Save my crop please! first time grower

[silverphilly]

What Strain is it? Super silver haze
How Many Plants? 37
Potting from seed 9 days from germination
Indoor in 240x120x200 tent
Coco
Small pots as in picture for rooting
1 x 400w vegging hps lamp
Carbon filtered 200w extraction in and out
70 to 86 degress range
RH from 39% 80%
PH 6
No pests
Watering a small amount as and when every 3-4 hours
No feed being used at the moment as they look quite weak.
The room is 312 x 215 x 340 but controlled in the tent as above
Will post pics seperately

The problem is:

The room initially suffered from high temps and high humidity av 84 degrees and 90% humidity. This was fine whilst the seeds were popping.

I bought an expensive humidifier and extractor and intractor fans through a carbon filter to rectify with 4 x 9 cm oscillating fans.

My problem now is whilst equipment is on the humidity drops way too low and temperature drops too low too. Turning off extractors results in too high temperature. With them on its too low.

Once I switch to 4 x 600w hps lamps I don't see the temperature or humidity being that big a problem.

How can I save my seedlings. Some look like they aren't going to make it. Some look strong still. Should I start to add some canna a and canna b into the water?

First time grower here so all help is appreciated my knowledge is only second hand at the minute.

 

[silverphilly]

Sorry I'm struggling to get photos embedded on this forum whilst on my phone but here are the pics

 

[silverphilly]

Thanks for uploading them to the gallery for me x

 

[Blueballavngr]

ut your humidifiers and fans on a timer or just leave the door open to ur plants to equalize the temperature humidity

 

[Ravyn]

Did you say that you are watering every 3-4 hours? are those pots really drying out in 3-4 hours? watering once every day or two should be fine at that size. Let their roots reach out for some water. how high is the 400 watt light above the plants? That is a lot of light for babies if it is too close. hmmm. that is all i can think of at the moment.

hope this helps. good luck with the little ones.

 

[Stealthboat]

Yeah don't water them every day, that's probably just over watering. Lift the pots and get a feel for their weight when dry, then water them down good and feel the weight of those. These are the benchmarks of when to water; just do it when the pot gets light, works for any size pot (assuming you can lift it ). The temp should be around 78F for seedlings and around 60% RH. Temp shouldn't be under 65F ideally and shouldn't be over 85, I think growth slows down at this point as the plant tries to spend more energy on cooling itself off. RH should be a max of 60-65%, any higher and mold or bugs might show up. Don't give them nutes until they have a few sets of leaves at least. What are the exact temps/humidity you get with your equipment on?

 

[Ravyn]

when you give them their first feed, use 1/4 strength nutes. Maybe 200-300 ppm max. If you are in coco, it holds no nutes like soil does so you will want to start giving them light feeds pretty soon. Second real set of leaves I would say. enough water so it comes out the bottom of the pots and then wait until it is drying out. don't give them even half strength nutes until they get established.

 

[Antics]

They're stretching and falling over because the light is too far away.

37 plants under one lamp is a lot of plants.. These plants need to be closer together, and that light should be maybe 12"/30cm away.

What distance should my light be from my plants?


For a first time grower, I would have suggested that you start with 1-4 plants. and 4 is pushing it. 1-2 plants is ideal. But 37? Why the need for so many plants?

 

[silverphilly]

They're stretching and falling over because the light is too far away.

37 plants under one lamp is a lot of plants.. These plants need to be closer together, and that light should be maybe 12"/30cm away.

What distance should my light be from my plants?


For a first time grower, I would have suggested that you start with 1-4 plants. and 4 is pushing it. 1-2 plants is ideal. But 37? Why the need for so many plants?

Thanks for all the replies.

I'll start watering less but yes the top of the soil looks completely dried out. I am only watering a small amount with a spray into the top of the soil.

The light is at the top of the tent and the babies are on the floor so the light is like 160 cm away from the babies.

I have a problem with heat which is why I wanted to keep the light further away. Also as a test I put one tray of 4 at the furthest side away from the light to see if the heat made a difference and now that tray of 4 is the only set with 2 sets of leaves. Which leaves me very unsure about putting them even closer to the light.

Once I can switch them over to the 600w hps lamps they are cooled by the extractor and I'm hoping that will bring the heat down.

