First Time Grower, 20 Plants!

[RandyL]

We finally got the room ready, and the people with the clones had some for us, so last night, my assistant (hereforth referred to as "K") went and picked up the clones!

Feel free to tell me if I'm messing something up, all input will be helpful and appreciated.

First, the details on the setup:

Room measures 7.5 feet by 8.5 feet, 9 foot tall ceiling. Ceiling fan in the room.

Dirt grow, Fox Farms Ocean Forest dirt mixed with 25% Perlite. 3 parts dirt to 1 part Perlite. We'll be using RO water and Fox Farms fertilizers all the way. I got the PH up and PH down solutions and a Hanna Checker 1 PH meter, along with the 4.01 and 7.00 calibration solutions and some yellow colored tip storage solution.

Lights - 800 watts of Metal Halide (2X400) for clones and veg, a 1000 watt HPS for flowering.

We were planning to start the clones off in 1 gallon pots, but K found some 2.5 gallon buckets and wants to put them in those straight from the start, to avoid any transplant shock problems. I'm 50/50 on that idea myself. I don't think 2.5 gallons is big enough, but he goes on and on about how all these people he knew grew in that size pot or smaller, etc.

When K brought home the clones, I thought they would be transplant ready, but these clones are NOOBS! Very few roots coming through the rockwool yet, so I shut down one of the MH lights and am keeping the clones in their humidty dome, 3 feet under one of the lights. 400 watts ought to be plenty of light for them! I figure several days to a week before they can be put in dirt. Temps in the dome are in the mid 70s with 80% to 85% humidity.

We were supposed to get 20 clones, but K somehow came home with 22. 3 strains. He sorted them out and we have 9 OG Granddaddy Purples, 9 OG Bubba Kushes, and 4 OG Purple Kushes. Indica / Sativa? He knows, I have to ask him. I think they are mostly indicas.

Here's some photos of the room.

And here are the little noobs, just getting started!

I'm hoping things go well! I need to read a bit more and see how to resize these photos so people don't have to sidescroll to see everything. I hate having to do that!

 

[Screwnuts33]

I have no experience with clones however you have roots showing and those kids need to get planted. Roots do not like light exposure. Get them in the dirt. Depending how big you plan to grow them a 2.5 gallon pot is not very big for a mature plant. I started in 1/2 gallon and will be transplanting to 5-gallon tonight. A single 1000 watt is not much light for 22 plants. Do you have a light mover? May want to pick up some HPS bulbs for your 400 watt lights to supplement the 1000. Providing your balasts can do both MH & HPS bulbs. Also look into clipping the fan leaves. I have read that is very important with new clones.

 

[PitViper]

Its nice to see someone use a MH for veg...they are truly the best. Ive bloomed in them just fine also when I tried hydro 20 years ago

 

[Tunes420]

Wow nice start...set up looks great...got awesome strains and clones are rooted.......what more could you ask for out of life...I agree with Screwnuts33 about planting clones ....if i saw a single root coming from rock wool i would put it in medium....also my experience has been 2 1/2 gallon pot would bring a plant to harvest np....but you get less and smaller plant....roots IMO have direct effect on how big a plant gets...cramp roots plant will be smaller and chance roots becoming to crowded and sick.
and will be following journal with great interest

 

[RandyL]

Thanks for the information so far! We had a week of R&D time with the room set up before we got the plants. Big problem was heat. We've got a 465 cfm barrel fan for exhaust, and a small 8" to help on the intake side (the 6" duct laying on the floor).

Temps were pushing 84-86 degrees in the daytime, so then we added the 4" duct directly to the top of each light, to get the heat out as fast as possible. That knocked a couple degrees off the temperatures, and you can put your hands on the reflectors and keep them there now.

Yesterday we moved the ballasts outside the room, and that helped a bit also, they get hot after a couple hours!

The lights are industrial lights, and when we got them the ballasts were directly attached to the light sockets. We picked up a couple 14 gauge 25 foot extension cords from Home Depot, and had an electrician friend extend all the wires. About 4-5 feet from the ballast to the timer, and the rest from the ballast to the light bulbs.

K was just here and I showed him how some of the noobs do have decent roots, and how we should at least get the ones in dirt that have roots showing outside the rockwool. He thought you have to take apart the rockwool from around each and every root, I said no, the whole rockwool cube goes in the dirt. (That IS correct, right?)

And the 1 gallon first pot / 2.5 gallon first pot debate continues, I want to use the 1 gallon pots we have in the room but K is worried about stunted growth transplant shock when they get transplanted to bigger pots later.

