First Time Grow, Advice Needed.

[FearAndLoathingInGR]

I am working on my first grow, i am only doing 6 plants cause i am just trying to have meds to sleep thru the night. I have MS and getting a good nights sleep is a chore.

I was wondering if you guys could tell me if i am on the right path. I am color blind, but i can see shades or colors turning in these plants and i am having a hard time sorting it out.

Here are some pics. Plants are 2 weeks old, i am running a deep water culture setup. Using Ionic nutrients at only a 1/4 strength. Worried about it being to cold so i am running flouros 24/7. room is a even 70 degrees water res is about 68 to 70. ph is 5.5 to 5.7. I just need to know if these plants look healthy, if they do not then what should my next step be? Thank you very much for any and all input.

 

 

 

[t-pain]

they look good. i think the veins start off lighter and turn greener later.

 

are you going to "top" your plants?

 

the leaves are starting to whorl (twist) due to 24h light.

what temp does it get if you run 18on/6off ?

i've heard plants grow roots at night, and plants with more roots grow bigger.

even tho 24h light i've heard makes plants grow quicker.

[FearAndLoathingInGR]

Im gonna shut the lights off for 6 hours today and see what happens doing that. i know no matter what the area wont go below 60 degrees. ill check a few hours after the lights are off but i am thinking it will be 65 degrees or so. Im sorry but i will have to do some googling as i am not certain what it means to "top".

thank you for the quick reply appreciate it.

[t-pain]

topping and FIM'ing are similar.

basically you pinch or cut off the newest growth so that the plant branches out.

you can find videos on youtube how to do this. i'm still not sure what the best way is, but at least you can control height and maximize canopy using it.

[rhinoman]

Hey falingr, when runnin yer lights 24/7 the plants require lots of nitrogen. the yellow in the vaines is a sign you need to increase your nutreints. as far as night temps 60 to 65 degs would be fine. have fun with your grow!

[cristinew]

what is your PH ? its good for us to know that, i run my water nutes soil at 6,2 ,, people in hydro use 5.6 or so,,

[FearAndLoathingInGR]

After nutrients were introduced i let the res settle for a while and then balanced the ph to 5.3, by the time i had it all set up and the lava rocks mixed in it went to 5.5 and has remained there.

 

the yellow in the vaines is a sign you need to increase your nutreints. as far as night temps 60 to 65 degs would be fine.

 

Thank you for the heads up. Is it ok to add a little nutrients into the res while the pots are in there or should i wait till my next water change (5 more days) and increase it then?

 

Again thx for the help i look forward to being a successfull grower. There is more work involved than what i originally thought but i feel like 6 plants will be managable for me.

 

I will need help throughout this grow and appreciate everybodies input. This is becoming alot of fun to watch something grow from seed. I just hope out of my 6 bag seeds at least one is female.

 

Thx again everyone.

[rhinoman]

Yeah man no prob. sould be fine.

[Chauncy Gardner]

There is a light technique that I have been using for the past two years that has worked exceedingly well for me. I read about it here on the forum.

 

Instead of running your lights 24 hours or 18 hours, do this: Lights on for 12 hours, off for 5.5, on for 1, off for 5.5. The one hour in between the dark times fools the plants into staying in veg. The developer of this technique claims that the plants grow better because too many hours of light stresses the plant. I have found that this is true. Not only do I save on electricity, my plants love it too. I can't say whether or not plants grow better under this regimen, but I do know that they don't grow any worse. Like I said, my plants like it.

 

I forgot to mention that this regimen is for the vegetative stage only. There is another regimen for flower involving turning the lights back 1/2 hour every two weeks. I found that this did not improve the flowering. I think it actually prolonged the flowering period. It took the plants longer to finish.

Edited February 16, 2013 by Chauncy Gardner

[t-pain]

too many hours of light stresses the plant. I have found that this is true. Not only do I save on electricity, my plants love it too. I can't say whether or not plants grow better under this regimen, but I do know that they don't grow any worse. Like I said, my plants like it.

 

why not just do on for 12 w mh, and then 6 using a 15w cfl or something ?

 

but yes i am sure there are some interesting things that can be done by using a mix of fluro and hps/mh.

 

thanks for the infos.

[Chauncy Gardner]

why not just do on for 12 w mh, and then 6 using a 15w cfl or something ?

 

but yes i am sure there are some interesting things that can be done by using a mix of fluro and hps/mh.

 

thanks for the infos.

 

I think what makes the 13 hour schedule work well is the increased hours of darkness. Plants need dark time to rest. In nature plants never receive 18 hours of light.

[Hydraulic Jack]

You can bump up your nute strength before your change.....In vege your ph should be around 6.0...HJ

Edited February 16, 2013 by Hydro Jack

[FearAndLoathingInGR]

Thought i would update yall on the progress. So far things are exceeding my expectations. Plants are lush and green. Seems to me like they should be taller for being 6 weeks but i have no frame of reference as this is my first grow.

