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Closet Grower

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Hi Guys,
Been a CLOSET READER at this forum for 2 months now, been wanting to reg. but was too affraid. My plants are'nt looking so well so i had no choice. First i want to say, There are a lot of wonderful and brilliant people in this forum. All give awesome and inovative ideas and advise to those who have no clue. That being said. I also want to make another statement. Pot has been the hardest thing that i had ever had grown. I mean Cocaine would be easier to grow i'm sure. But Marijuana...it's like my ex girlfriend, High Maintanance. No Pun intended. Anyways heres my setup.

Grow Room : 8x8 walls painted flat white no ventilation i open the door twice a day which leads to outside air. With a help of standard fan air mix i think is ok. Humidity is at 71 + heat from bulb = 80 deg

Soil : Pro mix and Black gold mixed together.

Lighting : 1000 wt Ballast

Bulb : 400 wt Sunmaster Warm both blue and red full spectrum HID. 2ft above plants.

Nuts : Green Leaf Yield boost 1 cap full 1 once a week dilluted in 12oz water per plant and Eco Grow Monster tropical 20-6-12 switching to green leaf on a biweekly basis.

ph: Constant 6-6.1

Grow Cycle : Veg state 18/18 on a timer of course with minimal light leak
like moonlight to none.


My Problem : I am getting a variety of deficiencies on plants. From curling tips, discoloration (Keylime to Hunter grn), burns (spotting brown and tips), purpling of the stems. Also plants not growing at a rapid rate like the ones here in the forum.

I have read all or a huge part of why plants are going through this? and i'm still getting the same results when i try to rectify the symptoms. I started with 17 now im down to 4 clones, and 3 seed grow total of 7 plants. Please help.

i will try to post some pics.


thnx in advance!
 
Well right away I see a few potentially serious problems with your grow.


1) You say you have a 1000 watt ballast and a 400 watt bulb? This could be a fire hazard! The wattage of the bulb and the ballast must match. Before you use a ballasted light you need to know what your dealing with. Improperly used ballasts can burn down your house! Stop using the 400 watt bulb immidietly and get one that matches your ballast!

2) You say you have your plants vegging under 18/18? Are you saying your giving them 18 hours of light and 18 hours of dark? NO. Plants in a vegatative state need 24 hours a day 7 days a week of complete non stop light! Only when you put your plant into pre flowering or flowering do you cut back on the amount of light. If you look at my heavenly hash grow in the grow journals you'll see my plants, and I havent turned off the lights since I planted the germinated seeds!

3) Good flow through ventilation is a must to grow quality pot rapidly. This means having a fan blowing cold air into the room and hot air out of the room, all the time if you have weaker fans or on timers if you have powerful fans.

4) Mixing soils is a waste of time and can hinder the growth of the plant. Unless you add bat guano or something which is just a soil additive, not a completely different soil.

This is just the tip of the ice berg. Simply reading discussion on the forums can be helpful but you have to the follow the advice given. To put it simply to grow quality pot you must have the following:

1) A good light, with bulbs and ballast wattages that match
2) Good ventilation, sorry but "no ventilation" or "opening a door twice a day" simply doesn't do it.
3) Only use fertilizers that a specially formulated for marijuana plants, general plant foods lack necessary micro nutrients that marijuana needs to thrive. I have had great results with the DutchMaster fertilizers.
4) A good potting soil. I like Sunshine Professional Grow Mix. Do not mix soils.

But first of all, Im begging you, get a 1000 watt bulb to match your 1000 watt ballast. By using a bulb that doesnt match the ballast you risk

1) Short circuits possibly melting your ballast
2) Bulb exploding, killing your plants, and possibly starting a fire!

Im sorry to be blunt but you need to stop growing marijuana. Buy a good grow book. Read it. Try again.
 
I concur 100% w/Insane.
His reply was rock-solid and right on.
 
Ok...not the reply i was hoping for but ok... i was under the assumption that as long as the wt on the bulb dont exceed the ballast everything is cool. I have been doing this for yearsand im sure you have too. For instance. House lights. Do you plug a 60 wt into a 120wt plug (which is standard) has your house ever melted? Didnt think so. I am happy that youre looking out for my safety. But i already had all that basis covered with a certified electrician, the guy that gave it to me. Now as for the other comments. My 18/6 . I read somewhere that plants require only 18 light. What i meant to say was 18/6 i didnt see iput 18/18. i also know about the 16 needed micro nutrients plants need. So i got that coverd? so what else am i doing wrong? AND YES! you were BLUNT!

Dont get me started on Breakers now. I know what not to exceed in my grow room.
 
I know someone who used a 400 watt bulb with a 1000 watt ballast, and whadda ya know but the bulb exploded, killing all of his plants and starting a small fire in his in his room, which luckily enough was confined to his closet gro and he was able to put it out with a garden hose through the window before it spread.

This is what I know about bulbs and ballasts, take it or leave it.

Good luck.

P.S. If you take the time to read any decent grow guide or grow book it will agree with everything I have said. I am not trying to offend you, or provoke an argument, just stating simple facts.
 
