Himalaya Gold: 1st grow log (advice appreciated)

STRAIN:10x Himalaya Gold from Green House Seed Co.

LIGHTS:
2x 400W (800 total) HPS.
4ft 40W flourescent tube (found it laying around so opted to use it.)
2ft 15W blue spectrum aquarium flourescent .
Lights will be set on 24 hour cycle once they sprout.

TEMPERATURE: 68-70 at the moment, i'll keep you posted when i actually turn on the lights, no need at this point.

SOIL: Seedling soil with little to no nutrients. I'd like to tell you more specific details but it just says "trace elements" of NPK with PH of 6. The brand name isnt in english so no sense in posting that either. The name literally translates to seedling soil so should be fine.

VENTILATION: table fan circulating the air in my grow room. Although i dont have any fan bringing in fresh air as i dont want to knock a hole in the wall (renting apartment). What i do is, during the light cycle i leave the door to my room cracked enough to keep some fresh air flowing in.

GROW ROOM: I use a large walk-in closet. Now i know the room is kind of "ghetto" but i rent the place so theres a limit to what i can do....

pictures below at day one after germination, although not all 10 cracked. I believe it was 6 or 7 that did (sorry very tired) but just planted them all so i dont have loose seeds laying around.

The biggest potential issue I could see you running into is going to eventually be ventilation. Just one 400W HPS is enough to bring practically any room up to 90+ degrees, so you can probably imagine what two will do. Also, when that room is full of flowering females, smell will most likely become an issue. If you've got the money to spend, you might consider looking into air-cooled hoods or cooltubes for your HPS's, which will work best with an in-line fan. 300-400 CFM would probably keep temperatures down enough, but I'd get the highest CFM you can find that's affordable (and quiet). On top of that, I'd consider attaching a carbon filter to keep the smell manageable.

Keep us updated! :jointsmile:

my thoughts exactly, especially with the warmer weather coming now (YAY :D!) However i'm afraid me and my investors have already laid quite a penny on this project so i doubt we can afford that now :( but where theres a will theres a way. What i'm thinking is if i need it i can buy like 4 table fans like the one i already have and just load the top shelf of the closet with them and have them oscillate around, then while the light cycle is on i can just have the door open or something. Think that will help? I just wont have enough cash until harvest time to afford anything more advanced than that.

interested in your grow, Himalayan gold can get big! I have 4 I'm runnin to test that are about 6 seeks old been flowering for 2. They are my tallest strain, taller than jack herer, and i topped the golds, left the herers alone. they seem to take nutes well and look like hardy plants. They are cylinder shaped and all the side branches look like they will catch up with the top colas. I expect them to finish at around 3.5 feet not counting the pots. Topping them helps but they will grow tall regardless, so keep that in mind. And if your in an apartment with ten of them.. Well it's gonna smell nice, hope your neighbors don't mind! Good luck, wish your ladies the best. They like to eat from what I've seen so could be a good yeilder.

So let me get this straight. You are flowering 800watts with no ventilation or smell control??? WOW...You should atleast purchase an air conditioner to keep your temps manageable. Summer comming up, your yeild will suffer dramatically if heat becomes an issue!! and trust me it will become an issue!!

yeah i'm aware of the heat issue, but right now its not a problem. if needed i'll empty a stores supply of table fans :thumbsup:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by newmangreen

my thoughts exactly, especially with the warmer weather coming now (YAY :D!) However i'm afraid me and my investors have already laid quite a penny on this project so i doubt we can afford that now :( but where theres a will theres a way. What i'm thinking is if i need it i can buy like 4 table fans like the one i already have and just load the top shelf of the closet with them and have them oscillate around, then while the light cycle is on i can just have the door open or something. Think that will help? I just wont have enough cash until harvest time to afford anything more advanced than that.

