First indoor grow - needing some help

[iannemo]

hi buddies, sorry about my english, i know im not very good at it, but hope you guys can understand and maybe help me

well, the thing is: about two weeks ago i started my first growing system. I bought a system (a dark tent 1.4m*60cm*60cm) with 250w hps light with reflector, carbon filter and extractor fan, intractor fan, and i bought some feminized auto-flowering seeds.
The oldest plant is showing some signals that are worring me. The plant oldest leafs are turning yellow around the leaf. Of course i read about it before, and I think it can be the Ph or some micro-nutrients.
My soil is a moisture. It's ATAMI KILO-MIX 50L. I bought some fertilizers, but used none, cause i dont know if i should.

Going to another theme:
I want to maximize the conditions to grow, so the next time i grow the results are better.
What you guys think I should buy? Another lamp for vegetative cycle? Maybe a dehumidifier?
How many plants you guys think i could fill my grow room with? I have 2 white-widow strains, 2 pineapple express strains, and 1 critical soma growing here for the first time.

Another question? What is the vase optimal size? How many can I put in there?

 

[Stealthboat]

If the oldest leaves are turning yellow it might just be natural, we need pictures to really tell though. Don't use any liquid fertilizers until the plants have at least 4 sets of leaves, they are too tiny for fert before this point. For the other questions, fill this out and I'll be able to tell you more:
How many plants? What strains?
How old are they?
How big is your area if its indoors and is it well ventilated?
What medium/soil are you using?
Whats the size of the containers?
What's your lighting set up?
What's the temperature and humidity like at any given time?
What's your ph like, both medium and nutes?
Any pests around?
What is your watering schedule like?

 

[STOP]

no pics=cant answer any questions. happydays

 

[iannemo]

How many plants? What strains?
There are 4 plants growing right now. The biggest one is a critical + strain. The second biggest one is a pineapple express strain.
I have also two white widows strains growing, they have just sprout right now. And have another pineapple express but i think it wont sprout, so I can start thinking of growing other seed, if i have enought space. Tell me what you think about it. It can be green poison strain, another white widow, or pineapple express too.

How old are they?
When I put them to grow, I wrote a paper with the date. The critical + strain went to vase in 19/11/2014, the white widows on 21/11/2014, and the pinenapple express, one went to vase on 21/11/2014, and the one who didnt sprout yet went to vase on 23/11/2014. I think the one that didnt sprout yet, wont sprout, but i'll keep the vase on the grow box.

How big is your area if its indoors and is it well ventilated?
Yes, it is indoor.
The grow box is 1.4m x 60 cm x 60 cm. The room has only a window which is semi open. So the air can flow. The extractor fan connected to the carbon filter in connected to the window too. So the air is expelled and goes outside directly.

What medium/soil are you using?
The soil im using is ATAMI KILO-MIX 50L, you can find a little about it here.
Atami ATA Organics Kilo Mix

Whats the size of the containers?
Right now, the critical + strain is on a 15x15 vase. The other 4 strains are in 5x5 vases, but soon, i will transplant them. I read the moment i should transplant them is when i water the soil and it dries quickly. Is it right?

What's your lighting set up?
I have a high pressure sodium (HPS) 250V with a timer set for 18h light 6h off.

What's the temperature and humidity like at any given time?
That's one of my major mistakes. I didn't bought a thermo-hygrometer yet. Altough i Have a samsung galaxy s4, and it has a built-in thermo-hygrometer sensor. I dunno if it viable, but soon i will buy a real thermo-hygrometer. My cellphone values are between 60-70 % humidity and 25-29º C.

What's your ph like, both medium and nutes?
Well, when i first started watering the plant I thought i could use company water. It didnt take long to me to see documentaries and read texts talking about ph. Now I buy water with 5.7+/-0.1 ph.

Any pests around?
Well, I think there are no pests around here

What is your watering schedule like?
That's a little more complicated. I water them everyday, but not in scheduled hours. I visit them a lot and when I think the soil is getting dry, I water them. The soil is very permeable so I think there's no risk of overwatering. The vessels have small holes on the bottom, so the soil dont get overwatered too.

Sorry for taking so long to reply
Cheers

 

[Stealthboat]

I've heard of all those strains you are growing before, sound like good choices to me. Your ventilation sounds good, expelling the air out the window is great. After researching your medium for a bit, it looks like there is already nutes of some sort incorporated into the soil. These nutes are probably causing the yellowing we see on your plants in my opinion.
The easiest time to transplant for me has been 1 day after the last watering so the soil/medium isn't too wet or too dry. You want to transplant roughly every 2 weeks to a vase twice as big as the last one until you get to your final vase you will be using. After the last transplant happens, give the plant at least 7 days to recover before entering the flower stage. I've also found out it is beneficial to add vitamin B1 to your waterings just after a transplant, helps the plant recover faster.
Your light sounds fine for now but ideally you want 150W per plant if they are going to grow very big. Your temps are fine but I would try to reduce the humidity a tad somehow.
I don't know what the optimum ph is for your medium unfortunately, just continue to keep a close eye on it. 5.7 sounds a little low to me, in my soilless medium I aim for a ph of 6.0.
You might be overwatering also, not sure. I've never watered more frequently than every 3 days in my current grow. The best way to tell is to give her a good watering one day, lift and feel the weight of it, then let it dry until the next time you lift it and it feels significantly lighter. Or wait until the top 3-4cm of soil are dry, this usually means its close to time for a watering.
Alright that's all I got for now

