Fresh Start - 1st Grow - 1 Plant - Early Vixen - 150 Watt HPS

B

BillyBud420

New Member
Hey all!

I had a journal basically planning my first grow, but I changed my whole setup and strain so am starting fresh here!

I'm brand new to this, so enjoy the carnage!

Here are the details!

I am growing in a small Mammoth tent. (These guys once made the secret jardine line, so it is basically the same.) Here's a pic.
image34707.jpg


I am running a 6" duct fan for ventilation....160 cfm

image34712.jpg
image34711.jpg


...and a 150 watt "Sunsystem" HPS light.

image34713.jpg


The strain is Early Vixen from Crop King and the nutrients will be Botanicare PBP. I'll be growing in Promix HP.

I am planning on using RO water.

I also grabbed this PH meter and calibration fluid:

image34710.jpg



Seed is germinating right now! Just waiting for the tap root, then I'm in business!

Thanks for reading!

Billybud420
 
As I wait for my seed to germinate, I did some temperature tests. Below are the temperatures at various distances from my HPS light...

12 inches away - 33.5 C / 92 F
16 inches away - 31.5 C / 89 F
24 inches away - 30.0 C / 86 F

Are these numbers a problem?

Any thoughts? I could put a small fan in the tent, pointed at the light / plants to try to cool them....I could add another duct fan on the input port of the tent...

Any advice would be appreciated!
 
Hello again all!

I solved my temperature problems for the most part. By adding a fan and directing it up at the light, I am getting temps of 84 (29c) at 6 INCHES from the light! Much better...

My room is getting down to 60 (16 c) when the lights are off which is a bit of a worry... Any thoughts on this?

Anyway, today was planting day!

1 day in a glass of water and 3 days in damp paper towel and I woke up to this!
image34796.jpg

I gave my pot a good watering and then planted the seed about a half inch deep. I have the lights running to keep everything warm and will start my 18 / 6 cycle tonight!

Thanks for reading!
 
Day 5!

Here is what I have now:

image34854.jpg


It was 3 days since my last watering and the pot was super light. I purchased a wet/moist meter to probe the bottom, and the very bottom was just at the break between moist/ wet, so I watered to runoff.

I also picked up a temperature gun! This was very enlightening!
image34856.jpg

I was getting high heat ratings before I put my fans in and inconsistent readings with my thermometers. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the actual temp at the soil level and where the first leaves have formed is actually quite low even with my HPS at 12". (71f)

I'm going to add a tablespoon of unsuplhered molasses to my next watering and will start my notes at day 10!

Thanks for stopping by!
 
Stanovich420 said:
Can i have a seat? :)
You doing well ;)

That's what i'm getting...find a problem,ask for help,and within an hour find it yourself :thumb:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouragement!

Day 6 and the leaves are starting to form up! The stalk seems a bit long (2.25 inches) but I was told by one of the veterans that it is common at the start as the seedling sends roots to the bottom of the pot. My light is 8" from the top and temps are quite reasonable (73f)
Here she is today!
image34872.jpg
 
Embarrassing upside down photo (sorry all!). But I have growth tips forming after 8 days!

image34894.jpg


Anyway to rotate a photo with an iPad / iPhone AFTER it is taken? Read the FAQ here but didn't see a way to do it?

Thanks for stopping by!
 
Starting to think about my plan for repotting...

The plant is currently in a half gallon pot (6"x6")...I'm thinking moving to a 2 gallon next and finally into 3 gallons.

Thoughts on this? I will only repot once the roots are drinking up all the water quickly to ensure they have developed well...
 
Hey Billy

From personal experience, its much better to pot directly into the pot you intend finishing her off in. Whenever you repot plants, they go into a funk for a few days... Keep her in that pot for a week or so (until she's grown about 3 nodes) & then into the big pot she goes.

Good luck with the grow bro!
 
Doc Greenthum said:
Hey Billy

From personal experience, its much better to pot directly into the pot you intend finishing her off in. Whenever you repot plants, they go into a funk for a few days... Keep her in that pot for a week or so (until she's grown about 3 nodes) & then into the big pot she goes.

