My first newbie grow

[JohnnyWisdom]

So I got some bag seeds from a friend, put them into a cup of water, and started growing them outdoors in miracle grow soil. I quickly realized two things (1) it was too late to start (early Aug) to harvest anything more than what I generally spill when rollin' a dubie and (2) the MG I was using wasn't the smartest choice of soil ... so, let the decisions begin. First, I decided I was going to move indoors. I bought a 5x5x6 grow tent (darkroom 150) and lit it up with a 600 watt switchable MH bulb. Right away the little buggers started soakin up the sun but I could tell something wasn't right. Had to be the soil ... so, I bought some Fox Farm ocean soil and transplanted from MG to the good stuff. I massaged off as much of the MG I could and then performed an open root transplant. The surgery went as expected and life was once again on the horizon. At this point I realized the grow tent was WAY too big for 2 plants so I recently popped the rest of the seeds and put them into rapid rooter (waiting for those to come to life). I plan to bring the total growth up to my legal limit of 6 plants. After spending 25+ hours per day on this board I came to the conclusion that soil is *good* but hydro is *better* ... at least for my situation. So, once again I was faced with a daunting decision ... the new seedlings would never taste soil but the 2 currently growing would become sloppy seconds if not in the hydro medium ... so, today I once again performed another transplant but this time I washed away the soil while being careful with the roots. Now I have no idea if this is a big no-no but like I said these are bag seeds and a trial run ... so if they make it, great, but if not then I have the other 4 seedlings on their way. I don't even have these 2 in any type of cube ... I just moved some of the rocks over, carefully placed the roots down, and then piled rocks to support the stem. One had to get buried pretty deep. So, that's where I'm at as of today (Sunday Aug 31). After this cycle I'm going to try my first *real* batch of feminized WW seeds I ordered online.

Additional info about the set up ... I have a 40 gal reservoir (currently using 28 gal of tap water) with 420ml of botanicare pure blend grow (about 2 tbs per gallon). The ph level is about 6.5ish (I'm using the cheapo tester for now until I get a digital meter) and I have some PH down stuff I plan on mixing in the morning. The lights are on a 18/6, I feed 15on/15off during light hours, an oscillating fan in the tent on 24/7, and a 4" vortex inline fan sucking out the hot air via 6" ducting (hooked up to the hood). I also bought a cheapo 5000btu AC from HD for $79 that I keep at the bottom of my vent shaft. The temps are high 70's/low 80's at night and 85-90 during the day. I know it's a little hot but the setup is in my garage and I'm still working on controlling the temp (the weather should cool within the next several weeks and I'm hoping I'll be fighting to keep it warm which should be an easier battle).

I've attached a couple of pics and I'll keep em coming as the story develops.

Any comments, praise, criticism, etc. is always welcomed

JohnnyWisdom Reviewed by JohnnyWisdom on 09-01-2008. My first newbie grow So I got some bag seeds from a friend, put them into a cup of water, and started growing them outdoors in miracle grow soil. I quickly realized two things (1) it was too late to start (early Aug) to harvest anything more than what I generally spill when rollin' a dubie and (2) the MG I was using wasn't the smartest choice of soil ... so, let the decisions begin. First, I decided I was going to move indoors. I bought a 5x5x6 grow tent (darkroom 150) and lit it up with a 600 watt switchable MH Rating: 5

[LuciferN]

I have almost no knowledge of hydro. But These seedlings seem healthy, I saw that you are adding something to the water, just be sure not to over do the fert. In soil young seedlings should have 1/4 strength of nute. I'll be checking this grow, try to learn a little bit about hydro.

[JohnnyWisdom]

(in my best Robin Williams voice) .. Good evening cannabis dot com!!

So, it's been a week and it looks like the little buggers might actually make it! I've attached some pics below so you can be the judge.

I'm noticing some neon green in the area of new growth, is this normal? Also, please welcome a new addition to the family.

Only 1 of 4 made it past germination. I also have some WW seeds I recently started germinating, so hopefully next week will include some lovely baby girls!

ohh, does anyone know what it means when edibles say "THC FACTOR '5'"?? I bought some Oreo cookies and there were 3 in the package ... I ate one like 15 min ago and I think it's starting to creep up :stoned:

[JohnnyWisdom]

Oh yeah, I also picked up a Milwaukee SM802 SMART pH/EC/TDS Combined Meter/Tester from eBay ($148.99 w/ shipping) and it was delivered yesterday. I spent some time taking different readings:

Kitchen tap water (KTW):
PPM - 400
PH - 8.0

1 Gal KTW w/ 2 tea nutes:
PPM - 900
PH - 6.6

1 GAL KTW w/ 2 tea nutes & 1 tea PH down (waayyy to much PH down):
PPM - 1050
PH - 3.7

1 GAL KTW w/ 2 tea nutes & 1/4 tea PH down (bingo mixture):
PPM - 840 (I might have put less than 2 tea of nutes)
PH - 6.3

Grow tank
PPM - 1430
PH - 6.2

I must say, you definitely need a meter if you're going to be serious about hydro :weedpoke:

[JohnnyWisdom]

Since my last post I had 3 of 5 feminized WW sprout and moved to the tent. So now I have a total of 3 bag ladies and 3 WW's. The bag seeds are the oldest 3 plants.

Today I saw signs of stress on the 2 older ladies.

First thing I checked was the PH and it had jumped to 6.8 from a steady at 6.2. This was expected though because last night I added 3 new buckets of hydroton into the system.

So, I added 15ml of PH down. WOAH, big mistake. The pH shot down to high 4's. Luckily I had the capacity to add 20L of tap water to dilute it back to 5.8. Still, I don't think the curling up of leaves w/ drooping was pH related. Instead I think it was a 2-fold heat issue; heat and lights too close to the tops.

A slight heat issue was in part due to testing my new temp gauge that records high's & low's and not running the aux A/C to see how hot it'd get without it ... 91.2F. So, needless to say, I'll need the A/C on until the weather cools down even more.

I believe the overall stress culprit was the fact my lights were too low. I raised them a few inches so now they're about 20-24" above the tops.

However, I'm paranoid about the light nutes on the seedlings, so I flushed all 6 with tap water which added to the dilution of the pH down in the res (but added to the high pH of the medium). Tomorrow I'll flush more with pH'ed water.

I've got tons of pics to share coming right up

[JohnnyWisdom]

Pics of the 2 oldest; 1 & 3 are the same, 2 & 4 are the same

[JohnnyWisdom]

1. All 6 lined up
2. Current temp @ base level (notice the sensor in pic above)
3. Gauge at lamp level (4 degree difference from base)
4. tray
5. POV from tent doorway

[JohnnyWisdom]

1. inside of tent
2. exhaust
3. side of tent. Exhaust goes into an inline 4" vortex bolted to the wall and A/C next to bottom vent
4. fan
5. close up of A/C against lower vent

[Booyagrandma]

Nice, looks like your super sweet setup is getting dialed in, can't wait to make my own look like this, you know the funds.....

Cheers,
Booya

[SubLowe]

hey what kinda airconditioner r u using? ... im lookin for one everywhere, but theyre all window units and very expensive. right now ive just got alotta fans