1st Grow. Northern Lights

[TxChronic1]

I'm about 3 days into my first grow and heres what I have done so far. For the box got a 27l'' X 15w'' X 32''h shed like thing made my Black and Decker. I first started out by lining the inside of the box with Mylar reflective material and cutting a hole in the top for my 150W HPS light. I then mounted two cfl's one 27W and the other 30W. I also put in a and a 75W florescent tube. After germination I put the 4 seedlings into soil plugs and put the plugs into meri-grow organic soil. I am using flora nova grow for nutrients and I am currently watering the plants at 310ppm. Temp. is at 80*f and Humid. about 43%. The Seedlings have been under only the florescent lights and I was wondering how long I should wait before I turn on the high pressure sodium light. How does everything look? Suggestions?

[TxChronic1]

Its been about 2 weeks now and there has been lots of growth. I also made some changes with the previous set up. Ive added another fan for more air flow, put the plants into separate pots, turned the HPS on, and ive moved the shelf down about 5in. I also just got a new plant (Katrina) that i am going to re veg. She is being fed just regular tap water. 2 of the plants are starting to wilt and lean over, this started happening as soon as i put the fan in, the 2 that are having problems are the ones that are right in front of the fan... Is the fan causing this? I am also going to be upping the nutrients to around 600ppm for early growth.
Temp. = 74.8
Humid. = 30%

[TxChronic1]

Heres Katrina

[twitch]

hey put the big pot by the fan the the red pots on the other side hat will help those two also dont up the nutes just yet i would wait another week

did u trim the roots of katrina?

[TxChronic1]

When I pulled her out of the bottle some of the ends broke off.

[twitch]

get super thrive now that will help with stress for all ur plants when ever u transplant mix 3 to 4 drops in a gallon and it makes it so they dont stop growing because they get stressed during transplanting

[ovechkin]

Sorry I can't offer any advice until I see your med card. Cheers til then!

[bombdiggity]

Sorry I can't offer any advice until I see your med card. Cheers til then!

uhhhhhhhhhhh :wtf:

[TxChronic1]

Ok so heres whats been going on. I moved the cups to the right side of the box away from the fan and I moved the large pot to the left side. I just noticed some fresh healthy looking growth on one of the two that where having problems. I'm thinking gonna pull through and make it. :) Also I was looking through some old stuff and I found these two blue led lights that I used to have in my car that light up with the music. Would these help at all? I was also wondering if I filled a cup with water and put dry ice in it and then put the cup by the intake would this help boost CO2 levels and cooling?

[twitch]

i dont know if the CO2 idea works thats what i did didnt really keep up with it but it can help keep it cool and i dont think those lights will do much they might any new growth on the other one

[crazywill]

Hey Txc,Have you got all the light leaks in your cab fixed.If you use co2 it is heavy than air and will settle on the floor.Set it up above the plants so it will drift down around your plants.I wouldnt start using co2 till they are 4" tall.You dont have to put water on the dry ice.Just open the contrianer with the lights on and cover it when light out.It will evaporate in the air all by it's self. PEACE

[KingKronic420]

plants are looking pretty good man.

keep us posted for sure.

where about in tx are you

[bombdiggity]

do they have a med program in tx?

[twitch]

dude i wish we had one in texas

[stinkyattic]

I want to see someone try cloning using those blue LED lights as a light source! Curiosity... plain n simple!

[twitch]

do u think it is possible? seriously slightly possible?

[stinkyattic]

Theoretically, yes... IF they are the correct blue. And you still might need some other wavelengths... Ehhh... I am not really up on my LED grow theory but I'm getting a good schoolin' watching the SnStealth log though.

