First grow: 2 Fire OG Clones, 300 Watts CFL. I humbly request suggestions/help. PICS

[whatthe215]

EDIT: added 3 Pure Kush clones as well as 160 more watts.
EDIT 2: removed all CFLs and T12s, added 600 Watt HPS on 2/28/12
EDIT 3: added venting/aircooling system, 2 more Pure Kush clones (different cut) and 8 Pre-98 Bubba clones.

What it looks like now...

Here we go!

The girls on Day 1:
Clone #1

Clone #2

I built my grow light out of a thick cardboard box. I know it's a bad idea since it's flammable but I'm pretty poor at the moment.

12x 23 Watt CFL (2700k) + mylar
I call her Cutie Grow Light 2.0:

I plan on vegging for 2 months. How important is it for me to get some sort of 6500k lights in for vegging?

They're potted in 5 Gallon pots with Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil. I water with pH 6.5 water every morning. I haven't gotten a soil pH test kit yet. Where do I want my water and soil pH to be?

Day 4:
Clone #1
http://i.imgur.com/mrIcMh.jpg
Clone#2
http://i.imgur.com/0wh8Sh.jpg

*just links because I can only have 5 photos

When I added the mylar, I didn't pull the lights up, so a couple leaves and the top node of one got burned. I snipped the burnt leaf/node as low as possible at an angle, and a new node site has grown. Is this burning going to stunt growth?

I'm happy with the way things are going, the first clone has already grown 3 new node sites and the other has replaced the burnt one and grown another. I noticed everything this morning, Day 5.

That's it for now. I'll keep updating things every couple days with photos. Thanks! I'm pumped to be a part of the community.

 

[WeedNNoodles]

keep a bucket of water atound incase of fire... its unlikely but still safety is key

 

[Guest 88950]

i only water / feed evry 2-3 days for soil........my coco gets water/feed multiple times per day.

the slight drooping of the leaves indicates overwatering.

what are your temps? you got red stems, could be genetic but could also be from low temps or mag def.....im far from an expert but maybe others will chime in regarding the red stems.

edit:

no worries on the ghetto diy reflector.......i made one out of Refletex i bought from homedepot.

 

[J.C.grower]

I have to agree with Supersilverhaze with this one. you should water every other day or even every 2 days with small clones/seedling. the red/purple stem could be from the overwatering and cold temps, as SSH said above. good luck with your ladies!
JC

 

[whatthe215]

keep a bucket of water atound incase of fire... its unlikely but still safety is key

Agreed, I have a big 5 gal bucket for dechlorinating water thats full most the time right next to it.

Thanks for the tip!

i only water / feed evry 2-3 days for soil........my coco gets water/feed multiple times per day.

the slight drooping of the leaves indicates overwatering.

what are your temps? you got red stems, could be genetic but could also be from low temps or mag def.....im far from an expert but maybe others will chime in regarding the red stems.

edit:

no worries on the ghetto diy reflector.......i made one out of Refletex i bought from homedepot.

OK, so I've definitely been overwatering. I'll go every other day from now on since today all the leaves are perky and reaching for the light.

The temp is consistently at around 80-85 degrees fahrenheit. I just added a fan today but the temp is still warm.

Is it not uncommon to have a magnesium deficiency about 8 days into new soil?

Thanks for the advice on watering and reassuring me a little with my ghetto reflector!

I have to agree with Supersilverhaze with this one. you should water every other day or even every 2 days with small clones/seedling. the red/purple stem could be from the overwatering and cold temps, as SSH said above. good luck with your ladies!
JC

Cool thanks!

At what point would you start to move towards a watering every day schedule?

 

[Guest 88950]

i wouldnt water every day in soil..........i have a cross of chemd in 3 gal soil under 1200watt in a 4x4 tent and i water every other day, maybe every 3rd day.

i also choose to feed plain h20 every 4-5 watering just to prevent any excess nute buildup.

good luck bro

 

[whatthe215]

i wouldnt water every day in soil..........i have a cross of chemd in 3 gal soil under 1200watt in a 4x4 tent and i water every other day, maybe every 3rd day.

i also choose to feed plain h20 every 4-5 watering just to prevent any excess nute buildup.

good luck bro

I was thinking about that especially since I'm starting in 5 gal pots. How much plain h2o do you use on that 4-5th watering to rinse excess nutes? Just enough to have some runoff or more?

 

[Guest 88950]

im not attempting to do a flush so i just ph to 6.8 then aim for 15-20% run off. when i flush i use florakleen / drip clean with plain ph'd h20 for 2 wks.......i add unsulphered blackstrap molassas to that after its ph'd b/c its too dark to tell what range its in using the reagent drops.

i also start in a smaller container then transplant to a larger one. i do this because i found it easier to keep them happier, not to wet not to dry.


edit:

the nice thing about soil is its more forgiving and can be left for several days between waterings but the growth is slower than using coco or hydro.

 

[TribalSeeds]

I don't think its been mentioned yet, next time start in smaller pots.

 

[whatthe215]

im not attempting to do a flush so i just ph to 6.8 then aim for 15-20% run off. when i flush i use florakleen / drip clean with plain ph'd h20 for 2 wks.......i add unsulphered blackstrap molassas to that after its ph'd b/c its too dark to tell what range its in using the reagent drops.

i also start in a smaller container then transplant to a larger one. i do this because i found it easier to keep them happier, not to wet not to dry.


edit:

the nice thing about soil is its more forgiving and can be left for several days between waterings but the growth is slower than using coco or hydro.

