They all died! why?

[Mitch]

I'm growing (or at least was growing) about 15 plants. I was using 4 small flourescent table lamps (commonly found in american hotels) and they ranged from 1 to 2 weeks into their life. Yesterday, we started using miracle grow mixed with sucanat (pure cane sugar found in health stores, helps give plants a sweet taste, or so i read in high times. The day before we switched the flourescents out with 2 500w halogen flood lights, and the plants seemed fine. We also went from 24 hour lighting to 18/6. Yesterday, the plants had their 6 hours of sleep, then the lights came back on. This morning, however, the lights werent turned off at all, and when i got to the grow room (12 hours past time for lights to be turned off), all but maybe 4 plants were shriveled and lying on the rocks. What happened? I need to know who/whats to blame so I can fix this in the future.

Call me a sissy, but after all the money and time I have put into this project, I literally just sat down and cried. Help me, cause I ain't quittin.

EDIT: The Flourescents were about a foot from the plants, and the Halogens were about 4 feet above, cause they were hot as hell. did this contribute?

 

[RangerDanger]

Re: They all died! why????

You killed 'em.
-miracle grow is crap and plants should not recieve any nutrients until they're 2 weeks old.
-Add small amounts of sweetners during the last part of flowering and not before (it doesn't make the buds sweet; sugars feed the mychorrizae).
-you can't grow weed with halogens.

What you need to do before you waste any more time and $$ is to read a grow book specific to indoor cultivation.

 

[Lord Jebus]

Re: They all died! why????

Next time give the plants a longer period to adjust to their containers and soil first. Let them build a healthy root base, and then 2 weeks to a month after start fertilizing. There are many good fertilizers out there, check into general hydroponics nutes. Miracle can be used but be careful and use in small doses.

Halogen lights are the wrong type for growing. Not only is the spectrum not sorrect, but like incandescents, they convert more power to heat than light, you would be better off with the fluoros then Halogens, but look into some HID's.

 

[Racefan]

Re: They all died! why????

Yeah you did a lot of things wrong. Like ranger said...no nutes till at least 2 Weeks then a 1/4 strength dose to begin with and slowly over a few feedings time increase to full strength. The sugar is a waste of time till late in flower and yeah it might change a little of sweetness but why try change the flavor of this great herb? It does feed the mychorrizae but only if you don't use anything like hydrogen peroxide. It will kill the mychorrizae. Halogens are probably the worst light one can use for growing. It flat out cooks the plants instead of growing them. Any growth one does get is spindly as hell. You kept the type of light that would work (fluoro) to grow with way too high above the plants. Fluoros should be kept within 5 inches maximum from the plants. Closer is even better. More powerful compact fluorescents would work better. 65 watt compact fluoros from Lights of America work excellent. A oscillating fan is needed to help dissipate heat from the plants. Fresh air is necessary to reintroduce co2 to the plants and oxygen to the roots.
Most of all read. Can't afford a book? Search out your questions in the search function here. Read all the posts that come up. Just read. It's truly the key to learning here.

 

[Mitch]

Re: They all died! why????

Thanks a lot guys. We bought about 8 26w (100w) cfls, foiled the walls of the shower (in a spare unused bathroom), bought a new shower curtain and foiled the inside of it, and used the old shower curtain ron to hang the CFLs on (also are distributed with small table lamps). Main prob ATM is ventilation. we're not sre if we can install fans since its a rental, and if we could, the outer wall is made of rocks. There are vents for the a/c in the bathroom however. What should we do?

 

[Racefan]

Re: They all died! why????

I would have to see pics to possibly help for ventilation. There aren't any windows to use? How about a ceiling vent? I grow in a bathroom as well and I use my ceiling vent to vent all exhaust through including my air cooled light. You could get by with venting out into the open room using a charcoal filter but if you can do it away from the grow area it's better as you vent out the heat that way. Get inventive and look at all places you might be able to use to exhaust out of.
Good job getting the fluoros. You now have 208 more watts than you previously did. How big is your grow area? You want to get around 40 watts per square foot for optimum growth. Tin foil isn't the best but I guess it's better than nothing. Foil has been known to cause hot spots. Flat white paint or mylar is best. I use astro foil. It's basically bubble wrap covered on both sides with a mylar type coating and is slightly dimpled. It cleans up easily if you get it wet. Mylar is harder to clean up if it cleans up at all. A/C is good for those hot summer days or if your having trouble keeping heat under control but if it's central air you may not be able to use it as you will be air conditioning the whole house just to keep your grow cool. It could get cold in the winter that way.lol

 

[Mitch]

Re: They all died! why????

Our grow area (the shower/tub itself) is 3x6 (18 sq ft/5.5 sq m) or 3x6x5 (90 cu ft/27.4 cu m). Where can you get the astro foil? id much rather have that. Id love to have some of those metal foil blankets people use for mountain climbing and the army, etc.

But yea we're just poor students, so we cant afford great equipment (our system leaks like hell as it is, so thank god for the shower). We hope to build a better system after our first harvest, and get ourselves some HID lights and some great seeds and nutrients.

I'll take some pics tomorrow.

 

[Racefan]

Re: They all died! why????

Id love to have some of those metal foil blankets people use for mountain climbing and the army, etc.

You can buy those blankets which is basically mylar at walmart, target and just about any camping store. they sell for $2.00 a blanket at walmart or target. They tear real easily so be gentle when trying to hang them.
18square foot huh. Well unfortunately your only about a 3rd of the way to having enough light for optimum growth. You need 20watts per square foot just to maintain growth so you still need more light. Any way you can make your grow area a little smaller? At 18sf you need 360watts just to keep your ladies growing at a nice pace.If you can shrink your room to maybe 10sf or 12sf the lights you have will do a better job. Keep them close. Real close. Like 2 to 3 inches away from the plants. Train a fan on the plants to strengthen the stems and to help clear heat from the plants and refresh co2 levels near the plants. You need to find a way to ventilate the stale air from the grow area. It's important.