My First Grow Ever! Excited!

[DominaMortem]

I think I may have made a mistake. I thought RO meant Run Off...

 

[Scientific]

I think I may have made a mistake. I thought RO meant Run Off...

Oh, well that would be a logical assumption. But yeah, "reverse osmosis."

 

[DominaMortem]

Oh, well that would be a logical assumption. But yeah, "reverse osmosis."

My bad. How do you test that?

 

[Scientific]

My bad. How do you test that?

It seems to me like a logical assumption in the alphabet soup of technical lingo.

How do you test reverse osmosis water? Well if your RO unit is working right/you have reliable supplier like the spigot at the machine at the grocery store, no testing should be required since it's pure H20. Its conductivity should be very low and pH theoretically 7.0 with the caveats previously mentioned.

Runoff water, according to my reading (haven't done this), is tested by watering until about 20% of the water you add runs off (i.e. enough to test and be a valid sample, but not enough so the sample is essentially the same thing that you just added). That seems to me like an error-prone process, but if you were consistent and compared your results from watering to watering it could provide useful info. Hydro, of course, is so much easier in that regard; you just stick the pH and PPM meters in your reservoir and you're done.

 

[DominaMortem]

I think I will test the run off water from now on and log it. The seedlings are doing well outside. In about a week (once I get a bigger space weeded out) I'll transplant them again so they have more space between each other.

 

[DominaMortem]

Transplanted the 2 indoor Sour Durban and ordered my new light (will be here Tuesday or Wednesday). A little concerned about the red stem.

 

[Scientific]

Transplanted the 2 indoor Sour Durban and ordered my new light (will be here Tuesday or Wednesday). A little concerned about the red stem.

Happy little seedlings!
I really wouldn't worry about the red coloration. I think that's anthocyanin, a purplish-red pigment found in many plants. (Look how much there was in my seedlings when they hatched.) I really think she's just expressing her genetic heritage.

 

[DominaMortem]

All plants are looking good this morning. So excited for Wednesday to really get this show on the road.

 

[DominaMortem]

Seedlings looked very happy this evening. Seeing some new growth on the clones.

 

[DominaMortem]

Learned the makeup of my soil today, although not the proportions.

Peat Moss
Perlite
Mycorrhizae
Kelp Meal
Alfalfa Meal
Glacial Rock Dust
Lime
Bat Guano (9-3-1)
Compost

 

[Scientific]

Learned the makeup of my soil today, although not the proportions.

Peat Moss
Perlite
Mycorrhizae
Kelp Meal
Alfalfa Meal
Glacial Rock Dust
Lime
Bat Guano (9-3-1)
Compost

That all sounds like good stuff. I'm not sure if "glacial rock dust" would be much different from everyday rock dust, but I love the idea of growing my girls in bat poop!

 

[DominaMortem]

It's a good price, so I don't mind

 

[DominaMortem]

Inside seedlings are very happy, outside ones are still adjusting. Will take more pictures tomorrow but the clones are gaining some height and a bunch of leaves. Love the day to day growth. Also the indoor plants are in 3 gal containers for now.

 

[DominaMortem]

Every day that goes by I get more and more excited for this project of mine
Girls are looking great.

 

[DominaMortem]

Light came in today! They're all looking good. I only found one of those bugs, is it a spider mite? As with all things I assume if there's one than there is more.

 

[Scientific]

Nice light!

I would strongly suggest getting the light closer to the plants and more importantly, that you get the plants all crowded together in the bulls eye under the lamp where the light is strongest. Light decreases in intensity exponentially--twice as far away = 1/4 as much light, three times as far away, 1/9th as much light, etc.

You will also get more benefit by getting the reflective surfaces as close to the lamp and plants as possible. I know I keep repeating myself, but it's really important.

 

[DominaMortem]

I wasn't sure how low to put the light (read anywhere from 12-24 inches). Tomorrow the mylar will be put up and ventilation installed. How low would you put the light?

 

[Scientific]

I wasn't sure how low to put the light (read anywhere from 12-24 inches). Tomorrow the mylar will be put up and ventilation installed. How low would you put the light?

What do they suggest? If they suggest 12-24", I think I'd try 18". Remember that the light falls off not just with distance from plant but distance from the center of the beam, so get those guys really huddled in close dead center under the light.

Then if you don't see any evidence of too much light, I'd suggest moving it closer--say right down at 12". And again, getting your reflectors right next to the plant really helps because of that inverse square law.

You have made a big step forward. Now you're ready to rock and roll! (Except I think you're gonna need another light when everybody starts getting big.

 

[DominaMortem]

i'll move it little by little over the next few days. How much more light do you think I'll need? 500W? Im just trying to get an idea (current is 1000W)

 

[Scientific]

i'll move it little by little over the next few days. How much more light do you think I'll need? 500W? Im just trying to get an idea (current is 1000W)

Really? That's a 1000 watt LED lamp? What make and model? I assume that's "1000 watts," as in the LEDs are rated for 1000 but it's actually only using 300 watts? That's a lot, but by the time you get all those plants up to flowering stage, you're going to have a lot of square feet of plant to illuminate. There are some rules of thumb that I can't think of at the moment, like 300 watts for 2x2 feet, 600 watts for 3x3 feet or something. (Me, I have a motley collection of CFLs, LED light bulbs, and one LED grow light, but they do the job on my one little plant.)