First grow, 250W Hempy Buckets!

[Yada]

Hello all,

This is my first grow.

Strain: NL99 (Northern Lights x Cinderella 99) started from seeds.
Medium: Hempy buckets, 3 perlite : 1 vermiculite.
Lighting: 250w CMH / HPS.
Nutrients: GH Grow/Bloom/Micro


They came above the surface around the 10th, so that makes them 20 days old as of today. Using a CMH bulb for veg and am planning on switching to a HPS for flowering depending on how much hotter the HPS is than the CMH. Last watering was with 3/4 tsp/gal G/B/M (working up to the bottle recommended 'mild' strength) and am going to water with 1 tsp/gal G/B/M of each today.

I've been researching the various techniques and I believe LST is ideal for my situation. I was going to do a scrog but my seeds aren't feminized so there's a chance I'll get a male, and I don't want to have to pull anything out of a screen. How much longer would you recommend I wait until starting LST? I've read a bit about it but can't seem to find out when the ideal time is to begin.

Anyway, let me know what you think, and hopefully I'll keep this updated! Here's a few pictures, with the last one being the most recent:

 

[!!!]

Looking good. How often are you watering? Why do you think the HPS would out perform the CMH?

 

[Hawk]

gotta try hempy buckets...


On the timing of LST, I guess I've started when I felt there was enough plant to actually pull around. I think much of it is just a function of how big and strong they are, regardless of their age. Nonetheless, in my (limited) experience that's worked out to around 20 days vegging with a 250mh in soil.

These are my current plants, 21 days since breaking soil. It's day one of LST. Pretty sure I took these pics right after the first two lines went on.

 

[Yada]

!!!: Every 2 days. I watered yesterday with 1tsp/gal Grow/Bloom/Micro.

Hawk: Wow! If those are 20 days old they're roughly the same age as mine, but they're twice as big! Makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong...

Anyway, I decided to start tying them down today, following this guide

 

[TexasToker]

I love to see people that have done their research. Looks clean, well managed, and cared for. I will be tagging along for this one.

P.s. Each strain grows differently. As long as they are healthy, all is good.

 

[Yada]

They seem to be responding to the first LST nicely. I'm gradually scaling the nutrient strength to the bottle recommended (Today was 1.25tsp micro, 2tsp grow, 1tsp bloom.)

 

[Yada]

Well, apparently that was too much nutrients. There were multiple tips like this one, and from what I have read I'm 99% sure it's simple nutrient burn (which also correlates with the relatively large jump in strength from the previous watering.) As soon as I saw this I decided to do a light flush (2 gallons each) with regular tap water pH treated to around 6.5 or so. Was this the right thing to do? (I was following some wise words I've heard around here- when in doubt, flush it out.)

I'll lay off the nutrients a bit next time I water.

Otherwise, getting bigger each day.

 

[Hawk]

They look great.

edit: how often do you water with those hempy buckets?

 

[Yada]

I started out watering them every day, but once they started picking up speed (when the roots got to the reservoir at the bottom) I've been watering every other day.

 

[j6p]

NLxC99, that's interesting; are they from Joey Weed? Their growth has really exploded over the last three days! It's easy to tell when the roots reach the res. They look good and healthy.

 

[Hawk]

If you don't mind; How big are those buckets? How many square feet you got? How far is the light typically? Any pics of your cab?



I'll be following along with some interest. Hempy buckets is something I'd like to try and your space looks similar to what I'm using. 21d into flowering on my second grow now.

 

[Yada]

Certainly. The buckets are 11L, and the cabinet is 4 square feet (2*2) a bit small for my liking but it seems alright. I tried to keep the design as simple as possible. The light's quite a bit away from everything, but I haven't noticed any problems. I haven't used the PC fan in there yet but if the need arises it's there (temperatures are around 80-82F at the height of the thermometer) The main fan is a panasonic whisper pulling through a tray full of activated carbon.

 

[Yada]

Today is a sad sad day...

I was tying down my plants again and I get to little plant No.2 (who was pretty skimpy compared to the others anyhow...) and as I'm tying it down, the main stem snapped. I put a piece of tape around it and tied it the opposite direction, sealing the wound and giving it support... but things aren't looking too good.

As a result of this I've started germinating 3 new seeds, and I figure I'll probably be able to stick them in the cabinet and have a few little plants alongside my big ones by the time I switch to 12/12. I started one Arjan's Haze #3 (feminized), one random, and a Hashplant Haze (feminized). I'm still sad about plant 2. I haven't given up, I'll keep it in there until I can confirm it's dead, but it's only been about an hour and the leaves are drooping and lifeless.

 

[Hawk]

I did that. Plant recovered fully (to my amazement).

 

[Hawk]

I like the cab. But are you able to move the light down? That seems kinda far for a 250?

 

[Yada]

More bad news...

I believe my 3 healthy plants are beginning to show their preflowers. Two of them appear to be male. Is it too early to tell, or are they males? If so what a failure this has been, and I'll have to start some new (feminized) seeds. They're tiny little growths that don't appear to be connected to the branches at the node.

Forgive my lack of macro photography skills. It's quite difficult to take pictures through a jeweler's loupe.

I have more Arjan's Haze seeds waiting just in case.

Also, a side note: the plant whose stem got snapped appears to be (mostly) alive. There are a few dead leaves but the others aren't nearly as limp as they were yesterday.

 

[Yada]

Better pic...

 

[Hawk]

too early to tell, me thinks

 

[FirstTimer10]

I also say its too early. Give it time to make sure, your in no danger yet. Nice setup too!!

 

[Yada]

One thing that somewhat concerns me is the color of the leaves. They've been pretty light from the start, and most of the pictures I've seen here have pretty dark leaves. I'm inclined to say this is a sulfur deficiency from the pictures I've seen but I really don't know.

I'm going to start using the lucas formula for my nutrients and see how it goes. I just watered with 0-5-10 grow-micro-bloom.

I think I'm going to ditch the plant in the upper left, and maybe stick a few little plants in there come 12/12 to see how that goes.

Also, I think I'm beginning to see hairs on 2 of the plants, although it's still hard to tell even with a 30x loupe.