 

[newsisnoise]

listen to these dudes, Randy... they know what they're talking about.

*subscribed*

 

[Screwnuts33]

I just did the transplant thing to my 16 kids last night. Went from 1/2 pots to 5-gallon. Oh so glad I did not plan to do more than one transplant. Very big project. With the size of your clones if it were me I would go directly into the pots you plan to finish in. As 420 said, the pot size will have a direct impact on your yield. If you have the space go bigger. Yes, the rock wool cube goes into the soil. Pre-water your soil prior to planting.

 

[RandyL]

Upon closer inspection last night, we found that 18 of the 22 plants did indeed have some roots showing through the rockwool at one place or another, so those 18 got planted. 4 are still in the humidity dome, waiting for enough roots to come out.

We had a debate going here last night (Me, K, and another person, hereforth referred to as Y) about if the clones should go in one gallon pots or 2-1/2 gallon pots. K was worried about root stress from doing a transplant and a week of stunted growth as a result. I was concerned that 2-1/2 gallons is not a large enough pot size and would cause root bound-ness and smaller yields.

Then we read online for about a half hour, deciding on if we should use an 18/6 or 24/0 light cycle. We finally settled on 20/4 as a compromise, since the online research had opinions for both time amounts.

 

[RandyL]

Day 3 of the grow. For the most part, the plants look ok. K trimmed off a few dead leaves yesterday, and we did some more re-engineering of the room layout.

We put a small humidifier in the room, but humidity remains in the 30s for the most part. The big fan just sucks it out too fast. Temps are in the 78-83 range most of the time.

The electronic timer may be broke dick also. This morning, with all the lights and stuff on, I walked into the room and manually turned on a small fan that was plugged into another power outlet, and BOOM, all the lights went out. After messing with the timer and having to reprogram it, I got it working in manual mode, but not in Auto mode. So I don't know what's up with that, I'll look at it again later on today.

I also made a couple CO2 generators, but I doubt they do much good except when the fan is off. 2 1 gallon jugs, 2 cups of warm water, 1 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of baking soda, and 1 packet of dry activated yeast. After mixing it up and giving the gallon jug a good shake, I walked over to the computer and re-read the part about where you just dump the yeast on top of the mix and don't stir it in! Oh well, the stuff bubbles, so it must be working.

Here's the newest photos:

Unfortunately, one of the little noobs isn't doing too well. It hasn't gotten any better in 2 days. Too much water or not enough? I can't decide. Maybe it just didn't have enough roots grown yet. And it's one of the Bubba Kushes that K wanted so badly, too.

 

[RandyL]

Gave the plants their first big watering last night, about a pint of water each. Even the weak little plant shown in the above photos is looking better. It got its leaves up off the ground and got some of the wrinkles out of them.

Temps are still in the low-mid 80s in the room, mostly 81-85 degrees. K is thinking the 465 cfm fan isn't enough for a 573 cubic foot room, and wants to go to a larger fan. I keep my place in the low 70s for temperature, but the room is still hotter.

We got a humidifier in the room, but humidity doesnt get much over 35%, I think the fan pulls it out too fast. K wants to set the fan on a 30 minute on/off timer, but then heat will probably get too high. Last night when the lights went off, I gave the plants their water, and 4 hours later the humidity was at 50% with no fans going.

Any ideas?

 

[Damian Thorn]

Gave the plants their first big watering last night, about a pint of water each. Even the weak little plant shown in the above photos is looking better. It got its leaves up off the ground and got some of the wrinkles out of them.

Temps are still in the low-mid 80s in the room, mostly 81-85 degrees. K is thinking the 465 cfm fan isn't enough for a 573 cubic foot room, and wants to go to a larger fan. I keep my place in the low 70s for temperature, but the room is still hotter.

We got a humidifier in the room, but humidity doesnt get much over 35%, I think the fan pulls it out too fast. K wants to set the fan on a 30 minute on/off timer, but then heat will probably get too high. Last night when the lights went off, I gave the plants their water, and 4 hours later the humidity was at 50% with no fans going.

Any ideas?

well what you need to is invest in a 60 to 100$ used temp/humidity controler that will turn your fan on and off based on temp and humidity... as for pot size...1 gallon pots and 2.5 gallon pots are fine for starting and the transplant shock is very small if you time it right...when u start seeing roots at the bottom of the pot i somtimes flip the pott upside down while the plant is dry and slowing remove the pot while holding it in your hand to take a peak at the root growth....