---

yeah... heat is going to be a pretty major problem for you... especially as warmer weather comes...

is your apartment air conditioned? if its not, you are going to have some pretty major problems in a couple months with 2 400watt HPS lamps... the fans will help a bit, but remember, fans don;t create cool air, they just move hot air around. if your appt has AC, this might be enough to help circulate more of that cold air in by pushing the hot air out.

the idea of opening the closet doors will help... but you are going to have to be VERY religous about it.... your plants in the flowering stage need to stick pretty closely to a consistant 12/12 lighting schedule, so if your schedule is something like 8am-8pm with lights on... it means your not allowed to sleep-in saturday morning because you need to get up and take care of the babies... this is why people opt for fans and timers to handle all this for them :)

honestly, you really should try and figure out a more automated solution... otherwise you are going to be scheduling your entire life around the plants schedule... it'll be just like having a real baby, just not quite as bad... and new parents never looked stressed out at all... do they?... LOL ;)

it would look ugly as sin, but you could take the doors off the closet and either put new doors on that you can feel free to cut holes in, or just put some sheets of plywood up that you can cut holes in and build a little access-door in... cut some holes in the bottom for electrical and passive-air intake, then put a few fans at the top that flow air out of the closet. of course this all depends on how stealthy you need this to be... obviously somebody walking through your apartment that sees peices of plywood infront of a closet with fans and electrical wiring through it is going to look mighty suspecious... but then again, as others have mentioned, the smell is probably going to make it alot more obvious... might want to look into a filter for that.

ok guys the little ones are doing great. The've peeked their cute heads out of the soil (already) after only 1 day in there. Although not all have starting showing any form of leaves i can see them from the top of the soil. They're doing way better than my previous grow which ended in catastrophy from nute burn, it was a total loss. Then again they were only a few weeks old. The soil i was using had way way too high amounts of NPK, hence the "seeding soil" i bought. Boy they sure grow up fast dont they :thumbsup: After turning only the flouros on, the temperature has increased from 70ish to 80ish. I'm in big trouble when i switch on those HPS's....i'm not going to stress it too much just yet, i still have some time before i turn the big boys on. I also tested the PH of the water i'm using and its a cool 6 (very happy about that.:D)


P.S. sorry about the pic quality

Just some updated pics with updated concerns. Ok so while i was taking these pics i noticed a small spider-like insect on the ground. I examined it closely and the best way to describe it is like a very small (maybe 2mm) scorpion without a tail. I've been looking through many many pages of plant pests and i couldnt find anything similar, so maybe it is just a spider of some kind, but any ideas would be appreciated... Anyways, the babies are looking great. They really love that blue light and are growing quickly towards it. Doesnt seem like the care too much for the white flouro in there, but hey it cant hurt right :)


UPDATE: ok i searched on google (many many times) and have now discovered what the bugs are. Theyre called "pseudoscorpions" and are harmless. theyre basically scorpions without a tail and are carnivores so they wont hurt my plants, thank god for that.

Pseudoscorpion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have found several of those little buggers in the desert here pretty cool little things. You may really really really want to consider your heat issue dont know if you realized this when you bought your strain but that is one of their out door strains for one (not that you cant grow it inside) the problem is it is called Himalayan gold for a specific reason it is because in the Himalayas it gets really cold so they are genetically bread to withstand much colder temps than most strains. needless to say Imo they wont do well in any kind of heat in the 83+ range i would say might have to be even lower. I'm really not sure what to tell you for a solution. you may have picked the wrong time of year and started a little to over zealously (need ventilation). They will get huge too with 7 plants you will want to put them into flower right away imo or you may wind up with no room. Good luck with this i'll be watching I hope you can pull it off. those are some awesome seeds would hate to see them go to waste. pot heads are resourceful people:stoned: im sure you will get something going but you may want to consider somthing with less heat if you cant afford the vent. (CFL) (LED)

