New to indoor growing. Need help please

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Slowlyburn

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This is my first indoor project. I have been extremely successful outdoors in the past but also extremely paranoid doing it so I wanted to give this a try.

I built a grow closet approximately 5'X3'X7'... Painted walls and floor matte white. I am using a 4'X2' 4 tube florescent housing with 4 40watt tubes at 6500k and 12 36watt CFL bulbs at 6500k on a pulley system that raise and lower the whole lighting system. I have a 60lb co2 tank with airline running to a small fan pumping a decent amount into the closet. I run my lights and fan and co2 on a timer at 18hrs on and 6hrs off. I spray the plants once a day with used fishtank water from a spray bottle.

I have 6 plants that started as seeds on Nov 1st. The following pictures were all taken today. I see some of my plants starting to kind of sag and some leaves have off color sploches on them. Some lower leaves are very dry and crispy. A leaf or two underneath the plant are dead. I feel something is wrong.
 
PICTURES - Some plants look GREAT and some not so great... Please let me know if I provided enough info or you want pictures of anything else... Thank you!

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what is the ph of your soil and nute solution?
 
bznuts said:
what is the ph of your soil and nute solution?

I don't know the ph of the soil. I am using miricle grow potting soil that I was told would have enough nutrients for up to 6 months. When I did my outdoor growing I didnt use nutrients either. I only watered them with high nitrate fish tank water.
 
Do you have drain holes in the pots? I see one sitting on a paint bucket....... how does it drain?
 
Miracle Grow with nutes...stay away, not for growing MJ! You want to be able to feed your gals what you want when you need, not be at the mercy of the soil.

Spraying the plants, not a good idea, especially when you get to budding.

CO2...waste of money and time, especially if you're vegging (imho). You need the proper set-up (sealed room etc) for CO2 to be of help, and I believe that's in bud.

Lights...if vegging, run them 24/7. Using regular fluoro lights isn't the best option and those lights won't do a thing for budding. My thoughts here, you'll see plenty of stretch! A T5 HO is great for vegging, 2 600w HPS would likely be a good option for budding lights!

Do you have air exchange in the room, proper air movement? What's your nutes? What are your watering habits??

Plants look great!
 
I'm with Roddy. You have somethings to deal with here if you want to finish these plants. Forget the CO2 and buy some better lighting. In fact, the enhanced CO2 is most likely not being utilized by the plant at all because of the low wattage of the lights. In addition to needing the CO2 monitored and regulated (does little good to just squirt it into a room without regulating it) you need enhanced lumens for the plants to take advantage of the CO2.

My suggestions: You are going to need more better light for flowering. CFLs are the most expensive lights to use to grow and they produce the least. You need a min of 3000 lumens for vegging and 5000 per sq ft for flowering. You are using almost 600W now and only getting about 36,000-38,000 lumens. Compare this to a 400W HPS that puts out 50,000 lumens or a 600W HPS that puts out 90,000 lumens. So, for flowering, you would need to add about 16 more 36W CFLs to get the extra lumens you need. This would put you at about 1100W emitting about 75,000 lumens. Compare this to a 1000W HPS that emits 150,000 lumens. Bottom line is the best, most economical flowering light for your space is a 600W HPS. While I also like T5s for vegging, your current set up is adequate, although keep in mind that you are paying out about 33% more in electricity every single month than you would be with T5s which are a lot more efficient.

You are also going to need a ventilation setup. Some kind of centrifuge exhaust fan. I highly recommend air cooled hoods. It goes a long way towards making your space easier to cool.

I would get some nutrients formulated for mj like General Hydroponics or Fox Farm. Miracle pre-nuted soil is not good to use and I also recommend on spraying your plants. The problems with your plants--dry crispy leaves--could be due to the pre-nuted soil. YOU have no control over how many nutrients the plant gets. Every time you water, you release nutrients that your plant may or may not need or want.
 
Hey roddy what do you mean by two bulbs? I tought you could flower 6 plants with one 600 watt hps.
 
The number of plants really has nothing to do with lighting needs--a 600W may be fine for 2 monster plants or 16 SOG plants. Lighting needs are determined my square footage of the grow room. Most of us go for more than minimum lighting. A single 600W will light a 3 x 5 space fine, I think Roddy just meant that 2 would be nicer.
 
:ciao: beantickler...welcome to the site..you are well on your way to a Wonderfull Harvest..stick close to the growers here..They wont stear ya wrong:aok:


I see over nuteing ...most likely caused by the Miracle grow soil...some peeps do well with that soil and from what Ive read...Less is better...Try and let that soil become bone dry between waterings...Hope this Helps


takecare and be safe:bolt::bong:
 
Sour Deez said:
Hey roddy what do you mean by two bulbs? I tought you could flower 6 plants with one 600 watt hps.

THG has it spot on, I mean that a pair of 600w HPS would really grow some bud. One would likely light that space fine, but 2 with proper ventilation would rock that space!
 
Well this is disappointing... How come there is a bunch of information at several websites saying CFL lighting is a good choice as long as you have the plants within inches of the bulbs? They also recommended using this Miricle grow ** for beginners... ***? lol... Is it a necessity to start all over or can this 1st project be salvaged?

The info I got from the internet was to use 6500k during veg stage and replace at least half with 3000k for flowering. I'm going to have to stick it out with my light setup for right now. I just don't have the funds to spend right now on proper lights and a ventilation system...

