1st Grow 8sq ft. 400w hps Comment!

[DaNkBuD420]

Alright, so here is my first grow.

400 watt hps (thanks HTG):thumbsup:
MG Soil
Perlite
No Nutes
Distilled Water (pH- 5.8-6.0)

Right now I have eleven plants. Assuming that some are males, I'm hoping to get somewhere from 4-6 females.

Advise, Comments, whatever..

[DaNkBuD420]

Fox Farm Big Bloom and Grow Big are ordered and will be here tomorrow.

[Italiano715]

if you are using distilled water you WILL need some Cal-Mag

[SunnyD]

Hey DaNkBuD420,

I have a couple of suggestions that may or may not interest you.

1st - Do you have any fans blowing around in this room?

â?¢A breeze on plants encourages strong stalk growth

â?¢Air movement helps dumb down the chance of mold growth

â?¢Air movement also helps control temperature

2nd - Do you have a temperature gauge somewhere in this room?

â?¢If indeed you do have some females in there, improper temperatures can stress them out leading to hermaphrodites

â?¢Also, I believe temperature plays a role to some degree in certain nutrient absorption??? Not exactly sure but nonetheless temp. control is important

Start there and have fun with it!! ASK QUESTIONS! There are so many top notch horticulturalists here it is absolutely a sin not to learn from them!

SunnyD

[DaNkBuD420]

Sunny D,

1. I live in a very small apartment complex, so my room is generally small. So what i have been doing is leaving the closet door open with my room fan on. The wind from the fan is enough to cause the plant to sway just a little bit.

2. As for temp. I don't have any way of testing it. The only control i have is the fan and the A/C for the apartment. it hasn't caused any noticeable problems yet.

[SunnyD]

Sunny D,

1. I live in a very small apartment complex, so my room is generally small. So what i have been doing is leaving the closet door open with my room fan on. The wind from the fan is enough to cause the plant to sway just a little bit.

2. As for temp. I don't have any way of testing it. The only control i have is the fan and the A/C for the apartment. it hasn't caused any noticeable problems yet.

I see.

You realize that this a very pungent process when you get into the flowering cycle correct?

[DaNkBuD420]

The main factor for me is i'm about to change apartments...

At the end of this week I am transferring to my friends apartment. Once i get there, i will make the entire room more permanent. I will begin to install things such as more fans and an exhaust fan leading out to the window.

It's just taking some time.

[DaNkBuD420]

5 days in

Repot

Foxfarm Grow Big and Big Bloom come in tomorrow

Tell me what you think

[DaNkBuD420]

FoxFarm:thumbsup:

[headshake]

like italiano said, distilled water lacks calcium and magnesium as well as other trace nutrients. the fox farms will have some, check the back of the bottle as i forget which has what.

you should try spring water as opposed to the distilled. it has some trace minerals in it (some if not all).

ideal pH for soil is 6.3, so 5.8 to 6.0 is a little low. this is strain dependent, but you might run into problems.

you can pick up a cheap thermometer at the dollar store. or a digital one at wally world and the like for ~$7. knowing your temp is paramount. the whole point of indoor growing is CONTROL. a controlled environment, controlled pH, temp, lighting, weather etc etc.

how close is your light to your plants?


-shake

[SunnyD]

Quick Question,

When I worked at a greenhouse we would always water our plants with reverse osmosis water.

So, Headshake, what are your thoughts on reverse osmosis water?

Also, from research I've done on reverse Osmosis water, its really healthy for us to drink, but it's not really ideal for watering plants...not to mention it's a very wasteful filtration system

[headshake]

i don't honeslty know a lot about reverse osmosis water, honestly. i'm on a quest to find out more now though (thanks!).

i think it's better suited for industrial use as opposed to home use. home applications lack the high pressure needed to force the water through the membrane.

i would assume (and we know what this does) that this also removes the beneficial things in the water too, depending on the filtering size of the membrane.

i'm sure there are answers out there somewhere.