[twitch]

i will have to pop over there and take a look, i watch it for the first page or 2, the leds seem a lil more complex then what i want to get in to but for a simple rooter for clones that would be cool

[TxChronic1]

Pictures

[daihashi]

dude i wish we had one in texas

Me too, I would take a 2 week vacation from work so I could go stand in line to get my med card :thumbsup:

[twitch]

dude i just sent u a text....
katrina looks good to be honest i had my doubts if she would re-veg
they other ones look slightly lacking on nitrogen (bottom leaves are
turning yellow young) now u can get them nutes if u stopped if not u
should be about to use full strength

[daihashi]

Pictures

I'm suprised no ones mentioned the droop in your plants even though you mentioned you were having problems with 2.

How is the aeration in that soil. I'm thinking that it's not getting to dry out enough between waterings or that it has poor drainage/aeration. Doesn't look like much perlite was used. Maybe you're using vermuculite?

Anyone else see what I'm seeing?

Almost all your pics show water pooling on the top of the soil. Do you have drain holes in those cups? If not get some asap.

[twitch]

so there for your first grow u get to start with a confirmed female

[twitch]

he does have drooping and the reason i didn't say anything is
because some plants after watering droop because the water weight
has gone up also he has this prob that he sticks in the ground that
tells him if its wet enough....

but ur right i was going to say something as well but i remembered
he had that

also check ur run off PH too not saying there any anything wrong its just
nice to know what its at


how much perlite do u mix in with ur soil? or is it premade?
i do mine around 50 50

[daihashi]

also he has this prob that he sticks in the ground that
tells him if its wet enough....



Do you know if it's one of the analog kind you get at home depot or if it's one of the professional digital/electronic ones that cost a couple of hundred bucks?

I'm assuming it's the former and I found out $20 bucks later (I bought 2) that they don't work for crap. I threw them in a cup of water and it barely read moist at all.

Hopefully that's all that's wrong here. Overwatering can cause droop and yellowing in leaves.

Either way I'm sure they'll make it until it's time to transplant. When you go to tranplant try adding 20-30% perlite to your soil for better drainage and aeration. It'll help keep your plants alive and perky. :thumbsup:

[TxChronic1]

Almost all your pics show water pooling on the top of the soil. Do you have drain holes in those cups?

The reason that the pictures are showing the water pooling on the top is because every time that I have taken pictures I have watered right before. I'm spraying the leaves with a solution called "spray and grow", it seems like it is helping lots. And yes there are 4 small drain holes and gravel at the bottoms of the cups.


I'm assuming it's the former and I found out $20 bucks later (I bought 2) that they don't work for crap. I threw them in a cup of water and it barely read moist at all.

Yes the moisture meter is one of the cheap ones I got it for about $20, but it seems to be working great. About every 2 to 3 days the plants are dry and need to be watered. When the meter is put into a cup of water it goes to the far right side (10).

I threw out one of the plants that was having problems today. It was not going to make it :(. On the other one that was struggling there has been lots of growth overnight. I have also noticed that one of the leaves on Katrina is starting to turn a brownish color around the outside edge of the leaf. Does anyone know what this could be? Maybe a potassium deficiency?

Temp.= 64.7
Humid.=54%
PPM=650 (Should I up this to fix the Nitrogen problem?)

[twitch]

go to caloways call me if u want to know where its at
ask them about the nitrogen say its a tomato plant they
will have something for it upping it wont fix the nitrogen
transplant the one that hangs out side the cup that might
(not saying it will) help with the yellowing of those leaves
could be root bound

but other then that they are growing at a good rate

[TxChronic1]

When should be a good time to transplant? And what size of a pot should I transplant to for the rest of growth? Does anybody know of any good fertilizers that are high in nitrogen?