 

I have been running a 400 watt mh light 24 hours a day. My next grow i will try your method mentioned above about the lighting schedule.

 

I am going into flower april 1st, how many inches can i expcet the plant to grow in flower mode?

 

[Celliach]

how many inches can i expcet the plant to grow in flower mode?

 

There are lots of variables that make it hard to give an accurate answer. e.g. size of light, strain, nutrients, etc. You can figure on at least another 25% growth in height at the very minimum.

[shredder0911]

Is it fair and accurate to say that the slimmer and longer the leaves (the more sativa like), the more the plant will stretch in flower? Not sure because it seems to me many hybrids start with fat thick leaves when small in veg, and then the leaves seem to thin out in flower. I have heard of plants stretching 3x their height, but generally I think it runs around 2x or less, but does depend on lineage.

[Highlander]

If you swap out that 400w light with a 1,000w you would see a huge increase in growth. Your plants will probably not quite double in height in flower mode...but there are a lot of variables. If you try to cover a lot of plants with a 400w light, then the light will be kinda far away from them, and they will stretch to reach it. I have a super lemon haze I have grown for about 4 years. I can flower it at 12" under a liquid-cooled 1000w HPS just 6" off the top of the plant and it might max out at 18" tall. I had the same strain that I flowered at 2' tall and too far from the light. Four of them grew to about 6' tall and had to bent bent sideways to finish.

[shredder0911]

If you swap out that 400w light with a 1,000w you would see a huge increase in growth. Your plants will probably not quite double in height in flower mode...but there are a lot of variables. If you try to cover a lot of plants with a 400w light, then the light will be kinda far away from them, and they will stretch to reach it. I have a super lemon haze I have grown for about 4 years. I can flower it at 12" under a liquid-cooled 1000w HPS just 6" off the top of the plant and it might max out at 18" tall. I had the same strain that I flowered at 2' tall and too far from the light. Four of them grew to about 6' tall and had to bent bent sideways to finish.

I just got 5 super lemon haze from greenhouse and wanted to start one, but I am trying to save $ on elec and also running 400s (2) and was afraid they would get too big/stretchy so I put in some others instead. I hope to start them in fall.

[rhinoman]

Hey falingr, what strain ya runnin? that would help answer the question. but anyhow looks good!

[FearAndLoathingInGR]

If you swap out that 400w light with a 1,000w you would see a huge increase in growth. Your plants will probably not quite double in height in flower mode...but there are a lot of variables. If you try to cover a lot of plants with a 400w light, then the light will be kinda far away from them, and they will stretch to reach it. I have a super lemon haze I have grown for about 4 years. I can flower it at 12" under a liquid-cooled 1000w HPS just 6" off the top of the plant and it might max out at 18" tall. I had the same strain that I flowered at 2' tall and too far from the light. Four of them grew to about 6' tall and had to bent bent sideways to finish.

 

You have me a bit confused. The research i did online suggested approx 75 watt per plant. Im running 400 watt, 75 x 6 is 450. I am assuming i am only 50 watts off, to which i have a huge floourescant daylight lamp i am using to supllement those watts missing from the mh. I just installed the mh light 1 week ago, was using alot of flourescants before that. Day one i had the light as high as it would go, everyday after that i been lowering it 1 link a day again as suggested from research from the internet, currently it sits 19 inches from plants(thats from the very bottom of light and the highest tip of the plant) and i planned on lowering it till i am approx 12 inches from the plant. Am i on the right track?

 

Again thank you very much for the info i am glad to have the oppurtunity to learn from the pros!

[FearAndLoathingInGR]

Sorry to double post, i will have to confirm this with my friend, but the strains i have is called power plant and ak47 if that helps at all.

[Celliach]

The research i did online suggested......

 

Whenever I meet a new patient through the CC and am helping teach them to grow, my first rule that I give them is stay off the internet, period, at least until I'm done with them.

 

Second rule is, the more you f**k with your plants, the more you f**k them over.

[michaelscott]

Love the second rule, as for the first, I am completely self taught with much of my research being internet based. Much of the knowledge coming from right here.

[shredder0911]

I believe the end of this says this was achieved with a single 600 watt, so should give you and idea. Looks great to me, and not that stretchy, but you are going to need more than 75 watts per plant I think. I saw the breeder speaking briefly about the Power Plant recently at Spannabis and was wishing I had ordered it. I don't disagree with more lumens is better, but also believe I can get there in a Mustang, albeit not as fast as your Lambo or Ferrari.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5OGnLAG0mM

[rhinoman]

Whenever I meet a new patient through the CC and am helping teach them to grow, my first rule that I give them is stay off the internet, period, at least until I'm done with them.

 

Second rule is, the more you f**k with your plants, the more you f**k them over.

The internets not bad if you can read threw the bull sheet^^^^

[FearAndLoathingInGR]

If not for the net i wouldnt be where i am now on this grow, Im having tons of fun.