CFL White Rhino + Northern Light Grow

[growGuRoo]

I like the PVC set up in that link. We might consider doing something like that. I feel like some type of reflection set up is needed. I will probably end up putting something together in the near future. Next week we plan to invest in some nutrients and talk with someone in the hydroponics shop too.
About the yellowing, its not as bad as it looks. The camera makes it look worse. Although if they continue to yellow much more, ill try added some nitrogen.
Thanks for the input!

 

[growGuRoo]

So the temp over the last few days has been around 76 F. It doesn't go above 77 F and when the lights are off its around 67 F. The humidity is at 20%.
We plan to add 4 more 26 watt daytime CFL's ASAP. and next wednesday we are going to get some fox farm nutes. In the mean time i added some Osmocote nitrogen pellets to each plant. One plant has purple leaves? what does that indicate. It is one of the Northern Light plants. More updates next week. Leave some feedback.

 

[DroJo]

Lookin good so far bro. My first grow started in a closet set up quite similar to yours. The yellowing seems to be getting better thI'd bring the bulbs down another couple inches tho. Other than that lookin good bro.

 

[TomatoPie]

Next week we plan to invest in some nutrients and talk with someone in the hydroponics shop too.

I would advise against doing such a thing: the hydro shop guy is NOT a horticultural adviser, he is a salesman. He will attempt to convince you that you need all these crazy additives and expensive products and "rocket fuels" which you don't really need. You should do your homework and exchange ideas on forums (beware the garbage information on forums too) and then go into the hydro shop knowing exactly what you want.

To increase your yield and quality, rather than tons of nutes:

Get some more light first IMO. Add something like 2-4 45 (actual) W CFLs and you should be golden. You can get some Y splitters and have 4 bulbs per plug, closer together that way.

Yes you'll need nutes, but study first or else you'll wind up spending a TON.

 

[Sungod]

Those temps look much better and the plants are going to love all that fresh air. They might like a bit more humidity in veg, but that might be hard to achieve with that much fresh air being induced, but I think they will be just fine. When they fill out and fill that closet the humidity will rise considerably.

I didn't see any mention of a ph meter or tester. Do you know what ph you are watering with and what the run off is? If not I highly recommend some sort of testing equip. even the color changing solution will get you in the ball park. I've used them for a few weeks when my digital broke. They are a pain but they get the job done.

As far as the the plants go, with my very limited knowledge, I'm not entirely sure you have a nutrient problem. As stated before seedlings need very little in the form of nutes. I have a hunch that you might be over watering. This is just speculative theory, but you had crazy high temps for a while which stressed the plants and probably made them wilt. The high temps also made the soil "appear" dry, because the high temp evaporated the moisture from the top of the soil rapidly, triggering the "I Must Do Something Mechanism" so they get watered again, and the soil at the roots never gets a chance to dry properly. Now the MG soil you are using appears to have very little Perlite in it. This allows the soil to become compacted after a few waterings, which causes slow drainage, which causes low oxygen at the roots that enhances the over watering problems.

I'm wondering that the next time you transplant you find a nice organic alternative to MG, there are some cost effective alternatives with out jumping up to FF, and load it up with 25% perlite or enough where you can water it and it won't stick together when you squeeze it. This will give you the drainage you need and let those roots breathe

I would like to see others input view on this. Maybe some of our more experienced soil growers can verify. At any rate we'll figure this thing out.

 

[growGuRoo]

Get some more light first IMO. Add something like 2-4 45 (actual) W CFLs and you should be golden. You can get some Y splitters and have 4 bulbs per plug, closer together that way.
Yes you'll need nutes, but study first or else you'll wind up spending a TON.

sounds like a plan, i'll do some research over the next few days on nutrients for the veg stage.

Get some more light first IMO. Add something like 2-4 45 (actual) W CFLs and you should be golden. You can get some Y splitters and have 4 bulbs per plug, closer together that way.

I hope to add some more lights before the end of the week, they definitely need it.

I'm wondering that the next time you transplant you find a nice organic alternative to MG, there are some cost effective alternatives with out jumping up to FF, and load it up with 25% perlite or enough where you can water it and it won't stick together when you squeeze it. This will give you the drainage you need and let those roots breathe

perlite is a must, i'm sure of that now. i wish we had some to mix in with the MG soil to start off. i've yet to research the costs of different types of soils but cost is not a huge concern

 

[RPsmoke]

sounds like a plan, i'll do some research over the next few days on nutrients for the veg stage.


I hope to add some more lights before the end of the week, they definitely need it.


perlite is a must, i'm sure of that now. i wish we had some to mix in with the MG soil to start off. i've yet to research the costs of different types of soils but cost is not a huge concern

Just finished reading through your journal. Done a good job so far! So many people just give up with the first sign of anything!