I'm no sparky. Possibly a "multi-tap" ballast?

Lotsa' folks veg 18/6. Purely a matter of personal preferrence.

I'm not familiar with any of the nutes you're useing, so any comment would be pure speculation. But the black gold you're useing has plenty of nutrients to stand alonr for a few weeks. If the plants are young, you could be over fertilizing, causing te appeared "defficiency".
The other thing that caught my eye immeadeatly. PH is pretty low for soil.
You may have nutes locked out there.
 
Damn Hick,
i think your right. Over nut. I didnt take account for the soil having nuts already in it. I mean i knew what i was getting into when i bought the soil. But for some reason it went over my head, or i just forgot about it. Seriously though this is my first grow and i really dont know what i was doing. At least for the most part. The plants dont look as bad as the ones here...but they dont look as good either. I just want to stop the symptoms before they start full force. I will post some pics so you ca see.


p.s. Insane,
i'm sorry for getting off in the wrong foot with you.
some people dont take critisism well and i'm not one of those :p
you're correct all you were doing was stating FACTS and i did take that into account, and went and called the place i got the bulb and asked about the 400w bulb/1000w ballast. they told me it was fine. But the life of the bulb will be decrease. I do want to thank you for your cautious reply :)
 
No worries Closet Grower, if they say its ok then Im sure it will be fine. But I still have one question:

Since you have a 1000 watt ballast, why not get a good full spectrum 1000 watt bulb?
The bulb would last longer and give your yield a nice boost would it not?

Then again having a higher wattage bulbs means more ventilation is needed. Is there any way you can get some decent flow through venilation in your grow room? I think this, along with getting your nutes/soil ph on track will help you greatly

PS Sorry if I came off bluntly before, but if you want good advice its usually blunt but always means well ;)
 
Here are my plants.
Please notice some of the deficiencies i was refering to earlier in the thread.

Plant1.jpg


Plant2.jpg


Leaf.jpg


plant4.jpg


Plant5.jpg


plant3.jpg
 
The only other thing i could think of, is that the light might be too close. These plants were thriving even on a dual 60 wt grow bulb i bought at wal-mart. Symptoms were not showing till i busted out with the HID? Light is approx. 2ft above plants. That should be suffecient right? I think i'm Gonna take your advice INSANE and buy a 1000 wt full spectrum bulb. You had said earlierto maybe leave the light on for 24/0. If i switch it up now, will it confuse the plants into goin herm?
 
Granted I can't tell everything from pix, but it looks like you've got several problems, inc. nutruient imbalance/lockout.
Your not gonna like this but it's the best advice I can give you:
ditch your current plants, get new soil, and start over.
Instead of continuing with plants that are already significantly compromised.
Plants that start out crummy will NEVER reach their full potential.

Starting over isn't as bad as it sounds. Done right, plants can easily grow 15" tall in their first 3 weeks; big bushy and lush.
And don't feel bad. Lots of rookie growers lose their first crop. It's why I ALWAYS recommend bag (free) seeds for a first grow.
 
Closet Grower said:
I think i'm Gonna take your advice INSANE and buy a 1000 wt full spectrum bulb. You had said earlierto maybe leave the light on for 24/0. If i switch it up now, will it confuse the plants into goin herm?

I agree with Ganja, you would be best to start a new grow with some seeds you find in a decent bag. Don't be disappointed, dispite what you may think your well on your way to growing some good 'medicinal marijuana' ;)

But as for your question, switching lights from 18/6 to 24/0 shouldn't 'confuse' plants into goin herm, usually what forces plants to change to a herm is a lot of stress, or having light variations during the 12/12 stage. During flowering the lights must always stay 12/12 at consistent times (you have a timer thats good) with 12 hours of uninterupted darkness. And if you decide on that 1000 watt bulb you will need good ventilation that can keep the room at between 70-80 F, preferbaly 75 F.

As for your nutrient imbalance..if your going to fertilize your young plants you need to get a good baby plant food. You said you were giving your plants a 22-7-10 or something? When my plants are that size I give them Kickstart by Grotek (works very well) and is a 1-2-1. You wouldnt give a baby girl a T bone steak would ya? ;)

For mature plants I would strongly recommend the Dutchmaster Line, it is very good and very cheap.

