Second Attempt At My First Grow

[Bogie]

Ok, I haven't worried you guys with any questions in the past few days, now I have a couple. My 4 biggest plants are about 8 inches tall. That is about 10 to 12 inches from the target height that I am shooting for. Do I need to be doing any pruning here. Some of the leaves have gotten so big that they seem the be pulling the plants down, and making them lean a bit. Also, since these plants are growing so close together, Should I top them at some point? I am thinking that maybe I may need to top the one time then let them go.
Since this is my first grow, I am sure you guys can understand my amazement at the growth rate I am seeing in a 12 hour period. Its really cool to see, and its tripping me the fk out lol. I have upd a few more pics of mainly the foliage so you guys can get a good look. As always any help with these questions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Gilligan'sIsle]

Ok, I haven't worried you guys with any questions in the past few days, now I have a couple. My 4 biggest plants are about 8 inches tall. That is about 10 to 12 inches from the target height that I am shooting for.

Good Day Bogie:

I suspect that the responses you will get will recommend A) NOT pruning and B) Yes go ahead and top. It is one of those questions.

My take is this, it is your first time, so if you do prune or top make sure to leave one untouched so you can see how this particular plant grows naturally.

My only real concern is that you are using CFL's and they just don't have the penetration of a HID. In the above quote you say you are looking at a target height of around 2 feet. My question is, does that mean at chop or at switch to flower? Based on your 4 foot total space I am assuming ( I know it makes an ass of me) that your target is the finishing height.

Since you do not know the strain you will have to go on the look of the plant to guess the amount of stretch during flowering. Those big wide leaves lead me to believe that the plant will about double in size during the stretch. In my experience skinny leaved plants stretch more.

When you top a plant it slows down the growth rate for a bit (up to 2 weeks) depending on the plant.

So having said all that.

I would not top as it will "bush" them out and make them wider and thus more crowded, equaling less light penetration. I would flip at around 50% of the overall finishing height and be ready to tie them down to keep them from touching the lights.

BTW I found a post that talks a little about dissolved O2 and CO2 and ph.
http://icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=115909&highlight=water

Hope this helped

Safe Harbor
Gilligan

 

[jamrockjay]

Everythin is looking sweet Bogie, i know its difficult but try not to stress out so much and dont worry about ur plants.

Just a quick aknowledgement of pirate's contribution.... Thx m8 its guys like u who make this site so gr8

 

[Bogie]

Yes, 18 to 24 inches is what I hope to get when all is said and done. I had already planned om switching to 12/12 upon achieving half of that during the veg cycle. I have 9 plants right now, I hope that I can get 4 females. at that point I will spread them out so they are not growing on top of each other.



Yes Pirate, Thanks for the help and advice. I havnt been around here that long but I feel as if you may be a pillar in this community.
Also, Thank you Gillagan. Your advice and reassurance durring the PH issue was greatly appreciated.

 

[Gilligan'sIsle]

Bogie:

You are quite welcome.

Glad I could reassure you, my father used to say mother nature and father time will take care of most things. It seems to me that the older I get the more factual that seems (as long as you don't Duct Tape it of course).

Safe Harbor
Gilligan

 

[Bogie]

Little update here. My plants are doing awesome. The PH has leveled out. Its runs between 5.5 and 6. I have added 4 more 26W 6500 CFLs for a total of 8. I have 8 more but I don't know how in the hell I would get them in the box.
I am getting a small ppm gain, about 26 points in 3 days. I had assumed that the nute concentration would drop over time. Is this normal? I just add a little water to get them down below 300. I have posted a few pics. See how they have grown

 

[Pirate]

Well thanks everyone. I appreciate the compliments. I'm just some Joe Blow growin weed like everyone else around here.

Yeah Bogie !!
Them things are coming along real nice like. Their looking very healthy. Not a spot of burn or deficiency. Rare for a first timer. Good Job.

Your plants are drinking water faster than they are eating nutrients. Part of that could be the lower wattage lamps. You should check your ppms AFTER you add plain water to the rez for an accurate reading. However, the PPMs rising 25 points over a few days is nothing to worry about in the slightest little bit. In fact.......Your gonna start bringing that nute strength up very soon anyway. They're just about ready for another level. But let them tell you how much they want. When you see very slight yellowing........bump your ppms up to 500.

What type of nutrients (and additives if any) are you using?
Are you going to flower with the CFLs?
.
.

 

[jamrockjay]

Things are looking gr8 bogie, are u really a 1st timer? lol
Well done m8, good to see u got the ph leveled out.
Continued good luck with ur grow

 

[Bogie]

Things are looking gr8 bogie, are u really a 1st timer? lol
Well done m8, good to see u got the ph leveled out.
Continued good luck with ur grow

Yes Bro, I am a first timer. Ive spent a big part of my adult life as a custom metal fabricator. My wife says that this profession has made me a perfectionist, and I guess she is right. I never start any unknown task without thorough research. The same holds true with this project. I probably read, and watched videos about growing in soil, and hydro for well over a month before I started this. Then I saw a See More Buds video about aeropnics. I think it is the same video Pirate referenced in his cave thread. I siad to myself, I can do that, and here we are. Plus I am tired of paying good money for shitty weed.

