New to Hydro... How are they looking?

[Absolut Chronic]

Not sure how they are supposed to look 20 days in... so tell me how they're doing?

[turtle420]

Looking good man...

When you say "20 days in"... 20 days into? Flowering? Veg? ????

PS: Wait for the advice of more experienced people... I'm not one of them. Nice plants though! :)

[Absolut Chronic]

Oh sorry... 20 days into vegetative stage...

[Garden Knowm]

Did you start from seed?

You may need to increase your nutrients and your light.. notice how light green , almost yellow your leaves are.. that's a sign

If it is 20 days in.. and they were clones, we have a problem!!

nice first grow.. congrats!!!!

[Absolut Chronic]

more nutes... ok... and closer to the light? Do u see in the second pic how they have spots... on www.overgrow.com they show a pic like that and says it's due to burns from the light... what do you think? I have them on a 18/6 cycle... and yes... from seeds... should i just try more nutes first and see if they get greener?

[Garden Knowm]

What kind of light are you using?
Do you have a fan..?

You need a small fan.. just to keep the air moving between the lights and the tops of the plants...

Air flow should be good enough that you can bring HID lights within a couple inches of the tops of your plants. If you are using fluorescents you can bring them within 1/2 inch.. just keep the air moving.. even if it is a very very subtle movement..

Do you know what your ppm or ph is?
You definitley need to get a ph tester if you are growing hydro...

http://www.plantitearth.com/store/product.asp?id=304&catid=65

or go big and get
http://www.plantitearth.com/store/product.asp?id=73&catid=65

very smart investment!!!

[Absolut Chronic]

Yes I have a fan directly on the light... here I'll find a pic of the whole setup... I have the plants about 3 feet away from the light. (I just tested my pH.) Wow... it was incredibly high around 8 if not higher... I added pH Down and got it around 6-6.5. I don't know my ppm, what do I need to find that out. I'll take more pics in the morning... but I also noticed that the tips are browning... what's that mean? {{Pic is not up to date setup, but shows how the light and fan are setup}} Thanks for all the help!

[turtle420]

Ok, Absolut,

Here's the thing::: We're all getting mis-understanded...

When Garden Known tells you that you need a fan on the light, it isn't "on the light", it's actually a fan pointing towards the top of the leaves... So the hot-spots/hot air on top of the leaves/buds, etc. circulates and the plant doesn't burn.

I suggest you leave your current fan where it is (pointing towards the light) and get another fan blowing on the plants themselves.... The air flow towards the plants also helps them produce stronger stems.

Keep us updated :)

-turtle420 :cool:

[turtle420]

Also, like Garden told you...

Bring that light down. You're wasting light illuminating that nice chair you have... Bring it down.

Best,

-turtle420 :cool:

[Absolut Chronic]

Oh.... I see... aight... how far above the leaves should the light be? I thought the fan needed to cool off the light... didn't know the plants needed to benefit... excellent info... thanks a lot. Lemme make changes and take pics...

[Absolut Chronic]

Ok I added a fan that you can't see that is blowing on them lightly... and lowered the light. Is the light too low? Also... take a look at the pic of how I have this hydro-watering system setup... I used to have this water flow on 24/7... now I changed it to 15 mins on, 15 mins off... should I leave it at that? My fan is also on that timer and the light is still on 18/6. Within a couple hours of the light being lowered I noticed that some of the sets of leaves... completly turned... one of them turned sideways... is this because it's trying to find the best fit for the direct light? (Can't notice the turned leaves in these pics) But take a look at the pics anyway and let me know how u think they're doin... thanks a lot.

[Absolut Chronic]

Here's an up to date pic with everything done... any other suggestions? [And check out my homemade cloner... that's pretty dank all by itself!]

[turtle420]

Absolut,

Light looks good... Also, the fan gets an A+... As to the leaves turning, I can't comment on that. I have no idea/experience.

Dude, you've got so much freaking space!!! Your next grow, make something bigger! Inside my grow space, if I fart, I'll blow a wall out. :(

Best,

-turtle420 :cool:

PS: Nice looking plants!

[Absolut Chronic]

Hahaha... I'll show you what I had planned... it's the 11 plant ebb and flow system w/ a 315 gph pump with custom framing for perfect water balance... all built to 100% perfection... it's a real eye-opener... and thanks a lot for all the advice... I'll get more pics up... they are starting to look much better already! (Check back later tnite for more pics, the center leaf sets have opened already and another is on its way! Interesting how the sets on the left plant are all 7s and the plant on the right has all 5s...?!?!) Thanks again for all the help turtle and all you other shmoketeers!

