Grow Journal for my first two plants

[Trede]

Well, since I'm going to keep a journal anyway, I may as well let people see and comment and suggest...it'll probably do me a lot of good, actually >.<

To bring everyone up to speed, here is a brief timeline for my girls:

4/2 - Two clones came home with me. One is Jack Herer, the other is Chemdog/dawg

4/5 - First photo; shows the girls in the little pots they came with

4/7 - May have been a bit early, but I moved the girls to their larger homes. Jack to the green pot, Chemdog to the orange. Moisture approx. same between smaller and larger pots.

4/8 - Thoroughly watered both pots. I figured it wouldn't hurt to give them a day to acclimate to their new homes first.

4/12 - Took pics of the girls before heading to work.

4/13 - Got home from work and took more pics for some reason...

And that brings us up to speed. As far as the grow tent, it is 4'x4'x6.5' and lit 24/7 by a 4' T5, 2 90W LED lights and 2 14W CFLs. With the oscillating and exhaust fan also running constantly, it's pretty stable at 77F and 40%RH. Every day I, at the very least, turn the plants 90 degrees and mist them with a spray bottle.

Any questions, comments or suggestions are welcome! Currently, my plan is to start LST once they have a little more height. Still not sure exactly when to start flowering, so again...suggestions are welcome. As I only have 2 plants this time around, they have plenty of room to do whatever. I may take clones of one or both of them, or I might try another strain or two. I suppose it all depends on how things turn out.

 

[pcduck]

Looks like ya got a real nice start to your grow.

Nice strains too.

Any plans on what nutes and lights for flower?

Best of luck and happy growing.

 

[BackWoodsDrifter]

Good luck to ya pilgrem mind ifin I pull stump watch yur fireside?

BWD

 

[Trede]

Looks like ya got a real nice start to your grow.

Nice strains too.

Any plans on what nutes and lights for flower?

Best of luck and happy growing.

Lights will probably be the same for flower, just rearranged. If I need more light, I'll probably end up getting a 4-tube T5 and use the single for vegging elsewhere. As for nutes, I got a deal on some when I bought the grow tent. Big bud, bud candy, and overdrive all three for $45. I've noticed that they aren't the most HIGHLY recommended, but they don't seem to hurt anything when used appropriately. Also, I intend to research and use some form of final flush product just to ensure that there isn't a nute/salt buildup at the end. Current nutes come from MG potting soil (I know, I know... ) mixed with peat and something I don't recall off the top of my head...end result being about 50% MG, 50% filler.

Good luck to ya pilgrem mind ifin I pull stump watch yur fireside?

BWD

The more the merrier!

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

They are looking real good. But, I can pretty much assure you that you are going to need more light. A 4 x 4 needs 80,000 lumens minimum. Do you have any kind of air exchange--an exhaust fan?

I think that Big Bud, Bud Candy, and Overdrive all all bud enhancers and not really meant to be used as a stand alone nutrient.

Most of us here do not do a final flush.

 

[Trede]

Well, that being said...any suggestions on lights? With my current exhaust and light combo I have my temp and RH pretty stable. I was looking at moving to a multi-tube t5 fixture for my tent, taking the current one out to use in a smaller area for clones and vegging. I was thinking the cfls could move with it, leaving the leds in the tent for supplemental light from the sides (raising/lowering as needed).

 

[pcduck]

If you can control the heat and want big, hard buds I would use hps lights.

What size is your grow room?

 

[Trede]

4x4x6.5' tent. Trying to stick with fluorescents and leds for energy efficiency and heat management. I did see a large (200w?) Cfl at a farm supply site, but I'm not seeing a lot of reviews...
hxxp://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/ProductDisplay?catalogId=15052&productId=65629&pageId=ItemDetail&isDoc=N

 

[pcduck]

OK...You have 16 sqft of grow room. For flower 5000(+) lumens per sqft is needed.

16 X 5000 = 80,000 lumens are needed. A 600 watt hps would work.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

4x4x6.5' tent. Trying to stick with fluorescents and leds for energy efficiency and heat management. I did see a large (200w?) Cfl at a farm supply site, but I'm not seeing a lot of reviews...
hxxp://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/ProductDisplay?catalogId=15052&productId=65629&pageId=ItemDetail&isDoc=N

It is a common misconception that CFLs are cheaper and run cooler--they aren't and they don't. Lumen for lumen, the CFLs will be more expensive to run. When you look at them on a lumen per watt basis, HPS is less expensive to run. Most CFLs emit around 62 lumens per watt. Small HPS like 150W emit around 100 lumensd per watt with larger HPS emiting 150+ lumens per watt. So HPS, ultimately ,is cheaper to run. It also takes a whole bunch of CFLs to light a 4 x 4 tent. When you get as many bulbs as you need, you will probably find that the bulbs, reflectors, and cords run more than a HPS fixture. And with a whole bunch of bulbs, comes a whole bunch of heat--lumen for lumen, more heat than a HPS emits. And ultimately, they are going to produce a whole lot less bud and it will most likely be lighter and airier than that grown under a HPS.