What can I do to keep this project alive? Outdoor growing is so much easier it seems... I'm getting discouraged...
 
Where did you find that info it doesn't seem very credible. Cfls are ok for veg and some people even flower with them "faderharley" but they are not the best choice at all. A hps will use less power less heat and give you denser heavier nuggs. If you must use cfls they will work but you will still need to be in you lumen requirements. 3000 for veg 5000 for flower. Could you maybe return the lights?

Do you already have all of them anyway in flower you would need 55-56 26 watters to get your lumens which would cost around 170 bucks.

I got my 600 watt hps for 130 bucks on ebay.
 
I have a 150w HPS. Would that even be worth using? Can I add the 150w HPS fixture to what I am already using? What about my soil? I think another issue of mine is watering. I don't think I am watering correctly. My soil gets dry really fast. Today I put 4 cups of water in each pot. I usually only add 2 cups every 3 or 4 days. My plants are in 2gal pots.

I just have so much to learn... With my outdoor projects all I really did was water the plants every day and twice a week I watered with dirty fishtank water and lots of fish waste.
 
I can tell you that CFL's if used properly can have good results. Plus, they use less energy then HPS and heat isn't that bad. Sure, you will get larger yields from HPS, but if you are looking for stealth, then I would recommend scrog with your cfls to maximize yield. As for the color spectrums with cfls, I've come to the conclusion that the blue and red spectrums are equal for me. I've used only blue on an entire grow and only red. I've also used a combination of the 2. All times with equal and similar results. I've also been successful with miracle grow but I did get some nute burn, so I flushed the soil a couple times. I think people overthink the process of how this "weed" grows. I have smoked buds from a single plant that only had a 42 watt CFL.:D
 
Benocide, the truth is in the numbers and the numbers say completely opposite of what you claim! CFL's run hotter (due to needing so many bulbs to make proper lighting), use more electricity (see reason above) and are far inferior to even LED which is sub-par (at best) for growing MJ.

Sure, you can grow mj with that lighting, but don't kid yourself into believing any of what you wrote because it's all false. And we won't even go into your thought of the spectrums :D The things you detail are all "rookie" mistakes, seems many of us think we just need to drop a seed into dirt and throw a fluorescent light over it and it'll produce us a pound of dank buds. Been there, done that LMAO
 
:yeahthat: To what roddy said Cfls run hotter and cost more to run than HPS and are more expensive like I said 55-56 Bulbs. . . .
 
beantickler said:
I have a 150w HPS. Would that even be worth using? Can I add the 150w HPS fixture to what I am already using? What about my soil? I think another issue of mine is watering. I don't think I am watering correctly. My soil gets dry really fast. Today I put 4 cups of water in each pot. I usually only add 2 cups every 3 or 4 days. My plants are in 2gal pots.

I just have so much to learn... With my outdoor projects all I really did was water the plants every day and twice a week I watered with dirty fishtank water and lots of fish waste.

Your best bet is to start reading. Read the stickies in each forum section pertaining to your grow style (soil), then read some grow journals and see that many of us fell in the same traps you have....and the advice given on how to fix the problems.

For watering, you are actually doing better than most. You want the soil to get fairly dry so the roots get oxygen. Pick up a dry plant and note the weight of it, then water that gal down until a little run-off shows (you want to really water these down during watering, not drowning, but saturated). Now, pick it back up and you'll note the difference...this is what a well-watered gal feels like! :) Doing this a few million times, you'll know how much and when just by look!

The light....any light you can add will of course help at this point, just remember that you also need ventilation so the gals get copious amounts of fresh air as well as keep the room cool (around 75f is a good temp) HPS is the right direction!

Consider this grow your practice run, do your very best while applying the info you'll learn along the way. You could very well end up with some bud, you may fail...but you'll have experience and that's priceless! Don't be afraid to ask questions, but I do recommend reading as much as you can,too! Oh, and good luck to you, my friend!!! :)
 
Benocide said:
I can tell you that CFL's if used properly can have good results. Plus, they use less energy then HPS and heat isn't that bad. Sure, you will get larger yields from HPS, but if you are looking for stealth, then I would recommend scrog with your cfls to maximize yield. As for the color spectrums with cfls, I've come to the conclusion that the blue and red spectrums are equal for me. I've used only blue on an entire grow and only red. I've also used a combination of the 2. All times with equal and similar results. I've also been successful with miracle grow but I did get some nute burn, so I flushed the soil a couple times. I think people overthink the process of how this "weed" grows. I have smoked buds from a single plant that only had a 42 watt CFL.:D

well, I see the same o', often quoted, misconception here. I'll agree that cfls 'will' produce some decent buds if properly utilized. BUT... they only consume less energy by providing "less" light/lumens/energy producing light for the plants. cfls actually consume "more" energy to produce equal lumens than hid/hps.
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54867 <---

Don't allow yourself to become discouraged 'bean'.. there's a learning curve that we have ALL been through. But these guys will have you on the inside lane, hammer down in no time...;)
 
How many BOM pics are grown with CFL's..... not many if any........ if you are gonna grow the dank....... you gonna need HPS of 400 watts or more....... I know..... I tried to do the other ways....... until I followed the instructions here.......I never grew the dank.
 

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