well leo,
first let me say welcome! always nice to see more rotational growers in the mix. i think we are really doing something here to show that this style grow is very doable and highly efficient.
your video is great, it really shows us what you have so far so that we can give you better advice. wtg. your first grow?!?!? very nice, you have alot of the terms down pat, and you have most of the important equipment. . . you must have done your homework! very nice setup, you have a lot of good stuff to start. it should help you be successful!
a few notes about the video.
1)air. there are a few things you can do:
a)exchange air in the tent continuously - this will keep the air supply fresh with co2, and help keep the temps and RH down. the only problem with this is that you are using an AC unit and throwing electricity down the drain when you exhaust the nice cool air and bring in the warmer air from outside.
b)you can exchange the air on a timer - say on for 1/2 hour, then off for an hour or two. this will help you keep the bene's from the ac, and cut down on how much it will have to run. if you were running CO2, you would only want to exchange the air in the tent once in a while.
c) if you were injecting or generating CO2, you wouldn't have to exchange air with the outside at all. this is what i do. I don't run a carbon filter (i have one just don't need it) because i don't exchange air with the outside so it doesn't smell outsde.
the only reason you need to exchange air is to make sure there is enough CO2 in the air (naturally it's about 300-400ppm) if you inject, then you can bring it up to about 1500ppm, which is better for the plant, and you can eliminate the use of one 6" power guzzling fan. even without co2, id put your exhast fan on a timer and run it a couple of times a day. that should be enough to keep the co2 up.
2) about your plants. they are looking pretty good so far. DFW gave you pretty good all around advice. i wouldn't trash the plants, that seems too extreme. you can def remove the leaf that shows that, but more importantly you need to find the cause. and if need be, fight it with the appropriate actions from a mildew thread in the how to grow section. I have never had a mildew problem before so i'm not experienced with that.
one of the things most new growers struggle with is being overly proactive. trying to make it too perfect. especially when it comes to watering. DONT OVER WATER! the best way to check is to just pick the pots up and feel how heavy they are. when they are dry, they should be much lighter. you can wait until they start to droop a bit from being too dry. it is very important to let them get pretty dry between waterings. at this young age you should be feeding them pretty lightly. and make sure every other watering is just plain water. this will flush the nutes and leach the salt buildup out of your dirt. 3 times a week seems too often to me for the amount of dirt you have compared to the size of the plants. i don't think they are that thirst yet. I am only watering my mom about once a week right now in a 3 gal bag, and its bigger than your girls.
3) dfw - more good advice. my friend has that same t-5 setup. you should have it about 4-5 inches above your plants so that they can really soak up the light.
a couple more words of advice. I have really noticed a difference when I use beneficial enzymes like hygrozyme, and beneficial bacteria like those in AN's piranha and tarantula. they will keep your roots healthy and plants growing at a good rate. they will also fight any bad bacteria that tries to get a foothold. I think you would really benefit from adding these to you regimen.
now for some questions:
where are you getting your water from? tap? RO? distilled?
how much nutes are you feeding them? full strength? half strength?
I saw a PH and TDS meters, what levels are you feeding with PH and TDS?
it looks like you are off to a great start! I'll be here for the duration, i'm sure you'll do great. we can get to cloning and such when it gets to be time.
glad to see you here, and am looking forward to seeing the volks arrive. with 6 plants, you could be ready to fill her in a month easy.