I live in a pretty warm climate by the way. Although it's winter now and realistically the temperature will drop every day now until it reaches an average of about 17. For 3 months anyway.

still unsure what to do about light. Will the babies be too hot?
Right now there is nothing I can do in addition to bring down the heat. I have 3 fans running (none too powerful over the leaves) 1 200w extractor and 1 200w intractor. The airflow is good.

Was perhaps thinking about co2 in a bag slow release. It's like 50 euros a bag and says it lasts 6 months.

will upload more pics later on. They do look a bit healthier today.

 

[silverphilly]

Equipment on there is still a variance as per the temp and humidity outside as that's where the air is coming from. I'm switching them off at 2.30 each day for 6 hours as that's probably the time it's hottest here. Then at night it gets colder and I have to struggle with the lower temp and lower humidity.

 

[Antics]

160cm / 63" is wayyyyyy too far bud. That light needs to be closer. When a plant doesn't get the intensity of light that it needs, it stretches to reach towards the light as a survival measure. This often happens in nature when a seed grows among grasses or other vegetation. When the plant stretches, it will get the light it needs and then stops. In your case, they can't stretch enough to get the intensity they need, so the stem is weak, and with nothing to support it, it falls over.

If you have a problem with heat, that means there is a problem with not enough ventilation.

Don't use a fan as an intake. You're just wasting power, and losing circulation potential. Move your intake fan to the top of your tent, and use 2 fans as exhaust. Both fans that are used for exhaust should be at the top of the tent, as heat rises. Just something I want to make note of...

Leave the intake hole open, and air will naturally be drawn into the tent because of the negative pressure created by the exhaust fans. And the intake hole should be near the bottom of your tent.

What are the high and low temperatures inside your room that the tent is in?
What are the high and low temperatures inside the tent?

CO2 is not the problem, don't spend your money on that right now. You can complete a grow without adding CO2, and being a new grower, adding all that shit will make growing Cannabis more complicated, and could possibly make your growing experience bad, and make you never want to grow again. Start small. Start slow. Get a successful grow under your belt first, and expand from there.

Your two main problems are not enough light, and it seems temperature is a problem as well. All the CO2 and nutrients in the world won't save your plants if they don't have enough light.

You will end up with an empty wallet, and 37 dead plants if you start throwing money at this grow without fixing the existing problems.

 

[Ravyn]

160 cm is a looooong way away from the light. I also agree with Antics about how spread out the plants are too. Pack them all in tight together in one area so they have some company.

Don't worry about the top of the coco looking dry if the pot is still heavy. The top cm might be dry but the roots are down there a few cm already and there is lots of water down there. I have read that the #1 way that new growers lose plants is to over water. Don't kill them with kindness.

Forget about the CO2. I dont' think it will do anything to help these little sprouts.

 

[silverphilly]

160cm / 63" is wayyyyyy too far bud. That light needs to be closer. When a plant doesn't get the intensity of light that it needs, it stretches to reach towards the light as a survival measure. This often happens in nature when a seed grows among grasses or other vegetation. When the plant stretches, it will get the light it needs and then stops. In your case, they can't stretch enough to get the intensity they need, so the stem is weak, and with nothing to support it, it falls over.

If you have a problem with heat, that means there is a problem with not enough ventilation.

Don't use a fan as an intake. You're just wasting power, and losing circulation potential. Move your intake fan to the top of your tent, and use 2 fans as exhaust. Both fans that are used for exhaust should be at the top of the tent, as heat rises. Just something I want to make note of...

Leave the intake hole open, and air will naturally be drawn into the tent because of the negative pressure created by the exhaust fans. And the intake hole should be near the bottom of your tent.

What are the high and low temperatures inside your room that the tent is in?
What are the high and low temperatures inside the tent?

CO2 is not the problem, don't spend your money on that right now. You can complete a grow without adding CO2, and being a new grower, adding all that shit will make growing Cannabis more complicated, and could possibly make your growing experience bad, and make you never want to grow again. Start small. Start slow. Get a successful grow under your belt first, and expand from there.

Your two main problems are not enough light, and it seems temperature is a problem as well. All the CO2 and nutrients in the world won't save your plants if they don't have enough light.

You will end up with an empty wallet, and 37 dead plants if you start throwing money at this grow without fixing the existing problems.

