Difficult Start for New Grower - 2014

[Jbails]

Long story short my roommate was a professional grower, when he moved out he left me alot of stuff and I thought enough knowledge to do some small scale growing on my own. Its been a jas rd ourney.

I wanted to see what I could do with what I was given.

Supplies:
Pots
soil
nutrients
1000w hps
seeds
Various other stuff.

I have an extra room in my basement so rather then get tent right away figured I would hang the light I the middle of the room and put up some refectors.

For the plants I germinated a number of different strands of seeds that he thought were worth hanging on to. I killed the first few attempting to grow two in a 5 inch separated by cardboard. I failed to keep them alive after translating dry. For my second round I used Dixie Cups, which has done me better 1 of these died as well now I have 1 two month old chemdog and 1 four week old wreckage. I think I will wait a while to flower im in no hurry in fact I have no desire to grow from seed again so I want to get both plants rather big and take clones im not worried about space as I have an open room to work with.

Which leaves me here about 2 months since embarking on this journey with little to show which I will now post up some pics

 

[CO Finest]

Well it sounds like a case of bad luck. Maybe here is you post your grow we can help you get on track and keep you from making mistakes. I look forward to your grow post and pic

 

[Jbails]

Hey CO Finest that is what I'm hoping for. Happy to Join

Couple of pictures if anyone has any suggestions on deficiencies or better options with what I'm using let me know. Open to any criticisms or questions.

seedling chemdog

wreckage 1 dead

wreckage 2 dead

logging heights

new wreckage seedling

chem dog in window

setup

problems

wreckage 1 dead

 

[KingJohnC]

Subscribed. What are the brands of nutrients are you using? What are you using for a light for your plants currently? How far is your light source from your plants? Are you over watering your plants? Are you adding any nutrients to your seedlings already? Here is everything you should need to know to post full size photographs in your journal.

Photo Gallery Guide: How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

 

[Antics]

I'll help where I can

If you're ever unsure about something, ask these folks before you do it, collectively they have more knowledge here than I've seen anywhere else.

With the experience here, you should have all the help you need to keep your grow going strong.

And I definitely agree with KJC, in using the 420 photo uploader. It's easy to use, and you can upload multiple pictures at once.

 

[CO Finest]

Ok lets start with the plants way stretched out. Your light is to far away from the seedlings . Your seedlings a starving for light. Even if you have to use a cfl or T8 they need 6500k asap. Your yields are going to suffer real bad and plants will be very weak. Now the other picks with the burnt leafs look like some good old fashion nute burn. Ok I looked at pic again I see you are using FFO so the brown leafs are for hot soil would be my guess. They should pull threw it but keep a eye on them. I mix FFO and HF 50/50 and never get burns. I have a video on that a well. Some plants do not get burn on straight FFO but most of them will get some burn. Just keep a eye on new growth and make sure it is all green and happy.The one thing I also see it the pots look alittle on the small side for bigger plant. Looks like a 2 gallon pot witch could cause some of your problem on the bigger plant. Root bound. Witch I would guess is what it looks like by the very small about of veg growth on plants.

 

[Jbails]

Subscribed. What are the brands of nutrients are you using? What are you using for a light for your plants currently? How far is your light source from your plants? Are you over watering your plants? Are you adding any nutrients to your seedlings already? Here is everything you should need to know to post full size photographs in your journal.

Photo Gallery Guide: How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

Hey KingJohn I am using Xtreme Nutrients line which again was left for me. I Have the plants under a 1000w HPS by night and in green house light by day( I am attempting to save energy as 1000w is alot to run round the clock and im not in a huge hurry). I have a soil moister tester and typically wait for the pants to droop before watering. The smaller seedling had not been given nutrients yet.

Thanks for the HOW TO ON photo uploading I will follow those guide lines for my next post.

THANKS

 

[Jbails]

Ok lets start with the plants way stretched out. Your light is to far away from the seedlings . Your seedlings a starving for light. Even if you have to use a cfl or T8 they need 6500k asap. Your yields are going to suffer real bad and plants will be very weak. Now the other picks with the burnt leafs look like some good old fashion nute burn. Ok I looked at pic again I see you are using FFO so the brown leafs are for hot soil would be my guess. They should pull threw it but keep a eye on them. I mix FFO and HF 50/50 and never get burns. I have a video on that a well. Some plants do not get burn on straight FFO but most of them will get some burn. Just keep a eye on new growth and make sure it is all green and happy.The one thing I also see it the pots look alittle on the small side for bigger plant. Looks like a 2 gallon pot witch could cause some of your problem on the bigger plant. Root bound. Witch I would guess is what it looks like by the very small about of veg growth on plants.

The plants got stretched out by my mistake I had to leave town for a few days and did not want to leave them with out light so I put them under a 60w grow bulb for the two days when I came back the plant had doubled in height, lesson learned.

Thanks for the advice I will pick up some HappyFrog and get the bigger one transplanted. I need to watch a video on transplanting i know there cant be much to it but it seems to cause the plants the most stress. I smaller plant was just transplanted and has been drooping as if it needs water but is still somewhat moist, I fear I have killed another.

 

[Calyx Hunter]

Hey Jbails to the fantastic journey of growing cannabis!

Just know that we've all made mistakes and learned from them. Just keep trying and learning. I've been growing cannabis for 20 years and I still learn and improve with every grow.