no i had no idea about that. I just wanted an indica strain as sativas get so big, so i looked for an indica strain and found one with quite a large yield (600-1000gr/sqm) and it was their fastest growing indica, thats as far as i thought it through. Plus the pic of the budded plant looked amazing! :D ok well i guess i'll be taking the door down at some point in the future, that should help a little with the temps at least during the veg state. I looked around some more and at GHS the temps they have are 25 in the day and 19 at night (celsius of course) so i'll try and do what i gotta do to match that as close as i can. And oh yeah, all 10 of them are growing now. Not 6 :) I'll be forcing the flowering as soon as possible but its still gonna be some time before i can think about that. As far as space goes, my closet is quite large so it shouldnt really be too much of a problem, there's alot more height than width in the room so i dont think i'll be topping them. I'll post some pics later today if i dont pass out from exhaustion, way too much school work lately :(

Good luck with your plants. Just wanted to say.. that god awful bug is freekin me out!!

heh yeah perp the bugs are pretty wierd, i didnt think we could get those around here (colder climate.) If anything they help the matter as they eat other insects so i dont have a problem with them there at all, just creepy;).

Anyways guys i've abandoned the small crappy flouros i was using and i'm now going with 1 of my hps's. The reason for this is that i dont believe those crappy flouros put out near enough lumens and i dont want stretching. A whopping 55,000 lumens is WAY better than anything those flouros can even come close to putting out and i've been looking at other posts from people using only HPS's and they look fine so i'm not gonna try to rig up some fire hazard just to incorporate weak flouros. I'm sure you'll all notice the girls turning to one side and thats because they were growing towards the blue flouro i had, it should correct itself within a couple of days or so.

They're looking great as of now and the temps with the door open is 77. Not TOO bad but not ideal either, and thats with only one. They dont need the two at this point though so once again i'm not gonna worry about it yet.

You guys think the HPS is close enough? Or too far from them? I put a toilet paper roll in one of the pics so you could get an idea of how far the light is from the plants.

lemme know what you think about the girls or anything else, i dont have school for the next 4 days so i'll be checking frequently :D

Hey chief,

Seedlings that are immediately put under HPS lights can be prone to stretching, so if you see that this is happening you might consider lowering the light a little bit more, or getting those fluoros back on the plants for a little bit longer. I'm sure you've heard of testing the distance of the HPS by using the back of your hand underneath the light... if it feels too warm, back the lights up, if not, you can probably lower them some more. Personally, I like to keep CFL's on my seedlings until they just about outgrow their starter cups (2-3 nodes) before transplanting and turning on the big lights, but that's just me.

Also, I can't really tell what your flooring is made out of - I'd imagine it's not concrete if it's in a closet - but if the floor has the tendency to get cold when the lights go off, you might consider setting the containers on something that will serve as a buffer between the roots and the cold floor.

Take care. :jointsmile:

OK i took your advice and lowered the lights a little. The temperature now on the plants is 77.8, is that seriously too high? I'm expecting it to be high but unless its a lethal temp i'm ok with it.

thnx for the help

oh yeah another quick question. How often and how much do you water seedlings on your grows. I'm pretty sure i'm getting it right but just wanna be sure :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by newmangreen

OK i took your advice and lowered the lights a little. The temperature now on the plants is 77.8, is that seriously too high? I'm expecting it to be high but unless its a lethal temp i'm ok with it.

---

77.8F isn't bad, but if temperatures start getting past 80, I'd consider adding some extra ventilation to cool things down. Things like humidity, C02, etc., can all play a role in just how high temperatures can get without affecting growth, but since those don't really apply right now, you should try to keep the temperature between 70-80F for best results. With an open hood like the one on your light, you could probably lower the ambient temperature of the entire room by having a dedicated fan just blowing on the bulb, and moving the ballast out of the growroom (if possible).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by newmangreen

oh yeah another quick question. How often and how much do you water seedlings on your grows. I'm pretty sure i'm getting it right but just wanna be sure :)

---

I just water them when they need it. I know it's sorta taboo, but my seedling pots are somewhat translucent, so I can tell just by looking at the soil whether or not it's still moist, completely dry, somewhere in-between, etc. When the topsoil starts looking a little crumbly, it's probably getting pretty close to time to water. Smaller containers mean you'll need to water more frequently, and higher temperatures will play a role too. If you're not letting them dry out completely, and yet aren't keeping them saturated at all times, then you're doing it right. :jointsmile:

ok thats about what i'm doing now, i'll stick my pinky a little into the soil and if its dry i water them. Thats a great idea about the ballast as well i think i'll do that as soon as i notch a few slots in the door frame for the cables.