[KingKronic420]

how big do you plan on letting them get? that should help decide what size pot to go with. but you dont want a pot thats too big or you can hurt the growth of them. but also a pot thats too small and case the roots to "cramp" which isnt good either.

im a newb maybe stinky or someone can help you better

[bombdiggity]

1 gallon per foot of plant height is the rule of thumb i believe

[twitch]

but you dont want a pot thats
too big or you can hurt the growth of them.

a big pot will not hurt them the earth is unlimited that doesn't hurt them....

bombdiggity is right

i would say get some 3 liter or 2 liter soda bottles like the one
katrina came in and cover up the bottle so light doesn't get to
the roots make sure u have super thrive and i sent u a text of the
ferts to get

post up a pic of katrina

[twitch]

hey do u want regina as well?

i am cutting her down the 5th, if u want her let me know i'll leave
enough to re-veg... that way for ur first grow you can start with 2
confirmed females, because with the 3 seedlings your chances
aren't good for u getting another one...
let me know if u want her...

did u get my message on what to get to help the nitrogen?

[TxChronic1]

The plants are still yellowing and starting to curl down even more! Yesterday was my first day to start feeding with the Schultz plant food this is supposed to help with the nitrogen deficiency. Could I be over fertilizing? I was reading that I should only be feeding them every other time that I water which is every 2 days. Ive been feeding them every time.

[TxChronic1]

More Pictures

[twitch]

how much did u mix into the water u should try half of what it says

and katrina looks amazing
oh i have decided to hold off on cutting the rest of regina
when i was breaking up the nug i cut off i notice some purple on it
so i went back and look sure enough u can see where the nugs are
turning purple but i'll let u know when u can have it

[bombdiggity]

maybe ur not waiting long enough to water. Mine were drooping and I started letting them go longer between feedings and they loved it.

[TxChronic1]

maybe ur not waiting long enough to water. Mine were drooping and I started letting them go longer between feedings and they loved it. How long can they last with dry soil?

[twitch]

i wouldn't go long with dry soil
i don't completely dry out my soil
but thats just me

[bombdiggity]

they like dry periods and wet periods more than they like the soil staying consistently moist.

from what I've read on here thats what I've learned.

[twitch]

i have only read that once on here

[twitch]

hey post up more pics dude

[hawks18]

still kickin .... that a girl... ill post some ideas after awhile got little time now to read up on katrina .... ill be back lookin good tho as of the pics again i was just browsing

[TxChronic1]

Here a update on how things have been going. After checking on the plants after 2 days and things are not looking good. For some reason the plants continue to yellow and are loosing lots of older leaves. I switched my nutrients from flora nova grow to the Schultz's trying to fix the nutrient deficiency but the same things are continuing to happen. This makes me think that theres another problem. The female that is being re vegged is doing pretty good but she also is showing some yellowing and death in the lower leaves. I have also I added 2 more 120w cfls, this added around 2,400 lumen's and I plan on getting a T5 to put in the back this week. Does anyone know why there dieing like this? Could it be heat? The Temps. got into the 90s this weekend which is much warmer than what they usually are.

[twitch]

it could be the temps
u need to re-pot the ones in the cups
go in to plant problems and post a pics of katrina and see if any one in there has some help

katrina looks crazy

edit: look at ur tips of the plants toward the top they are browning the tips are getting dry maybe from the heat

[daihashi]

the ones in the cups look rootbound.. and like they've been that way for some time. Either that or they have some ph issues..

Temps in the 90's is a pretty big deal IMO. Could scorch the plants and really stress them out.

Take the plant in pic #2 and carefully turn it over and pull it out of the cup. Check to see if it's rootbound. If so repot and add 1 drop of superthrive per gallon to help ease the stress of the transplant.