Thanks again for your help. I've raised the plants off the floor and lowered the lamp. The extraction fan is at the top of the tent but comes through a carbon filter. It's pretty dan powerful really. So much so there is some quite a bit of a vacuum when I shut the door.

I should also move my fans to the top? I have them 3/4 the way up. I'd post pics but this forum doesn't seen to let me do it when clocking the button. A java problem on mobiles?

I'll keep you updated tomorrow as to how it gets on. Also watering it less now.

 

[silverphilly]

160cm / 63" is wayyyyyy too far bud. That light needs to be closer. When a plant doesn't get the intensity of light that it needs, it stretches to reach towards the light as a survival measure. This often happens in nature when a seed grows among grasses or other vegetation. When the plant stretches, it will get the light it needs and then stops. In your case, they can't stretch enough to get the intensity they need, so the stem is weak, and with nothing to support it, it falls over.

If you have a problem with heat, that means there is a problem with not enough ventilation.

Don't use a fan as an intake. You're just wasting power, and losing circulation potential. Move your intake fan to the top of your tent, and use 2 fans as exhaust. Both fans that are used for exhaust should be at the top of the tent, as heat rises. Just something I want to make note of...

Leave the intake hole open, and air will naturally be drawn into the tent because of the negative pressure created by the exhaust fans. And the intake hole should be near the bottom of your tent.

What are the high and low temperatures inside your room that the tent is in?
What are the high and low temperatures inside the tent?

CO2 is not the problem, don't spend your money on that right now. You can complete a grow without adding CO2, and being a new grower, adding all that shit will make growing Cannabis more complicated, and could possibly make your growing experience bad, and make you never want to grow again. Start small. Start slow. Get a successful grow under your belt first, and expand from there.

Your two main problems are not enough light, and it seems temperature is a problem as well. All the CO2 and nutrients in the world won't save your plants if they don't have enough light.

You will end up with an empty wallet, and 37 dead plants if you start throwing money at this grow without fixing the existing problems.

Sorry I just re - read this post.

You suggest to just extract and not intake the cold air?

Wouldn't that just completely deplete air circulation a log ether? This is a completely enclosed space where the door must be shut at the moment because of visitors for next 10 days.

I'm just trying to get my head around it

 

[Antics]

This will help you uploading pictures: Photo Gallery Guide: How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

You have a fan blowing air in, instead of using a fan, just leave a passive intake hole. Most growers do this with great results. It forces all the air to leave the tent through the filter, instead of allowing smell to leak out if you end up with a positive pressure situation.

 

[Blueballavngr]

This will help you uploading pictures: Photo Gallery Guide: How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

You have a fan blowing air in, instead of using a fan, just leave a passive intake hole. Most growers do this with great results. It forces all the air to leave the tent through the filter, instead of allowing smell to leak out if you end up with a positive pressure situation.

I can testify to this. I use this passive exhaust for my flower rm. easy way to save cash on an extra fan when u first start

 

[silverphilly]

I can testify to this. I use this passive exhaust for my flower rm. easy way to save cash on an extra fan when u first start

Thanks. I've managed to bring the heat down a bit by ensuring proper vacuum on the extractor the ducting had slipped. (It was sound proofed and the inner duct had fell off the extractor.)

The light is now 35 cm away in a cool tubed lamp. Although I can't get this set up properly until next week after visitors leave.
It brought the temperature down to 83.7 on surface of plants.

I have attached a dimmable ballast I have and actually put it down to 250w instead of 400w which has left the temperature at 78.

Which is better for me right now? 250w at 78 or 400w at 84 ish?
The plants have been under a lot of strain past few days.

I'm also considering going 17/7 just for 1 week until the heat goes down. Using the 7 daytime hours that are hottest to cope with the heat.

 

[Stealthboat]

If you can raise the light a few more centimeters up with the 400W setting the temp might go down to 82F which would be fine, that way you get the most light available with temps still in a decent range. The 17/7 schedule could work too.

 

[theengineer]

I would get a cooltube in there with an inline fan, and get the light down to 12" above the plants; but why so many, 37 is loads??

 

[silverphilly]

I would get a cooltube in there with an inline fan, and get the light down to 12" above the plants; but why so many, 37 is loads??

I have a cool tube in there but it's not ventilated yet. It was 40 seeds. 3 didn't pop.

Actually just dropped the light by mistake on plants and snapped the stem of the healthiest one. Think I need some mourning time.