Hey, this seems like a fun escapade you have going. Looking forward to seeing more.. subscribed...

Definitely an escapade! If he doesn't fry them with that HPS we will be in for a real adventure.:jointsmile:

Seriously: everyone has been telling you that added cooling is going to be needed and you need to plan for it now. All it will take is a few hours of extreme temps and you will loose the entire crop in the early stages, or seriously stunt the growth in the late stages.

JG

I'm growing Himalaya Gold from Green House Seed Co. also and what they say about height is true. Fast growing and hearty. I put my first two under 12/12 (600 W HPS) at about 4 weeks and I think that was a little too long. The next 4 I put under at two weeks and they are staying fairly short but haven't flowered yet and might still kick it up before they do. They smell great already and look good too.
I would also consider getting a better hood, an AC one that you can vent through to help with your temps.

OK guys i have figured out what i'm gonna do about the heat issue. My investors and I have managed to scrape together some cash:) What i'm now wondering is, should i go for cooltubes for my lights or some kind of exhaust fan setup. Which would be more beneficial? I already have a table fan so the air isnt completely dead in there but i have to leave the door open and i dont really wanna do that for too much longer.

The little ones are doing great, some slight stretching but nothing to be alarmed about. More pics soon, crappy samsung camera eats batteries like candy:wtf:

I would say both. You need fresh air coming in (intake) and old air/heat going out. I upgraded to a cool tube type hood which I vent through with a can fan that sucks the air out via a duct connected to the hood. It's eliminated all my heat issues. You can put your hand on the top of my hood and it's cool. Hydrofarm had a great can fan for $40. Well worth it.

Hey guys, just some updated pics. The little ones are doing great and growing very fast. The pics are time stamped so you can really see the difference day to day. There's very slight yellowing on a few of the girl, nothing i'm going to worry about just yet. Let me know what you think :)

Hey you should get a little breeze blowing on them so they will develop a sturdy stem and not a weak one.:thumbsup:



~One~:rastasmoke:
~BudG~:rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

i do have a fan blowing on them 24/7.

ok guys i see some signs of trouble. The edges of the leaves on some of the girls are curling up and getting pretty dry and scaly looking. I tested the runoff Ph and its 5, so that could be it. The Ph before watering is 6 though which is pretty good. Are there any ways of raising it on the fly if i need to? Or maybe anything else it could be?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by newmangreen

ok guys i see some signs of trouble. The edges of the leaves on some of the girls are curling up and getting pretty dry and scaly looking. I tested the runoff Ph and its 5, so that could be it. The Ph before watering is 6 though which is pretty good. Are there any ways of raising it on the fly if i need to? Or maybe anything else it could be?

---

Before I read this post I was looking at the most recent pics and I was thinking it could be the soil. I read that it has trace elements of NPK. Does it have time release ferts in it? Supposed to be too harsh for seedlings if so. Also I tried to use that seedling starter sh** in a previous grow and I had nothing but problems with it. I resent that crap. What I've come to really love with seedlings are peat pods that you can get at your local wal-mart or lowes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by newmangreen

ok guys i see some signs of trouble. The edges of the leaves on some of the girls are curling up and getting pretty dry and scaly looking. I tested the runoff Ph and its 5, so that could be it. The Ph before watering is 6 though which is pretty good. Are there any ways of raising it on the fly if i need to? Or maybe anything else it could be?

---

http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-pro...hy-how-do.html

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stinkyattic

First, measure the pH of your tap water and record it. As an example, let's say that it is 7.0, exactly neutral.