[TxChronic1]

Lost another one today but I think I have found a diagnosis's for the plants. I went to the store today and bought "Green Light" Rooting Hormone, Miracle grow moisture control, and two 8.9 in. pots. I then packed soil into the bottom 3 inches of the pot. Next I put the entire cup into the pot. I then loosely filled up the pot. And watered the otter edges with a mixture of SUPERthrive and Schultz's 10-15-10 plant food. This made pulling the cup out of the soil but still keeping a hole for the roots really easy. After i pulled the cups out I sprinkled the rooting hormone powder in the holes. I then just flipped over the cups and fitted the plants right back into the soil. I then watered the entire transplant spot. The roots where dried out, root bound, and warm. I don't think they where not getting enough water around the roots. I think that the transplant is going heal the roots. The one thing that I haven't found a solution to is the heat problem. After adding the two more CFL's things have really heated up and leaves have been scorching making them so dried out and yellow. I put a ice pack in front of the intake and started misting the leaves with water. Hopefully this will help with heat. :jointsmile:

[hatch]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMM, What's up Doc, Maybe We need to Trash Them & Start out Fresh?????:wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf:

Hope You Get it Turned around, My Texan Brother!!!!!!

:pimp::pimp::pimp::pimp::pimp:

[netdog]

From here it looks like your overdoing things. Less is often more...

If you have decent soil you really don't need to feed the plants at all until they are bigger than that. Just good water at the right PH.

Water them good and let em go a day or two until they dry out a bit and water again. At 2-3 weeks of age give em your ferts mixed at half strength at most, and only do that every other watering at most probably even less.

Probably need to get a bit more air moving through there too. Maybe get the bulbs a little further away.

[TxChronic1]

Water them good and let em go a day or two until they dry out a bit and water again. At 2-3 weeks of age give em your ferts mixed at half strength at most, and only do that every other watering at most probably even less.

I have been using distilled water mixed with the nutrient solution but, I have heard that distilled water lacks some of the nutrients that the plants require. I have also read that the chlorine in tap water if bad for them. What type of water is the best to use? I am thinking about switching back to the flora nova nutrients because the Schultz's contains a higher concentration of Phosphorous than Nitrogen 10-15-10 and the flora nova grow is 7-4-10. How concentrate should the nutrients be (PPMs) for feeding every other time they are watered?

[stinkyattic]

Switch to tap water.
Lose the spray-n-grow unless you are treating a specific deficiency. That is a micronutrient supplement, and you already have too much chemmy stuff going on there. You are WAY overfertilizing, that's why your plants were dying. There was a salt buildup in the soil and you shoudl have flushed a long time ago. Repotting will help a LOT, because the roots now have access to fresh, unused soil, but you still should flush well with tap water at pH 6.7 and then feed with a WEAK solution of a cannabis-specific grow fertiliser.

[netdog]

If you set your tap water in a pitcher or something open to air the chlorine will evaporate off in 24 hrs.

The only real with tap water would be mainly PH. Most city tap water is a little high in PH intentionally because it's better for the pipes and equipment. That is unless your water is real hard or real salty, but that's uncommon and unlikely.

Mine takes 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar per gallon to get to a good PH.

I'm with Stinky, I think you've probably way over fed them. A good flush with water at the right PH and let them sit a few days and they will probably perk up if they aren't too far gone.

Then maybe feed em with a weak solution.

[TxChronic1]

I think that I have got things turned around now. They are doing much better and have gotten there color back. :jointsmile:The 2 on the sides are now about 7.5 inches tall and Katrina is about 11.5. I have been watering them with just regular tap water and feeding at 600ppm of the flora nova grow once a week. The miracle grow moisture control potting soil takes a long time to dry out. If you are planning on using this soil you might wanna do something for drainage. The some of the leaves on the right plant are curling under? Does anyone know why this is happening? I am also planning on flowering soon.. How much longer should I wait? I have been thinking about getting a 12in. T5 for flowering but heat has been a issue.

[av8tor]

If heat IS an issue then I would get a T5 asap I just got my quad 2' bulb fixture and love it!!! It has 2 veg bulbs and 2 flowers and is cool to the touch!!!

[twitch]

your plants look good man
hey give me a call some time my number is blocked from your phone lol

[TxChronic1]

This grow has moved outdoors :jointsmile:
http://boards.cannabis.com/outdoor-growing/156359-indoor-outdoor-grow.html