Advice on Abandoned Crop Needed.

[Martha]

I didn't start this grow, but I would like to finish it. I have never grown before and just acquired this yesterday. I have six very lush 2 week old plants, grown from clones in one gallon pots filled with "SUNSHINE ADVANCED RAINFOREST BLEND" (.06-.02-.05). They are 8"-10" tall, 10"-12" diameter growing under a 400 watt HPS, 18hr on/6 hr off, inside a 3'x3'x6' white (reverse side is black) plastic improvised closet. Temperature is mid 70's with a small fan to circulate the air. I need advice on what to do for the next couple of weeks with what I have. I'll be reading all the guides I can to figure this out. I have a general Idea of what to do, I just don't know the particulars and don't want to loose the crop in the meantime.

These are the nutes I have. What recommendations would you make?

FOXFARM: GROW BIG (6-4-4), TIGER BLOOM (2-8-4), CHA CHING (9-50-10), OPEN SESAME (5-45-19)
ADVANCED NUTRENTS: B-52, BUD CANDY, VOODOO JUICE
GENERAL HYDRO: FLORA-GRO
GROTECH: MONSTER BLOOM (0-50-30)
THAT STUFF (NPK INDUSTRIES): MIGHTY WASH

 

[Rosebud]

Mighty wash is for insects, it isn't a nutrient.

All those nutes seem good. You can look up on Foxfarm's site and see if any of those are for veging which is what you are doing now. Looks like the grow big is for veging but check out which are for veg and flowering.

I think most of us on here do veg for 24 hours. But you don't have to.

Your gonna be fine, I know by the way you wrote your post. really. Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions.

oh, and welcome to MP by the way!

 

[Hushpuppy]

You have a good jump start on growing, but you are right that there is much to learn and little time to learn it. The first thing you need to look at is switching the lights to 24hrs on, unless there is a specific reason for having them under 18/6, MJ doesn't really need a dark period during the veg time.

The next thing is to take a careful look at the ventilation of your grow space. It is very important to constantly cycle fresh, cool air into the grow space and to exaust the heated air, that has been depleted of co2 that the plants breath, out of the space. Having a small fan to move the air around in the grow is important but that alone will not cycle the whole of the air mass in the grow. Also, when the plants go into flowering, they will produce an odor that on the mild end will let everyone within the immediate area know that you are growing, and if they are of the skunkier variety, then everyone in the tri-state area will know. So controlling the the air within the grow so that it can be filtered to remove the odor is a must.

If you have room in the grow to transplant into larger containers, then in another couple weeks or just before you flip the lights to 12/12 for flowering, you should transplant them into larger containers to help with their nute uptake and water retention as they will get root bound as they get bigger and that will cause them to have to be fed and watered much more.

Good luck don't be afraid to ask any questions welcome to your new addiction and to The Passion

 

[Martha]

Thanks a lot folks. I set the timer to 24 hrs with the light 20" from the top of the tallest plant. I placed a 24" shop fan above the closet blowing outward-it seems to have a good air exchange. Any thoughts on vinegar/baking soda or yeast/sugar to add Co2? Since they were put into the one gallon pots yesterday, I watered them with 4ml "Voodoo Juice" mixed into 1/2 gallon of water to help the roots during the transplant shock. I don't think there was much root damage-I was careful to pull them out pretty much as single plugs. I've been watering them twice a day and misting three times a day-no nutes until now. I'm keeping about 1/2" of water in the trays the pots sit in. How do I tell if I am over watering? I plan on using the " FoxFire Grow Big" next, but the label says "2-3 tsp. per gallon of water every other watering." The way I am watering now it seems that would be too much. The label also mentions foliar feeding every other week. Is that a safer approach? The plants are a nice, medium dark green with very large stems and more branches than I can count. The only yellow or brown leaves are at the bottom where the don't get that much light and there are very few of those. A few of the leaves have slight curling and about 5% of the leaf stems show some dark purple. I was told the strain is Thor's Hammer, but I didn't find much information on this strain online.

 

[kaotik]

careful not to love them to death martha

"i've been watering twice a day" ..don't.
water them good, then don't water again till they're dry. they don't like to be soggy.
..or are they drying out that fast under the 400?

i dunno bout the misting either.

i do 18 hrs veg light.. no worries there IMO . it works, why waste energy

"Any thoughts on vinegar/baking soda or yeast/sugar to add Co2"
i'd really suggest to keep it simple. forget co2 or anything for now.

seems you have the full fox farms line, i'm unfamiliar with them, but i'd suggest to look up a feeding schedule and keep it simple with just that for now. always start light and see how the plant responds. but after just transplanting in what sounds like some organic soil, you might want to wait a few days and then give them a plain watering first.

remember; it's easier to over do it than under do it

welcome to MP

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

While 18 hours of light works, running lights 24 hours is by no means wasting electricity. Marijuana will grow all the time the lights are on. Running lights 24 hours generally results in faster vegging with closer internodal spacing.

As Hushpuppy said, you need ventilation. Just moving the same stale air around is not beneficial to the plants.

To be effective, CO2 enhancement needs to be controlled and regulated. The DIY setups like you mentioned are really a waste of time, effort, and money,

Nutrients. I use and like the GH line of nutes. However, unless the Flora Grow is Flora NOVA Grow, you need more parts. Flora Nova is a stand alone nutes. The regular Flora is a series of nutes and you need micro and bloom, even for plants in veg. I have not used the Fox Farm nutes, but a lot of people here do and are quite happy with them.

Like Kaotik mentioned, I would stop watering twice a day. Unless you are running total organic, you want your soil to dry out some between waterings. I would not let water remain in runoff trays for very long unless your RH is really low. I am not a big fan of misting on a regular basis. IMO, it is useful as a quick fix if you have a sever nutrient deficiency, but it can lead to mold and burned spots on your leaves.

You may want to double check your temps. I have a real hard time believing that a 400W MH in a 3 x 3 tent is being kept in the mid 70s without and air cooled hood and virtually no air exchange and no incoming cool air.

 

[Martha]

Thanks Hemp Goddess. I took a known accurate thermometer to the grow, and it read 5 degrees hotter than the thermometer that I was using. Actual temp is 79.2degrees. My improvised closet is in a basement with no heat going to it except the 400w HPS. From 6' up, it is open on 2 sides and I have a 2' shop fan drawing the air out. On low the fan moves 2500 cfm. I know I'm not getting 2500 cfm total movement. I need to get more duct tape and I will be putting some vent tube in the tent to improve air flow.

 

[Hushpuppy]

You will have to think about refining your ventilation when they go into flowering so that you can filter the odor of the budding as they will get very odorous. You could get a filter/fan combo and keep it in the area or attach it to the exaust of the grow. Here is a link to several filters from a good online store: hxxp://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/air-cleaner-systems-c-348.html Here is a real good exaust fan from the same store: hxxp://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/vortex-inch-172-cfm-high-power-inline-fan-p-351.html You can also find some great deals on fan/filter combos on Ebay. For a small grow like yours, you shouldn't need more than a 4" or 6" exaust fan (but don't get the duct boosters as they are worse than worthless)

 

[Martha]

Hushpuppy, I have a Honywell HEPA filter that is about a foot and a half high and just as big around that I could use. Do you think that would keep the smell down. It's only been a few days since I started this, but I'm hooked. I'll finish this grow while I plan out a nice indoor grow op for the next go around. I just finished watching the High Times videos on growing, I wish I'd seen them sooner-they give a great overview.