1st timer, w/Hydroton, could use a little help...

[TMusic]

I know about the wet stem thing now, they were just so shallow.

Day 28.

They look great today, got the ppm to 850, been there for about 24 hours and they seem to love it.

[palerider7777]

u say u have a 400w on them now?? i can see sum has lot of growth did u top or fimm them?? from what i see the ones with alot of outwards growth will be nothing but a good thing as i fimmed the ones i had and out of 6 tom plants i had 40 tops so..is the 400w a 400w or abunch of cfls to make 400w?? i'd say drop the lights a lil closer if u can just do the hand test to see how close u can get the light if its cfls u can get them about 5inches away and be fine.

[TMusic]

no, I havent touched them, no topping or fimming. Since this is my first grow, I want to do it without fucking with anything. Figure I learn the basics first, like keeping a plant alive and healthy AND growing it to maturity- something I've never done. I would consider LST but I don't think they're tall enough, nor do I really know how to do it, so I'm sure you understand the reluctancy. I'm trying to play it safe, as long as I can get a few oz from them(total), I'll be happy

I have a 400w Eye Hortilux HPS and 2 CFL's in there.

How much more veg time would you say I have left?

[palerider7777]

most go 12/12 when the plant hits a ft tall or 4 or 5 good sets of leafs but u have good growth but no height at 30 days mine was close to 2ft tall urs is still under a ft so i'd wait till they were lil over a ft unless u have alot of space then u can let them grow bigger i mean the taller the better as more can grow but the least is a ft i would say

[TMusic]

I have about 32 inches from the top of the pot to a safe distance from the light.

[palerider7777]

i'd flower at around a ft maybe a lil bigger

[TMusic]

Is LST something to consider? if so, when should I do it? They're about 8 inches tall now.

Will this slow the process down?

[TMusic]

Also... when I switch the lights from 18/6 to 12/12 do I still cut the water during the dark? 12 hours seems like a long time without water.

[TMusic]

taken tonight. They're looking great. I've been at 90% nutes for 2 days and they seem to be happy. They still droop a little before the lights go out, but they recover pretty quickly.

I took some of my unused, flexible airline and made drip rings out of the straight tubing and t connectors. there are 4 holes in each ring and the water ALMOST comes out in individual drops. Its pretty steady, but its spread out to all 4 sides of the pot. This has kept the rapid rooter plugs from getting wet and all the roots get water, every watering. I have the pump on for 15 minutes every 3 hours now, actually I just switched it to 15 minutes every 2 hours. The temp in the box has been 65-75 with the lighs on and 58-64 with the lights off. Reservoir is 19c-20c.

The tallest one in the back left is 10 inches tall, the smallest one, the front left, is 8 inches. I plan on starting the flowering cycle next sunday. I only have 32 inches before I'll be too close to the light so I figure I start flowering at about a foot like palerider suggested. By the way, palerider has given me SOLID advice for the past couple weeks. Much Respect!!!

[palerider7777]

ty tmusic lol most of the time i get deemed the prick or don't write in perfect english on these forums nice to see i can help someone.anyways thats good that u made the ring and i'd say u should up the time on the feeding a lil more as there gettin bigger and will need more and i can't tell if it's the pic or not but are sum of ur leafs yellowing?? if so u might want to back off the nutes abit what are ur ppms at now?? and ur ph??