Nutes - I have used Fox Farm in soil with great success. Another, slightly more affordable choice is SugarPeak. They have a veg formula, and a flower. Its one bottle, none of that A and B bottle stuff. Just two to look into. If you go with Fox Farm, make sure to get the Soil version of Grow Big as they offer a Hydro blend and a Soil blend. Then I would recommend Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom. Seems to work best using all three at the appropriate times.

I also use CFL's inside. They work great and can produce some killer bud. I have a little more room, so I tend to run the bigger 150, 200, and 250 actual watt cfl's. But I also run plenty of supplemental lighting with smaller watts. Mostly 42w and some 26. Some of the 42w cfls have little slotted vents in the base (the ballast) that allow heat transfer. These 42w vented CFL's run cooler then the sealed 26w bulbs. They also produce more light. Might be worth checking out. I also run some big 65w CFL's that really don't produce much heat at all, and are super bright. The super high watts I get online, but 26, 42 and 65 can all be found at local hardware type shops (lowes, home depot). Just something to consider. Tried to find an example pic online, best I could do was this:
https://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00vCeTYHgKatol/Energy-Saving-Bulb-CFL-S1851-.jpg

If I think about it, I'll snap some pics of my own CFLs.

Tons of good soils out there. I am partial to Black Gold, but literally the choices are endless. Like everyone said mix in some perlite. 25% - 40%. A decent soil mix is something like

40% Potting soil.

40% Perlite.

15% Worm castings

5% Bone meal

That was the mix used by another member on here Major Tom I believe. Just fresh in my head.

I have rambled on long enough! Subscribed and look forward to see some killer buds.

 

[growGuRoo]

whats good guys? heres an update...
LIGHTS: so we added 4 more 26 watt daytime CFL's. the total amount of lights is now 14 26 watt CFL's totaling 364 watt. Im figuring when we select the final four we will drop in some of those 42 watt cfls to bring the total wattage to 400 watts

HEAT: after adding the 4 additional CFL's the temp went up a bit.
It was around 80 F, but with some fan reconfiguration its down to 78 F.
So to bring it back down to 75 F we are going to take that square fan against the back wall and use that as the exhaust fan at the top of the door. The bottom window fan will become the intake fan. The higher heat explains why some of the plants are wilting.

NEXT WEEK: we plan to add some nutes and possibly kill off some of the dwarfs too, just so the ones that are looking strong now can get the full amount of light, we might only kill just a few

Let me know what you think.

 

[Lil Neutrino]

They look better than the last time we saw them, good job! Be sure to bury a good length of those stems when you transplant (just a reminder ).

I too have been using Fox Farms Ocean Forest with no issues, if price is not an issue it's definitely an option but depending on how many plants you wind up with it could get expensive pretty quick. If you decide to use this soil you can give them some nutes but it's already a pretty rich mixture. Personally I have never added nutes to any of my plants with this soil until they went in to 12/12 and they've been green, bushy, and quite happy.

 

[Lil Neutrino]

Oh yeah, meant to ask if you're getting much airflow from that fan mounted on the wall. Usually fans don't like being mounted in such a fashion as it drastically reduces the intake ability and can cause extra stress on the fan resulting in premature motor failure (motor has to work harder, gets hotter, hopefully doesn't cause a fire). Try and offset it at least half the diameter of the fan from the wall, I think ideally the entire diameter offset from the wall...although that may apply only to in-line fans mounted in ducting. However it would be best to offset that fan at least 3-4" from the wall, more if possible.

 

[Sungod]

Oh yeah, meant to ask if you're getting much airflow from that fan mounted on the wall. Usually fans don't like being mounted in such a fashion as it drastically reduces the intake ability and can cause extra stress on the fan resulting in premature motor failure (motor has to work harder, gets hotter, hopefully doesn't cause a fire). Try and offset it at least half the diameter of the fan from the wall, I think ideally the entire diameter offset from the wall...although that may apply only to in-line fans mounted in ducting. However it would be best to offset that fan at least 3-4" from the wall, more if possible.

I found mounting in the corner works pretty well in tight spaces.

 

[growGuRoo]

Originally Posted by Lil Neutrino
Oh yeah, meant to ask if you're getting much airflow from that fan mounted on the wall. Usually fans don't like being mounted in such a fashion as it drastically reduces the intake ability and can cause extra stress on the fan resulting in premature motor failure (motor has to work harder, gets hotter, hopefully doesn't cause a fire). Try and offset it at least half the diameter of the fan from the wall, I think ideally the entire diameter offset from the wall...although that may apply only to in-line fans mounted in ducting. However it would be best to offset that fan at least 3-4" from the wall, more if possible.

I found mounting in the corner works pretty well in tight spaces.

As of yesterday that fan was moved to hang above the lights to push the warm air above back down to be taken out of the closet. when the new fan setup is done, ill let you guys know the results.