If you have a meter, simply stick the electrode in the water and read.

Let's say that your runoff comes out at 6.5. How did that happen? The water passed through a more acidic matrix and dropped its pH. You can assume that your true soil pH is a couple tenths of a pH point lower than the runoff in this case- I'd assume about a 6.2. If it comes out HIGHER, just go in the opposite direction. If it came out 7.5, you can assume that you need to drop down from about 7.8.

You want around 6.0-6.5 for a soilless mix, or 6.3-6.8 for soil.

---

^^By this logic, your soil would around 4.7... Plus if the soil has ferts in it already, that could burn them up also. I'd go check out to see if your ph tester was calibrated correctly before messing with the ph and possibly introducing a new problem. If it's a color-coded test, then the water has to be clear for the test to be accurate.

jorge cervantes says when the edges of the leaves curl up, that it's the plants way trying to keep cool. you might want to check your temps.

OK guys lets see here...The Ph of the soil i have is 6 (says on the bag) and the water Ph is also 6. The soil i use is supposed to have very little to no nutrients at all, but as it just says "trace NPK" i have no real way of knowing. I'd really like to be able to tell you more but thats really all it says:(

I'm going to flush the soil and check the runoff Ph when next watering time rolls around. I would do it now but i just watered earlier.

I found a cool setting on my cam that lets me take really nice close-up pics so it'll be easier to show everyone what i'm talking about. In any case they ARE growing, and pretty quick too. Most look ok but the problem ones arent looking to spectacular. And one of them is even starting to smell like sweet maryjane so thats pretty cool.

The temps are in the mid to high 70's at the moment and i'm waiting for my cooltubes to come in the mail, after that the heat wont be an issue anymore. Its not that big of an issue now as it is but when i get that second HPS up its gonna be HOT so i'm gonna jump on the ventilation and heat issue ASAP.

Thanks for all the help guys:hippy:

almost forgot. What is the best way to flush the soil so that any nutes that may be there get removed?


Happy Smokin:jointsmile:

using ph corrected water....

heh well yeah thats a given, but i mean how much water to use etc...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by newmangreen

heh well yeah thats a given, but i mean how much water to use etc...

---

double your pot size. for example: 1 gallon pot, use 2 gallons of water.

Hey everyone, just flushed all the babies. Here's some post-flush pics and a pic of the runoff Ph tests.

I think your going to need to get some pH-up.

going by those tests, i'd say your pH is closer to 5 than it is 6... you want your pH for soil grows to be about 6.5

ok guys quick question again (yes, i know i'm a pain in the ass:D) Do you think two of these fans, one intake and one exhaust, is enough to keep the temperatures under control? Please check link for fan.


Hydrofarm - Active Air ACFB8 In-Line Booster Fan, 8"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by newmangreen

ok guys quick question again (yes, i know i'm a pain in the ass:D) Do you think two of these fans, one intake and one exhaust, is enough to keep the temperatures under control? Please check link for fan.


Hydrofarm - Active Air ACFB8 In-Line Booster Fan, 8"

---

Up to 661 CFM. I would think so. Then again you won't know really until it's there and installed I suppose.

They don't say the cfm's... Active Air Inline Fans Blowers<--Here they say 661 cfm for a 10"...

Have you and your sponsors read through this yet?http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-gr...-progress.html


^^There is a formula for ventilation a few posts down that works pretty well from my experience.

There are a couple different ways you could set up your fan(s). I had my fan pulling through a carbon filter and cooltube, but temps were a bit high. Next time I might buy another similar fan. One would pull air out of the growroom through the carbon filter. The other would be cooling the cooltube by pulling fresh air through duct to the cooltube then through duct to the fan, and out of the growroom. That way no smell leaks, and the air coming to the light will be cooler, and the air in the room will be cooler. Those are just thoughts at the moment.

Anyways, try to go through that link and the formula before you buy... :thumbsup: