Legal 400W HPS Soil Grow 4 Plants

[Killian]

Checking ph runoff is completely useless this comes from Fox Farms directly. The 6.2 ph is to low. Fox farms ocean forest soil is buffered from 6.3 to 6.8 which is optimum for nutrient uptake. As long as you ph in the 6.3 to 6.8 range your soil will work fine. There is plenty of nutrients for now so I wouldn't foilar spray either.What you need to do is get your watering down. I would Dutch your meter and let them dry out completely until they feel bone dry or the plants start to droop. Then water until you have a fair amount of runoff and continue giving your plants a dry and wet period. It looks like your plants are suffering from over watering. The stem right at the dirt level does not look healthy but it's hard to tell with the pics. it takes some time for your plant to rebound so give them sometime to respond before trying the next thing. Humidity does matter. Incorrect humidity will stunt your plants as well as cause other problems. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Aero808]

Jim - I still have them in a dixie cup of the early's mix that has been transplanted over to 1 gallon grow bags with the ocean forest. My house is a golden oldie, but at least it has good vapor barrier in place from renos. The windows are definitely a weak spot though, still need to replace them in the room I've chosen to grow in. The film will be a must.

I don't think I'll need to run a dehumidifier if I keep things at 30% rh. It will just be a big improvement over the 10% Sahara Desert conditions up in here. haha

 

[Aero808]

Killian - In your opinion, how long would it take for a 1 gallon bag in a 28c room with low humidity and good airflow to dry? I've been watering approx 2x week

 

[Emilya Green]

Killian - In your opinion, how long would it take for a 1 gallon bag in a 28c room with low humidity and good airflow to dry? I've been watering approx 2x week

I can't resist...
Take a 1 gallon bag of soil without a plant in it and water it ... 3 weeks later it will still be wet.
It is the plant the makes the water go away... and the stronger the roots, the faster it happens. When first transplanting into a 1 gallon container my plants take 5 days to drain the water... and then each time they do this it takes less and less time, until they can do it in under 24 hours and it is time to up-pot them again.

 

[Aero808]

Thanks Emilya! I'll figure out this watering yet

 

[Emilya Green]

Thanks Emilya! I'll figure out this watering yet

I know you will.

 

[Up in Smoke]

Looking good Aero...I’m strapped along for the ride....

 

[Aero808]

Thanks Smoke, glad to have you.

 

[Aero808]

A couple of packages arrived today, and the tent is nearly complete. A Vivoson inline duct fan and 2 Hon&Guan duct silencers... all found on Amazon for less than 140 bucks. I'm able to close the tent right up now, no more light leaking out and all of the incoming air is running through a small filter before coming in. Perfect!

Those duct silencers are pretty awesome too. I'd say it's about 50% less noisy in here. I can watch TV without having to crank it right up. Score! I highly recommend em'

Also, found a use for 3 Phillips LED grow bars in the tent. They are usually only available commercially, but my old man is friends with a guy who runs greenhouses and bought a few from him a while back. My dad said they worked great for starting tomatoes and peppers. I have them running vertically and strapped them to 3 tent poles. I'm not expecting a great deal from them, but the supplemental light in different spectrums can't hurt. Really no heat to deal with either! They draw 47 watts from the wall each. Happy to have them!

Aplogies for the blur. Took pics through the tent window.

Cheers!

 

[Aero808]

The last addition to the tent arrived today. A beefier humidifier... aka the Oskar big. It's been on for 15 minutes and I'm sitting at 15%. Hoping to keep things at 30%.

The girls are 21 days old from sprouting today. Would this level of growth be considered good? The white widow's new growth is looking ok, and the yellowing doesn't seem to be spreading. Fingers crossed. The northern lights is trucking along, and the Skywalker is still thriving.

The sour diesel still hasn't sprouted after 11 days. Stirred things up and the seed still hasn't popped. I watered again and will hope for the best. Otherwise I'll just grow out the 3 and take a clone from the Skywalker to use as a mother plant.

Cheers

 

[JimSaskFarmer]

Looks good they may be a little behind but it does look like they have their roots into that good soil. Keep up the good watering practices and they will start to take off now.

 

[Aero808]

I've been waiting much longer between watering. I waited 5 days and the pots were very light, the leaves were not drooping, yet it felt right to water. I think I gave em a drink right before they started experiencing negative symptoms due to dehydration. It's been 3 days since then and I can still see an outline of the water table in the smart pots, and they are nowhere near as light as when I watered after 5 days.

Growth has been good! The widow still has some issues with the lower leaves yellowing, etc... but the new growth looks great! I'm really impressed with the Skywalker, it is nearly twice the size of the struggling widow. My seed never did sprout.. so I'll be taking a clone from the Skywalker to keep as a mother plant.

Thanks for all of the tips and info guys and gals, I feel like I'm finally catching on!

 

[JimSaskFarmer]

They are looking real happy now

 

[Aero808]

Thanks Jim! (and Emmie) - they have really taken off since I started giving them a true wet/dry cycle.

I'm thinking of up potting soon, as I'd like to set up a scrog net. How big do you think they should be prior to scrogging? The are approx 9 inches tall at the moment. I'd think that they should be in their final pots before starting anything like that, no? Would I want to top them too? So many questions.... haha

 

[Emilya Green]

Thanks Jim! (and Emmie) - they have really taken off since I started giving them a true wet/dry cycle.

I'm thinking of up potting soon, as I'd like to set up a scrog net. How big do you think they should be prior to scrogging? The are approx 9 inches tall at the moment. I'd think that they should be in their final pots before starting anything like that, no? Would I want to top them too? So many questions.... haha

Good questions...
I would top first so as to get a few more working growth tips for the scrog... and then the typical distance from soil to screen in a scrog is 10 inches. Definitely be in your final container to determine this distance. From practical experience, your plants should be around 14" tall so you immediately have to start tucking and training under the screen.

 

[Aero808]

Thanks Emmie! I'll top them this weekend. Should I wait a while to transplant afterwards?

 

[JimSaskFarmer]

If you transplant correctly ie. prep a hole in your new soil by filling around your current container creating a void that you can then set the plant into they should not have any shock from it. I'm sure there are good tutorials here somewhere.

 

[JimSaskFarmer]

Now that i think about it you are in fabric pots so if the roots have grown into the fabric that may cause some issues

 

[Emilya Green]

I try to do just one stressful thing at a time, if not just for the plants, for me too. I would top, wait a few days to see the resulting growth spurt, and then transplant. That is just me though... in veg they just adjust to whatever you do and try hard to just keep on going... and they could handle both things at once without freaking out.

 

[Aero808]

Thanks a bunch for your input, much appreciated! People are just so darn helpful round here.

I'll top em and wait the couple of days prior to moving them into the 5 gallon grow bags, I've watched a couple of tutorials for transplanting in grow bags and will bring a friend over for a second pair of hands when it's go time.

I've also moved the plants around a bit in the tent. I used a par meter app on my phone and discovered that the northern lights was only getting approx. half of the light output on the outside edge of the tent, when compared to the skywalker in the middle. I raised the light a bit and swapped the skywalker and widow's positions. Raising the light increased the outside by about a third, and a few days of being in the prime spot should do the northern lights some good.

Would vegging for another 3-4 weeks after transplanting and scrogging be adequate prior to switching over to flower?