You need air exchange regardless of your need to cool your lights. Plants need a continual supply of fresh air all the time the lights are on for proper photosynthesis. I like to exchange the air 2-3 times a minute, although once a minute is fine.

 

[Trede]

So would a 1000w HPS be too hard to keep cool? My exhaust fan has to be put on a dimmer...it can draw so many CFM that my tent looks like it's trying to vacuum seal itself

 

[pcduck]

I run 2 600's in a 4x4

Need a good fan and be able to exhaust to the outdoors.

 

[Dr. Robertsozki]

So would a 1000w HPS be too hard to keep cool? My exhaust fan has to be put on a dimmer...it can draw so many CFM that my tent looks like it's trying to vacuum seal itself

hello and welcome

not too hard i've done it before just run an inline fan with enough CFM and may b run a small a/c unit

thats what I did then added 3 more 1000 to make a total of 4000w all connetced plus some intake fans and some exhaust fans kepp the place weel ventilated for some primo
kush

 

[Dr. Robertsozki]

4x4x6.5' tent. Trying to stick with fluorescents and leds for energy efficiency and heat management. I did see a large (200w?) Cfl at a farm supply site, but I'm not seeing a lot of reviews...
hxxp://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/ProductDisplay?catalogId=15052&productId=65629&pageId=ItemDetail&isDoc=N

that light uses 200 w and it only has 13 000 lummens i have a t5 fixture with the same watts and I get 20000 lummens and my fixture was $80 shipped to my house n the spectrum is 6500 unlike the one from the liink plus cfl don't distrubute the light evenly and get real hot

here is a link for something a little better on eBay item # 321080752366

its a t5 fixture with chains and hooks 40,000 lummens 432 w $149.99 free shipping

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

You might want to start with an air cooled 600W for your tent and then maybe add another one down the line. I am running a 600W in a 32" x 32" tent and can keep it cool fairly easily. I have a 1000W in a 3 x 6' closet and that is a bit harder to keep cool. I also run my lights at night--in the summer because it is cooler at night and during the winter at night so that I don't have to heat the room at night. I run mine from midnight to noon as I like to do my gardening in the mornings.

The T5 the Dr. mentioned is basically a vegging light. You want something with more of a red spectrum for flowering.

Do not use a dimmer or rheostat on your exhaust fan. Get a fan speed controller--it does the same thing but is made for fans.

 

[Trede]

I mis-spoke, it's a "fully variable fan speed controller." I'm just used to dimmers for lights. I'm going to be heading to the local garden supply store (when they open) to check out their selection of ballasts. Since my plan is to have a separate area for clones/vegging with the T5 and CFLs anyway, I'm not worried about it being switchable HPS/MH. After doing some more research, I'm aiming for a 600W with a wing (double parabolic) reflector...probably won't get the reflector til next grow, though, as it costs as much as most of the ballasts I've seen. I'll just use the "stock" reflector for now.

 

[Dr. Robertsozki]

air cooled 600W start with the stock air cooled reflector then if you want a better reflector you can get a nicer and bigger one. make sure the light bulb is not in the opening or it can get way out of control in a small tent

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I mis-spoke, it's a "fully variable fan speed controller." I'm just used to dimmers for lights. I'm going to be heading to the local garden supply store (when they open) to check out their selection of ballasts. Since my plan is to have a separate area for clones/vegging with the T5 and CFLs anyway, I'm not worried about it being switchable HPS/MH. After doing some more research, I'm aiming for a 600W with a wing (double parabolic) reflector...probably won't get the reflector til next grow, though, as it costs as much as most of the ballasts I've seen. I'll just use the "stock" reflector for now.

I would not get a reflector that is not air coolable. You can get a 600W with a digital ballast and an air coolable reflector for under $200. I wouldn't scrimp on the reflector--I believe that you will find it hard to keep things cool with a wing reflector.

 

[Dr. Robertsozki]

:yeahthat: thast what I was trying to say thanks THG

 

[Trede]

So the pots were finally showing signs of being less than moist. I decided this was probably an opportune moment to not just water my plants, but flush all those MG nutes out. Used an actual flushing solution, I just got done saturating the pots. I'm going to let that percolate for a while, then flush the pots with clean water...about 15 gallons each, the last gallon or so will be ~1/4th strength nutes, and I'll be starting at week 2 on the feeding chart (since it's nearly identical to week 3 and I'm not sure exactly when I'm going to switch to flowering...)