-shake

[syde00]

I believe the same applies to R/O water - you need to add CalMag.

Honestly, if you are growing in soil, there is almost no reason for you to not to just use tap water unless your municipal water supply is adding tons and tons of crap to it or the pH is way off. However, all of those things are easily fixed.

Things municipal water supplies typically add are:

Flouride - easy to remove with tablets that you can normally find at pet stores in the fish section
Chlorine - easily removed by simply letting the water sit in an open container for 24+ hours... it will evaporate from the water very quickly.
pH problems? pH-Up / pH-Down

[SauceeMcGee]

Hey everybody,

I'm new to the boards here and I saw you guys talking about reverse osmosis water.

Here's some stuff I've researched about it. In my opinion, its a really effective filtration process, however, its very wasteful and counterproductive.

Shake,

Here's a link that tells you some pretty good specifics on what RO does to water:
Reverse Osmosis Water Filters and Water Purification (http://www.home-water-purifiers-and-filters.com/reverse-osmosis-filter.php)

Pros and Cons of RO water:
Grower 101: Reverse Osmosis --The Pros and Cons (http://www.onhort.com/%20Grower-101-Reverse-Osmosis-The-Pros-and-Cons-article4190)

These articles make an argument agains the use of RO water, pretty interesting:

Reverse Osmosis Faucet Produces Water Lacking in Nutrients (http://ezinearticles.com/?Reverse-Osmosis-Faucet-Produces-Water-Lacking-in-Nutrients&id=2192372)

Reverse Osmosis Water Units and Why You Should Avoid Them If You Want to Stay Healthy (http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/reverse-osmosis-water-units-and-why-you-should-avoid-them-if-you-want-to-stay-healthy-966518.html)

So, if you were to water with RO water, you would need to add CalMag, not to mention any other nutrients you want your plants to be absorbing. Also, watch pH...

By the way, call me sauce. Nice to be on "board"

In addition, not too sure why my greenhouse wants us to use RO water. It might be because the city found anti-depressant drugs and contraceptives in our tap water...that MIGHT be it.

[headshake]

welcome aboard sauce!

thanks for all of the info.


-shake

[DaNkBuD420]

Hey headshake,

FoxFarm- source of mag, but not cal.

Switched to tap water with Half of the recommended feeding from the bottles.

I'm hopefully going to go pick up a thermometer tomorrow. What temp is ideal?

400w HPS light is currently 2ft. from the tallest plant.

[headshake]

good luck with the water.

ideal temp is 78F, but this can vary without much harm. not too low or high though as this will cut photosynthesis.

first off use things to raise your shorter plants. you want an even, continous canopy.
then stick your hand under the light. you should be able to leave it there for 5 seconds before you have to remove it because of heat. back it off just a bit. this is a good height for your light.


-shake


-shake

[DaNkBuD420]

One question that I do have is will I benefit better from a bushier plant rather than a taller one or vise versa? My space is limited width wise but height isn't really an issue.

[headshake]

you'll be fine growing tall, single cola plants. or you can top a few and get some extra colas.


-shake

[DaNkBuD420]

1 week:thumbsup:

[Rusty Trichome]

Using Miracle Grow soil, you don't want to add any nutes for about a month, perhaps a tad more.

Why aren't you using tapwater?

Raise ph to between 6.3 and 6.8.

Early in veg, CalMag not necessary.

I use Fox Farms, and suppliment with molasses. Has plenty of calcium, and is loaded with carbon and micro's. (plus acts synergystically with the nutes)

Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information - Sponsored by OSTI (http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/751070-Pc7EVd/webviewable/751070.pdf)

Molasses info (http://www.weekendgardener.net/organic-fertilizer/molasses-050805.htm)

Despite the recommendation in the second link, adding 1-3 TBS per gallon creates a lockout condition from lowering your ph and likely micronute overdose. (or it isn't as extreme when used outdoors?) Perhaps this is the ratio for a month, or theirs is watered down? I've been using Grandma's unsulphured (non-blackstrap molasses) at 1/4 to 1/2 tsp per gallon, twice a week, in flower, with great results so far. (replaces my CalMag and Sweet) I just started using it in this dilution in veg, too, but will reserve opinion till I'm certain of results. Closely monitor your runoff ph if trying this, until you get used to it's effects.

