Comical High Wattage Variety Grow Op

Hey everybody,

This will be my first post, though I've been browsing the forums for a while taking advantage of everyone else's experiences and mishaps. And now, finally, I will add my own experiences and mishaps to the immortal tome that is cannabis.com!

I just got my 1000W dual MH/HPS Hortilife setup w/ digital ballast, and am waiting on a 6 bulb, 4' T5 setup to arrive (from backorder).

I've already been growing 3 LowryderII plants for about 6 weeks. They started under 300W of CFL, to which I then added ~100 watts of automotive HID lights. Upon putting the tiny HIDs about 5 inches away, the plants got seriously burned - in less than five minutes. They've been in recovery ever since (almost a month I think), but have also had to deal with the intense heat swings of my attic for a week or two, then the temp swings and insects of the outside world for about the last two weeks (had to get them out of the attic - they were dying up there), not to mention overwatering and pH swings. The plan is to set up a seedling/clone/veg tent using the T5s and to make the bathroom the flowering area. For now, while I wait on the T5s to arrive, the bathroom is our only area, so we'll start from there.

Today is their first day under the 1000W MH bulb in the bathtub of our spare bathroom! They've already seen temps as high as 95, as low as 40, pHs from 5 to 8+, serious overwatering, and a semi-serious case of mites. Of these issues, I have at least three under control - one, temperature in their new home is 65 - 78 F without fail; two, the mites have been controlled with Neem Oil; and three, pH is now under control. Still Turns out pH can swing a lot even hours after adjusting, so I think adjusting very slowly is key.

I've now got 11 plants total - 6 fresh bagseedlings from a friend (all from very good stuff - but unidentified), two 3-week-old seedlings of the LowryderII, and the three LowryderII plants that I've miraculously failed to kill... so far.

As you can see in the pictures, of the three big gals (let's hope they're gals ;)), one has had like 5 main stems since the tip got badly burnt from the mini HIDs, and the other is clearly having serious pH problems. Of the two older seedlings, one is starting to flower already (unstable autoflower genetics - at least it's female), and I believe the other is eating its lower leaves because of pH problems. Once I discovered my water was way too acidic, I adjusted the pH but did not wait long enough for it to even out. Before the next watering I discovered that the pH ended up probably around 8.5 (using drops). The three big gals and the two older seedlings then got thoroughly flushed, and we're waiting to see how they react. The worst affected big gal seems to be recovering, but as you can see in the pic, the little guy is still losing leaves. It might be slowing.

Soil is FFOF, big guys in 4'' pots, ventilation clears the room in two minutes, temps at house temperature + 4-5 degrees, will probably continue watering ~200 mL per big gal every three days. Water is distilled + CalMag, Liquid Karma, and a tad of super thrive (plus pH up in the form of potassium bicarbonate). Will be using FF Grow Big and Big Bud nutrients. Floorspace in the bathtub is something like 2.5'x4' or something, but headroom is more than that because it's open on one side. Light is 1000W MH at 18/6, and later will be 1000W Super HPS at 12/12. I think the light is a lot for the floor space, but I didn't want to have to buy lights ever again. The digital ballast is adjustable, so I could even use some 600W bulbs the company accidentally sent me if it will be more efficient and not reduce yield.

So, let's see what happens with these guys under the MH for the next few weeks. I'll try to post pics weekly, and I'll probably have plenty of questions for the community. Once the T5s get here, we'll have a cloning/vegging area and a flowering area, which I am very excited about :D

For now, I only have one question that I'm hoping someone could answer: can excess pH adjustment (i.e. adjusting up, overcorrecting down, up, down) cause your water to get salts in it? Like, adding NaOH (basic) to HCl (acidic) produces H20 and NaCl (table salt) - so would mixing any acid and base produce salts? If this is true, then would it be better for the plants (meaning less salty) to adjust pH as little as possible? I have a few gallons of CalMag/Karma/superthrive treated water that has been adjusted up and down way too many times, and I fear that even now that it is balanced, it will be far too salty for my little veg babies.

Now, before anyone feels the need to point it out, let's get this out of the way - I AM A NOOB. I'm inexperienced, but I'm not dumb. I'm learning quick, and I'm open to advice.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my struggles!