Got it. Awesome, I can't thank you enough stickin' around my thread, soaking up all the knowledge I can!

I don't think its been mentioned yet, next time start in smaller pots.

Yep that's forsure. Thanks for checking my babies out.


--

Gonna post an update in a couple hours. They're exploding! (i think haha)

 

[whatthe215]

Alrighty, Day 8.
She's about 10 inches tall now.

Aaand she's at about 6 inches. I'll try to take a side photo tomorrow.

The first has grown about 4 inches over the past 8 days and formed a total of 5 new node sites (10 now compared to 5 when I got her.) It's crazy to watch the day to day change, and I just started nutes today so I'm excited to see how that affects the growth rate!

I'm using B'Cuzz Growth - C 2-2-5 at 5ml/gal
and B'Cuzz Organic Based Nutrient Additive 1.0-0-0.7

They threw in some Age Old Organic Kelp 0.30-0.25-0.15 anybody have any experience with it? Is it worth throwing in? It's 1ml/gal.

Thank you to everyone stopping by to check me out!

edit: aah I also added 4 40watt T12 6500k bulbs on the sides specifically to help with veg. Only about half of the actual bulb is lined up with the plants, so they only get about half the light.

Still gotta figure out a permanent solution to having them point at the plants.

 

[Thump88]

Don't cry when sadie and dakota eat them.

 

[Guest 263194]

Light is too close to the plants lower your pot let them get more roots comfortably. Those brown rusty spots on the leafs are from Tap water. Find out your nutrients solution is meant to use with what type of water.

 

[whatthe215]

Don't cry when sadie and dakota eat them.

These two? Pshh... they guard 'em. :yay:

 

[m3th0ds909]

Nice setup bro. My buddy has a similar setup and hes a first timer as well. He could probly get a couple ideas from this i'll be pulling up a chair.

If your having heat issues (temps 85 degrees+) then i suggest taking a couple cfls out for now. At least for veg. Maybe even half of them.

-m3th0ds

 

[SKUNK420]

Get yourself a small metal project box or something else metal from casa depot for them lights.
You want to grow Fire OG not cause a fire.
Other then that keep up the good work.

 

[oneshot]

Get yourself a small metal project box or something else metal from casa depot for them lights.
You want to grow Fire OG not cause a fire.
Other then that keep up the good work.

Seriously.

Stop adding more things that could possibly burn that cardboard box and spend the money you spent on those other bulbs and get a proper reflector or setup for those CFL's.

Safety should ALWAYS be priority.

GL otherwise, they are looking good. Might to want raise the lights though. Have you thought about putting the tubes vertical instead?

 

[whatthe215]

Nice setup bro. My buddy has a similar setup and hes a first timer as well. He could probly get a couple ideas from this i'll be pulling up a chair.

If your having heat issues (temps 85 degrees+) then i suggest taking a couple cfls out for now. At least for veg. Maybe even half of them.

-m3th0ds

Thanks! Since I've bought a 20" box fan I haven't had any issues since it's still 70/day 45/night outside. I've moved the lights up a bit which solved my leaf burning issue.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your friend does get a couple ideas, especially after this update I'm gonna post in a few minutes!

Get yourself a small metal project box or something else metal from casa depot for them lights.
You want to grow Fire OG not cause a fire.
Other then that keep up the good work.

Went to casa depot today and went as budget at possible. $5 for a 6'x1' closet shelf (metal wire.) Gonna wire in the lights tomorrow and it'll allow for expansion if I so choose.

No joke, this "You want to grow Fire OG not cause a fire. " had me laughing for a good 10 minutes and then a couple times throughout the day. hahahhahahahaha

Seriously.

Stop adding more things that could possibly burn that cardboard box and spend the money you spent on those other bulbs and get a proper reflector or setup for those CFL's.

Safety should ALWAYS be priority.

GL otherwise, they are looking good. Might to want raise the lights though. Have you thought about putting the tubes vertical instead?

Yep, I'm switching over tomorrow to non-flammable everything. Still budget but all metal.

Already raised the lights, plants are doin' great and haven't been burned at all recently.

I may put the T12s vertical if the plants get tall enough before I switch over to HPS/MH setup. Hopefully the HIDs will happen in the next couple weeks and that wont be necessary!

 

[whatthe215]

Alrighty, I've switched things up a bit..


Added 3 new Pure Kush clones.

One of the pups grabbed the right most one when I stupidly left it on the ground for the moment. The rockwool was a little squished along with the roots, and the plant was generally shaken. Just a couple hours later and...

I also decided the LST the first of 2 Fire OGs because it was significantly taller than the other. It's responding real well. Really trying to get out of those stakes, it's hard to keep the top down!

Things are going well. I plan on rotating the plants so that they all get an equal amount of 2700k VS. 6500k spectrum light. Since I've been watering every other day, got my nute levels, and soil pH dialed they've seemed to be doing a lot better. Healthy leaves, nothing burning, no leaves drooping or getting discolored.

To say the least I'm grateful to everyone who has offered their knowledge and advice. Without you guys I'd be so lost, dead plants and a huge fire hazard.

 

[SKUNK420]

I should have posted this earlier.
side lighting in my C30 veg cab. I could not get the whole thing in the pic because it was showing a reflection of me taking the pic. There is a sunlight supply 2 ft 4 bulb T-5 light from the top.

It's just a flat piece 1/8" T-6061 aluminum I had left over from intercooler end tank fab project. I first measured and pre-mounted the T-8 light clips. then took it apart and used a electric hand buffer to polish the hell out of it. reinstalled everything with the ballast on the backside and bam cheap home made light fixture.