200 watts of high efficiency lighting to flower a cannabis plant. The light you have is built with low efficiency diodes and it too low of a wattage. You will want a light built with Samsung LM301 series diodes. Look at HLG, Spider Farmer, or Mars Hydro for a better light.
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The box is 24"x24"x24" The boss will not let me set up a grow room.
Just ordered the Vivosun VS 1000 I hope this one is the right one
I would also be concerned with your height. You will definitely need more! Just say min 12" light distance to plant, pot size of even a nursery pot is 5-6", that only leaves you with 6" plant. I’ve seen small grows done but this I see being difficult imo.
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When they get big enough, I plan to plant outdoors.
Is that the right light ???
Not ideal, but definitely far, far better. You can grow some decent weed with it.
You won’t be able to contain a plant in this space. 24x24 (length/width) is pushing it, and 24" tall simply won’t work. Even a well-trained plant will be 3 to 4 feet tall and you still need to leave room for your light and space between the plant and the light.
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As @MidwestGuy guy said about 200 total watts. Look for anything 35-50 watts per sq ft. Hlg, ac infinity, mars hydr, spider farmer.
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Just how many plants are you growing in your 24x24 inch grow box? In that space you should only grow one plant.
Any chance you can grow outdoors? You could remove weakest plants and grow them outdoors.
Waiting for them to get big enough to move outside
Got a vivosun VS1000 Plants are growing very slow. Only about 2" high after 3 weeks. Temp is 76 in box fan is always on. Light is 24" above plants. Just fed them FF Big bloom for first time. Waiting for soil to dry to feed again. But growth is slow ( WHY ) Did I do something wrong? I did transplant them into a larger pot and roots are very small. Please tell me what I did wrong. I know I need a grow tent to do the job right. Just want to move the plants outdoors
It’s too early to feed if in a FF soil, particularly if the plants are still small. FF soils have enough nutrients to feed a normally growing plant for ~4 weeks from the last transplant. That said, a bit of Big Bloom shouldn’t hurt. Big Bloom has very little NPK and is mostly micronutrients like iron, copper, and boron. I wouldn’t feed again until necessary though.
The most common cause of slow growth in a young plant is overwatering. It’s important to remember that a plant that is only 2" tall only needs a couple ml of water per day. A young plant’s roots can’t handle being wet for too long as they can’'t absorb oxygen when wet. It’s not an issue with older, larger plants. It’s best to not water at all and instead put a clear humidity dome over them. A cut pop bottle or a clear Solo cup works fine. Spray inside the dome a couple times a day. The plant can then get all the water it needs via the humidity in the dome.
If watering is good and you are letting the soil dry out between waterings then I assume that the poor lighting was the cause. You should see improved growth with the better lighting.
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I concur…
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I got the vivosun VS1000 I thought that would do fine for a couple of plants
It will be fine for a couple of plants if you are moving them outdoors within a few weeks. The light might flower 1 small plant if growing indoors. 100 watts isn’t really enough to flower a plant.
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I put 3 plants outside with a clear solo cup (misted with water) sitting in the sun. I wish there was a better way to chat with you
What would recommend that won’t break the bank?
Any light built with Samsung LM301 series diodes. If you intend to flower plants under artificial lighting, then you will need ~200 watts per plant. One plant needs 200 watts, 2 plants need 400 watts, and so on.
Spider Farmer and Mars Hydro are the most budget friendly, but you should still expect to pay ~$1 per watt for quality lighting.
All that said, I’m not sure spending a lot of money on lighting is necessary if you are planning on flowering the plants outdoors.
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Thanks for the update again I plan on putting these guys outside when they are big enough. What size should they be before transplant to the outdoors
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