[latewood]

2 q's 1...what is the wattage of your light?
2...is that your nute solution under your plants in that aquarium? If so, then you need to cover all that up with black tape 2-3 x's or something to keep the light out or else you will grow algae, algae kills roots lights cause algae...get it? in dwc there is to be no light allowed in the res, or... see above

here is how you find out how close to get your light...you acclimate the plants to light.which you have. Then you lower the light 6 inches a day monitoring the leaves reaction...until you have light (this depends on the wattage of your lamp) 6-12 inches from canopy, without burning the leaf tips...if you get to the point that you notice the leaf tips drying and pointing up or the tips brown, don't panic, just move the light back 3-6 inches and monitor leaves reaction...as the canopy rises you raise the light keeping it at the same distance throuhout your grow...

for fans you need a small oscillating fan 24/7 on your plants to strengthen their stalks..
and a stationary fan directed across the top of the canopy and under the light, blowing the heat away...this will allow you to place your light closer than you could believe, but be careful. If you don't pay attention you will burn some tips.
when I see your reply, I will advise you further if you like...

[Garden Knowm]

Chronic,

Ideally you should have that light only a couple inches from the tops of your plants..
Put you hand where the tops of the plants are.. and lower the light until your hand feels uncomfortable..

With proper airflow you should beable to bring a 400watt hid within an inch or two ofthe tops of your plants..

This is the most important thing you can do.. From the looks of your plants and the light you have.. you need to FLOWER NOW!!

Thanks for letting us help.. its fun to watch your system evolve. There is a lot you can do but it is very very important to keep that light close.. it will drastically effect your BUDS

[Garden Knowm]

please post current pic of your plants

[Absolut Chronic]

Wow... thanks for all the help and comments... I'm currently working out all the best solution but here's what the look like upon request... thanks again!!!

[Santa Smoker]

looks to me like u just need to cut those brown leaves off

[Absolut Chronic]

Santa that's what I was thinking but I read somewhere not to because they also hold a small amount of nutrients that wouldn't hurt to keep attached. When should I start flowering?

[Garden Knowm]

chronic...bro.. good news..
Your color is better
nodes are closer

bad news..
not good enough,

here's what you do.. chop the tops off and make a couple clones..

bring the light right on FUCKING TOP of your recently cloned plants..(NOT the CLONES) keep the fan blowing....

let the plants grow for 5-7 days (after you clone them and then FLOWER.. 12 hour light.. 12 hours dark..

try to get 4 clones at least!!!

[Absolut Chronic]

Garden Knowm... ok... I also have good news and bad news...

Bad News:: Parents are flippin' @#$% because they never thought it would actually work out and grow... so they don't like the idea of my plants in their basement.

Badder News:: They will rip them out if they see any more attempts to grow anything else.

Good News:: I can grow these two for now until I get my cabinet setup goin' and growin'.

Overall:: I can't take the chance of cloning them right now because I can't push my 'rents to the edge.

So work with me on this... let's try to get these two green beauties bloomed. Here's up to date pics at day 24. I am in the process of changing the resevoir and setup a little because like somebody mentioned before... algae is starting to grow in the bottom of the tank... and that's never good. Anyway... let me know what you think my next move should be. Thanks for the help again, and ya... I know it's a bummer cloning isn't a possibility... I even have the setup for it too. Damn! Oh one more thing... I have 2 fluorescent bulbs at 30W each, should I set these up under the 'canopy'? Would these be more beneficial?

[latewood]

Your next move should be to put them in a res that light can't get into...as you put that light right on top of your plants, you also cause more light in the water, thus faster growing algae, then your f!@#&*'d

[Absolut Chronic]

latewood... job accomplished... just put it into a plastic container that i sprayed black... works wonderful... I'll take pics later tnite...

[Garden Knowm]

they are actually starting to look like weed plants..

good JOB!!!

I look forward to the pics!!

[Absolut Chronic]

Ok... here we have day 33... I think... earlier they were weeping a little... not sure why... I let them have a little more light than they should... they perked right up... I want to start flowering... is this possible? When you say yes... I'll switch the nutes... change the lighting cycle to 12/12 and add the lights u see behind them on to the high pressure sodium cycle... fans still a blowin'... but I want to flower!!! Is this possible??

[Absolut Chronic]

Ooops sorry... not day 33... day 27... but I want to flower!!!

[Stormcooker]

go ahead flower!!!!!!!You can flower as soon as after the first week if you want, less yield but same effect.

[xxSTONER.MANxx]

awesome hydro man all i have to say is share that if you will

email me at

[email protected] later fellow weed smokers

[Garden Knowm]

nice!!!!!!! dat shit is green,,

FLOWER!!!!!!!

keep light close...

