Bit of a noob, all help appreciated!

[x Big Dave x]

Okay so i've done a few small grows in the past but like everyone im always looking for ways to improve.

Im doing a slightly bigger grow this time as the harvest will be split between a few friends and im only doing 1 or 2 cycles.

I've been donated 10 white queen clones and in 2 weeks time im getting 10 more.

My setup is as follows: (I know I have 2 tents but as I have clones on tap I don't intend on setting up a small mother/cloning room)

Room 1: 4ftx4 (6 high) 600w hps
Room 2: 4ftx8 (6 high) 2 x 600w hps

My fan set up is:

1 x 5" 250cfm inline fitted with T pipe taking air from outside, 1 feed going in to each tent.

For the smaller tent I have another 5" 250cfm inline for exhaust, this is fitted with a carbon filter.

For the bigger tent the exhaust is a 430cfm 6" which at the moment is too noisy so working on a home-made muffler-box thingy. I've got acoustic ducting but still getting the loud 'plane taking off' noise so going to try and mount the fan in the box it came in, cut out holes for the ducting/hanging and fill it with fire-resistent expanding foam (read a thread about making one of these this and it 'should' be safe.. I'll test to see how hot it gets first!). Oh and of course this is also hooked up to a carbon filter.

I've got some bio-bizz all mix soil, Canna PK nutes (veg & bloom) bio bizz root stimulater and some fish mix and bat guano (as well as superthrive and PH up/down).

I'll be using 6.5 litre pots and aiming for the plants to be no more than 30 inches high at harvest as im not a big fan of the airy puny buds lower down. Also as the site is many miles from my residence im limited to visiting the place only when required.

Temps seem to be okay, lights on 24/7 at the mo and with the seedlings in im keeping the light a lil over 2ft away from top of plants, a lil bit away from the 'back of the hand' getting warm area. Temp is around 21c (i'd rather they stretch a bit for the light than burn 'em by risking the light too close).

I've had a bit of a bad start in that I had no access to tap water so when I planted the clones I gave them a slight water with mineral water and then due to changing the pot sizes the next day I transplanted them again and gave them another watering (with mineral water). As all the the soil is now moist (not drenched) im going to leave them be for a few days to recover.

So until I sort my noisy fan out (next week) im vegging the 10 seedlings in the small tent.

Want to anything else? fire away!

Not a great pic but the next lot will be a bit better!

 

[x Big Dave x]

OKay so now for a few questions... And as they say on TV... "here's where you can play along at home" except there's no red button!

Main problem im trying to work out at the moment is getting both sets of 10 to harvest around the same time. (Don't want to have have multiple timers running fans/lights at all different times, especially as the intake fan will need to go off during 12/12 when i'll still need it for the second batch in 24/0)

Possible solution: Whilst I have 20 total plants in a smallish space I was thinking of topping/pinching the first batch to get multi colas with the main purpose to slow down the growth. Im going to use support sticks to tie each main stem to so it doesn't grow out sideways too much. Then leaving the second batch to grow single stem. Im hoping by a week or 2 into flowering they should have caught up so the canopy is even height. If topping slows growth for around 5-6 days, combined with a bit of pinching I should be able to get the 2 to 'sync' growing heights??? This way by growing 10 of them single stem I should have enough space, even if I have to lollipop the topped plants.

So given the current state how would you grow this lot? im open to all suggestions (MJ related anyway!) and im sure to follow any advise that seems reasonable. Like I said though it needs to be like me, simple!

Cheers everyone.

 

[HippyInEngland]

Hello Dave

Sounds like you have a nice set up.

You are using a T pipe, this will half the intake to each tent so they will get 125 cfm each, you are using exhaust fans stronger than is going in, so you will be creating a vacuum.

To stop stretch you want to put your hand at the plants canopy with your palm almost touching the plants, lower the light until the back of your hand feels comfortably warm, this is the height to stop stretch and stop heat burn

Of course when the plants grow taller, the light needs moving up to compensate.

6.5lt (1.5 gal) is ideal if you want small plants.

Mineral water is a bad idea, it has salts in it.

Looking at your pic I see you have the pots sitting in a reservoir cup, you need to lift the pots half an inch or so, so that the bottom soil in the pot is not sitting in run off and stays sodden.