Thanks dude, and stay tuned

 

[Bogie]

What type of nutrients (and additives if any) are you using?
Are you going to flower with the CFLs?..

I am using Liquid Earth nutes, and no other additives.
http://www.futuregarden.com/nutrition/index.html
Yes I am going to flower with CFLs. I don't have the space or the money for anything else right now. Space is the big issue
I will be using 26W 2700K soft white CFLs. The low heat makes my lack of space easier to ventilate.
Speaking of ventilation, for the past 3 days, I have been smelling the plants. Yesterday when I got home from work, I walked into my bedroom and the smell was really strong. It smells like really good green weed with a dank skunky smell mixed in. I smell I haven't smelled in a long time I might add
So today I will be I will be adding a DIY carbon scrubber to my system. Ive read a couple threads, and have a couple of my own ideas that will be added to what I have read about. It should turn out nice and work very well.

 

[Gilligan'sIsle]

Bogie:

Gotta LOVE that smell... but I agree, keeping it to yourself is a good idea can't wait to see some images of the filter.

Safe Harbor
Gilligan

 

[Bogie]

I have ran out of time for today, my young adult will be home from school soon, she would kick my ass if I called her my kid lol. No work when she is home.
I did have time to get my in-line fan installed and all the ventilation. I am using a 6"- 250cfm booster fan for my exhuast. All of my ducting is 4" dryer vent duct so I have had to reduce the 6" fan down to 4" with 2- 6" to 4" round duct reducers. This fan is also being used with my 57cfm bathroom exaust fan. Us in the HVAC industry call them "fart fans" lol. I have duct the 6" fan into the side of my light reflector like you see with HPS and MH fixtures. I figure since the reflector completely covers the outside diameter of my aero system. that would be the best place to use for the removal of smell and what little heat builds up. And no, The cat isnt much help at all

 

[Bogie]

Here the 4" ducting is running from the side of the reflector to the 6" fan. Coming off of the back side of the fan the ducting runs to a Y fitting. The ducting from the 57cfm bath fan runs to the other side of the Y. Off of the other end of the Y is a single duct that runs into a 90 degree fitting that puts all the air to the outside of my box. Tomorrow I will mount the carbon filter to the other end of the 90 degree fitting. The filter will be mounted on the outside of the box. Hopefully all the air will be clean and fresh before let back out into my master bedroom. At least that is the plan

 

[Bogie]

I guess if SOG is Sea Of Green, then what I have going here is a POG, A Puddle Of Green.

Here are some current pics of my POG

 

[Bogie]

How much humidity is to much ????

 

[Gilligan'sIsle]

Bogie:

All of this is based on my personal experience with my plants. The numbers I use are what I have where I am.

Gilligan's Island is a desert island, our desert is DRY! Closer to the lagoon is better but still around 20% RH. I don't ever have worry about the humidity at all.

When they are small and throughout the vege period I don't think humidity is too critical. Even high RH (80%) has not been a problem during vege here. This was with a DWC system that was a moisture machine!

As a plant gets larger it has more surface area with which to transpire. Water evaporates faster in a dry environment, so if you have low humidity and large flowering plants, watch your watering schedule!

Since you asked how much is too much. If you were to have say 50% most of the grow and slightly lower in flower you would be satisfying most of your babies most of the time.

I believe that if we are comfortable the plants will be too.

As for your carbon filter. Dryer is always better.

I don't want to come off as MR EXPERIENCED. I am only a First Mate, just thought what I have observed might be of some value.

Hope it helps

Safe Harbor
Gilligan

 

[gigity]

How much humidity is to much ????

50% or less for flowering 70% or less for vegetative 75% or more for very small seedlings or unrooted clones but never let the humidity go under 30% for any plant in any stage of growth because it will seriously dry out and if the room is hot it will fry like an egg.

 

[Bogie]

The RH has been ranging between 27% to 55%. I hope that will be ok, I have no way of controlling it. I have a few tricks to increase RH. Other than installing an AC unit or a dehumidifier I don't know of any way to decrease the RH, and an AC unit or a dehumidifier is out of the question.
On another note, I have noticed slight yellowing around the outside edges of most of the leaves. It may be time to increase the nutes a bit. I will post a few pics. The leaves on one of the plants is yellowing differently than the rest. Is this anything to be concerned about, or is it just the plant saying "Feed Me" ?

 

[tristar]

Give them some food

Nice setup.

If you want to increase the humidity you could get an airpump and let some bubbles into the reservoir (as long as it has some way to get out into the air). That will help.

Or get a fogger, that works too. Very well.

 

[Bogie]

13 days into veg and all seems to be going well. 2 of the plants have almost reached the height that I am trying to achieve before going to flower. The other 7 plants are trying to catch up. I am going to let them veg for another week. Next Sunday I will change my lights to the 2700k spectrum and put them on 12/12, and see what I get. I hope I can get at least 4 girls out of the bunch. more than 4 would be a bonus, less than 4 will be a disappointment. Is that to much to hope for?
Since most of the bigger leaves have started yellowing I have increased the nutes to around 550ish. This was done 2 days ago, and I haven't noticed a decrease in any of the yellowing. Should I ?
Question: After going to flower, how long until I start seeing sexual characteristics ?