Those plants are gonna get tall

you may need some sort stick or netting to help them stay straight..

you can also bend the tops over .. using thos small green ties they have at supermarkets..

[jimmy5150guitars]

you need more light for future grows and ad some reflective material to your grow room
next time ,i use those emergency blankets you get in wal mart in the camping section
and throw that aquraium away unless you put fish in it!

good luck

hooked on ponics works for me!

[Absolut Chronic]

Ya, I'm working on the mylar issue... and the tank is gone and replaced with the plastic contained painted black... I'm going to wait a couple days before I flower because I'm going out of town and I wanna be here to see if anything goes whack when I make the switch... thanks for the advice!

[Absolut Chronic]

Ok... I'm going to do it... it's just starting the 4th week and mid-day I decided to make all the switches to start the flowering. I switched my nutes to the blooming nutes, General Hydroponics MaxiBloom 5-15-14, I switched my light to my 400w HPS, added two 28w CFLs for under the canopy, all lights are switched to 12/12... constant fans blowing... and watering cycle 15 mins on/off. How do you think they're doin'? It's in my basement... the smell is wooonderful!!! Let me know your thoughts!

[latewood]

I think you should lower your light some more...you need fan blowing across top of canopy and below the light to displace heat, then you can lower your light without burning up your babies...imho

[Absolut Chronic]

4th day of Flowering... looks like everything is going well... but... why do some of the fan leaves weep a little and the leaves themselves wilt a little... instead of fanning out... the leaves curl and don't 'fan' out... what's the deal with that? Also... what the hell is happening to them when my lights go out... is it too cold? It's near the lower 70s at night and around 80 with the lights on during the day... but EVERYTHING STARTS TO WEEP!!?! All fan leaves, budding location leaves, and all sorts of leaves... all of them start to weep! At night it looks like a drastic failure... but during the day a huge success... what's going on? I have a them flooded with water 15 mins on... 15 mins off... should I change that? Also... I REALLY should transfer them to bigger pots... how should I do this? More importantly... how do I make sure they are not suffering at night... I'll try to take a picture of them now... but they look so sad at night!?! :( [These pics are today of during the day... look at the wilting leaves on the left plant... I turned them in hopes the lighting situation would change them... but no results until tomorrow mid-day]

[Starseed]

Your girls could be calling for some more water , either that or your over watering.

[Absolut Chronic]

WHAT'S WITH MY GIRLS?!!?! WHY ARE THEY LOOKING SO SAD? HOW CAN I CHEER THEM UP????? Any idea I will try and take pics... just gimme a suggestion!!!

[Absolut Chronic]

Should I change the watering to 15 on... 30 off?

[Joel]

Man, I truely do think you're overwatering that bitch.

Dont give her anymore water until she perks up, wich she should within 3-4 hours depending on how much water you've given her.

[Absolut Chronic]

Good idea... I was thinking that too... I'll show you pics in the morning... I'm turning off the water right now... thanks for the advice!!! I'll get pics ASAP.

[Absolut Chronic]

Still weeping!!! They look exactly the same after I turned off the water for a couple hours... any other ideas?!?!

[clembob101]

have you got any fans in room . dont know if it will help with wilting , but it will perk them up a bit , then they might sort themselves out

i would put a message on for zandor or robert 42 they know alot more about hydro than i do
got me intrested though ive never come across weeping plants.

they look phat by the way nice big fan leaves
all the best
clem the bob of 101

[fhydro]

Sufocating plants. PH too high AND over fert AND no aerated water, the leaves from the bottom have brown areas, soon all the leaves will be like that. You've got to flush your plant with PH 6 water and add an air stone to your rez, put the bulb a little bit higher till they recover and put a oscillating fan, and wait one week at least. That's what i would do.
Fhydro

[turtle420]

Absolut,

As clembob101 said, put something out for Zandor... he'll help you better than us.

I read that you wanted to re-pot them... I suggest against this. I'm totally open to all opinions from everyone here, but:
I think that if you replant your baby you'll produce way too much stress on her. Maybe you'll stun grow for god-knows-how-long... that's my opinion.

[Absolut Chronic]

Ok... thanks for all the help... turtle... good call... thats exactly why I was seeing opinions... I too thought it would increase the stress and right now I wasn't about to add that to the shit-list. Today they perked up a bit but I now I'll wait a couple hours and see if they begin the hardcore weeping again. I changed the water back to 15 on 15 off because last night it didn't show any difference at all and I watched them ALL THRU THE NIGHT! My pH is around 6ish but I'll give it a nute change and re-pH it, over fert could be a possibility and I'll definitly throw in an air stone. I already lifted the light... and constantly have a fan on them... buy my fan's lowest setting blows the @#$% out of them! So I put it back like 5 feet away from them and angled it so there is a steady flow into, over, and around the plants... what about temperature? It seems to have been getting colder the past couple nights, but is a couple degrees that important? If it is... I could put a heater in there with thermostat and monitor the temp to keep a perfect temp... what do you guys think? Again, thanks for all your help and I'll keep you guys posted with more pics and let you all know what's happening.