Good luck with the grow bro!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the encouragement and the info! Appreciate it!

Started feeding today and am following the Botanicare schedule from the FAQ.
Here she is today.
image34915.jpg
 
Came down this morning and it looks like heat stress.... The grow room was hotter than normal. The plant was leaning off to one side. (Put stakes for t to lean on)
image34920.jpg


Brought the light back to 8"....verified temp (74 at top)

How well do plants record from this? Does it look like heat to you guys?

Thanks again all!
 
Well, after my heat stress situation, the leaves curled a bit more. My temps at the top of the canopy are 80 and they seem to be recovering. Look at the picture in the post above....that was 2 days ago. A pretty significant change. I'm happy with the recovery at this stage.

Leaves are still curls, but significant new growth! 3 days since last watering with nuts for the first time. Should be ready for another feeding and watering in 24hrs I think based on the weight of the pot,

We are now at the 12 day mark. Is it growing at a normal rate?
image34965.jpg
image34966.jpg
image34967.jpg

Thanks for stopping by!
 
12 hours after the photo above and the new growth looks pretty good.
image34974.jpg
image34973.jpg
image34972.jpg


Should be ready for another feeding tonight if the pot is light enough.

Quick question....how light do you let your pots get? I have an identical pot that I filled with my soil (promos hp) to compare to my plant... Plant still is significantly heavier. Should both pots be fairly similar in weight before watering?

EDIT: after some excellent help from Mellow and Emylia, I will definitely be waiting to water. My pot has to get much lighter than I orginally thought.
 
Emilya said:
The reason that hydro grows tend to grow a little faster and a little bigger than typical soil grows is that you have the advantage in hydro of being able to give nutrients every time. If you do this in soil, the nutes and salts build up and your plants can get in trouble, but in hydro, this doesn't happen and you are able to give more nutes more often, and make them grow faster as a result.

So, I personally would recommend nutes almost every time adjusted to the ppms appropriate for the age of your plants. About once every 3rd watering or so, run ph'ed water through there once as a flush of any accumulated salts and carbon, and to clear out unused nutes and I think you will be golden, but I will also advise you that this is my personal opinion and that there are many other opinions out there as to what the best way to use promix is. Some will give nutes every time, no exceptions... others say to go every other time or even every third time. Make up your mind how you want to do it, be consistent, take notes and see how it goes. There really are no rules here.

Emmie
Click to expand...

Hi again,

It seems I may still have an issue with the leaf edges curling.

Here was the new growth one day ago. (Note that the new leaves are not curled...the old ones still are)
image34972.jpg


Today, however, I can see evidence of the new growth starting to curl at the edges...

image34989.jpg
image34990.jpg


It has been 5 days now since I have fed/watered and my pots still have some weight.
The temp in the room is 77 and the temp at the canopy was 80.

I have 2 fans in the tent that are pointed up at the light... They are not directly hitting the plants but there is plant movement due to the air currents they are creating.
I've moved e light up somewhat and the leaf temp is now 76. Rh - 50% I also angled the fans so that there is less evidence of air current...although the there is still plant movement.

Any thoughts? I don't think my temps are that extreme...and am wondering if my previous feeding is still affecting the new growth.
 
Stanovich420 said:
Is your light still 8" away??;)
It looks like heat stress+thirsty...
Since you got half gallon pot at the moment,i think you need to water more frequently.
I seen you got soil meter,turn it in Moist and chech you soil...
Usually you stick it in soil 1-2" from edge if pot. :thumb:
That's what i do.... ;)
My 0.02 cents ;)
What amount of water you feeding them?
Take care...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input! Light is now at 10"...temps are quite low. I water until runoff but it has now been five days since I watered last (and fed half strength nuts). I'll check the pots tonight.

I'm running promix so I'd like to feed as often as possible but am afraid my nuts may have caused this....perhaps I'll try 1/4 strength. (I was following the recommended botanic are schedule here when I went 1/2...so I's be surprised if it was nut relatded..)

Either way, I'll know soon I guess.


Sent from my iPhone using 420
 

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