..\\as for the light issue...1000 watt will work for your 20 plants...if you can get your hands on 4 to 5 gallon pots that would be even better for root growth but i have grown plants in tiny 5 inch square pots to full maturity in soil ..the only difference is you have to water every day ..

also in the future your going to want to be thinking about making your own mothers soo you can provide your self with your own clones and as much of them...however that granddaddy is a very nice plant..so iwould be hanging on to that...

 

[fluroman]

hey randy ,
looking good so far you need to get a spray bottle and give the girls a lite misting once or twice a day they enjoy it alot !!!!!!!

are you going to LST any of the plants ?
it would help keep them low enough that 1000 watts would most likely do the job.otherwise you might consider more light to flower with , just a thought whatever you decide goodluck!!

 

[RandyL]

Day 7 of the growing, progress report.
We were worried about watering too much, which is said to be the #1 mistake of new growers. So we went 4 days without watering. No misting the plants either. Then I gave them all a good drink of water last night.

Due to temperature conerns, we left the lights on from 5 am yesterday to noon today. The dark cycle will now be from noon to 6 pm, the hottest part of the day. I'm on the top floor and my roof and walls get heated by the sun pretty well during the day.

We added a second fan, the green inline one you see in the first photo. It's rated for 471 cfm and is blowing air INTO the room from the window. Then the original fan blows it back out for good circulation. We have the green fan aimed to blow across the room directly under the lights to try and keep the heat from hitting the plants.

We also got a cheap timer to control the fans all by themselves, so they can be switched on and off every 30 minutes, and left off during the dark time so the CO2 and humidity can go up in the room.

Here's the Day 7 photos:

And here's the little plant, K decided to name him (her?) Nurblur. He (she) is being considered to be the retarded little brother (sister?) of all 9 Bubba Kushes. But Nurblur is still growing, but VERY slowly.

More news as it happens!

 

[MisterK]

Mister K here. Randy's accomplice. Question for you guys. Im starting to fear that we may not have enough room to grow 22 mature plants in 5 gallon pots. I have 2 1/2 gallon pots that I have heard will work to bud. Im thinking the 2 1/2 gallon pots will allow our size space to work. yes i know the yield we be less...but im afraid of having an overgrow forest. any thoughts?

 

[RandyL]

We switched the light cycle to the daytime. And we changed the light cycle to 18/6. Now the lights are off from noon to 6 pm, and that has helped a lot with temperature control. It still gets up around 81-83, but only for a couple hours right before the lights go out at noon. The rest of the time the temperature is in the mid to upper 70s. It can go into the low 70's at night when the fans are pulling in cold outside air.

All the plants are getting bigger, even Nurblur has grown a little bit. New photos tomorrow!

 

[RandyL]

Day 14 - a lot of growing has taken place in the past week! Scroll up and compare! Still just RO water that was PH'd to between 6.3 and 6.8, Fox Farms dirt, and no nutes yet. 18/6 light schedule, and 2 1 gallon jugs with the sugar / yeast / baking soda mix to provide some CO2. I shake the jugs once just before the dark cycle begins to stir up some CO2. Because when the fans are on it'll just get pulled out of the room. Temperatures in the growing room have been in the mid-upper 70s for the most part, low 70's or even 69 during the dark time with no fans on.

Most of the plants are between 3-1/2 and 6 inches tall. A few have stems that are 1/4" in thickness, and even some of their leaf stems have grown close to 1/8" in thickness, thanks to the white fan oscillating 24 hours a day for 2 weeks.

I think the amount of light is keeping them from growing too tall, which is good. But some have grown outwards so much that their leaves are hitting the edge of their pots, and they aren't tall enough to get their leaves up and out yet.

Little Nurblur is still the red headed stepchild of the bunch. Nurblur has more new leaves now and looks healthy, but is only 1-3/4" tall. We don't know what to make of him. He's the Gary Coleman of our plants!

Today, the start of Day 15, the plants will get a fresh drink of water, WITH 25% doses of Grow Big and Big Bloom added in and PH'd between 6.3 and 6.8 again.

Day 14 photos:

 

[DEAN420]

Nice and clean great start RandyL.

subscribed for sure.

 

[newsisnoise]

Randy, your plants look good. yer doing way better than me. +rep

 

[Screwnuts33]

Looking good. It is going to get very crowded in there real soon.

 

[OGsunshine]

Looking good there! I was at your stage about a month ago.

Those are some huge pots! How tall are you planning to grow them?