------------------------------

To get both sets of 10 to harvest as the same time is simple, put all 20 into flower at the same time.

Topping and pinching does delay plants growth and may work to your advantage.

You could also use FIM.

Topping slows growth by a lot more than 5-6 days.

Plants are plants and added that they are female then they will never follow a set line.

Even after all your work you will still find some dont follow the rules and some will be smaller and some taller, simple maniplulation with lst will work wonders

I look forward to following your endeavours.

eace:

 

[x Big Dave x]

Hello and thanks for the input HippyInEngland

With regards to creating a vacum I thought this meant neg pressure and thats what I needed for the carbon filter to stop the smells from leaking out?

Just had a thought... The room that the tents are in is quite dusty as all the walls have been plastered but nothing else. The floors are also pretty dusty. I've done what I can to sweep most of it away but unless I clean it all properly (which isn't really an option - it's hard to explain!) the surrounding room is pretty bad. Im trying to make the tents as air tight as possible but im worried the vacum effect of the tent will be drawing in some of this dust! hmmmm another problem to solve!

The 'back of the hand' tip is what I normally follow but I was a bit wary with them being seedlings and a 600w hps.. Im scared i'll burn 'em while their young, i'll move the light a bit closer after they've been in for 4-5 days.

Cheers, I guess your right im just gonna have to use whatever forms of manipulation I can to try and get a good balance. My plan was always to flower all 20 of them at the same time, easier for me as I'd only balls up the timers or something and where im not able to check that frequently I don't want to take the risk - thus keeping it all simple!

Oh and thanks for the reminder about the trays. Im not sure if they have the bumps on the bottom that lift it a bit or holes are along the sides at the bottom so it can breath through them.. My memory is shocking! I'll check that tomorrow :aok:

 

[x Big Dave x]

Well not much of an update, these (phone cam) pics were taken after the 4th day, sadly to say I pulled 1 of them cos she just couldn't make it. Even when I potted her I didn't hold out much hope for her. Theres another thats kinda not done anything, not shrivelled up but not had the growth like the others (sorry no pic) Also... and don't laugh but due to the rush in setting up the tent the intake fan was set the wrong way, which I only discovered on day 4 .. Got that sorted, added a 5" osc fan and finally fed them 2 small doses (24hrs apart) of ph tested tap water. Temps are between 24-30c 'n a bit worried about temp drop when I go 12/12 but I have to kinda test this stuff on the fly.

Here's a couple of pics of the 'healthier' ones..



Quick question, with a good watering at this size and in 6.5ltr pots do you think they'll suffer much stress if they go 3 days without a feed?

 

[x Big Dave x]

Not much of a journal I know.. Don't suppose anyone would care to comment on my struggler.. It started off bad, didn't know if it'd make it 'n while the others are fine (lost 1 other that was always 50/50) this is now a week old... Im not too worried cos the bit of growth it has looks healthy enough.

 

[x Big Dave x]

k.. 'n here's one of the healthier ones

 

[CungaBreath]

Hey BD

Looks like your little struggler is hanging in there. Could be just slow on developing roots and lagging behind. As long as its putting out some new growth it should catch up at some point, or at least stay in the running

Some clones just take off better than others....I had a runt in my current grow and almost tossed it thinking it wasn't going to make it. Now the little ????is the fattest plant of the three

Keep up the good work and thanks for stopping by, I'll be watching
Later

 

[x Big Dave x]

Cheers CB - reassuring to hear!

I have just found out a silly thing i've been doing.. using too much ph down! Never used it in previous grows (or PH meter) so used a fair bit (15-20ml to 4ltrs of water) then after severe drop I changed it with plenty of PH up... I've since read it's not good to do that im thinking off doing the water properly and giving them a good flush through then on the final flush introduce qtr nutes as they've only been feeding of the compost nutes so far... okay here's the last pic.. group shot! bit of a mixed bag I know.. Hoping now i've got watering sorted they'll recover.