 

[iannemo]

Hi again,
You think the yellowing means something bad? I think the plant is growing healthy
Why should I transplant them so often, I just did it once in the bigger ones, to the final vase. (in the critical + I think i will transplant to a little bigger vase)
About the light, you recomend me to buy a little more powerfull lamp then?
I will be a lot more careful with the watering from now on. I guess you might be right.

Thanks for the help, I'll keep asking

 

[Stealthboat]

Yellowing happens naturally to older leaves as they die, usually ones near the bottom of the plant. Other than that yellowing indicates something is up with the plant. You can just leave it alone and see what happens but don't really know if its going to improve or not yet. I suggest the transplant every 2 weeks because that prevents the plant from becoming rootbound. Basically the plant outgrows its container, roots become encircled around the bottom of the pot and can cause them to rot, basically too many roots and not enough soil to compensate. Transplanting gives them room to keep growing without worry.
For your light, I would upgrade it as much as possible because yield is directly related to the amount of light the plant receives. A better light will also reduce stretch in your plants. Only do this though if you can still keep your temps and humidity at the right level, bigger lights release a lot of heat.
Cool just keep an eye on your watering man

 

[iannemo]

Yea, for this first time I'm not sure if I can buy another lamp. But I'll invest on it as soon as possible.
And about the transplants, that's a hell of a good advise. I should have realized it earlier. From now on, every two weeks, a transplant

About the yellowing, I'm not sure, but I think the problem is solved. The plant keeps growing and seems to be healthy. Not even another leaf with yellow spots. (just the ones i told you about)

 

[Stealthboat]

Cool hope they continue doin' their thing! And for the record, white roots = healthy, brown roots = rot/unhealthy

 

[iannemo]

Two images of the critical +

Two images of the pinnaple express

An image of one of the White widows

The other white widow

This is the actual looking of the plants.
About the critical +, I think it's growing healthy, and im no longer worried about the yellowing on the leaf corners. Although i'll be carefull
The white widows are both very little, im not sure how good can it be. One of the white widows presents a little bit darker green on the leaf corners.
The pineapple express leafs are worring me a little. Well, the leafs are a bit bent. Is it normal? I just transplanted today.

Cheers

 

[iannemo]

Hi there, it's been a while since I updated the plats status.
I'm here to post some photos and to ask for some advice.
I think the pinnaple express is growing healthy. The white widows are taking too long to grow so I am afraid they are in trouble, they seem healthy indeed. The critical soma babie is showing up the yellow spots again. Please tell me what can it be. A friend of mine advised me to use agrobacteria. Shoul I?
Here are the photos:
Critical +:

Pineapple express:

The white widows:

 

[iannemo]

hi buddies, i bought a thermohygrometer and the values are around 27ºC and 76%humidity. Is it okay?

 

[Stealthboat]

They are looking better, not so yellow now. 27C is fine but I would try to keep the humidity under 65% at all times. Anything over that and mold or bugs might show up.

 

[iannemo]

so i must drop the humidity. I will open one of the grow box windows so the air can be expeled more easly.
I will send the values soon

 

[PlanetJ]

I'm gonna call it lightburn, possibly caused in combination with water on the leaves acting as a lens, at a point where the plant wasnt too strong yet.

 

[iannemo]

Hi buddies again. I am not showing for a lottle, but today i come to ask for some advice.
The little planties are now bigger and they look incredible awesome.. Give me some adivice.
When do I need to start the flowering stage? Do you think they should fit bigger vases?
Should I inject bacterias in the water?
I'll upload some photos now.
White Widow 2:

Pineapple express:

White Widow 1:

Critical Soma (Critical+):

 

[PlanetJ]

Bigger pot will never hurt .. they will grow bigger that way. I would also defoliate a little .. get those oversized fanleafs out of the way so they do not block as much light.

Except for the white widow 2 and the critical+, everything is flowering ... are they auto's ?

 

[Dan Ultra]

When do I need to start the flowering stage?

Whit Widow 1 and Pineapple Express are already flowering. So if you havent switched the light cycle then they are auto's. Also, if you haven't switched to 12/12 and they are all in the same grow room, I would go ahead and put the other two in flower as well. Just my thinking though

 

[iannemo]

Pineapple express and white widows are auto. Critical isn't
When should i change the light schedules?

 

[LEDBud]

the pale green color makes me think its in need of nitrogen.
If you know it has nitrogen to feed on then it could be a mineral deficiency have you given them any Epsom salt ? or a Cal mag supplement ?

Since you can inspect the plant it would best if you read up on nutrient deficiencies ,on the site , and use it to diagnose your plants deficiencies.