First time, having problems

[Weedhound]

right and make sure you have room between the plants and the light so they don't burn at the tips from being too close......otherwise good to go.

Do consider what size footprint your HPS will give off......with six foot plants you'll need about 1000 watts to penetrate down and reach the bottom of your plants. That's a lot of depth for your light to get through.

[stinkyattic]

Lose the 'top soil'. It generally contains far too much clay for indoor use, and will suffocate your roots with its heaviness and water retention.
Try promix, compost with perlite, or even MG Organic with extra perlite. You need that soil LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT! And re-pot into SLIGHTLY larger pots every ~6 weeks or so to stay ahead of potential soil problems.

[ddxsinxcosxdx]

Ok - Heres the update.

Got 6 2.5 Gallon pots, filled the bottom with about an inch of gravel to help with drainage, then got some extra soil (which thankfully to the advise of stinky) which was very light and fluffy. Got the pots filled with a little less than 2 gallons of dirt (loosely packed) this was defiantly a (hopefully the) problem, as the roots were actually formed into a root ball which I broke while transplanting so they could start growing out again.

When I looked at the spacing with the new larger pots, I didnt think that my florescent setup would be strong enough (4 T-5 bulbs, about 100 watts total) so I switched over the HPS and will just run it 24/7 for a month or till 2 feet tall.

Here are my new set of questions:

My HPS set up is 600 Watts, will this be enough for vegetative growth for the 6 plants? Keep in mind, I only plan on flowering 2 of them fully.

How far should I keep the HPS light from the tops of the plants? I have read a lot of things on the internet but much prefer the expertise I am finding here.

Previously I had been watering the plants till I saw water come out of the cup bottoms. How much water is good for these now? (please answer in per day or week measurements)

Any other advise that you would recommend?

[stinkyattic]

Actually, I advise switching to flower sooner. Here's why.
Your HPS600 is going to penetrate the canopy in only a limited way; once you pass that, you are putting on wood unnecessarily. If you want to veg longer, I strongly suggest training your plants so that they grow rather flat and low, and the light penetration is to MORE of the overall mass of the plant.

Gravel in the pot is not necessary. Info for next time. Light soil with perlite, and large drain holes, are all you really need.

Light distance- totally depends on a lot of things; bring the light as close as you can before you hand held palm-down at the canopy level feels warm but not uncomfortably so. Or if you see the edges of the higher leaves curling subtly but sharply upwards, raise the light. And remember that air movement is very important!

I can't give you # of gallons per week either; totally depends on your plants, conditions, soil, humidity, all that junk. To runoff is totally fine as long as you are giving ample food and letting the pots dry out a bit between waterings.

Um.. that's it I think? If I missed anything... post up!

Edit: What do you have against tan? It's an overlooked little function, with a low self-esteem, and offended that you left it out!

[ddxsinxcosxdx]

How long would you recommend letting vegetative go for?

originally this screen name was to look like:

d/dx sin(x) = cos(x)dx

Using tan, I would have had to involve secant.... try explaining secant to someone who knows nothing about trig.

Yea, im a math dork.....

[Weedhound]

You're in the best hands with the Stinkster. :thumbsup:

Good luck.

[ddxsinxcosxdx]

Yea, I'm noticing from reading some of her previous posts/threads she has this down to as close of a science as it can be.

Don't worry though, Weedhound, Ill be barking up your tree once I make the change to hydroponic.

I'll let you both know in the next couple of days how the plants are responding.

Should I expect to see a slow in growth over the next few days while the plants grow the root systems to catch up to the size of the plant?

[stinkyattic]

Immediately after a transplant you MIGHT see slightly slower growth while the roots figure out HEY! WE HAVE MORE ROOM! WOOT WOOT. and then BAM! off they go.

You should expect to veg until:
a) the plant is 1/3 the size at which you would like it to finish flowering
b) it is sexually mature, indicated by alternating, rather than opposite, node placement

...ya dork! (I'm a lab geek; I feel your pain!)

[Rusty Trichome]

Awesome, thanks for the help.

I'm going to go get some new pots now and will switch them today. I think ill let them vegetate for another couple weeks (or 2 feet tall which ever is first) I have an 8 foot ceiling where I will do the flowering, so I would think that a 6 foot plant would be good.

A couple of theing to keep in mind:
...the effective light from the 600 will only extend down a few (3 or 4) feet from the source. Undergrowth will die-off a bit.
...sativa dominant strains generally stretch more than indica doms.

When trying to determine how tall you ultimately want your ladies, don't forget to add the size (height) of your growlight, (a foot or so) the 'buffer zone' between lights and canopy top, (another foot or two) and a foot or so for the pot.

That's 4ft. of vertical space needed, not counting the plants. In an eight foot tall room, that leaves room enough for about a 4 foot plant. Any taller, and you'll quickly run out of headroom.

[ddxsinxcosxdx]

Good news - Not getting any more leafs turning yellow/brown

At this point should I prune off the dead leafs to allow light to better penetrate?

I was thinking about topping my plants, whats a good time to do that?