Sorry that we seem to be picking your grow apart but growing quality pot is anything but easy, and that's something we have all learned, usually the hard way, so dont get down cause we've all been there at one time or another
 
damn guys, I don't think they are that bad :eek:

the 2 babies may not make it, but the older one looks OK. I would flush good w/ ph 7 water, let her dry out well and go from there with a well rounded organic ferts. Worm castings make a wonderful "tea" nd are almost impossible to overdo
 
Sorry guys,
been busy at work, to reply right away. Bet you guys probably think i'm crying somewhere in a corner...lol I will take any advise anyone will give. From the looks of your reps, i'm talking to the real pros here. I wont take it as a bad deal to start over. I shouldnt have halfed assed it in the begining, and now i'm paying for the poor yields i have sown. I appreciate you guys giving me your honest prognosis on my situation and believe me i will be back and next time you guys will see some better plants. All i have to thank is you guys. Truly an insperation. Hick thank you for trying to cheer me up :)
 
hi guys . and mr closet grower . me not a pro just grew outside for past two years and this is my first indoor grow . i have gotten all my knowledge right here from this forum ,exspecially from ,nevermind, lets say acouple two or three that answered your post dont want to name any one because there are also a few that did not answer your post that i dont want to leave them out that has answered mine. if that makes any sense . i havent been posting much lately .id rather read everyones post and find my answers like that to keep from bugging anyone .like right now i am looking for a post on male and female plants at younge age to distinguish the difference . either hick or columbian connection had the pic i am looking for now so if either of you two know where there at i would much appreciate reposting for me please i will be on reading post in this forum looking for it for the next few hours. ok now mr closet like i said this is my first indoor grow . i was having almost identical problem with mine as yours .i have a 400hps now i was using fl 4 40s 2in from plant they were doing great i was giving a diloution of fish emulsions human piss mine of course birth control pill in water diloution . superthrive , also shultz exspert gardener with micro nutrients . my plant was beatiful 10in tall within 3 weeks . the base well the whole stem is almost the diameter of a dime .but that could be partly from keeping a heater fan on it since baby . its cold up north and there outside in a shed . ok there meaning i just had a nother baby pop up 2 days ago . ok ill get to the point real quick . my plant has been flourishing great within 4 days of turning on my new 400hps light on it 18in away it started to have yellowish color stripes . like i figured maybe it might be fert burn where i pour nutes directly on the leaves ,wasnt for sure so i got my but back in the forum and read your new post . i was giving my plant ferts everyday. and then i read what gangas answers to you was and he scared the shit out of me . so i was hoping it was light burn or fert burn . so what i did was took pair os scissors and sniped off all dead leaves which was hicks reply to someone in a past post then i shut my 400 hps down till i could raise it at a later date .because my ceiling is five feet but my whole light fixure hangs down 2 in a half feet and my pot is a four gallon pot which sticks up 2 feet which only leaves me 18 in from plant and light till i cut a whole in my ceiling any way after i sniped all dead been flushing out everyday with purified water and stuck its ass back under the flouresents its been about 3 or4 days and so far its still growing with new leaves and no more blemmishes so thank god it wasnt nute lock maybe it was at virg or could have been fert been or light burn i dont know i do know i wouldnt know my head from my ass if it wasnt for this forum .so please try to take in consideration of everyones advice in this forum . not eveyone in here are proffessionals but evryone in here learns from the proffesionals in here and all anciously trying to help someone that has helped us in the past . peace
 
ps i think i also read in her that humidity needs to be around 50 percent or less . that would mean that your 71 percent might be alittle high . please anyone correct me if im wrong cause ive been keeping mine between 25 and 50 percent i dont want to give any false info and look like a dumbass . ty
 
Skunk, do not water the leaves. The water on the leaves will magnify the intensity of the light and burn the leaves.

Humidity should be low, otherwise the moisture in the air can cause mildew to form on the leaves and possibly lead to mold which is like the flesh eating disease of plants!

Closer Grower, don't be disappointed by this. The first time I tried to grow weed the seeds didn't even germinate. Ive been growing for about 4 years and now I feel that I have the necessary knowlegde/equipment to grow good pot. That being said theres always more for to learn, for instance, I know nothing about hydroponics. Ive been growing in soil since I started and I simply love it. Like Hick said in an earlier thread, I need to get some dirt under my nails ;)

My point is that growing weed is not simple not something you can simply "pick up" and get good at over night, it will take years of experience to learn to grow good pot, and even then you will learn new things everyday. So keep growing and keep posting here, we'll help ya out however we can

Always remember the only way to get good at anything is to continually learn
 
thanks insane .i fig . it was supose to be low from a certain post i read in the past. and i keep mine low .but i was for sure i saw closet growers at 71+ that is what caught my eye . but thanks see i leaned something im used to growing outdoors for past 2 years and i always spray my plants leaves in the middle of night to wake the also so they wouldnt burn in daytime . thanks alot dude .
 
ok clearly it was a nut problem...i stopped adding chemicals and did all the flushing or leeched the pot and plants are now in good shape. I still have more clones coming in to start over. But HICKS, was right!
damn guys, I don't think they are that bad

the 2 babies may not make it, but the older one looks OK. I would flush good w/ ph 7 water, let her dry out well and go from there with a well rounded organic ferts. Worm castings make a wonderful "tea" nd are almost impossible to overdo
i took his advise and all is good. I will be posting new pics. BTW: only 1 of the babies didnt make it :( or :) better than nothing. I guess. I'm bummed cause its the only strain i have different of, and now i just hope its a girl. Too early to tell i think.
 
Good to hear Closet Grower. If you can save your plants then thats definatly the way to go, so good luck!

PS Better than nothing is..well...better than nothing! lol ;)
 

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