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bigred1991
Well-Known Member
My next question is my area is 4 ft tall 2 ft width and 2 feet depth would it be better to top my plant or not. Then when could it be the earliest I could put it in flowering
My First Grow
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BlaccSmoke
New Member
Is SCROG an option?
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bigred1991
Well-Known Member
To be honest I don't know what that means is that where you put something over the plant and let it grow threw if so I don't know how to do it. Then my grow area is a old gun safe I done turned into a grow area. I took a aluminum pan cut holes in it I'm running 4 cfl 23 actual Watts.
GrowHydro1454
New Member
Look up scrog. You're going to need a lot more light for flower. Definitely look into getting at least 250 watt HPS light and 600 is optimal if you can afford the heat
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bigred1991
Well-Known Member
Will do ill look it up for sure. I was just using cfl for veg tate and was going to buy hps for flowering
Keep LED in mind as well, if you have the room. There are a lot of affordable LED options available that won't add as much heat as HID lighting.
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bigred1991
Well-Known Member
I been wanting to try LED.how many Watts do I need and whats the best K for flowering
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bigred1991
Well-Known Member
Here's what she looks like today
When using LED you need 18-24" between the plant and light in Veg. Plus pot height, which is usually anywhere between 12-18". deduct the height of both from the total height of your grow area, and the remainder is how tall your plant can grow.
For flower, 2500K CFLs are best, for Veg 6700K. Or just use a mixed spectrum.
As for LEDs, full spectrum panels work fine for Veg/Flower. Or if you want to purchase specific panels, reds for flower, whites/blues for veg.
As for your plant, and grow space, you can use an LED, but you'll want to use a shorter and wider pot, and train the plant to grow short. I strongly suggest topping or FIM, and lots of LST.
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bigred1991
Well-Known Member
I ran into a huge problem today I watered with regular room temp tap water my Ph went from 6.1 to a 4.8 what do I need to do. I want to transplant it ans get it out of the 5 gallon bucket to a 3 gallon is it safe to transplant it to a smaller pot my plant just over a month old please help especially on MT Ph problem that's my big issue I know a 4
I is not good
I is not good
I'll say what I would do personally, though there are lots better growers out there than me. I would repot to as small as possible - like two gallon or even smaller if you can, and start fresh. Keep repotting up from there one size at a time. Lots of people go right to the full size pot, and I actually do that myself a lot at the moment because I often have to be away for stretches and can't be there to water so often. But there are a couple good reasons not to do that, including that it's harder to water right and harder to flush as you have figured out.
I'd double check your ph tester to make sure it's right. Even 6.1 is a bit too low. You can put lime in the soil if you choose - helps equalize things.
Yes you can transplant it no problem. Just tip the 5 gallon bucket over sideways and dump/ ease it out gently. You'll break roots but it's a tough plant and will bounce back better than ever if your new soil is good. My lesson has been to (almost) always transplant if there's a situation going on with the soil that's not going to fix itself fairly soon.
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bigred1991
Well-Known Member
Thanks I've been having a lot of trouble with my Ph I went and mixed a new batch of soil tested dry it read a 6.6 then I added my water it dropped to a 4.8 so is my problem my water cause I really would hate to transplant cause my plant doing very good besides some nute burn. My Ph problem just has me besides myself it has me so aggravated if it is my water what should I do about it and how only stores I have here is Walmart or home depot is there any way I could add something to my water to raise my Ph.
Of course! People use PH up and Ph down, products available from gardening outlets. Aim for 6.5- 7 ph water for soil. You can also find ph up sold in the hot tub/spa department. This is usually I think potassium hydroxide (KOH)- I think it can be used with no ill effects if that's all you can find. I have anyway, apparently... It's powder, or at least that's how I've seen it. Mix it up well in a bottle with a bunch of water like 75% water- then use that solution to adjust the ph. Use just a few ml of solution at a time while adjusting. If you overshoot the mark then PH down again but best to go slow till you reach the sweet spot. Careful too while mixing solution the powder is caustic. Other household options are baking soda (probably a much better option than the KOH anyway) for ph up and vinegar for ph down.
What kind of PH meter are you using?
Is it properly calibrated?
You can test it with some distilled white vinegar, it should read 2.4 exactly.
Is it properly calibrated?
You can test it with some distilled white vinegar, it should read 2.4 exactly.
Ps. Get a ph tester for the water. A good one if you have the money. If not then the kind that comes as test drops are good and cheap. Or there are lots of crappy ph pens out there which mostly suck but work for a while. The paper strips will do in a pinch but aren't quite accurate enough really.
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bigred1991
Well-Known Member
I was looking at the Ph up today but I didn't know that w as right because it was in the pool area so I should buy that or use baking soda I should also buy a water tester to. Or is there any way I could do it another way.
You need a ph tester for sure so that you can be keeping your water/nutrient mix at the right ph. I'd also recommend transplanting into a small pot anyway - this gives you options to sort things out better - just use fresh soil and if you don't have the ph tester thing sorted out yet, buy some distilled drinking water for it in the meantime, which will be a ph of 7.
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bigred1991
Well-Known Member
My soil Ph meter is a ferry morse that's what's written on it I bought it from home depot its digital they only had 2 the one I got which was more expensive and another one it was 2 prongs and read like a meter on a battery charger. I mixed a little baking soda and water then mixed it with some regular tap water then I made another test medium when my medium was dry it read a 6.6 then added tsetse water I made and poured it in my test medium besides it dropping to 4.8 it was 6.3 to a 6.0 so I went flushed my plant with that mixture it brought it up from a 4.8 to a 6.2 to 6.1 I think that's alot better then a 4.8 so I'm gonna give it a few days to dry and try to adjust again
That's sounding better. Ph problems are a very common pain in the ass. My water is acidic too. Nutrients are also acidic. So it's a constant balancing act. Always has to be adjusted, and if the ph meter goes weird on me or i screw it up then I end up with problems. You'll need a ph tester (one that's for water/solution) especially during flowering.
First step, stop PHing, don't add anything to water, soil etc.. Stop everything.
Test your meter in distilled white vinegar. No other type of vinegar works. If the meter doesn't say 2.4 EXACTLY, it's out of calibration and needs to be replaced, or recalibrated if the meter has an adjustment screw.
Calibration solution is ever better to test your meter, but if you don't have any, the vinegar is a good start.
Have you tested your water without adding nutes? Just test the PH of your water.
Also, never, ever use baking soda in your plants. It has an extremely high salt content and isn't good for plants. At the very least, it will make them unhappy. Or things could get worse, and it can kill them.
I have also read NOT to use pool products for plants. Just buy some PH up/PH down made specifically for plants.
