OG clone and Mazar clones...help please!

[LifeSaver23]

okay so heres the deal.... im a new grower... ive tried once before, but it ended badly... i started out from seeds.. and what happened then was i had my babies growing nicely, but then fucked it up by leaving them under the care of a friend while i visited my parents for a month and a half... then when i got em back, i switched em from flouresants to a 400er.. fried the fuck out of em and brought bugs. BUT thats beside the point...

so im on my second run... i started with some nice looking clones this time, one OG kush strain and two Mazar strains. i know the basics of marijuana growing 101... well i know a quite a bit more than the basics actually... ive spent countless hours researching and reading and discussing the subject with other experienced people... my problem is... i just dont have the experience.
at the moment, ive got my plants in pots about 8.5 inches in diameter... i have them under a 150 watt soft white light and a 15er lil plant light from home depot. theyre in my closet... the closet is completely cleared out except for my growing stuff.. i did the best i could to sterilize it... lined the carpet with trash bags.. etc etc.

now for the questions... how often should i be watering them... and when i water them, how much water do i give each plant? ive heard different things from different places.

and my main concern!!!! i woke up this morning n checked on my babies.... theyre drooping!! the two mazar especially just droopy as fuck... the og is slightly droopy but its okay... ive seen this happen with my old plants and they came back to standing at attention by the end of that day... but it just scares me... mostly because i have no idea why its happening... help!!
why does this happen? and how do i fix it?

also... the og strain is starting to lose its color in some of the leaves... some of the tips are beginning to die or turn yellow/brown... and the leaves are losing their green... what do i dooo??? i think that might be because they need nitrogen.... i plan to add my fertilizer to their next watering cycle...


any suggestions???

LifeSaver23 Reviewed by LifeSaver23 on 09-30-2008. OG clone and Mazar clones...help please! okay so heres the deal.... im a new grower... ive tried once before, but it ended badly... i started out from seeds.. and what happened then was i had my babies growing nicely, but then fucked it up by leaving them under the care of a friend while i visited my parents for a month and a half... then when i got em back, i switched em from flouresants to a 400er.. fried the fuck out of em and brought bugs. BUT thats beside the point... so im on my second run... i started with some nice looking Rating: 5

[stinkyattic]

Just moved to problem section. There's a troubleshooting form stickied at teh top of 'plant problems'; fill it out as much as you can.
Water when the pots feel light.
Sterile is not as important as well ventilated. Lots of air and light, and water only when they need it.

[LifeSaver23]

okay... im not quite sure how you wanted me to fill that out... but here it is, im growing in traditional soil, three plants... clones, bought them from a dispensary in long beach. when i purchased them they had already been in the rockwool... and i stuck that into miracle grow moisture control soil. INDOORS of course... i have not added anything to the soil yet, but today or tomorrow im going to start feeding them nutrients (Botanicare- pure blend grow formula). i am using bottled water at the moment only because it is for sure 7pH... i have the pH tester kit but the color meter measure thing was accidently drenched in neem oil so im not sure if the water color and 7pH color match up... anyway, i am not sure how old they are... i forgot to ask the ppl @ the clinic.. but im assuming 3-4 weeks because they are well rooted in the rockwool and are about 5 or 6 inches tall... nice amount of leaves and branches already.

ive been told different watering schedules. some say water as soon as the top inch of the soil is dry... others say every 2 to 3 days. ive been doing it as i see the soil dry... today is the 3rd day ive had them.
i have them under a 150 watt cool light as well as a 15 watt plant light... going to add another 150er soon and when they are ready to flower, im going to switch them to a 400 hps light. i am not sure on the exact temperature but i believe its between 75-85 (F)... i have a basic fan for air circulation and leave one door of the closet cracked for some ventilation... my light was about a foot and a half above the plants.. i just moved it to about 5 or 6 inches away from the plants.
i have no idea what the humidity is... i have a bucket of water on the floor a few feet away from the plants... i heard it helps? i believe heard it helps to keep the temperature cool.. but common sense also tells me the water should slowly evaporate and bring in some humidity? but i could be completely wrong..
at the moment theyre under 24 hours of light.. and i did not presoak my media (whatever that is) in pH corrected solution (assuming thats 7pH H20)

sooo.... now that you have the 411... the droopyness is making me very sad.. even though i know its only temporary..
my guess is that theyre a little shocked from the sudden exposure to soil.. the roots are most likely touching the soil now and going "ahH! whats this?" but soon enough theyll be like "hmmm i like this.." lol and grow nicely... also i had the light way too far away until about an hour ago.. thats probably added to it..
but any advice, suggestions, or help would be much much appreciated!!

[stinkyattic]

Okay let's look at a couple things. What TYPE of lights are they? Are they incandescent, Compact Flourescent, or tube flouro? They should be a flourescent light of some type.

Next. RW cubes are fine if you treat them with caution! When you plant them in the soil, it is important not to bury them completely. They NEED to dry out between waterings, just like the dirt, otherwise you end up with a stem rot problem and *clunk* the plant falls over and dies. Very tragic, and avoidable.

More ventilation! You should be really sucking air out of there so it is refreshed constantly, and that will help with your heat too.

Pre=soakoing media is just for hydro, don't worry about that part.

Bottled water is not as good as plain tap water, and youdon't really have to worry about pH quite yet in a fresh soil right out of the bag. It is stabilized at the factory and remains stable for 4-6 weeks. Bottled water also has too much sodium and not enough calcium.

MG moisture control may hold too much water, and for the light and ventilation you [don't] have yet, I would say it is DEFINITELY going to take some finessing. Water LIGHTLY, and extra holes in the sides of the pot may help you. I would not use that stuff indoors, it's for patios that get hot and are hard to keep watered. Whether I would use MG at all is moot lol! Be real careful, it has ferts in it already so fertilize VERY WEAKLY at first!!!

Lose the water- it will just make it humid and sticky in there. If the clone gets real droopy, you can mist it lightly with tap water- Your clone was probably just not really hardened-off yet and the droop is likely to get better as it gets used to your conditions. You shouldn't have to mist much at all, just a day or 2 before it perks up and starts taking in moisture through its roots.

[LifeSaver23]

sooo.... i figured out the problem... you could be right still... but.. i got a fork and mixed through the soil a bit.. the water wasnt penetrating AT ALL... only the top layer of the sand.. everything else was fucking dry... so i got freaked out.... and sprayed all three pots with a total of two 500 mL water bottles, with nutrients added... i mixed the soil as i sprayed and made sure theres no dry pockets... the plants immediately sprang up... you said not to use too much nutrients right away... im a little worried now cause i pretty much just double dosed them... i had a teaspoon of the botanicare stuff with a gallon of tap water.. thats what i used to water them.. i suppose the next one or two times i water them i should just use regular plain water, eh? andddd im using a cool white light.. not sure if thats the detail you want.. but im going out to home depot asap to get a long flourescant, like the kind they use in classrooms... going to get an air purifier and also some dry ice, and put them in the room at different times of the day... good idea? or bad? any other suggestions of what i should get or what i should do?
also... the cubes are completely covered by soil right now.. but i think its okay because they were pretty fuckin dry the past 2 days if the water wasnt penetrating... or do you think i should loosen up the soil around them still?

[stinkyattic]

You need more than one tube flouro; get a coupe 2-bulb fixtures- the 4 foot ones are like$9.
Just water for the next couple waterings.
Scratch whatever soil is on top of the cubes off so they are exposed to the air.