Good Luck and I'll be rooting for you

 

[Antics]

The plants got stretched out by my mistake I had to leave town for a few days and did not want to leave them with out light so I put them under a 60w grow bulb for the two days when I came back the plant had doubled in height, lesson learned.

Thanks for the advice I will pick up some HappyFrog and get the bigger one transplanted. I need to watch a video on transplanting i know there cant be much to it but it seems to cause the plants the most stress. I smaller plant was just transplanted and has been drooping as if it needs water but is still somewhat moist, I fear I have killed another.

When you transplanted the smaller plant, did the soil come out in one piece? Or did it break apart?

Leaves normally don't droop until the soil is REALLY dry, and if the soil is "somewhat moist" as you describe it, my first guess wouldn't be water. I would think there was root damage during the transplant, or the plant is currently in shock from the transplant.

If it's just shock, it should bounce back in a few days. If its root damage, it might take a week or so, and there's a chance you could see some yellowing of the leaves because of it.

Been there, done it all, and still learning myself. Thankfully, growing Cannabis has a very steep learning curve. In 1 month, you'll be surprised how much more you know. You'll easily be able to help others with questions. By the end of your grow you'll have a really great hold on everything. Just stick with it, we'll help you out!

 

[KingJohnC]

Here is the Xtreme Nutrients nutrient calculator

Nutrient Calculator - Xtreme Nutrients

This Feed Schedule Takes The Guess Work Out Of Your Mix Rates And Get You Right On The Track For Superior Growth And Enormous Yields.

xtremenutrients.com

I would use a 18/6 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness lighting schedule. I read a study where lighting schedule versus root length was tested and plants grown under a 16/8 lighting schedule grew the longest roots, 18/6 was not tested. I was made aware of a study where lighting schedule versus growth was tested and plants given at least 5.5 hours of darkness grew the most.

 

[Jbails]

Well I'm back not much closer to my goal then when I started. Luckily my chemdog pictured above has blossomed into a wonderful mother. I've since added a clone box, from which I had seven successful clones. The clones looked good and I was very excited about as they had roots ranging from 6 inches long to 1 inch. I also built an Ebb and flow box.

I am again at a stand still, I have transferred the clones into the flood table and have seen little to no growth in the past 3 weeks. Some fact about the new set up:

1000W 24 hr
6 6inch hydroton baskets
10 gallon reservoir
Flooding 3 times a day for 15 minutes
superthrive
Xtreme nutrients JUICE
Humboldt Honey
PH Down very little from 5.7 to 5.5

 

[KingJohnC]

What are you feeding your plants for nutrients?

 

[Jbails]

What are you feeding your plants for nutrients?

The 10 gallon reservoir has 3/4 recommended volumes
superthrive
Xtreme nutrients JUICE
Humboldt Honey

 

[KingJohnC]

Are you feeding your large plants the same nutrient mixture? The products that you are using do not have enough N-P-K nutrients to grow plants properly. The products that you have are supplements and not actual fertilizer.

I use General Hydroponics Flora series 3 part nutrients that can be mixed for all stages of vegetative growth and flowering. General Hydroponics Flora series can be used with hydroponic, soil and soiless mediums.

(click the photographs for direct links to the products)

https://generalhydroponics.com nutrients flora series

https://www.growitbest.com general hydroponics Flora series performance pack










You may also like the General Hydroponics Maxi series

I would use General Hydroponics MaxiGro with 10-5-14 N-P-K or similar for vegetative growth and General Hydroponics MaxiBloom with 5-15-14 N-P-K or similar for flowering.

(click the photographs for direct links to the products)




GENERAL HYDROPONICS: MaxiGro




GENERAL HYDROPONICS: MaxiBloom


For vegetative growth I would use a 18/6 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness lighting schedule. I read a study where lighting schedule versus root length was tested and plants grown under a 16/8 lighting schedule grew the longest roots, 18/6 was not tested. I was made aware of a study where lighting schedule versus growth was tested and plants given at least 5.5 hours of darkness grew the most. I would use 12/12 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness for flowering.

 

[Jbails]

Thank you for the advise KingJohn. I should have looked at the contents more closely. I had another brand on hand Rockwool Formula One. I cleaned my reservoir and started with the the "early growth" PPM. The plants are looking just the right green and have grown 1-2 inches this week. I will post some more pictures.

I will be leaving for a week this friday until next friday. At this point everything is well automated. However I would rather not leave the 1000w on while I'm gone I have a T5. Would leaving the T5 on be better will there be any disadvantages, at what heights should I place the T5?

 

[Jbails]

 

[KingJohnC]

You can place the T5 Florescent light bulbs 5"-6" from the tops of your plants.

 

[Jbails]

Cool that worked placed the T5 above the plants for the week I was out they grew nicely right up to the light

 

[Jbails]

Things for the most part are coming along nicely. I have since purchased a tent, Which has not been that great as the plants have already over grown it.

The original mother from seed started to show sings of mites, I sprayed her down with a solution and put her outside as I was going to be out of town and could not attended to the situation. Good new she is flowering and quite nicely I might add. I had time to take clones so a Chemdog2 is on its way. When I first put her outside and flowing began the head nodes were all purple. Does anyone know why. They have since changed back.

My latest issues is the lack there of trichomes on the 6 flowing in the tent, The mother which is flowering outside and is in soil with little nutrients is very dense in trichome. Im not sure if its too early the 6 in the tent are about 3-4 weeks behind and have been in 12/12 for about 10days.