Snow White Micro Grow

[panopticist]

Hello Everyone-

This is my first attempt at growing, and I'm calling out for a status check.
I've followed Red_Greenery's setup as closely as possible, so any flaws should be easy to diagnose.

I've currently got four Nirvana Snow Whites (from seed) under four 23w and one 14w CFL for a total of 106w. I'll grab two more 23w bulbs within the next week so I can increase to 138w.

I've yet to completely finish the tub, but all I lack is the carbon scrubber and the heat shield. I'm running another fan in order to combat any potential heat issues that might result from having no heat shield. I'll move this fan to the carbon scrubber once I purchase the rest of the materials, and finish the box.

Here is a top and side shot of each of my friends at 21 days above ground.

A.




B.




C.




D.




All are about 4 inches tall, with 4 nodes. New growth looks plentiful and healthy, but I'm wondering about something. The stems towards the upper part of the plants (directly under the leaves) are turning purpleish. Is this natural or a sign of some sort of deficiency?

Other than that, how is everything looking?

 

[TheGreenWizard]

Looks good, however I'm noticing some stretching. You should try to move the lights closer to the plants; this should cut down on stretching.

Maybe you could get a small cpu fan to blow on the plant. This will make the main stem stronger, and thus able to support itself without any supporting column.

 

[dope_roor]

when using CFL's keep the lights constantly close (how close exactly depends on how hot your bulbs get, i run 8x24watters and i can get them an inch away) to the tops of your plants. this will require you to constantly adjust the height of your cup as the plant grows. also, you could start to LST it

 

[panopticist]

Awesome, thanks for the heads up.

It's likely that I will transplant within the next day or two because the cups are drying out much more quickly than they used to. When I do, I'll bury a bit of the extra stemmage, to shorten the plant.

I plan to Scrog these guys, so I probably won't do any LSTing.

 

[dope_roor]

when do you plan on flipping the lights to 12/12? have you considered topping the plant before placing the SCROG screen over?

good idea on the transplant, i find most my plants rootbound around 2 weeks of vegging in beercups

 

[panopticist]

I had actually intended on FIMing my little friends once they were around 6"-8" tall, as per Red_Greenery's directions... I will likely let them touch the screen before I switch to 12/12, so I can use their initial flowering stretch to fill the screen.

However, my methods are up for discussion; so if you're willing to share, I'm willing to listen. Thanks again for your attention to my grow.

 

[dope_roor]

sounds like a plan. red_greenery definitely knows what he's doing. i personally haven't tried SCROG yet but am looking forward to trying it my next grow (i usually supercrop/LST).

 

[lc00p4]

panopticist:

holla. i too got inspired by red_greenery and his wonderful stacked rubbermaid design. it seems like my fan isn't doing a good enough job, but i am not sure the ventilation i made for it is compatible with the cfms of the fan and intake size. one thing already mentioned, next run you should definately move those lights closer so you can really bush them out and develop sturdier stems. when doing 12/12 from seed, the plants get lanky and aren't as sturdy as plants who get to veg. good luck on your snow whites! get those pics up of your setup when it's ready. peace...

p.s. i have plants from 12/12 that resembled the way your plants look and i tied them down in order to get multiple tops. your plants will need to bulk up the stems in order to support the weight for scrog since you need multiple tops. just a suggestion but maybe someone else can enlighten us on the subject.

 

[Guest]

oooh I felt my ears burnin' so I had to check out your thread panoptic! Sounds like there's some fellow tubbers in here too! Hey lc00p4 and doperoor!

Your plants look good but need to be transplanted right away.

You've got a few deficiencies starting to show cause they are rootbound.

 

[panopticist]

I feel like my thread has been visited by my own personal Jesus! Red, I've since transplanted all of my little friends into larger containers and have began feeding with seedling strength (.5 tsp/gal) Flora Nova Grow.

They've really taken off but have yellowed somewhat on the older growth, I figure that this is due to a lack of feeding. Practically every soil available at the local hardware retailers contains fertilizers, so I waited until my little friends looked as though they were hungry before I fed them any nutes.

I'll post some pics in honor of your visit!

 

[Sammet]

Hi papopticist - nice grow mate - I really like these micro grows.

Mind if I offer a bit of advice?
Could you pick up a bit of Mylar or some type of equivelant?
Do you have a fan that blows at your seedling inside? It can be handy to help stimulate the seedling to strengthen the stems (noticed you were using a little stick for support)
Did you move them closer to the lights? Deffo a must for Fluoros - good spot green wizard.
What nutes do you have? Something like Superthrive and/or some sort of seaweed extract for amino acids/minerals etc are a good way to help keep your plant healthy - aswell as either some Cal-mag or epsom salts are worth investing in.
What are your temps/humidity like? A cheap thermometer/hygrometer is well worth it (specially coming into summer)
What water source do you use? If you use treated tap water, good to leave it out for 24hours before watering - allows evaporation of the chlorine + for the water to reach ambient temp, cold water can shock the roots!


Also - you're planning on doing some advanced techniques - you seem well read, but you mentioned that this is your first grow? With a new setup and first time grow, I'd recommend trying out some LST. All the techniques are shown in great how-to threads on here, and you'll never be short of advice, but I think your main concern should be to just keep things simple and you can't go wrong.

(I don't want to sound negative or anything, I know it's exciting Just seen some trickey micro grows and your set up looks great so I hope you don't experience any problems!)

 

[panopticist]

Thanks for the attention friends, I feel so welcome here...

Here are the photos I promised from my previous post...




















I'm chilling with some carbon-based friends of mine this evening and sought some advice. Since I've last posted, I've transplanted my little friends (the first time I transplanted was last wednesday.) I've since watered with full strength nutes as well. I've grabbed some Cal-Mag off of one the aforementioned friends and will apply it as soon as I am sober enough to drive home...

They've also suggested that I FIM, place my screen, flip to 12/12, and begin training ASAP...any seconds on that motion?

This is my first official 'crunk' post on ICMAG, some kinda milestone(d), I think.

Peace,
pan-op

 

[Smoke68]

Wow Panopticist, take a look at pic. number six Is it just me or is that a deficiency?

 

[panopticist]

I assume this is the one you are talking about...



Oh yeah, it's a mad defiency. Like I said earlier, I've got some Cal-Mag that I'll apply with the next watering...my friends said that they'd seen issues like this that Cal-Mag took care of, no problem. It looks bad, but it's still growing strong...

 

[Sammet]

Hey mate, good to hear you got the Cal-Mag - Do you know what your water source is like? Is it RO, bottled or from the tap? pH? Hard/soft? Could be the cause of your lockout.

 

[panopticist]

City water, from the tap. I haven't purchased a pH kit yet, bad me...

 

[FunkBomb]

The city water could be the issue but it also could not. Check your soil to see if there is any lime in there. If so it's not the water. I ran city water in all my grows and never had an issue because of the lime. To be safe you could let it sit for 24 hrs before using it. Buying distilled water at Wal Mart or some place similar is always an option if necessary.


-Funk

 

[panopticist]

Interesting point. Thanks for the heads up...

 

[NOFpuXnk]

pretty plants... spend more money on them.. now.

 

[Sammet]

spend £3 on a simple pH range test kit. That's all I'd buy - then test your water and then the run off from the bottom of the pot.

KISS

(keep it simple stupid)