i need help with fertilizer BAAAAD

[WashougalWonder]

If you do use 'outdoor' soil, sterilize it before using or you WILL have bugs.

[gypski]

If you do use 'outdoor' soil, sterilize it before using or you WILL have bugs.

That could possibly be true, but they can also come from store bought soil. Whether or not its bad bugs remains to be seen with Tokal soil. Screen it before use. I do know, grown outdoors in this soil, the only bug problem I had was from two legged bugs who got my medicine. That also said, I never had any problems with bugs indoors. I spray before hand a few days, and have been known to use a praying mantis or two to handle any bugs. But, as you say, that may not be the case for everyone. A clean environment is the key. Keep your grow area clean, clean, clean.

[ofishall1]

ok as of right now today i have 15 plants that are under 1 foot tall, i have 2 1000 watt hps lights and 1 8 lamp t5 laying against the wall the 2 1000 watt hps lights are vented into the ceiling, now i have a 750 cfm squral cage fan sucking air in from outside the side of the house thats the coolest during the day, next i have a t spliter hooked up to the hoods to cool them down and the outher is blowing fresh air into the room all day till the timer goes out i have them on a 18/6 right now, but i do need to switch my times around i never thought of running it like you said spaceneedle, i will do that, and as for my 6 fans in the room i have them running all the time till the lights go out is this wrong, next should i switch my hps lights to a metle halide i have 1 1000 watt mh light and 3 hps 1000 watt lights and a 8 bulb t5, i am running 2 hps lights they are 1000 watts each and the t5 is on its side next to the wall by the plants i have 7 plants under 1 light and 8 under the other but they are all spread out to capture as much light as possible,im going to buy another 750cfm fan to help bring in more fresh air i guess, i know its all my venting and air circulating thats probably my biggest issue, as for the other 6 fans should i put them on a timmer for 15 min per hour or just let them run like i am i will try to take a pix of my set up and post it here for any and all help is that ok to do thxs guys im so ignorant when it comes to this stuff im trying to learn as fast as i can, i just want a healthy crop and a potent one at that for my wife, i can suffer for that matter but she cant i wont let that happen, thxs for the help,, tom:thumbsup:

[SpaceNeedle]

Ok,
Ventilation is important. But its not enough to add another 700CFM fan.
Think of it this way: Your grow room is in a room say just for kicks 6' x 8' and it is surrounded by a balloon. If you into the balloon without getting the old or heated air out, you are not ventilating. You can only blow so much into a balloon, and if there is no escape of the warmer air, you will only increase air pressure. 2 1000W lights produce right around 8,000 BTU. I don't want to get technical, but for your information, I have a gas fireplace that puts out a max of about 12,000 BTUs. That gas insert will heat my entire house quite comfortably in the winter time without any help from my furnace. I am sure your grow room is a lot smaller than my house. So now imagine that fireplace turned on high in your grow room in August, when the coldest air you can find might be 75F... and there is no air conditioning to help!
RULES:
Exhaust 10% more CFM than incoming fresh air (That way you will encounter less odors coming into your living quarters), so your grow room will be at negative air pressure.
Get your fresh air (esp when lights are on) when they are the coolest air temperatures.
Doing it this way, if your outside air temperature is say 70F, you should be able to maintain 80F. In other words a 10 degree difference.

Good Luck!
SN

[ofishall1]

cool thxs for all the help i have a contractor friend whos going to come down and see me at the end of the month and help me put vents in the right way, should i use the 8" vents or what my hoods are 4" vent holes, and next am i running to many lights, and should i change my hps lights for the mh ones for now or use 1 mh and 1 hps, and the room size is 10 x 8 and for now im going to water every 4th day with plain water and when they start getting to about 2 feet start to fertilize will this be ok or should i use my general hydroponics fertilizer waterd way way down for now, i wish there was a chart or something telling you when to water and at what stages or weeks to change to a higher dose or something, anyway thxs for ALL YOUR HELP sorry for being stupid, this is all new to me but i do grow a vegitable garden every year out back and it does great should i not make it as hard as i am LOL thxs guys i just want to do this the right way without screwing it up, helping my wife is the #1 priority for me right now helping her with her pain and migranes if i could lessen those it would be awsom, thxs tom::thumbsup:

[SpaceNeedle]

I'm not sure if you are growing in hydroponics now. If you are using good SOIL, just add plain water, at least this grow. General Hydroponics is designed for hydroponics... don't get the two confused. Good soil will last as long as your plants will, but you'd prolly want to replace it next time around. A 4" vent is not adequate for a 1000W, 6" is minimum, 8" preferred. I have 8" vents using only a 600W. However even using 8" vents will not remove ALL the heat from your room. There will still be heat coming off the hood which will be hotter than room temperature, as well as the ducting will give off a certain amount of heat. BUT you still have to bring in fresh cold air directly to the plants (not just thru the hoods). So if you have a 700 cfm fan bringing in fresh air TO THE PLANTS, it needs to be exhausted out. Generally speaking, you vent the cold air into the room near the bottom (floor level). and as the air warms up it goes up, so you need to exhaust the air up high from the ceiling dumping the warmer air out.
MH is generally used for vegging, HPS for flowering.

I grow hydroponics, in which case I can measure the exact strength of my nutrients with a meter. Check out EC/PPM meters for hydroponics. I'm not aware of any measuring that can be done for nutrients in soil. A 1000W light should cover a 4' x 4' area very easily. So whatever the size of your plants with two lights, you should be able to cover an area of plants about 8' x 4'.

cool thxs for all the help i have a contractor friend whos going to come down and see me at the end of the month and help me put vents in the right way, should i use the 8" vents or what my hoods are 4" vent holes, and next am i running to many lights, and should i change my hps lights for the mh ones for now or use 1 mh and 1 hps, and the room size is 10 x 8 and for now im going to water every 4th day with plain water and when they start getting to about 2 feet start to fertilize will this be ok or should i use my general hydroponics fertilizer waterd way way down for now, i wish there was a chart or something telling you when to water and at what stages or weeks to change to a higher dose or something, anyway thxs for ALL YOUR HELP sorry for being stupid, this is all new to me but i do grow a vegitable garden every year out back and it does great should i not make it as hard as i am LOL thxs guys i just want to do this the right way without screwing it up, helping my wife is the #1 priority for me right now helping her with her pain and migranes if i could lessen those it would be awsom, thxs tom::thumbsup:

[G13budsmoker]

im glad theres others out there to try and help you and your wife. they are giving you alot of good info. in my opinion you def just need to get the temps lower and stable, i had a temp and humidity spiking problem when i wasnt using good enough fan. without seein what the room looks like and you tellin us that your using two 1000W is way overkill more then likely if the room is a smaller room, i have a 400W in a 4X6X8 room with 8 plants and it was still to much heat without the proper cfm fan that i have now. you should try and keep your temp (flowering) around 75-80* with a 40-50% humidity when the lights are on, any more the 80 and they will have stress. at night when the lights are off you want the temp to be around 68-75* with same humidity. on the nutrients topic (agian in my own opinion) is to use a good soil like "Miracle grow moisture control" or better and not to use any nut until you switch them. i love Fox Farms Tiger bloom and Big bloom, these two make a good harvest with hi thc content at a fair price(i paid $20 a bottle). dont use the recomended doses and start them slow and gradualy add more nutrients, to strong at first will burn them. your yellowing leves sound like a lack of Nitrogen. dont forget to flush with 3X the amount of water per gall of soil around week 4 for if you use nutrients just to be safe and release salt build up from hurting them. Good luck to you and i hope all works out well for you AND your wife