 

[Sungod]

As of yesterday that fan was moved to hang above the lights to push the warm air above back down to be taken out of the closet. when the new fan setup is done, ill let you guys know the results.

I just noticed that you have the double fan in the door way pointed out of the closet. Just a suggestion, but it might be beneficial turn the fan around to blow fresh air in to the closet at that point. If you pull cool fresh air in from the bottom of your door your plants will get the fresh co2 that it needs directly at the leaves and the air that is coming in will be much cooler than the air in the closet, and since hot air rises you will be moving air in the same direction that it already wants to go UP. This would be much more efficient for you. Then you could vent the warm air out at the top of the door. This setup would also create at nice breeze to strengthen those stems. If you find that the fan blowing directly on them is too strong then you can move the fan to the top of the doorway pulling the hot out of the closet thus creating a passive air induction at the bottom. The plants will still get the fresh air but the breeze will have much less velocity, and the air is still moving in the direction that you want. If you force the air down across your lights it will pick up unwanted heat and take it to your plants causing unnecessary stress.

Rule of thumb always remove hot air from the top and introduce fresh air at the bottom...

 

[Lil Neutrino]

Rule of thumb always remove hot air from the top and introduce fresh air at the bottom...

Yep, hot air rises and cool air falls...don't fight physics

And yeah, corners are nice...good call.

 

[growGuRoo]

I just noticed that you have the double fan in the door way pointed out of the closet. Just a suggestion, but it might be beneficial turn the fan around to blow fresh air in to the closet at that point

The fan is facing in towards the closet, but it has an in/out feature.
The current fan set up as of today is fresh cooler air blowing in through the bottom window fan and hot air being taken out through the top fan in the door. The thing is the room air is warm to begin with. The thermometor in the room was reading 78 F????
So we cracked some windows and the problem should be solved. Hope to see some cooler temps in the closet and room tomorrow.

 

[Sungod]

The fan is facing in towards the closet, but it has an in/out feature.
The current fan set up as of today is fresh cooler air blowing in through the bottom window fan and hot air being taken out through the top fan in the door.

Good deal. What are your plans for keeping the closet totally dark when you switch to flower?

 

[growGuRoo]

Good deal. What are your plans for keeping the closet totally dark when you switch to flower?

I know for the top fan that lets in the most light we will cover that with a dark sheet or poster board and do probably the same with the bottom. Just when the fans turn back on we will have to remember at least move the bottom sheet to let fresh air in and keep the air cool.

 

[growGuRoo]

Hey whats good guys?
The children are looking pretty good! The temp has been stable not going above 75 F and the soil Ph is at an ideal 6.5.
This past Thursday we started using Fox Farm nutrients; Big Bloom & Grow Big to be exact, and we are feeding them every other watering cycle, which is every other day. We are also following the feeding schedual, and not over or under feeding.
Only one plant looks really droopy. It was the one with the purple leaves. Not sure why it is still droopy, even though the heat is down.
We hope to determine the sex of the plants soon and get rid of the males. I took some close up pics of the nodes. Looks like all of them have possible female flower pistols though? When will determining the sex become more noticeable? Cause right now they all have the little pistols.

Here are some pics, Let me know what you think?

 

[Lil Neutrino]

Looks like all of them have possible female flower pistols though?

MMMmmmm...nope, none that I saw. I think you're looking/seeing the same thing I did on my first grow when I thought I had preflowers. The new growth you are seeing coming out of the stem at the internodes are not preflowers (these are what I thought were preflowers during my first grow). These are just tiny leaves that will grow out and become new branches for buds to grow on (hopefully) although at that age they do sort of resemble preflowers.

You said you germed on the 17th so figuring a week to break the surface (a week to simplify my math) that means they're about four weeks old right now. You SHOULD be seeing preflowers rather soon if not already. My current plant started showing them at 4.5 weeks. I'll give you a hint and if you knew it already that's great, might help someone else reading this in the future, but look for the preflowers in the upper nodes of the newer growth. They tend to show up here in my brief experience before anywhere else...if you have any shoots/branches that are growing out check the outer end of them too. New growth/upper nodes should show the preflowers first.

When will determining the sex become more noticeable? Cause right now they all have the little pistols.

It is possible you are seeing something that I can't/don't. Some strains show preflowers earlier than others, some aren't good at showing them at all (from what I've read, no personal experience there), but aside from cutting a clone and flowering it you're just gonna have to wait. They will develop between the new shoots that are just starting to pop out at the nodes and the long pointy "thing" (I forget the name, not calyx, that's what the preflowers grow from) that resides on the stalk. Keep an eye on those locations...my preflowers have little white pistils on them that are easily noticed by the naked eye at this point but when they're new they can be pretty stealtyh.

 

[Sungod]

They are starting to come around. Good job.