[headshake]

hey rusty, i'm using the solubles from fox farm as well as the liquids. would molasses be overkill or would it be ok to use?


-shake

[Rusty Trichome]

In flower, I go with everything the FF schedule says. Except I go 1/2 strength on the Big Bloom...and I add 1/2 tsp of molasses per gallon per week. (actually 1/4 tsp per gallon, twice a week) Any more than that and I see signs of ph swinging down. Happy with results in flower, but I just started testing in veg.

[DaNkBuD420]

10 days

[headshake]

looking good dank.

-shake

[DaNkBuD420]

12 days

[DaNkBuD420]

I've noticed one of my plants leaves beginning to curl. What's going on?

[Rusty Trichome]

Did you ever raise the ph to within range? (6.3 to 6.8)

[DaNkBuD420]

No. Once I got the FoxFarm nutes I switched to regular tap water. I never bothered to test it. I will today.

[DaNkBuD420]

Problem Fixed! The light was too close to the top of the plant, I backed it off a couple of inches and now all is well!

[DaNkBuD420]

2 Weeks

[DaNkBuD420]

Update

[DaNkBuD420]

more pics

[DaNkBuD420]

Ok, I have been on 12/12 for 9 days now. I currently have 2 definite females and I've killed off 4 males this morning. The rest still haven't shown sex yet but i'm sure will very shortly.

HERE'S THE ISSUE... *only one* of my plants has started to turn yellow on the leaves, the strange part (other than it being the only plant doing this) is the spots are in the middle of the pedals. Not on the tips or even in the center of the entire leaf. So my question is wtf is going on? I'm watering them every two-three days depending on dampness of the soil with half cup of FoxFarm BigBloom for every gallon. Any advice would be great.

I just tried uploading a pic of this plant but it keeps on saying upload failed so anybody try and do your best without the pic, i'll keep trying throughout the day to get it up here.

[TeKNiQUE]

Seems like your plants are doing good. I'll check up on them later when they get more mature :thumbsup:

TeK:hippy:

[DaNkBuD420]

Please offer ANY suggestions...

[DaNkBuD420]

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks in flowering. 6 females for sure, one still unknown. Using Foxfarm every other watering.

[BeFree]

Some of the lower fan leaves show some over fertilization.

Try water, water, nutes, water, water...ect ect.

And is half cup per gallon full dosage or only half?

Just checkin' on ya is all.:stoned:

begood and besafe

be

[E Man]

Hey DaNK, nice looking plants. The picture with the yellow leaves looks like what happened to mine when the light was too close. It was just a couple of leaves and they seemed to get cooked. Didn't effect the rest of the plant though. If it is from the light, the damage is done. I just clipped off the leaf and on one leaf I just clipped off that finger and after moving the light, I had no more of THAT problem ;). Just like the saying about shit that don't kill ya making you stronger, the shit that don't yer plants makes you a stronger grower. You're doing good, keep it up. The more grows you get under your belt, the better you get at it. And the only way to get more grows under your belt is...:wave1: yep, get more belts.:D
Later
(God, that one even made ME wince, sorry)

[phatsesh101]

baked marijuana leaves huh mmmmmm, i love my veggies

[DaNkBuD420]

Day 23 of flower

[DaNkBuD420]

More pics....trichs coming in nicely! :thumbsup:

[DaNkBuD420]

Ok, had a buddy get caught with a QP. And my growing experiment isn't exactly at the best time here, so I was forced to cut WAY early. It was a very sad day for all of us.

But hey,
at least it still gets the job done!
(Trust me, I'm working this job right now :jointsmile: )