[Joel]

Absolut, I would suggest once your girls recovers, doing HARDDONS Stress Less Transplant.

http://boards.cannabis.com/showthread.php?t=29705

[Absolut Chronic]

Joel... great idea and I would definitly try that... but I'm doing hydroponics... if there is any way that I could take that system of transplanting with soil and use it with hydroton... that would be amazing... the only idea I have is:: get a bigger pot... fill it with hydroton... and put a fence up (like cardboard or something) that fits the shape of my current pot with hydroton... it's the same basic idea Harddon is saying but with hydroton... then I would somehow McGyver a type of cup that will hold all my current hydroton and roots together... turn the plant upside down... take the pot off... move it over the bigger pot with a fenced out hole... then put the McGyvered Cup inside the fence and then remove the McGyver cup and fence... do you think I should try that? The only problem is the hydroton moving around with the roots while transfering it... and I can't afford to break any roots. If you think I should do it... let me know... cuz I'll surely give it a shot. Thanks for the tips... lemme go take a look and see if the weeping has occurred again...

[Absolut Chronic]

Ok... the weeping has slowed... they aren't weeping as much but the plant on the right has its upper leaves weeping... they are really green and pretty big... it looks like the leaf's stems can't support the leaves... but I know that's not the case... it doesn't seem like there's any huge problem so we'll see how it turns out!

[Absolut Chronic]

Update... wow... doing amazing!!! Lemme get some pics up!!! Weeping has stopped... it might have been adding the air pump to the water... or making the water schedule slower at nights... i dunno... but whatever it was... they are doing excellent now!!

[Absolut Chronic]

Here they are!!! What do ya think!!! Question... how does the budding begin? Where should I look for the first signs of nugget? I think I see something but not sure... do I look at nodes? Anyway... here they are 9 days into flowering!!!

[turtle420]

Wow... really glad to see they're perking up!

I see that you've already added an air stone... I was going to tell you that... you definitely need an airstone in there... or two... or 100!!!! (ok, not that many).

They're looking good!!! Nice!

As to the transplant... EXPERIMENTAL IDEA:::

Why don't get a big soil pot... then fill it up with one of those super soil recepies, and dig a hole on top the same size as your current (small) pot.

Then, install the smaller pot into the hole, make sure it's super compact with soil... ok ready? here we go... now smash the smaller pot with a hammer and some pliers... take out as many pieces as you can...

Do you have a Dremel? You could saw off the bottom of the pot...

Anyways, ... Ta DA !!! What do you think?
You could change the super soil for some more hydroton pebbles... or some lava rocks...

???
Out,

-turtle420 :cool:

[Absolut Chronic]

TURTLE! THAT'S WHAT I WAS THINKING! I may get a bigger pot... put hydroton in it...leave a little place for the current hydroton and roots... put it in... smash the pot... there's the transfer! Great idea... but right now I'm in the current process of moving it somewhere because my parents are flipping out. I'm currently building a phototron with 3 - 4' Dual fluoros... I'll take some pics of that too... but I think I may have to put together a make-shift setup in my closet just to finish the flowering. I don't want to put them anywhere where I can't use the HPS light because they're doing so well with it. But I'm stumped for some ideas... anyway... thanks for the ideas and I'll keep updating with pics...

Shmoke Nugg,
~ A.Chronic

[Garden Knowm]

AC, your plants are looking SWEET... careful transplanting from hydro to soil.. from what I have read and actually looked at, plants grow special roots for different mediums.. Plants grow "water roots" when in hydro .. and soil roots when in soil... duh.. ahhaa

and then there are these tiny one cell roots they grow in aeroponic systems.. if you switch to soil.. it could really really shock the plant and that is the last thing you want to do 9 days into flowering...... all though I would like to see you try it... hahahha

anyway.. you're doing awesome....

i love you

[Absolut Chronic]

Thanks Knowm... didn't know that, interesting... I don't think I would transfer it to soil and I probably won't even transfer it to a bigger pot... the whole idea of it being in the flowering stage and transfering doesn't sound to reassuring... plus trying to move it to a different location is kind of a pain in the ass... but anything for my plants.... well thanks for the info, I'll keep it in mind...

i love u too

lol

Shmoke nugg,
A.Chron