 

[CungaBreath]

I'm sure someone will come along and :hitchair: over the head for saying this but.....your in soil....I wouldn't worry too much about your ph. The soil does a good job of balancing that out for you. Sometimes you can kill them with too much love
Water and feed when you think they need them and they'll be fine.
Flush and a light feed sounds like just what they need but you know your ladies best. :farm:
:watchplant:

 

[x Big Dave x]

ahhh you think? thanks CB! LOL yeah i guess that would be a problem, too much love! I do make an effort not to water them too much, I try my best to give them a good wet/dry cycle. It's just where I can only go to the growroom infrequently (through choice) I try to get as much info as I can each visit and make whatever changes I need to. I've grown a couple of times before and in soil, I didn't use a PH meter then and still got healthy plants so I guess your right.. I'll still try and give them the best I can but i'll try not to stress too much, as you say soil is more forgiving!

 

[RiskyPack]

I'm sure someone will come along and :hitchair: over the head for saying this but.....your in soil....I wouldn't worry too much about your ph. The soil does a good job of balancing that out for you. Sometimes you can kill them with too much love
Water and feed when you think they need them and they'll be fine.
Flush and a light feed sounds like just what they need but you know your ladies best. :farm:
:watchplant:

I agree... I used PH down once when I was growing in soil, and it turned out that by removing the lime from the water, the peat in the soil made the PH go crazy... If I had stuck with normal tap water I probably wouldn't have had any problems. My advice is to stick with normal tap water, and only take action if any problems starts to show up

Nice grow btw

 

[x Big Dave x]

Cheers RiskyPack, I was a bit worried as the tap water im using has a PH of about 8.6-9 so thought it would be best to add some PH down. Only after a few waterings have I learnt how strong that stuff is... About 10ml in a gallon dropped it down to about 2.

Im now thinking of approaching this grow in a different way.. Rather than fetching new clones when I need them (it's a 30 mile+ drive and I pay a token fee for them) im contemplating using the small grow room to keep a few mothers and for vegging 6-8 cuttings at a time for the bigger flowering tent..

 

[lordhighlama]

I'm sure someone will come along and :hitchair: over the head for saying this but.....your in soil....I wouldn't worry too much about your ph.

U are right Cunga... I'm here to :hitchairver the head for that one...

PH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN GROWING!!!

If you are watering your plants with tap water with a ph of 8 to 9 you will most definitely have ph issues in the near future. Water the plants with water in the proper ph range and then the soil will do the rest for you.

 

[x Big Dave x]

Cheers LHL, thats why I was using the PH down.. I know all about how important PH is but I know soil is more tolerable. Even so I know I need to get the water in the right PH range before feeding.

 

[CungaBreath]

U are right Cunga... I'm here to :hitchairver the head for that one...

PH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN GROWING!!!

If you are watering your plants with tap water with a ph of 8 to 9 you will most definitely have ph issues in the near future. Water the plants with water in the proper ph range and then the soil will do the rest for you.

See....that didn't take long

Now if he told me his ph was that high to begin with, I would have adjusted my answer
At least give me all the facts next time Dave

 

[lordhighlama]

Cheers LHL, thats why I was using the PH down.. I know all about how important PH is but I know soil is more tolerable. Even so I know I need to get the water in the right PH range before feeding.

I figured this much I just wanted to give my buddy cunga a hard time.

 

[x Big Dave x]

Well guess I haven't to worry much, after a 4 day drought they were nicely dried out so gave them a good watering. Added qtr canna terra veg and a small drop of alga-mic, got ph to 7 with touch of phd. Got plenty of run off and was chuffed to read 6.5 Other than the runt they seem to look a bit healthier (minus the droop) and im happy there back on track. On 1 plant I could see a touch of yellow on the edge of the leaves but i've got a thread somewhere that helps disgnose these problems with pics. Im not too worried as it's only on 1 of them. Oh and I just topped all of em except the runt and added a 9" osc fan.. I plan on vegging for a few more weeks then transplanting to 5 gal pots.

Also the temps are only sometimes hitting 30c/86f when I went in with the evening air not at it's coldest coming in the temp was 26c/80f.

2 weeks:



:hubba:

 

[x Big Dave x]

Here's the burnt one.. I have a suspicion its not a good one, something like N def or something.

Oh and the last few pics.

 

[legalize_freedom]

Hey Dave...found your grow...nice set up...but man we got to do something about those temps...I'd say what you are looking at is heat stress, and being dried out on top of that...what are your temps outside there right now? Anyway to bring in cool air from outside to get those temps down? It's worring me, and those temps in flower, could cause stress...and the dreaded...hermis...anyway to air cool your reflector? Ya gotta do something. Good Luck to you!