Newbie Grow with a BloomBox

[vapo-eyes]

Well, finally decided to take the plunge. I purchased some seeds from the attitude (great service by the way) and germinated last week. That seemed to go ok. It seems when they were ok in the clone dome with 1" rockwool and the higher temp and humidity as well. The roots poked thru the bottom of the rockwool so I transplanted to the 3" rockwool and baskets.

Temp is at 81 degrees, humidity ~60%, currently the rockwool is moist with a light nutrient solution 1ml sensi grow A and B 1mil Voodoo juice per gallon. PH is running 7.6 right now. All but a couple of the seedlings are looking ill. Uploading pics in a few minutes. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Two strains growing are Papaya and himalayan gold, and DOH, I didn't segregate so they are randomly placed in the baskets. I think when/if they take off, the shorter ones will be the Papaya. Hoping I can salvage this grow and start out slow and calm next go round.

 

[vapo-eyes]

Best of lot..

 

[vapo-eyes]

Most of my seedlings are looking like this one..

 

[vapo-eyes]

First grow or Death Row for seedlings?

 

[vapo-eyes]

The machine I am hoping will allow me to provide my own medicine.

 

[vapo-eyes]

Can any of you experts tell if what I have here is salvagable or should I start fresh?

 

[therootsofpositivity]

Looks salvageable to me. pH is way to high. Should be between 5.5ish and 6 and all should be good. What is your ppm? 1ml per gallon looks nice and gentle for seedlings.

 

[vapo-eyes]

Weird, its been hovering around 6 since I transplanted them but has been going upward over the last couple days. From what I hear my Hanna Champ PH pen is not accurate so going shopping for a new one after work tomorrow. PPM is 400. Looks like I got the wrong ph up/down stuff, think I better hit up a pet store with aquariums, the ph up/dwn I got is crystals and for much more water than I am working with....damn!

Thanks for the help, does PH requirements vary greatly from seedling > veg > flower?

 

[therootsofpositivity]

pH will fluctuate. Good sign is that pH is slowly drifting upwards. I have had it stay low for awhile then one day walk in an it is jumped up quite a bit. Whatever pH pen you get make sure to calibrate it. Crystal pH down is fine I have some from GH and it works. Personally I like phosphoric acid for pH down. pH range is for all stages of growth. I pH my water to around 5.5. Really anything above 5 and I am happy. Then wait till it drifts up to 6. This could be the next day or a week just depends. Then when it gets close or a little over pH of 6 I bring it back down to 5.5. I just don't like to leave it too long over pH of 6. Hope this helps.

 

[vapo-eyes]

Thanks for the input. I picked up some acid and base solution from the local hydro shop today. I recalibrated my pen lastnight so should be good to go. I am hoping this thing will take off, I hate buying and just getting whatever is available. Looking forward to having what I want, my trip to the Dam spoiled me. There is nothing quite like having multiple options and being I am not in a medical state (at least until we vote this year) growing my own seems like my best bet.

 

[vapo-eyes]

Ok, so today makes week 2 as seedlings, got 6 of 12 looking halfway decent. Constant battle with the ph, even though I am sort of hand watering every couple days using the drip system so trying to keep the tank right. Does anyone have advice on how to keep I guess the rockwool runoff from kicking the PH up to 7+, would a couple day flush of water at a ph of 6 or less help out? Will post updated pics later tonight. Oh, and no, the bloombox is way louder than a pc exhaust fan or appliance, I had to seal my room real well to not hear the air pump. Dont let the BCNL guys tell ya different. Still they are pretty cool guys.

 

[therootsofpositivity]

hey vapo-eyes you should condition your rockwool cubes before you use them. Soak them in pH 4.5 for an hour or something like that. haven't done it in awhile so I would to a quick search for exactly how to do it. If your pH is always jumpen up to +7 I would just pH the water to 5.0 till it stops quickly going up to 7. From 5.5 to 6 should take 3-4 days.

 

[vapo-eyes]

Thx again therootofwis, I really think I will do the clay balls with clones after I transfer what I have to the flower chamber. As soon as they are in there I will start working on a mom, this time just work with 2 seeds and concentrate on those. I think I probabaly jumped in head first trying to fill the box up straight away. I was just so anxious though. I've been wanting to do this since I was like 16 y/o, only took me another 25yrs to get started Chirenz go to bed around 9pm so then it will be time to update my pics.

 

[vapo-eyes]

Day 14 from germination. got some weak ones,will leave em until time to move to the flower chamber. The papaya has revealed itself to me,those were the most beans in this run. Lesson learned, germinate 2 strains separately, duh.

 

[vapo-eyes]

Oops. I partook not too long ago, here are the pics, I knew I was missing something.

 

[vapo-eyes]

 

[vapo-eyes]

 

[vapo-eyes]

Being I mixed up the seeds, but I do know I had more papaya seeds than the himilayan, I am going to take a WAG and say those are the papaya the wider leaf seedlings.

 

[therootsofpositivity]

Wow they've really grown. Nice compact green growth, no signs of stress or stretch. They should really start to take off soon! I get excited at this stage to see the number of leaflets increase with each new leaf that develops. Great job keep up the good work and can't wait to see more updates!

 

[vapo-eyes]

Wow they've really grown. Nice compact green growth, no signs of stress or stretch. They should really start to take off soon! I get excited at this stage to see the number of leaflets increase with each new leaf that develops. Great job keep up the good work and can't wait to see more updates!

Yeah, it's almost like it happened overnight, the leaves are really starting to take off. I am starting to get excited for this first try, actually, I guess if I count the bagseed thing I tried with clay pots and miracle grow back in H.S., this is my second try. I will try and keep the updates up to date.

Thx again for the help